Hey bookworm friends, I hope you’re all having a happy first week of November. I haven’t done a book tag in a while but I’ve been saving the Goodreads was Wrong tag because I thought it would be fun to go back through my ratings. So let’s answer these questions and see all the ways I disagree with GR’s average ratings 😈!
But first: a disclaimer! This post is in good fun and as usual, I’m simply giving my honest opinions. If I hate a book other readers love it’s not a personal judgement of them. We all look for different things when we read and I have no patience for shaming people for their reading preferences.
I came across this tag on Zeezee With Books but the “GoodReads Was Wrong” tag was created by the booktuber GabsAboutBooks.
What is the highest-rated book that you gave a low rating?
(Sort your books in Goodreads based on Average Ratings and find the highest-rated book you gave a low rating.)
Oh my! We’re starting with quite a controversial pick. If you love this French children’s classic you may need to shield your eyes! 😆
Le Petit Prince / The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
GR Average Rating: 4.33 Vs. My rating: 1⭐
I read this in French for school and the tone has never worked for me! I just found it extremely annoying.
What is the lowest-rated book that you gave a high rating?
(Sort your books in Goodreads based on Average Ratings, in reverse order, and find the lowest-rated book you gave a high rating.)
The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
GR Average Rating: 3.36 Vs. My rating: 5⭐
I’ve raved about The Terraformers on my blog before! At the risk of being repetitive, I’ve included it in several lists. I don’t care what anyone says, I love this book!
My Review.
What is the most popular book that you disagree with the average rating?
(Sort your books in Goodreads based on Number of Ratings and find the first book you disagree with the average rating.)
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
With over 1.6 Million ratings on GR and an average rating of 4.26, I rated it 3⭐which I think is overgenerous.
I read this in 2017 and it made me feel sick. At first, I thought it was because it made me feel heightened emotions but then I realized it was because I felt manipulated into those emotions but I couldn’t quite put a finger on why. It wasn’t until later, when I had a better vocabulary around ableism that I understood exactly why I felt so off about this book back then and I don’t think it deserves the high ratings.
What is the least popular book that you disagree with the average rating?
(Sort your books in Goodreads based on Number of Ratings, in reverse order, and find the first book you disagree with the average rating.)
Wayward Kindred by Various Authors
With 66 ratings on GR and an average rating of 4.50, I rated it 3⭐which is probably rounded up.
I bought this graphic novel anthology at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival a few years ago because have you seen this cover?! The concept of stories around the theme of “Monster Families” is cool but I don’t do well with anthologies or short story collections typically. I didn’t connect with the individual stories equally or as much as I hoped to.🤷🏽♀️
Choose two books that have an average rating of 3/5 stars but you gave a higher rating.
The Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert
GR Average Rating: 3.66 Vs. My rating: 5⭐
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
GR Average Rating: 3.74 Vs. My rating: 5⭐
My Review
Choose two books that have an average rating of 3/5 stars but you gave a lower rating.
Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen
GR Average Rating: 3.59 Vs. My rating: 2⭐
The Unlikely Story of Felix & Macabber by Juni Ba & Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
GR Average Rating: 3.29 Vs. My rating: 1⭐
Choose two books that have an average rating of 4/5 stars but you gave a lower rating.
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
GR Average Rating: 4.01 Vs. My rating: 1⭐
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
GR Average Rating: 4.04 Vs. My rating: 2⭐
Choose two books that have an average rating of 2/5 stars but you gave a higher rating
I don’t have any books in my ‘read’ shelf that have an average of 2 stars (the lowest is 3.09). So I’ll switch the question around a bit and choose 2 books from my tbr list that have an average rating of 2 out of 5 stars. Then I’ll decide if I want to keep them on the tbr list or remove them.
The Swells by Will Aitken
GR Average Rating: 2.32
This book is a satire on class but according to the reviews, the social commentary is poorly done. Additionally this is not my typical fare so I’m not tempted to make up my own mind on this 🙃.
Toss it.
On The Nature of Magic by Marian Womack
GR Average Rating: 2.73
A gothic supernatural mystery based on real-life events where two women claimed to have seen the ghost of Marie-Antoinette. However it’s the second in a series and I have not read the first one.
Toss it.
Do you tend to agree or disagree with Goodreads average rating, and do you use Goodreads as a guide for books you want to read?
Well, according to BookSirens I tend to be a strict reviewer compared to other readers. This chart plots the difference between my rating and the book’s average rating. Green means my rating was higher, red means my rating was lower and there is more red than green. I don’t use Goodreads to decide what books to read next, I simply use it to store my list of potential options.
Let’s chat in the comments!
If you read to the end of my post I tag you to do this challenge! 😉 Have you read any of these books and do you agree or disagree with my ratings?
What a fun tag! I really enjoyed reading your answers and if you don’t mind, I reckon I’ll steal this to do at some point in the coming weeks! 🤭 Honestly can’t believe I haven’t seen this tag floating around before and I also can’t wait to see what my answers will be for these prompts. I think with these types of posts about ratings, it’s clear that they’re not always “trustworthy” and that’s why I never only look at ratings when deciding whether I want to read a book or not (at least, not anymore, lol)!
Enjoyed reading your answers. I think the only one on here I read was Me Before You. I remember liking it though. Probably gave it 4 stars.