Do you rate/review books you didn't finish?

Post by **bookowlie** » 23 May 2015, 10:11

What do I have to do to get a brownie!

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 23 May 2015, 11:38

It appears that ModernTimes and I are in the minority view on this issue.

While I respect everyone else's opinion, I stand firm that you can accurately rate a book without finishing it. I certainly would not do so in a professional context if it were not allowed, but in general, while any author might have an occasional bad paragraph, that's not what we're talking about here. If you read several chapters and are disgusted, or put off deeply in some other way, then I don't think the book deserves to be finished in order to be rated.

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 23 May 2015, 12:30

I actually get the feeling that we're all talking about something different.

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 23 May 2015, 13:24

ALynnPowers wrote:I actually get the feeling that we're all talking about something different.

HA HA, I mean, yeah. There's

1) reviewing for this site
2) reviewing for other sites (goodreads, amazon)
2a) reviewing books that are self-published for other sites
2b) reviewing bookstore books for other sites
3) reviewing for other sites in which you write DNF and leave a starred rating with no other comment
4) reviewing for other sites in which you write DNF and go into detail about why the book was so horrible.

For me, though, to try to summarize everything above: I feel that it's OK to do #4 above, unless you're reviewing professionally (as in #1 above) and it's against the rules to write a review without finishing. Whew!!

keylor · Post by **keylor** » 23 May 2015, 16:05

I will review a book if I was not able to get into it. I generally will read any book I start. However, there have been times that I just didn't get drawn into a book. I try to determine why I was not able to read it, and if it is something that is not about me, but rather about the book itself, or the authors style, I will review it, but clearly explaining what made it difficult for me.

Post by **bookowlie** » 23 May 2015, 18:53

zeldas_lullaby wrote:It appears that ModernTimes and I are in the minority view on this issue.

While I respect everyone else's opinion, I stand firm that you can accurately rate a book without finishing it. I certainly would not do so in a professional context if it were not allowed, but in general, while any author might have an occasional bad paragraph, that's not what we're talking about here. If you read several chapters and are disgusted, or put off deeply in some other way, then I don't think the book deserves to be finished in order to be rated.

I did see your previous post where you gave an example of a book you looked at in a bookstore that was extremely offensive in content. I can totally see your point regarding that example.

As for the official reviews on this site, one of the most important guidelines is that the book must be completely read in order to submit a review. I know some people have mentioned the DNF category on Goodreads, which I admit I just learned about from this thread. I think DNF on Goodreads is a different case, as it's not really a review. Instead it's a little blurb explaining why the reader didn't finish the book. I can't really say that's the same thing as an actual review. Just my opinion.

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 23 May 2015, 18:56

Yeah, I wouldn't disobey the rules of a given web site, such as this one.

HA HA--I didn't look closely enough at that book--I bought it home and started reading it! OMG!

No, I don't think it would qualify as a review, either--my dad and I were discussing it, and he said, "Well, it would be a review of Chapter 1."

-- 23 May 2015, 19:56 --

I mean, I brought it home. Tee hee!

Post by **bookowlie** » 23 May 2015, 19:08

Don't worry...I won't send the grammar police after you.

I actually think the original question was regarding the DNF category on Goodreads, so I don't think most people are talking about the official reviews here.

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 23 May 2015, 19:44

That sounds funny... a general review? I wonder how you could write one so vague as to refer to many different books. What do they say in these general reviews?

-- 23 May 2015, 21:09 --

Oh, hey, I remembered what that distasteful book was! Just for fun, if anyone wants to look this up on Amazon and brave the "look inside the book" content, I double-dog dare you to be unwilling to rate this book based on those pages alone.

Promise Not to Tell
by Jennifer McMahon

I just scanned them--haven't read it since probably 2007 when it was released (I remember I got it at Borders), and OMG. My memory proves very accurate.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 23 May 2015, 22:35

Agree, owl, that if a site requires that you finish the book, you must. You will however find that book reviewers for large scale journals such as the New Yorker or the NY Times, are not required to finish the book. Same as when I wrote reviews for 2 major newspaper dailies. And my reviews were sometimes picked up by the AP. So I'm not the new kid on the block when it comes to book reviewing.

What zelda said about a repulsive book? I started the review of a mystery that was abhorrent to me. And believe me, my own novels are pretty intense, plenty of adult-oriented violence and a few very bloody scenes. But this book was so seriously hateful toward women, and after reading 3-4 chapters I simply could not read further, I was so incensed by the tone of the book. It dealt with women as objects and the whole plot was very tilted such that women were cardboard cutouts, no real characterization. I emailed my editor and told her that I simply was unable to read further, and why, and that I'd happily mail the book back to her if she wished. She told me to trash it, which I did. Right into the recycle bin, and there's a Half Price Books just 3 blocks from my house. But frankly I didn't want anyone else reading the book either.

My editor backs me up on these things, including not having to finish a book to review it. She knows that I'll give it a good shake, and hey, I've been writing book reviews, both professionally (paid real money) or semi-pro, where I get to keep the book as "payment" which is typical of most reviewers, for maybe 30 years. And for the mystery site, 5 years. So my editor trusts my judgment.

Anyway, you'll find that it's rare for commercial sites to require the reviewer actually finish the book. Of course the reviewer needs to establish creds first.

In my reviews, I also don't detail the plot at all. I post no spoilers. So my reviews are about the philosophy of the book, the author's purpose as I can glean, how the characters are presented, and generally, how the mystery stacks up against similar books of the subgenre it's in. For example, private detective, police procedural, spy thrillers, and so on.

I also once reviewed a book that I gave my worst and most negative review. It was pretty well written but the central theme of the book was suspicious, and at the end (not actually the end but the climax, the denouement) the story tread heavily upon one of the most sacred tenets of the Jewish faith, in a perverted and hateful manner. I was appalled (and I don't anger easily) but this author screwed with the concept of the Tetragrammaton (the most sacred name of God to the Jews), English translation Jehovah. It was an insult to Judaism and I savaged the author for it. And rightfully so.

My otherwise negative reviews deal with bad characterizations, poor dialogue, unrealistic plot twists, and so on. Sometimes a novel is too formulaic -- it is a police procedural that could be a carbon copy for example, the main investigator male is having marital problems and he's sleeping with (or recently had an affair with) his female partner, the supervisor is hounding them for a solution to the murders, there's a snarky reporter who intrudes, and so on. No surprises, no new stuff, same old same old. And therefore booooring.

Gravy · Post by **Gravy** » 23 May 2015, 23:05

I DNF books for several reasons...
Couldn't get into it, either because of the book or for some, unrelated reason.
If it turns out to be something other than I thought it was (thought it would be a nice romance and instead it's a 'not so nice' romance

)
Whatever...

But I tried a book recently...
Oh my!
I wouldn't have a problem with rating it, but I would be sure to explain why I couldn't finish it.

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 23 May 2015, 23:07

A "not so nice" romance? Hm... I haven't read many romances, so I'm wondering what that means!! HA HA. No, I really am wondering.

Gravy · Post by **Gravy** » 24 May 2015, 03:23

zeldas_lullaby wrote:A "not so nice" romance? Hm... I haven't read many romances, so I'm wondering what that means!! HA HA. No, I really am wondering.

When I say a "not so nice" romance, I mean less romance and more *cough*
There's nothing wrong with that for those who prefer it, but I'm not one of them

Though, I can put up with a lot for a great storyline...
But when you're expecting Goosbumps and getting Stephen King

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 24 May 2015, 09:09

I have personally had a couple of instances where I could tell pretty quickly that I wasn't going to like a book. But I stuck it out to the end in hopes that something amazing would happen only to be let down or see it just accelerate into something worse. In those cases, I probably could have given an accurate rating, but I just don't have enough confidence in myself to do it!

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 24 May 2015, 09:38

Graverobber wrote:
zeldas_lullaby wrote:A "not so nice" romance? Hm... I haven't read many romances, so I'm wondering what that means!! HA HA. No, I really am wondering.
When I say a "not so nice" romance, I mean less romance and more *cough*
There's nothing wrong with that for those who prefer it, but I'm not one of them
Though, I can put up with a lot for a great storyline...
But when you're expecting Goosbumps and getting Stephen King

It's essential when you write your review that you not downlist the book because it is more adult-oriented than you might wish. Personal preferences for a particular genre should not be used as criteria for judging a book. Just sayin'