Recently I was looking through my Read shelf on Goodreads and noticed that there are quite a few books on that list that I have a much higher opinion of than the rest of Goodreads apparently. I admit that I go fairly easy with my ratings compared to some other reviewers. If I’m entertained by a book then it’s probably going to get a decent star rating. I can’t help myself, okay?! I do think one of my goals for next year is to start rating books a little harder, but we’ll see how that really goes.
With that being said, I’ve compiled a list of books that I seem to have enjoyed a heck of a lot more than their average rating on Goodreads. Sometimes we let the ratings on Goodreads deter us from picking up a book that we are interested in, which can lead us to missing out on enjoyable reads. I’m here to help you out and name a few books that I still enjoyed, even if Goodreads didn’t!
For the sake of this post and all of our sanity, I’m going to stick to books with less than a 3.75 average rating. Because some people are just picky, ya know? Review links will be included if available!
Goodreads Average: 3.49, My Rating: 4.0 – Review
I think the synopsis might’ve promised something a little different than what the book really gives, but the story is still very good!
Goodreads Average: 3.60, My Rating: 4.0 – Review
Don’t let that gorgeous cover fool you! This book is fairly dark and a much more realistic retelling of the Peter Pan tale. Also, a bit more adult than what you might think.
Goodreads Average: 3.32, My Rating: 4.0
Why all of the hate? This book was a decent historical fiction on a lesser known real-life historical figure, who was an inspiration for one of Da Vinci’s first masterpieces. What’s not to like about that?
Goodreads Average: 3.4, My Rating: 4.0 – Review
Don’t let Angel’s POV deter you from picking this one up. Frederick more than makes up for it!
Goodreads Average: 3.67, My Rating: 5.0 – Review
Emily Henry is an auto-buy author for me and it all started with this book right here. So join me in obsessing over her wonderful stories. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t really enjoy magical realism!
Goodreads Average: 3.5, My Rating: 5.0
I wish I could tell y’all how much I enjoyed this book and how much I need the sequel to be released. I’VE BEEN WAITING TOO DAMN LONG. Now I want to reread it…
Goodreads Average: 3.53, My Rating: 5.0
Listen, it’s melodramatic. But come on, sometimes we are trash for those kinds of stories! And this is one of those times. P.S. This is actually a trilogy and I recommend them all.
What are some books that you enjoyed more than Goodreads? Would you consider those books to be guilty pleasures? What’s the minimum average rating you require to pick up a book or does it not matter to you?
Wonderfilled Reads 
How many books do you read a year? I’ve noticed the more I read, I naturally rate tougher and tougher.
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The last few years I’m averaging close to 100. I’ve never been a real tough rater, but I’m trying to work on that.
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My most recent one was probably 36 Questions. I was pretty close to giving it 5 stars but half the people on Goodreads couldn’t even finish it.
I must admit ratings do influence my decision on whether to pick up a book. I probably wouldn’t take anything that scored less than 3 stars unless it was a fave author or the blurb really intrigued me. Rating isn’t everything but with the number of books out there I need some way of stopping myself from buying all of them.
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Yeah, I do that sometimes too! I try not let other people ratings affect mine, but you almost feel like you must not be doing a very good job as a reviewer if yours is so much higher than everyone else’s. I just try to ignore it lol.
That’s a good point! If a book has a really low rating but I’m still interested, I’ll usually save it to borrow from the library instead.
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This is a great post. I feel like ratings should be something you acknowledge but always make up your own opinion because in both books and movies, I have some that I love but reviews didn’t.
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Thank you so much! I completely agree. Everyone has different opinions and that’s a great thing.
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The Love that Split the World sounds intriguing… I wonder at the low rating?! I do LOVE this post idea because we are swayed by the numbers… I don’t have a set rating but only use ratings when I’m on the fence about reading from the premise and cover!
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Yeah, I really don’t get the low rating for it. I thought it was a brilliant read for a debut novel. Her second novel was even better!.. Thank you! I try not to let ratings affect me too much, but sometimes I just can’t help it.
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awesome idea for a post! I haven’t read any of these, but am planning to read the love that split the world, and I’m surprised it had such a low rating- glad you liked it though!
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Thank you! I was really surprised by that rating, too. I really enjoyed that book which is saying a lot because I’m not usually the biggest fan of magical realism.
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You’re welcome! Ah that’s even better then! 🙂
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I’ve been thinking about this topic latetly, so it was great seeing your post! 🙂
I personally feel swayed a bit by the Goodreads Rating, even though it’s not an indicator of how well written a book truly is. However, I feel like the average rating still makes an impact, especially if the rating is under 3.6 for me, because there has to be a reason why most readers haven’t like the book that much. Mostly I search through Reviews by people I follow & positive as well as negative Reviews to contribute to my decision if I should add this book to my TBR or not.
The first book that comes to mind for me is The Star Touched Queen, which has a rating under 3.6 stars, but for me was a 5 star read and one of my favorite books this year!
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Yes, I do the exact same thing! If I notice a book that I’m interested in has a really low rating, I’ll scan through my friends reviews of it to see what they thought because I trust their opinions. But even if they didn’t really care for it but I’m still interested, I’ll go ahead and read it anyways. We all have different tastes so I try not to let it affect what I want to read too much. Thank you so much! 🙂
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That’s how I try to do things too, which is good because sometimes I discover a favorite that I might have missed otherwise! 🙂
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