Books I Rated Too High

Links to books I talked about in this video
(These are affiliate links. If you buy through these links, I get a small percentage of the sale):
A Game of Thrones amzn.to/34jXLOk
An Unkindness of Magicians amzn.to/2MQO6JD
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine amzn.to/2MROd7X
The Bear and the Nightingale amzn.to/2LhlbN5
Archenemies amzn.to/2LhYybh
A Grief Observed amzn.to/2MQGtmw
Six of Crows amzn.to/2MNqlCh
Trail of Lightning amzn.to/2zJiygh
Reviews mentioned:
A Game of Thrones • Video
The Bear and the Nightingale • Video
WHERE TO FIND ME:
► My Website: www.merphynapie...
► My Patreon: / merphynapier
► Twitter: / merphynapier
► Goodreads: / merphy-napier
► Instagram: / merphynapier
► E-mail: [e-mail]
► Mailing Address:
PO box 22
Science Hill KY 42553

[@julepeters5742]

Have you thought about giving 2 different ratings? Not on goodreads obviously, but here. One for your level of enjoyment and the other for the objective quality of the book.

[@navyt9862]

There's no need to complicate things. Give the rating based on your OWN enjoyment, and then add any objective thoughts on the book in your review. You're *not* a professional critic. You shouldn't worry about affecting author's career. If a book is really (=objectively) good, your less than positive opinion won't matter in the grand scheme of things.

[@rahul0000nm]

@@navyt9862 Well, she kind of is an influencer and as we all know, "With great power comes great responsibility"

[@tjthegreat7]

@@rahul0000nm that is some bs lol with great power comes greater consequences that should be what the saying states.

[@rahul0000nm]

@@tjthegreat7 Are you questioning the legendary Uncle Ben?

[@navyt9862]

@@rahul0000nm It's even more important to be fully honest, because you can ruin someone's trust in you. "She gave 4 stars for this awful book just because she didn't want to feel bad? Well, I guess I can't trust other 4-star ratings too". And the next time she'll give 4 stars to a truly good book, some users will doubt it. You can dislike book and think it's because of the theme, but there's a high chance you will read another book with the same theme and realize "Hey, I do enjoy it! So it wasn't the theme that didn't get me hooked, it's just that book wasn't good! Why I gave it 4 stars then?" TL;DR: Give stars for enjoyment level, speak out your thoughts in reviews. Even if it's a low-quality book! Slap those 4-5 stars and say "While objectively it is not well written, I still had so much fun with it!" and vice-versa. :P

[@DiomedesRangue]

I'd always prefer a rating based on personal taste. It's far more useful to me.

[@thatb1h855]

@@ChristmasLore but merphy explains how she has to balance personal taste and the objective quality of the book, so for some people whose ratings aren't just for themselves, it's not that simple

[@loati94]

I always think that, since art is subjective, one should rate books based on their taste and experience reading them, not on what they think it is on an objective level or based on how many people did like it. If you thought it was terrible for you and didn't enjoy it give it 1 star, not 2 o 3 because " it is a good book not just for me". Again everyone rates the way they think is right but I'm speaking for myself here. One can always argue like " yeah, but the writing and this and that is good" but at the end it still is an " I still hated it" conclusion.

[@miguelmelo2663]

I kinda agree with you, however you should also try to understand another point of view: if you think the book is really really good for another audience or for people who like other genres than you, it's not fair for that book to have a low rating, that makes other people think the book is bad, when it could be a 5 stats for them...

[@loati94]

@@miguelmelo2663 I do understand that rating sistem as well. You dont want to diminish a books rating only based on your taste because you apreciate the writing and what other people could think of it. But I still prefer, since Im not a reviewer, to just rate based on how much I enjoyed it. If you are making a written or video review you can also specify that, even though you pretty much hated a book, this or that aspect was appreciated and you recommend it for it anyway

[@TaigaGaoo]

@@miguelmelo2663 And that's why people should try things by themselves. It's not me or anyone else business to rate a book based on how OTHERS may like it. You (people) should rate it based on how THEY PERSONALLY liked it. The same rule applies to actual critics. They rate movies, shows, books, and so on and forth based on their own taste and own enjoyment, not based on how some one else may like it. That's why multiple critics/reviews are a good thing, you (people) find the critic with a similar taste tho them and stick to them and that helps them. Apply your argument to let's say, food, and see how bad of an argument it is. "Well, this hamburger was badly cooked, burned in some places, raw in others, bread was awful, hard, I didn't like it, it was terrible.... but maybe someone else will like it so 5 stars!" It would be extremely dumb, isn't it?

[@Wats06071]

@@miguelmelo2663 I think the prblem is with the people who look for rating only. Books (like any other art) are not TV sets or washing machines. Voltaire was once told that he was the only person in France who didn't like that play, his answer was "Fourty million French people can't be right" lol.

[@colburn0004]

When it comes to booktubers reviewing books, I feel like I want them to be reviewed on a subjective level. I'm watching your videos because I associate with your personality and I end up getting a feel more for what you like and don't like. Even if I like something and you give it a low score, I should be able to understand why if I go in knowing your general personality and views on the type of book it is. I feel like straying from that can somewhat devalue what the channel as a whole is doing because you're definitely more than just a word of god objective style reviewer.

[@arlostein1000]

You are most likely getting that subjective reading as nice and informative as booktubers are very few of them have any analytical skill or discuss technical and non-technical writing. Not to sound rude but they wouldn't do well on discussing literature in an academic setting

[@lucaleone4331]

I think as long as you write a review where it explains why you didnt like it people should figure out if it's for them or not. If they just look at stars, then yeah it's difficult to know how to rate.

[@nevareads3322]

I totally agree. I rate based on my enjoyment, but I make sure to note anything that bugs me/really blew me away in the actual review part. I find that more useful than the stars anyways - they tell you next to nothing on their own.

[@lucaleone4331]

@@nevareads3322 yeah especially for instance goodreads where the stars tell you what they are supposed to be but no one follows(for instance 2 says "its ok" and one star is "did not like" but most people seem 3 stars as "ok or did not like" and 1 and 2 stars are "THIS IS HORRIBLE TRASH" lol)

[@nevareads3322]

@@lucaleone4331 To be honest, that's the way I would expect the star system to work - three is a middle-road "It was a'ight", two being "Didn't like it, sorry", and one "Really didn't like it". It is odd to me that there is only one level of dislike.

[@lucaleone4331]

@@nevareads3322 Definite same. 3 for me is it's ok. Has merit, but wont stay on my bookshelf. 2 is I didnt like this. Not my thing, but I can see where others may have found joy in it. 1 is heck no. I go out of my way to recommend why you should NOT read and find something better lol

[@laurelelasselin]

@@lucaleone4331 For me: 5 - I loved it 4 - Really good but could be better 3 - Ok 2 - didn't really like 1 - nope

[@gabriellebrown1480]

I don't think a five star book has to be perfect. If you connect deeply to a book that is infinitely more important than most of the technical puzzle pieces

[@RyanSayles]

In regards to Martin's writing style and the repetitive descriptions, those are actually something to pay attention to. Remember that all of the chapters are POV so sometimes there are intentional discrepancies. One character seeing or remembering something different from another may be important.

[@ellianamaselli7267]

"Whatever I say is wrong. Always." Honestly, Merph, same.

[@badday4885]

I LOVE A Song of Ice and Fire, but it’s not for everyone. No one should feel like they have to read something that dark.

[@Наиля-о7к]

A fellow A Song of Ice and Fire lover here. I used to pride myself in being the one person I knew who didn´t watch the show. Was not interested. Then picked up the book because my little town in Northern Europe has a really small selection of English books. And damn, I was not prepared. Now these are my favourite books and Martin my favourite writer.

[@jenniferpeterson530]

I think everyone struggles with it to an extent. I also feel like rating a book high you didn’t necessarily “like” isn’t fair to the author or the book. People see you rated something a 4 star and think “oh I usually like the same kind of book as her” so they pick it up. They also don’t like said book but instead of looking at it objectively as you did they just give it 1 star. Now maybe they would have picked it up eventually on their own and maybe not but either way your 4 star rating could be causing the wrong people to pick up the book giving it more low stars in the long run. (Sorry if that doesn’t make sense I have been sick and am on cold medicine lol) Overall I think you should just be true to yourself and rate the books how you really feel about them. Great video as always and great discussion! You always give me something to think about. ❤️

[@MegKenobi]

I always tend to vote with how I personally felt about the book. The best example I can give for myself is "The Grapes of Wrath". It is objectively well written, but dear God did I *hate* it. So I can recognize that it's a well written, but my rating for it is still 1 star.

[@janemack2667]

oh the classics. I feel that way about Bleak House.

[@aukword6255]

Personally, I think subjective enjoyment is the only way to apportion a star rating. Readers tend to gravitate to reviewers with statistically similar tastes. However, we are all unique individuals. Over (or indeed under) scoring a book in order to 'protect' an author / reputation does more damage than good. Having said all this, if there are 'extenuating circumstances' it is a matter of professionalism to include them in long text section of a review. Ideally, it would be possible to give two ratings: Stars for enjoyment; Ticks for quality.

[@manaalsidd]

Also, being a writer I do believe that authors put so much blood, sweat and tears into a book (like literally not even figuratively), that rating a book 1 star or even 2 stars only happens to me when the plot is really really bad. I believe if I don’t enjoy romance novels, giving them a rating of 2 stars or less is biased coz I won’t enjy the genre anyway. So, yeah the rating struggle is real! 🙌🏼

[@witchf4ce310]

Manaal Siddiqui I mean you still go off of your own personal enjoyment? You can’t feel a way about a book that you simply don’t. I read a romance heavy fantasy book recently even though I don’t love romance, and I rated it 2 stars. Because I simply didn’t enjoy it, not only because of the romance, but I didn’t care for the romance either. I can’t rate it higher just because others might enjoy it, that feels so silly to me.

[@chocoholizzie]

Yeah it's difficult. I'm not likely to read books that I won't enjoy, but for example I read Paper Towns by John Green with my partner and forced my way to the end (when normally I'd have DNF'd) as we were reading it together, but I couldn't even objectively view it in the way people who like it, and who like that genre, clearly did - I gave it 2 stars but I did objectively imo have good reasons. I do think there are other books of his I might have rated higher, though, haven't read any others that i recall though. Turtles, for example.

[@manaalsidd]

Purp1eSeren1ty I gave turtles all the way down a 2 star. The missing father plot was unnecessary to the story and it wasn’t well written. I’m a person who suffers from anxiety and it could have been better.

[@chocoholizzie]

@@manaalsidd That's interesting to hear, as I've generally only heard good things about it.

[@isastar940]

So many ppl hate romance... 😞

[@jenb7780]

Instead of continuing the main A Song of Ice and Fire series, maybe try A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. It takes place about 100 years before the saga and is much lighter and more fun and complete!

[@ninnusridhar]

About Martin I couldn't agree more. I'm more of a Tolkien/Sanderson guy and Martin is too intense. Unkindness sounds like a book version of fate/stay night!

[@michaelmartinez7414]

Hey, just noticed your channel already passed 60k. Congrats!

[@thidalaymyint9853]

after 9 months later, 172K

[@blobaloo]

I always rate books by enjoyment and I think everyone should. I come to your channel because we have similar tastes so if you rank something higher because of objectivity, you're persuading me to read a book you didn't enjoy yourself.

[@tulekahju]

Murphy: Wants to be fair to the Author even if the book wasn't to her liking. Me: Off with their head! I feel no obligation to spare the Author of my personal rating; I actually feel more obligated to be fair to the potential reader debating to pick up the book since it'll be them who has to pay, and I'd rather them pay with a rating reflective to how my experience was rather than me sparing the Author's feelings/reputation. Writing is subjective at the end of the day and everyone has their own personal opinions, and I follow reviewers for their opinions... not how they would critique the book if they were the Author's editor. Your rating should imho reflect your personal experience/enjoyment of the book, and to be honest (mention what you liked/disliked about it) in your review so that people who read/listen to them will have a better understanding if it may be for them or not. Believe it or not people don't go solely off of a star rating; I for instance read reviews and its there that they assist me into coming to some sort conclusion on whether or not I should read it myself. For instance I'm not a fan of YA but I have had some good reads in the YA genre. So if someone I follow whom has similar taste to me rates a YA book high I'll look for key phrases to see if it's the sort of YA that I can handle, because if they claim in their review that the characters don't act like imbeciles (the main reason I avoid YA), but make logical decisions then I would consider picking it up etc. P.S. Essentially, what I'm getting at is have your star rating reflect your personal enjoyment, but you may be more objective in the review. However, if you still have the desire to give an objective rating... do two ratings in the review one for enjoyment the other objective.

[@pleejithoj1712]

yesss!!!!

[@TheShadesofOrange]

The timing of this is too funny! I've literally been having this exact same conversation with Jade from Bedtime Bookworm on Voxer this week!

[@Grimscribe732]

Dude. A Game of Thrones? :O That book is probably the best, most expansive prologue ever written.

[@kingslayer3365]

Yeah, the prologue was REALLY good.

[@SnorriSnibble]

I do that, too, but reversed. I often give books I enjoyed 2 or 3 stars because I don't think they were objectively good. But sometimes I just need a quick and easy read, although I constantly roll my eyes. It's like Riverdale. Objectively not good, but still kinda fun to watch.

[@MaryAmongStories]

I agree about Eleanor Oliphant! I love Game of Thrones; Martin's writing is also not my favourite, but the story is amazing. I think you'll enjoy it once you continue :) great video x

[@ryanratchford2530]

Could you review the Stormlight books? I know you really like them but I can’t find any reviews you’ve done of them? I’d love to see what you like and why. And what issues you had. (Especially with Oathbringer which I have only been able to vague complaints)

[@melc5038]

I tbh want to hear your subject reviews. Not only because I will know if these books will be for me, but I also hope you enjoy your reading and reviewing books! This is the thing you love to do, so why, as a subscriber, not let you do it your own way? I believe something like objective reviews never exist, so I just love your contents and you being you. Well done so far Merphy

[@ivymuse]

I have this exact same problem, knowing that some books are just objectively worse or better than how you felt about them. I personally rate and review books more for the readers than the authors, so I tend to go with my feelings as the stronger deciding factor. I'm also not sure there even is an objective standard to measure a book's quality by. A single book will be read by ten different people in ten different ways, all having ten different opinions. But it's definitely an interesting conversation to have. I try to always distinguish between what I consider "objectively" bad or good elements (as far as that's possible to say) and things that just weren't my cup of tea. As a sidenote, a book I definitely rated too high was The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware^^ I just read it and even as I was writing my review and giving it four stars I realized it wasn't worth that much and that I actually had a lot of issues with the way the story went, but I just enjoyed myself SO MUCH while reading!

[@piecookies3488]

Yasssss marissa Meyers books are so fun. Her romances are so good and the ending of each book is super satisfying

[@alinao4246]

I definitely have the same problem. Sometimes I pick up a book when I’m not in the mood to read that particular genre, or I’m in a slump and I don’t enjoy it as much as I know I could. It happened with Wizard of Earthsea; like, objectively, I KNOW it’s a great book, but I was reading it on a deadline, in the middle of midterm season, so I was stressed and tired and I didn’t really enjoy the book much. I still gave it 3 stars (instead of 1) because I know it has the potential to be one of my favourite series. I’ll probably reread it someday when I’m actually in the mood for it and then maybe my feelings about it will change. Anyway, sorry for the long ass comment, great video as always!

[@maidenrohina]

I really struggled to physically read 'Game of Thrones' for a lot of the reasons that you mentioned but I found that I really enjoyed listening to them as audio books it took a lot of the repetition out of reading the same descriptions over and over again and I could just enjoy the story. It was a very different experience listening to them and one that I highly recommend trying if your struggling with the writing style.

[@SpirusOfH]

I personally think it's important for critics to base their scores on their own personal enjoyment. It's up to the reader/viewer to extrapolate from the critic's history and the specific negatives in the review whether or not to base their decision to buy the book on that review. I love A Song of Ice and Fire, so I have no need to listen to your reviews to determine whether to buy the next one (bad example, but you get it). Or with films, I love YourMovieSucks but I know he has a perticular disdain for blockbusters like superhero films, so I don't watch him to know whether this superhero film is better than the rest since he finds most of them bad anyway. I say: Review them how you feel about them personally and of course give reasons for low/high scores so that people know where you come from. In time, people will know your personal views on genres/tropes/whatever and view the videos with that in mind. Edit: I wrote this after the first minute of the video and ironically you start by tearing A Game of Thrones a new one. But of course, this only proves my point ;)

[@ScorpionFlower95]

Personally, whenever I feel like a low rating I'm gonna give may affect the author in a bad way, I tell myself "well, if they didn't want any low or medium ratings, maybe they shouldn't have publish it in the first place". This may sound mean but I don't care. If I feel that a low or medium rating may affect the audience, that's why I write reviews for. For other people to see what I liked and what I did not and decide for themselves if they are gonna read it

[@trishareddy2570]

I’ve recently started reading a Song of Ice and Fire. The writing style bothers me slightly, but I like all the darkness

[@samtepal3892]

The writing style actually gets better and better by the series going forward

[@trishareddy2570]

Samte Pal That’s what I’ve been noticing as well. I just finished a Storm of Swords and I was hardly able to put it down.

[@rochoa7408]

Trisha Reddy Storm of Swords is honestly a masterpiece. The twists, the reveals, the darkness. It’s all masterfully executed.

[@ves138]

I couldn’t ge tpast the writing style tbh so I turned to The Broken Empire trilogy which was apperently simillar in some ways. And I loved it, Lawrence’s weiting style is my absolute favourite at the moment so I recommend those for anyone who likes grimdark!

[@70spoem]

i'm reading it rn too!

[@Наиля-о7к]

Oh man, Martin's writing style is my favourite ever. It even topped a decade-long favourite in Dostoevsky. But these are a matter of preference. I am happy you rated this book highly and recognised its merit despite your subjective preference ☺️

[@lostinabookcase3796]

You're the reason I really want to read An Unkindness of Magicians. I've never seen it in book stores!

[@katyareads221]

"The Exile" by Diana Gabaldon. It is a graphic novel which recreates the first half of "Outlander" (1st book of the series by the same name). Anyway, it took the first half of book one and added a bit of a prequel to it and told it from another characters point of view. LOVED it! Probably because I love her character development and plot. Having read book one of the series, this added extra info and answered questions I had....,filled in the holes so to speak. Outlander is a series which centers around a 1940's combat nurse who is thrown back to Scotland just before the 1745 Jacobite rising. She meets and falls for a young highlander and together they try to change history. It is romance, some fantasy (time travel, changing history and the consequences to the future) and historical fiction all wrapped up in one. The author's excessive word smithing can be overwhelming to some....but I don't mind it. Her description of what Jamie experiences as he wakes (near death) on a battle field as he slips away in "Voyager" is amazing. I hadn't ever read anything like that before. I was taken there. But that is another book and she already has a prequel....i find it overkill and confusing. The series is the story of this highlander Jamie told through this time traveler, Claire. The shortest book is some 800 pages. I don't always like the order in which things happen either....i prefer a little less storytelling and bring that info in when we need to know or maybe in a flashback. This author doesn't use an outline....you can tell. Okay, I gave it a 5 because it was so interesting. So amazing and because I love the series. But that is not a fair review is it? My biggest problem is that I did not like the artist's interpretation of what the main characters are in my mind. Plus, I feel adding extra stuff that doesn't jive with the series is frustrating.....to me they are not in sync. If I am going to be honest.....It was a solid 3.5 to 4.....but because I enjoyed it dispute the issues....it got a 5 from me....maybe a 4.6. Forney video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/javYg5iEhauBf68

[@ravenrose7094]

I agree about The Bear and the Nightingale. I kept waiting for the plot to start. We got little hints that it was about to pick up, but then it just didn't. It stopped me from really getting into the book, even though I liked the writing style.

[@spongend181]

I have this same problem when posting reviews on Goodreads, like I don't know if I'm rating books too high or too low; it's so interesting listening to your reasoning behind each book and their reviews!!!!

[@angelinepieterse9217]

I haven't read anything mentioned in this video except for Game Of Thrones and i completely agree. I got the boxset for Christmas three years ago and read the first book. I was 100 pages away from finishing the second one when i gave up. . It had a negative impact on me. Everything about it was just too much. And i say this as someone who loves grimdark fantasy like Nevernight and The Book Of the Ancestor trilogy by Mark Lawrence. I personally think that Game Of Thrones is just plain Adult as it was written before grimdark was actually a thing. But if i may make suggestion for a book i think you mighty enjoy. The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. If you haven't read it already. Iets my favorite book that i read this year. Lots of love to you.💘💘Happy reading 📚

[@kimsbookkorner7210]

You’ve talked me into adding another book to my TBR list: unkindness of magicians. So many good books, so little time to actually read.

[@AmbienceLab]

When I was watching your review on GoT it really didn't feel like you enjoyed it as much as 4 out of 5 stars, really. Anyway, I usually just watch your reviews on books, they tell me so much more about what I need to know about my next book investigation than just a simple star system. Maybe, if it's not too much work, for the future you could have multiple star ratings in your videos? Like ratings for writing style, story, personal enjoyment and narrating (in case of an audio book). Just an idea :)

[@g.chatterjee2296]

That's a great idea.

[@shadowblackheart7556]

I know, it is hard to rate a book sometimes, and I’m only doing it for myself. You also think of the author and what they were trying to achieve, and that complicates it even more. But if I’m being honest, I would appreciate it more if people rated books solely for their enjoyment level. I can decide for myself if I’ll read it or not. If there’s a book I’m excited about, I’ll still read it, despite a bad review, to see what I think of it.

[@armadillolover99]

I just recently finally read An Unkindness of Magicians based on your rec and I have to agree with what you said here. Also I was a little disappointed with some of the battles, they just seemed to be resolved too quickly. But overall great story, I enjoyed the characters and the world, I just hope when the sequel finally does come out that Kat Howard has fixed those few criticisms I have for the original.

[@evilgenius4213]

I honestly hadn't thought too much about what my rating for a book would do to or for an author before now. In general, I rate based on my enjoyment of the book. I believe that, with very few exceptions, there are readers out there for every book and just because I don't happen to be one of them doesn't mean that the book/writing is bad. I always think that it is implied in the review that these are the reviewer's thoughts and experiences and other readers' mileage will vary. Of course, at the same time for someone who has a significant amount of followers, the impact of what they have to say may make a much bigger difference. I get it. Ratings are difficult to figure out how to be fair with and balance how well a book is objectively written and how well you, personally, enjoyed it.

[@TheBirdofInferno]

My rating scale is almost exclusively three to five stars. Three means I didn’t particularly like it or it was okay/would not read again, four means I liked it/may or may not read it again, five means I loved it/will probably read again. Anything less than that means that the book was poorly written or I just hated it. It’s very seldom that I find a book that falls under that. Anyone who knows me personally knows that that’s my scale.

[@kostadinbodurov7430]

My last comment got way too big, so figured to make a short one. I believe to be a great A Song of Ice and Fire promoter, but I will not use any of my skills to make you read it. I will just note that watching the video where you review A Game of Thrones is great and you are very passionate about reading the book. You criticize some of the things you did not like, but in general you were pretty hyped about it in a positive way.... you were looking for criticism, but you genuinely enjoyed it and it was apparent from your mood on the screen. Think of that emotional roller coster Martin created in your head and there is nothing wrong to hate and love at the same time... many ppl say that love and hate are as close as it gets to an emotional state. Many Hollywood screen writers made a living mixing them up.

[@catcreme]

How you feel about Marissa Meyer is how I feel about Cassandra Clare. Objectively, her books aren't A+ literature but the way she writes and how she writes speaks to me and for some reason I like it.

[@Sheuto]

I took a writing class in which we were grading each other's stories and had to come up with a grading system. So we came up with an objective system,, how many points for the plot, how many for character development, etc. then which percentage of the total would correspond to each grade. Then we decided to add a few points for "fun factor" basically whether we subjectively liked the story or not. Fun factor could bump the grade higher or lower it slightly, but the overall grade was mostly objective. I think you could do something like that here as well on this channel. You could even visualize it - say the subjective rating first and show for example 3 stars. Then if your personal enjoyment bumped it up add an extra star (or erase one). Could even color code it. Say, the objective rating would be gold stars, but if you add a star it is green or if you erase a star it turns red. That would very clearly communicate the nuance of how you feel about the book. I think your Goodreads reviews should be objective though since it's a public social media website and the ratings there go to the overall average for the book. It's not okay to lower their ratings there because

[@Sheuto]

Or instead of adding/removing stars a something like a "seal of approval" basically whether you recommend reading the particular book or not based on your personal preference. A 5 star book could not get the seal even though it's objectively amazing. A two star book could get a seal if you liked it for some personal reason. Etc.

[@bobkeane7966]

I read the Song of Ice and Fire because i heard the hype from the HBO series and really enjoyed the books. I liked how you put it I don't need to like the same books you do to appreciate your reviews as long as your honest about why you like or dislike something it can point me towards new books or authors.

[@rashed434]

I’m surprised you don’t like Martin’s writing style. I find it straightforward yet beautiful and without being flowery. As dark as it is, there are some chapters that give you such great, magical feeling.

[@observemedia423]

How you feel about Martin is just about how I feel about Sanderson. Or at least, Mistborn. You've highly praised it on 45 videos. And I WANTED to love the book, I'm 100 pages in and I dropped it for the time being. I'm just NOT interested at all. And I should be. It's a cool premise, cool magic system. The pieces are all there. Must be Sanderson...

[@ladylizcreates7719]

Try skyward. Very different writing style. But still a Sanderson novel.

[@YTLawnGnome]

I am with you on Renegades. I really enjoy the story and the characters. I also love how Meyer writes villains.

[@fatimaachnine1318]

I am not a fan of rating books in general because I am not always sure whether to talk about them objectively or subjectively. I decided to just not rate books at all because I realized that ultimately, reading is a very subjective activity.

[@g.chatterjee2296]

Same here

[@FairladyZ2005]

One more thing I would say about Martin is to try one of his less gory writing. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms while collects all the Dunk &Egg Tales so far, The Ice Dragon, or Windhaven are all YA and much more within my comfort zone.

[@starfruit2513]

I agree with your comments on Marissa Meyer! I'm not really interested in superheros, but she made those books great. I can't even pinpoint what it is about her writing, but I love all her books.

[@stews9]

No such thing as you talking too long, Merphy. Seriously, always a joy. Brava.

[@sethhale235]

I was super confused when I saw the thumbnail. I had to read it two or three times before I realized it didn't say, "Books I Read Too High." I was just like, okay... I guess it's confession time from Merphy.

[@kittymachine3798]

I appreciate how thoughtful you are! And I wish there was a simple solution... When there's a significant disparity between the objective quality of the book and my personal enjoyment, I will often list that in detail in my Goodreads review, and then average it out. With you having a KZbin channel, it's an even better opportunity to describe the pros and cons like you did in this video. Wouldn't it be great if Goodreads allowed us to give ratings in different areas like this? And while we're at it, can we please please please have a 10 Star range rather than 5??!

[@colburn0004]

"I'll end it here because I've been talking too long." Not Possible!

[@larryhammond5907]

I agree about Martin's writing style, or more specifically his narrative voice. It's why I stopped reading the series after the first book. He deserves credit for the world-building and characters, etc, but narrative voice is robotic and gets the job done, but offers little else.

[@cynthiapayne9906]

Completely off-topic, but your hair today just looks fabulously movie-star ready :)

[@rutwijzadpe5054]

Congratulation for 60K subs. 😊😊

[@taneems.3219]

Thanks Merphy for recommending The Remnant chronicles, I just read them and I loved them😊

[@elrilmoonweaver4723]

After I write an in depth review on books, in Goodreads, I always have a section that consists of breaking down the various elements of the story from 1 to 10 (setting and atmosphere, plot, characters, writing, worlbuilding, pacing etc) and the last of the elements I rate is "Personal Enjoyment". After that I make an average score. I do this because 1. I don't like how vague the star rating system is in Goodreads in general and 2. I can't always reflect my feeling towards a book but JUST giving it an overall rating.

[@jaimeerindy4573]

This is always a struggle. But at the end of the day, I watch your channel and others because I find myself naturally agreeing with your opinions, so I don't mind the subjectivity of the rating. Also, it can be a well written book, no glaring issues, but if it do something that made me really enjoy it, it's not an average book that's going to get an average score

[@leithskilling552]

“Whatever I say is WRONG” 😂😂😂

[@Wats06071]

I think the rating should definetly be overwhelmingly personal. I don't think the reader owes writers anything (That doesn't mean slander or deliberate sabotaging though). Of course I have HUGE sympathy for writers, but what distingush reviewers is their originality and unique voice. The reviewer biggest USP is their personal opinion. That said, rating is notoriously hard even if it is personal.

[@elinamauno8833]

Archenemies was really hard for me to review as well. I think I gave it 4 stars because I enjoyed everything that happened, but I couldn't give it 5 because it didn't go anywhere at all. Like even considering the title, I was just waiting for their covers to finally blow so it would move forward, so it felt like it was kind of pointless. But yeah haha I did the same thing, gave it 4 stars, but personally I still agree with my rating. This was a fun list. I have the same feelings with Game of Thrones, and have different opinions on two of the other books and haven't read the rest. Anyway, this is a great video and these kinds of videos help me take books off potential books for me to read when many booktubers give me warnings about things in them that I also dislike :D

[@imperatrice211]

I try to always find a balance between enjoyment and objectivity whenever I rate books, obviously it's hard but I personally don't mind giving a low rating to a book even if the book is probably good for some people, it is MY rating :) Then again, I get that a lot of people give too much credit to ratings and then might not end up buying a book because of it but there's hardly ever just one person rating a book so if you follow enough people, you can get more of a fair assessment of a book, I think :)

[@callmeaftercoffee]

Oh my gosh. So when you were reading book 2 of asoiaf, I hadn't started it yet or just barely started it (rereading). Anyway- where I'm going with this is I LOVED BOOK ONE and rereading it I stilled loved it. Started book two and I have been struggling. I looked back and apparently the first time around I started book 2 and read about half, then set it down FOR TWO YEARS and then eventually finished the last half. No wonder I'm struggling 😂😂😂. Definitely the worst of the series I'd say so far. The rest I remember reading rather quickly until book 5 I think slowed a bit (from what I remember). But it's funny because as I go through I'll be updating my ratings. I just threw 5 stars at them all because I couldn't remember from one book to the next. This time around I'm annotating them all and making thorough notes on each one.

[@oliviamcneil3101]

Wait a minute… A book can be good and someone can still dislike it…? I mean twilight is an example of a not good book and someone liking it despite that, but a good book being disliked? wow, you learn something new every day.

[@staceysantos4564]

I felt the same way about A Game of Thrones. Loved the first 2 books, liked the 3rd, hated the 4th and stopped halfway. That's where I stopped enjoying myself. I think your basis of rating books is actually good and logical. Not all people can put aside their opinions and look at things objectively. I think that's very important especially for someone who does reviews on one of the biggest platforms ever invented.

[@andrewgreenwood9068]

i completely agree about a game of thrones. the (in my opinion) overly dark setting just made it hard for me to get invested and i ended up getting confused about what was going on because of that. i like darkness in my stories whether they be books, films or games but i need some light to make that mean something.

[@L0B0_1]

ever do a review on the sequel for unkindness of magicians? sleight of shadows was pretty good at first I thought, but the ending was kind of rushed in my opinion, I'd love to see what you think though?

[@danielsteffee7957]

I'd like to see a comparison of Robert Jordan's prose with GRRM's, a breakdown of why some readers might gravitate to one or the other. I bring this up because I loved Game of Thrones and its sequels, but gave up on Wheel of Time after 200 pages because I thought the prose, pacing, everything absolutely dragged. So when I see one of my favorite booktubers have the opposite reaction, it makes me want to dig deeper!

[@magicijan]

I get what you are saying and considering the number of your followers I understand why you sometimes give a higher rating. Personally, I rate books subjectively since it is more convenient and since I read purely for fun.

[@janemack2667]

I love your thinking. Wanting to be fair to authors is so appreciated (unpublished author here). I don't think it is necessarily unfair, though, to give a rating based on your enjoyment/your experience/your preferences. All reviews are subjective. Not every book is everyone's cup of tea. If your review comments fairly on how well written a book is, credits strengths, and explains what you didn't like, that's enough. I do think it's not fair to review books in a genre you don't like-because then you're always going to give a lower rating. But rating books in a genre you do read, do like and describing your personal experience is helpful.

[@timelord1040]

The book for me was Daisy Jones and the Six. I was very conflicted when rating that book.

[@manaalsidd]

For me my dilemma with ratings come with the popularity of the book. Many times, books that are hyped way too much on social media tend to disappoint. Like Vicious...everyone on booktube loves it except me. I thought the story could have been better, more exciting. Also, I don’t like V E Schwab’s writing style so ended up giving it a 3 star when it was like a 2 star read for me.

[@LittleJoSleep]

I personally prefer reviews to be personal opinions. It's fun to see how other people felt about a book, regardless of what I thought about it, or regardless of how absurd I think their opinions are compared to my (obviously correct 😉) opinion.

[@lucaleone4331]

Omg! Arch enemies! That's funny bc I saw ur review on good reads and even commented I was confused bc your review was basically negative but star rating so high. But dont worry I gave it a one star to balance you out:P Honestly it felt like it was a money grab. It could have been a duology, trilogy is completely unnecessary.

[@skynikan]

I feel your struggle! God, once you think about it, it's really bad figuring out what is "the right thing to do". As an anonymous reader I have no problem going for a rating that reflects my enjoyment. On the other hand, if I go out with it any try to tell others if it's worth a read, I have the responsibility to be honest and apreciate if it's actually done well. Let's just try to think of it this way: There is always a reason why you may or may not like a book. The author doesn't write it for you personally so preferences can differ. The overall rating you see reflects the average rating of all the readers. If many people didn't enjoy it, something doesn't appeal to the average reader. But there's still people who like it and weigh it out. In the end, you have a written or spoken review of it that goes into detail what you liked about it. Example: I like romance, but I know Merphy doesn't love it. So when she talks about the romance in a book as something negative, I know it might actually be for me! So it is my responsibility as a viewer to wait and see what you have to say.

[@ACourtofHooksAndBooks]

The plot in the winter night trilogy actually develops in the next book haha

[@theblackdahlia88]

I tried reading the second book 3 times, got through the first 3 chapters and DFN'd it. I prefer character centric books and there isn't enough character development for me to continue with it. When does it pick up in book 2?

[@jenb7780]

Your thoughts on Marissa Meyer's books are how I am with Richelle Mead's writing, lol

[@ladylizcreates7719]

I only completed game of thrones because of the world building and characters. I suffered through it because of his writing style. It's so intense. And it gets worse the further you go.

[@joecourtney8552]

I think The First Fifteens Lives Of Harry August falls into this for me. I enjoyed it, found it very creative and cool but so much back and side stories. I also think it was meant to be super thought provoking and I’m not one for deep thinking from books, never do contemporary. I see why people like it more and I really did enjoy it but there was a majority where I felt like I was forcing myself to read it.

[@WyldeTripKY]

I have a question, Merphy. What is the book that you fell in love with the QUICKEST? For me it's The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch. I've never been so fascinated with a book so early. Not even sure if you've read it.

[@natasagajic1061]

Maybe if/when you decide to try A Song of Ice and Fire again, maybe watch the first season of the show, just to see if you would enjoy it more than the book (I enjoyed the first season of the show a lot more than the first book, the actors are top notch and have brought the characters to live beautifully). Spec since one of the things that bothers you most is Martin's writing style. Just an idea :)

[@georgeheingartner6995]

PS... agreed re GRRM. I suspect many of his fans enjoy immersion in Westeros more than his prose style. Also, Grimdark is totally played out. Two or less for Bear & Nightingale? So it’s to be war, eh Napier?

[@willprotector]

For C.S. Lewis' thoughts on pain and grief try, "The Problem of Pain." it was written before "A Grief Observed."

[@Regina.Falange]

I rate based on my tastes, but I always add in my review one of these: I liked it, I didn’t liked it or it was ok (that’s the neutral). That way people can gauge if my star rating correlate with theirs.

[@happyreadingwatching1597]

I keep reading Marissa Meyer books even though I don't enjoy them. Idk why I do, maybe because I loved the Lunar Chronicles so much!!!❤

[@mandypandyjack]

When the title of this popped up on my phone this morning, I read it sleepy and bleary-eyed. I initially thought it read “Books I Read Too High” 😂

[@dartagnanjames8069]

I absolutely LOVE A Song of Ice and Fire; however I can only fully enjoy it through audiobook. I tried reading it, eventually I succeeded in reading it, but without the audiobooks I really wouldn't be able to get immersed in the way I want too. Reading Martin, his writing style is hard to fall into for me. It really does lend itself to the audiobook platform though.

[@goodstrongwords]

I feel like classics are definitely the easiest to rate, because most of the authors are dead so you don’t have to worry about them. Plus they’re already classics so no matter what you think about it, people are still likely to just give it a shot because it’s a classic :)

[@aislingcooney1371]

Love your hair in this vid 😍

[@clementmwanza5150]

Crazy how you described The Bear and the Nightingale is how I felt about American Gods. I felt like I was getting a tour of America (road trip) from city to city without really learning anything about the gods or the actual plot but every once in a while someone would say "A storm is coming". So I DNF'd like 55% into the book. Plus I found shadow dry and boring..

[@clementmwanza5150]

Still understand why people would love it though..

[@ACourtofHooksAndBooks]

Animal violence or sexual assault ALWAYS puts me off reading a story I cant even tell you how many books I've dnfd for having that

[@taylor_green_9]

I read a book by C. S. Lewis called Till We Have Faces. I was slightly dissapointed to find that the book was about faith because that doesn't connect with me, but it was still an excellent book and I enjoyed almost all of it

[@bookellenic1327]

If it makes you feel any better, I often struggle with the rating as well. I tend to rate books higher and then thinking that they don't reflect my actual reading experience, which is why when I rate a book 1-2 stars, I don't feel as bad. I also think the 3-star rating has the widest range of books, but what it primarily says is: "This is not a bad book". It doesn't say it's a good book either, but we can't have it all. In the end, reviews cannot be objective. That is their whole point. So the main issue for the reviewer is balancing their "reviewing integrity" (let's pretend that's a thing) and personal taste.

[@apoorvajangale9667]

I dnf'ed arch enemies I got the middle book syndrome vibes from it. And I like romance I read romance too, so I think this is the first time we haven't had the same reading taste and I am shocked!!! 😂

[@Theblondebass1]

How do you rate books, when one scene or part completely cut off your enjoyment?