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

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 08 Jun 2015, 13:43

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Ooooohhhhhhh. Thanks a lot, tool!

zeldas_lullaby · Post by **zeldas_lullaby** » 08 Jun 2015, 13:43

HA HA HA! I'm just messing with you.

LeD292910 · Post by **LeD292910** » 08 Jun 2015, 16:57

I don't think it is fair to review a book you did not finish reading. If you don't like what you are reading and don't want to continue that is fine, but don't review the book then. If you want to review a book you should read the book. Maybe the beginning will be slow and hard to read for whatever reason. The book may become interesting as the story continues. You will never be able to fully know the book unless you have thoroughly read it.

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 09 Jun 2015, 08:19

Tool is also the name of a band from my high school days.

litmonster · Post by **litmonster** » 09 Jun 2015, 09:36

ALynnPowers wrote:I always try to rate or review a book after I have finished reading it, either on Goodreads or Amazon or both.

Recently I was looking through some reviews for a book I was interested in reading and found SEVERAL 1 star reviews for the book with the comment "DNF" or "did not finsh" or something to that degree. I was SHOCKED. People really do this? Give1 stars to a book even if they didn't read the whole thing? How do you know that it's worth only 1 star if you didn't read to the end?

It's shocking to me and I can't even imagine giving a rating to a book without reading the whole thing, even if I hated it at the beginning. The ending is always what makes or breaks the book for me, anyway.

So how about how? Can you rate books even before you finish?

I suppose my real question is always, why didn't you finish the book? While I have seen some reviews that give low rating scores to books they did not finish but I found absolutely wonderful, I think the bigger question is whether or not the reason for no longer continuing a book is properly explained. If a book has characters that just don't vibe with me, or the story isn't quite what I thought it was going to be, is a very different issue than a book lacking character development entirely, lack of dynamic characters, or enthralling story.

I have felt the desire to review a book that I did not finish reading, but it was mostly because the book was so terrible I wanted to warn anyone who mistakenly thought the plot sounded interesting, as I did, from picking it up and submitting themselves to sometimes poor excuses for literature.

Simply, I would take a reviewers' remarks into account if they not finished a book, but only if they sincerely explain why the book was unfinished, and still worthy of a review.

penquinmadness94 · Post by **penquinmadness94** » 09 Jun 2015, 11:47

I would never review a book if i didn't finish it. I don't see the point if you didn't read it how would you know what to say when you review it. You need to read the whole thing to know what personality the characters have and how the writer sets out scenes whether they didn't describe the for example the room properly or whether they did. I don't think it's fair to review a book without reading it first

Tusa Lark · Post by **Tusa Lark** » 09 Jun 2015, 12:18

No, I don't think I could do that. It just doesn't really seem fair to the author to just trash their book (or praise it as being from the heavens) without accurately gauging it in its entirety. And honestly, what I find bad might be what someone else absolutely adores, and who am I to tell them that they're wrong just because I didn't get it the way they did? I see no point in insulting another's self for being different from my own.

Now, as for the book itself... well, really, if I dropped it in the first place, shouldn't that be enough of a clue as to how I felt about it without my needing to submit incomplete reviews of it?

kimcormack · Post by **kimcormack** » 09 Jun 2015, 13:42

I always read the teaser on Amazon or ask for the first chapters. I usually know by then if I'm interested in reviewing the book in it's entirety. I always finish the book if I agree to review it.

Emmers00 · Post by **Emmers00** » 09 Jun 2015, 16:59

I don't if I don't finish them. Bit if I hated a book I finished I will make that very clear in my review

MarieMc · Post by **MarieMc** » 09 Jun 2015, 17:33

I was reading a book that had terrible grammar issues, spelling issues and many statements did not make sense. I did not finish the book because I became so distracted by all the errors I could not focus on the story. Part of writing is putting the story together in a readable form. I feel that if I didn't honestly tell the author that the writing and grammar were awful it will hinder their growth as a writer. Rating the book is part of that process. I hope that the author rewrites the book and tries again. Then maybe I can make it through the whole thing.

colemaba · Post by **colemaba** » 09 Jun 2015, 21:55

I don't rate books that I don't finish, because I don't think I could do it justice unless I simply hate the book in its entirety, then I feel like I should notify others of how bad the book is.

skgolden · Post by **skgolden** » 10 Jun 2015, 08:34

I have not reviewed a book I did not finish, to me if the book was not interesting to me that does not mean someone else read it and fell in love, to each his own. I cannot and will not ever do so, it's not worth it. I have read through books that I could not stand but that was when I was required to read them all the way through. And in some cases I have ended up liking the book and in other cases I felt like my time could have been spent on many other books! To close, I will not rate or review a book I did not finish its not worth the time or effort when other people could have enjoyed the book and/or actually finished the book to give a better description of the book.