I’ll go with the low-hanging fruit: Mein Kampf. I’ve read it, cover to cover. As a piece of propaganda, it’s good. As an example of good writing? Absolutely not (though I will admit I have only read it in translation). Oh, and the whole fascist, racist, and generally shitty worldview of the author that he infuses into the text. And the fact that the author is literally Hitler. You 5-star that book? You’re a Nazi. Period. And as a Jewish person, I don’t look too kindly on them.
Feel like it depends on why you’re rating one of those books 5 stars. I would rate a book I enjoyed a lot 5 stars if it scratched the itch I had, and that itch can vary. Obviously rating it 5 stars based on literary value is a no, but not everyone rates based on that.
That’s what I was going to say as well. A “trashy” romance can be 5 stars in a totally different way than a “real” book would be. Does it perform its function perfectly, giving me a little happy moment and some butterflies in my stomach? Great! 5 stars!
Although to be fair, if a date asked me for a 5 star book I probably wouldn’t mention a romance or ya book.
I think most people would save the 5 stars for books that are genuinely good. A trashy guilty pleasure might be 4 stars, as most can recognize a fun book that isn’t technically good.
The evidence said another though the good one of those type of books still got review around 4+, hence I think most people vote like me and didn’t have one standard criteria.
Some book if it fullfill their purpose like I have fun while reading and it is a page turner then I would give it a 5 star but if that same book happen to short list booker price then it might 2 or somthing like that.
Why would 4 stars be any more reasonable than 5? If you think the quality is bad no matter what, shouldn’t it always be a 1? I think most people can look at the grumpy billionaire’s babysitter and think, “hmmm even though people seem to like it a lot, I probably won’t get Anna Karenina-like societal commentary from this.”
Is nuance not a thing? Only good or bad, like or hate, 5 or 1. Nah.
Is nuance not a thing? Can I not rate a book that fulfillls its function perfectly as 5 even if it’s prose quality isn’t as good as a 20th century classic that fulfills its own function perfectly? Can I not rate 2 separate books a 5 out of 5 for completely different reasons?
You can do whatever you like. I don’t personally get it, but okay.
Youre the one who demanded nuance but refused to acknowledge there’s nuance to what criteria people use to give out (personal) book ratings.
Unless you create a standardized criteria it’s all just based on what the reader wanted and how well the author delivered on expectations