Goodreads has added half and quarter stars to its book ratings, giving readers more options between a one-star disappointment and a five-star favorite. The update went live on October 5, and readers can now choose scores from 0.25 to 5 stars in quarter-star increments.
The change follows years of requests for more precise ratings. In its announcement of the new system, Goodreads calls fractional stars its readers’ most requested feature.
For anyone who has written “3.5 stars” at the top of a review while choosing three or four stars in the rating box, that extra precision can now be part of the rating itself. A book that falls between four and five stars can receive 4.25, 4.5 or 4.75, depending on how the reader feels about it.
How Goodreads displays half and quarter stars
The ratings chart on each book page still has five bars. Goodreads groups the new fractional scores into those existing bars, so the chart will not show a separate column for every possible rating.
Scores ending in .25 or .5 round down for the chart, while those ending in .75 round up. A 3.5-star rating appears in the three-star bar, for example, while a 3.75-star rating goes into the four-star bar. The one-star bar includes ratings from 0.25 through 1.5.
That grouping describes where a rating appears in the chart. Readers should not mistake the five-bar display for a return to whole-star choices: the individual rating can still use the new quarter-star increments.
What happens to your existing ratings?
Goodreads is leaving existing whole-star ratings as they are. If you previously gave a book four stars, it will remain a four-star rating unless you choose to edit it. There is no need to revisit your shelves unless you want to make those adjustments.
Written reviews are also unaffected, and the site’s review guidelines remain unchanged. Goodreads says average book ratings may move over time as readers use the more precise options. It expects those changes to balance out because readers have previously differed on whether to round their scores up or down.
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