Long-time romance author Milly Johnson said: “I had a one-star rating for a book that hadn’t even been seen by my copy editor. When I raised it with Goodreads they wouldn’t interfere as they said the reviewer had a perfect right to predict if they’d enjoy it or not.

What the fuck Goodreads?? This is like thoughtcrimes for books.

A good federated alternate to Goodreads is Bookwyrm

Leonie Mack, who has received a mysterious rating for her latest novel Head Over Wheels (Bedford Square), said: “Just yesterday, I had a one-star rating on a book that’s not out yet, from a brand new account listed in the Russian Federation that has no other reviews than my one-star rating.

Goodreads reviews have long been associated with review bombing, for example in 2021 Time revealed how some authors were [allegedly victims of extortion], facing demands to pay scammers to avoid bad reviews on the website.

God dammit. Goodreads enshittification.