Is StoryGraph a viable Goodreads alternative? A comprehensive review from a bookworm

Goodreads works pretty well as a book-tracking app. But it’s owned by Amazon, which doesn’t invest in renewing its features. Now, there’s an alternative called The StoryGraph, and it looks interesting.

I’ve used Goodreads for years now. I read a lot, 50-60 books per year, and at times, it can become difficult to remember whether you’ve actually heard the story before, so to speak.

Set up a reading challenge at the beginning of the year, and you’re good to go. And when you’re short on time, just drop a book you might want to pick up into your to-read list. It’s simple and quite neat, especially since Goodreads is connected to your Kindle – also owned by Amazon.

However, it’s also a bit boring. When you stop and think about it, Goodreads hasn’t really changed at all since it began its journey around the web in 2006. New features and insights are lacking, and the interface is still this clunky log of books you or your connected friends are reading and ranking.

The problem with reviews

Plus, there’s the issue of book reviews. Amazon, the tech giant that bought Goodreads in 2013, is plagued with fake product reviews. According to a 2023 study that examined 33.5 million reviews for bestselling products on Amazon, almost every other review, or 43%, was fake.

Making decisions on what kind of air fryer to buy on the world’s largest e-commerce website is thus tricky. But that’s an air fryer – no biggie. What about, say, a young writer who’s trying to break out but is suddenly hit by extremely poor and suspicious reviews on Goodreads?

It happened to me as a potential buyer of this or that book more than once. I used to delve into Goodreads reviews to make up my mind about the purchase, even though I already liked the plot summary anyway, and sometimes chose something else. I don’t do that anymore.

Writers can also cheat. In 2023, a publisher dropped Cair Corrain and scrapped her planned book after she admitted to creating fake Goodreads accounts to boost the ratings on her own work. Vanity works both ways.

Finally, I’m not really comfortable with the very fact that Goodreads is owned by Amazon. It’s a merciless tech corporation exploiting its warehouse workers en masse and underpaying staff for the sake of record profits every year.

So when I heard there was an alternative to Goodreads – an independent book tracker called The StoryGraph launched by book-loving Londoner Nadia Odunayo – I had to try it out.

My experience is just beginning (shame on me because the app was actually launched in 2019), but here’s what I like about The StoryGraph and what could still be improved.

The devil is in the details

Firstly, fret not if you’ve been using Goodreads for ages and are afraid that all that personalized content will be gone when you switch to The StoryGraph. It’s really quite easy to import Goodreads data to its alternative.

Once you register to The StoryGraph, the app suggests importing your Goodreads data. You then go to the Goodreads website, hit the “Export Library” button, download the CSV file, and upload it onto your account on The StoryGraph.

When I did this, the app told me I might have to wait up to 72 hours. But half an hour later my data was already there on The StoryGraph – integration is pretty fast. I had 537 books on my Goodreads page, after all.

Alright, time to explore – quite literally. Click on “Explore” and see the new you. There’s a “To-Read Pile,” your current reads, and a little list of books that are popular this week in the StoryGraph community.

You can also get smart personalized recommendations once you share your reading preferences by taking a survey. “Our machine learning AI is like your trusted go-to friend for book recommendations,” The StoryGraph promises.

The survey, though, is a bit too complex. What’s your favorite genre? Name five, the app says. And how about “reference reads?”

The app wants you to name the books for the system to refer to while generating the recommendations, for example. You can also name characteristics you appreciate the most in books.

After adding a bit of Margaret Atwood, Donna Tart, Mark Twain, and saying that I like “high-quality writing” and “learning about the human experience,” I had my recommendations ready.

And it’s truly great. Some results are based on my survey, others rely on my recent reads, and there’s also a list of books “similar users loved.”

I’m not sure, though, I will want to read about “The End of Men,” but maybe? The StoryGraph has also created a category called “Out of your comfort zone…”

The best surprise awaits when you actually click on a book. That’s what I did with “Prophet Song” by Paul Lynch, a dystopian novel that won the 2023 Booker Prize.

The StoryGraph tells you the book’s rating, of course. In the case of “Prophet Song,” it’s 4.14.

But it also tells you the book's pace (61% think it’s medium), whether it’s plot or character-driven, and what the users think the book's mood is (90% say it’s dark, and only 1% deem it inspiring).

You cannot leave comments on reviews. That’s a conscious decision by Odunayo, who told The Guardian recently that she wanted to avoid a situation “where anyone can just comment on your review, and you’ve got to deal with being scared to put reviews up there.”

In fact, you have to click through quite a bit until you reach and read the actual reviews. It seems to me The StoryGraph simply thinks its collective data about books is more useful than, say, a review coming from the place of personal antipathy.

Buddy reads and yearly wraps

Just like on Goodreads, The StoryGraph users can easily set up their reading challenges. Unlike on Goodreads, though, you can set a pages or hours goal – because reading 40 slim and casual books is not the same as reading 40 thick and complex ones, right?

But there’s more. Again, I’m new but I will definitely be trying to attract some of my IRL mates to try The StoryGraph out because I’m fascinated by the “Buddy Reads” feature. It’s basically what it sounds like – the ability to read the same book alongside your buddies.

Yes, it’s a sort of book club, and it’s spoiler-free. Just like in a book club, you can discuss the contents of the book with your buddies (they have to be your StoryGraph friends) by leaving comments – but others will only be able to read your observations once they, too, reach that particular point in the book.

The “Stats” page is also lovely. Just like on Spotify, you can generate your “Reading Wrap-up” for the year, and it’s pretty insightful.

There’s the list of books you read, sure, but there’s also a graphic showing how many books and pages you read each month, and you can see what genres you spent the most time with throughout the year.

The StoryGraph also gave me a mood map of my reading in 2024. It’s accurate – I began the year with lighter choices but the books got darker in October when it became clear Trump was about to occupy the White House again. Only kidding.

In sum, The StoryGraph feels interesting. It makes me want to read more. Yes, the app needs tinkering with (although the “Roadmap” page suggests there’s a consistent effort to improve things). And with 3.8 million active users, it’s still a bit small, especially when you compare it with 150 million Goodreads users.

But the feeling that you’re using an app and your data isn’t automatically owned by a tech giant is one of quiet satisfaction, indeed. The StoryGraph may only ask for your email and payment information (there’s a Plus plan for five bucks a month).

On Goodreads, users are faced with the inevitable note that their data will be correlated with the information Amazon already has. And that’s a little depressing.