It’s almost 2020! Which means that it’s a decent time for me to revamp my method of rating books.
I do love a good star rating so I’m sticking with that. However, I’m not going to be giving stars based on set criteria (writing style, character development, world-building, etc.) and instead I’m giving them based on how a book makes me feel. A lot of how a book is written and constructed lends to how it makes me feel so don’t worry, I’m not going to go all new age hippy dippy and rely only on my feelings. So lemme just break down how these feelings equate to stars.
★
1 star means I ‘effing hated it and finished it purely out of rage. This essentially means that the only reason why I finished the book was so that if someone asked me why I didn’t like it, I could tell them every single reason from start to finish as to why. This is a petty star filled with rage. The chance of me actually reviewing a book that I’ve given 1 star to is incredibly low.
★★
2 stars means that I finished the book with the expectation that it was going to get better and it never did or that it started off as a 3 star book and completely lost me by the end. It’s kind of like the “meh” of book ratings. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it, it’s kind of just a neutral.
★★★
3 stars means that I had a good time reading the book and I could see the effort that the author put into writing the book, but personally, it fell a bit flat for me either in terms of character development, world-building, or just plot. This is essentially my “You get an A for effort” stamp combined with a “It’s me and not you” speech.
★★★★
4 stars means that I really enjoyed reading it, had a great time reading it, but it’s not exactly something that I would reread without a reason, or go out and buy for my own bookshelf. It’s a bit like a sweet summer fling or a friendship that fizzled out with no ill feelings.
★★★★★
5 stars means that I absolutely loved it and would consider buying it for my own shelf. These are the books that made me laugh, cry, smile, or think. Or just the books that left me with warm fuzzy feelings. I would equate these books to a delicious meal that leaves you perfectly full but not stuffed and lethargic.
__________
So that’s pretty much how my star system rating functions at this point in time. Now, let’s just all hope that I’ll stick with this system for years to come and that next year I don’t change it up again.
Do you rate the books that you’ve read? And if you do, what’s your system? Also, iIf you have any questions about my rating system please feel free to ask them in the comments!
Hope you have a wonderful day and read a wonderful book,
Rae Of Books 