Ratings are hard. How I feel about a book greatly depends on my mood at the time of reading, any reviews I might have read, and any preconceptions I went into the book with. Looking back through my reviews, I frequently question what I was thinking when assigning certain books high or low ratings, when I now have a different view of the novel.
However, what’s a review without a rating, right? So, I will try my best to be objective when posting my reviews with ratings on them, and you can check out the Book Recommendations page for a much more objective view on what I would recommend to others.
That being said, here’s the guidelines I use when rating books:
To be honest, you will probably never see books that I rate as 1 or 2 stars on my Book Reviews. They aren’t fun to read, and if I finish them, they aren’t worth telling you about.
3 stars, however, is my most common rating. It’s a perfectly good book. It might even been on my recommendations list at 3 stars. There is nothing wrong with 3 star books.
Books have to work a bit harder to get 4 stars. These are books that I truly enjoyed, couldn’t put down, and would possibly read again. They will often go on my recommendation list.
5 star books are a rarity. I don’t assign 5 stars to a book unless it changes my life, rocks my world, makes me question my morals and humanity. 5 stars is a good book, y’all.