My Star Ratings Explained

Over the last two years, I have been reading and writing book reviews, and I realized that I have never explained my criteria for rating books, so here we go.

Books that receive a 1 Star rating are books that I thought have several issues:

• They are predictably dull and full of cliches
• The writing style is challenging to get through- no flow
• The characters have no depth
• The overall unenjoyable reading experience
• Poor narration – making it difficult to listen
• I would NOT recommend

Books that receive a 2 Star rating are books that I thought were just okay.

• I won’t reread 
• It wasn’t good, wasn’t bad 
• The writing style is hard to get through
• The characters weren’t anything special – they lacked depth
• It has an interesting premise but disappointing execution
• I probably wouldn’t recommend

Books that receive a 3 Star rating are books I thought were good.

• They have an exciting premise, but the execution could have been better
• The characters lack depth and complexity
• The plot is superficial
• The themes could have been handled better
• There is some momentum – slow in parts but overall good
• It is not a particularly memorable story
• I would probably recommend it with caveats

Books that receive a 4 Star rating are books that I like, and thought were very good.

• I enjoyed the book from start to finish
• The writing style flowed well – great momentum
• The characters were solid and had depth
• There are deeper themes -thought-provoking
• But it is missing the cherry on top – it didn’t blow my socks off entirely.

Books that receive a 5 Star rating are books that I absolutely LOVED and thought they were great.

• I can’t stop thinking about the book and the characters. I thought about them when I wasn’t reading them and continued to think about them afterward.
• The story filled me with emotion, making me think about things, laugh, cry, or both.
• There are memorable, multifaceted characters with distinct voices – I would be sad my time ended with them when the story was over.
• A great writing style that brings everything to life in multisensorial ways.
• It is a unique or exciting plot or story that’s well executed
• The ending is satisfying, yet it makes me want more time with the characters.
• The story transcends its genre.