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.

Published by

Xine Segalas

I was born and raised in New York City and graduated from Boston University's College of Communications. I have enjoyed careers in the communications and financial industries before starting a couple of companies in the home gardening industry. I love my family, our dogs, and our chickens. I am also a digital artist, photographer and gardener.

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