What review rating system do you employ?
(submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)
I tend to stick with a five star system – mainly because it’s what I use on Goodreads, so it makes sense to keep it at that. I do like the fact Storygraph offers options for .25, .5, .75, but I like overall keeping it simple. And I only put the stars on the graphics for the blog. Over at Divination Hollow, I actually don’t put any rating in my reviews, though for a while I did toy with a letter rating system. I think rating systems are really useful, but usually I prefer reading people’s actual reviews rather than just looking at the rating, as they of course give more information about what the reviewer liked or didn’t like.
When I’m reading, most books start with the possibility of five stars. Usually by the midway point I have a good idea if the book is going to rate above or below three, and then it kind of fluctuates depending on the second half. The ending can have a huge impact on how I rate a book, and I’ve definitely read books that feel 5* throughout, only to have such a poor ending they end up as 3 – 4. Similarly, I’ve read books that feel more like 2 or 3, that go up to 4 – 5 because the ending has such an impact.
In general though, my ratings tend to mean the following –
1 Star – struggled through it, likely almost DNF’d, probably poorly written or issues with plots, characters etc.
2 Star – meh. Could just be not as well written as it could be, or characters don’t feel fleshed out. Might just be this really wasn’t a book for me, but there might be other aspects other readers really liked that I just didn’t mesh with
3 Star – not bad, an okay book! Maybe some parts not quite for me, but overall more liked than disliked
4 Star – good! Enjoyable to read, liked characters and plot – just missing that extra ‘spark’
5 Star – loved it, great reading experience, few – if any – flaws, written well. Would definitely read more from the same author!
I love hearing about the different rating systems people use, so point me towards your own posts discussing these or let me know in the comments what you tend to use.
Unwrapping Words 