Let’s Talk Bookish: The Elusive 5-Star Read

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022, with Dini at Dini Panda Reads as co-host from February 2025.

Let’s Talk Bookish July 25th:
The Elusive 5-Star Read

Prompts: What makes a book a 5-star read for you? Do you give books 5 stars easily, or are you more selective with them? What are your all-time favourite “can’t-live-can’t-breathe-without-them” 5-star reads? Is there anything that makes a book automatically 5 stars for you? Or the opposite — what makes you drop to 4 stars?

When I pick up a book, I feel like I always go in with the hope it’s going to be 5 stars. As I read, it’s whether it remains at 5, or drops. So it’s easier for me to explain what makes a book drop, but I’ll start with what I look for in 5 star books. For me, it’s whether it’s engaging and keeps my interest. If I find myself thinking about it a lot when not actively reading it, or feeling really excited to pick it up. I need to feel engaged with the characters and interested in what happens to them, and I do like to be surprised – though equally, I find it fun to speculate and guess what might happen, and sometimes that’s just as rewarding when I’m right.

It also really depends on the genre. If it’s Romance, I like those giggle, kick your feet moments – moments that make me feel giddy. For Horror, I want to really feel worried for the characters, concerned for their wellbeing, I want to see them win (though occasionally it’s incredibly interesting when they don’t).

Looking over some recent 5 star reads, it’s definitely a combination of character and emotion that had me rating them so highly. These books made me feel something towards the characters. To me, the worst thing a book can be is boring, and if I feel indifferent towards the characters it’s going to be rated much lower.

I think I’m at a point where I’ve cultivated my tastes, and more often than not, I read something I really do love. If you’ve read a handful of my reviews, I do give 5 stars fairly easily, but that’s because I love most the things I read! Because of that, it is really hard to narrow down to a few ‘can’t-live-can’t-breathe-without-them’ – there are so many books out there, and the ones I’ve had the pleasure of reading are often excellent!

As for automatic 5 stars or dropping to 4…I think so much of that lies in the ending! A book can be a consistent 5 or 4 star read throughout, but a solid, satisfying ending can bump it up or down. It’s not always a ‘happy’ ending (especially in horror), but if the author is able to nail it, if the ending feels earned – no matter what kind of ending it is – or vice versa, then it can have a huge impact on the rating.

A book can also drop to a 4 star for me it starts to feel a bit rushed or, on the opposite side, dragged out. Some books I’ve felt were really solid until information was being repeated or the characters were doing similar things over and over, when it felt like things come to a standstill rather than moving forward.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, or see your posts – just drop me a comment with what you think or link to your LTB post.