We are living in an era where people’s opinions are easily accessible and where you can review just about anything. When it comes to books, there are stars people can give out as well as the optional review. When I see actual word reviews given by fellow authors, it feels like it carries a heavier weight to it. As busy as I get with work, writing, and managing social media things, I don’t have that much time to write out reviews. Hence a writer/author’s word review carries more weight for me.
And if you’re like me and fangirl over your favorite authors communicating, you look for their reviews. You trust their word just as how you trust them to publish a great story. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be one of your favorite authors, right? But what about other reviews from complete strangers? It’s pretty impossible to figure out honest reviews over lies. Well, I am here to try to help with that with my own reviews. I vow to never post a bullshit review. What stars I give and the words I post are what I really think of the book.
Since I don’t have much time to add words to EVERY single review I make (Because of the number of books I read as well as the limited free time I have. We have discussed my book problem before here.), I came up with a system. I only attach word reviews to the following:
- Books that I beta read for or ARC copies
- Books that are so amazing I just HAVE to let the world know what I thought
- Books that are so bad that it feels like my duty to warn you against reading them
- Books that make pearl clutching Karens give 1 star reviews claiming they were terrible because it was all about sex (My fellow Cliteraature readers know what I’m talking about)
Now for the reviews where I only post stars, I have made a guide on my scoring system which I will share with you below. (Remember this scoring system is my personal opinion about how much the stars mean. This isn’t an “everyone’s” guide.)
5 Stars
This book was amazing, hard to put down, and hit me in some type of feelings. Loved the story, loved the characters (even the bad ones because that means they did their job), loved the pacing. Probably kept me on the edge of my seat and I devoured that book quickly. I would happily recommend this book and will definitely read it again at some point. If the book is the first of a series, I will definitely finish the series. If it’s a standalone, I’ll look for more books by the author.
4 Stars
This book was great but I didn’t have the itch to read it all right that second. Loved the story, loved the characters, loved the pacing. I would definitely recommend this book and possibly read it again myself. If the book is the first of a series, I will definitely finish the series. If it’s a standalone, I’ll look for more books by the author.
3 Stars
This book was good enough to make it to the end. Liked some elements, disliked others. If it had mistakes, there were plenty throughout that they detracted from the story. Maybe it might just be me and others might love it. If the book is the first of a series, I won’t finish the series. If it’s a standalone, I might look for more books by the author. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it.
2 Stars
This book was a valiant try and I struggled to make it to the end. What I disliked outweighed what I liked. There were tons of mistakes and feels like the manuscript wasn’t ready to be published. I wouldn’t recommend it. If the book is the first of a series, I definitely won’t finish the series. If it’s a standalone, I won’t look for more books by the author.
1 Star
I give every book I read 1 star automatically just for being published because that is hard to do. As I read, the book should go up in star levels. If I give out a 1 star, stay the hell away from this. Not worth trying to read it, don’t waste your time. If I made it to the end, it was out of pure stubbornness. If I DNF’ed it, you will know in the review. (I rarely DNF a book just so you know.) It probably went from ok to bad to worse. I will stay away from any more books by this author.
That’s all folks! Yeah, I don’t pull punches or sugarcoat things. Never been my style. Hopefully, my guide helps you. I do realize this is all subjective and opinions vary, of course. I DO have favorite genres so if you see good reviews on a book I don’t normally read, then it did great. The same goes the other way. If it’s a book in a genre I usually read and I gave it a bad review, I tried to warn you. I did my duty. Happy reading everyone!