Recently, I’ve noticed that more people are sharing about how they rate books. Some people are still doing star ratings, and some are abandoning it altogether. So, I wanted to take a moment to talk about how I rate books. Personally, I still like the star rating. I’m a visual person, so that helps me a lot. But I rate books solely based on how they make me feel. I read for fun. I don’t consider myself a critic, and I don’t focus on technique unless it influences my enjoyment of the story. I’ve written enough critical essays in my time. I wanted to get back to the fun of literature. That’s why Wildwood Reads is purely about the enjoyment of reading. So, let’s get into what my ratings mean.
5/5 Stars
I loved this book. It’s top tier. I will think about this book for weeks after reading it.
4/5 Stars
I liked this book. I had a fun time reading it, but it didn’t give me the five-star feeling. Something technical could have kept me from completely loving it (which I’ll mention in the review). Or, it could have just been that I didn’t completely connect with the story.
3/5 Stars
3/5 isn’t a negative review in my world. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t completely dislike it. This is usually where I start noting technical issues that took me out of the story. I try to analyze the exact reason that the book didn’t completely work for me.
2/5 Stars
I didn’t like this book. Either the subject, characters, or all of the above didn’t work for me. I never want to completely bash a book, so I will try to point out my dislikes in a helpful way.
1/5 Stars
I will rarely have a 1/5 stars. I usually dnf a book if I feel like there is nothing that I can like about it. Again, I read for enjoyment and if I’m not enjoying anything I’d rather cut my losses and try something else.
So that’s how I rate my books. What about you? I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
My rating system is similar to yours. Love it at 5 stars, liked it a lot at 4, and thought it was okay at 3. Like you, I rarely rate books at one star because I don’t finish them if they’re that difficult for me to vibe with.
I try to use a mix of objectivity and subjectivity while rating my books, but, honestly speaking, my system is probably very similar to yours 😂 Like, if I hated a book, I’ll probably find some technical world building or writing or character development aspects to complain about, too, and if I loved a book, I’m probably going to be more forgiving of flaws.
I think my star ratings might be a tad more generous than yours, though – like, if I give something three star rating, it still means I enjoyed reading the book; it just isn’t something that stuck out enough to be particularly memorable. And, although they’re definitely my rarest rating, I do give one star reviews from time to time if I really hated something and can’t find any redeeming literary qualities about it, either 😅 But maybe that’s also due to me basically never DNFing anything and pushing through even the most terrible books once I’ve started them…
I can’t push through. I’m such a mood reader. If I don’t like a book that I’m reading I just won’t read at all. So I’ve learned to bypass that bad habit. 😂