When I started reading and rating my books I had no reference to look back on to base my scale. I mostly went off of what I felt. Some of my 4 or 5 star books probably could have been lower ratings but I feel bad giving an author who worked so hard to write a book anything below a 4 even if the book truly deserved a lower rating. I feel like everyone rates books differently so what I think is a 4 star read might be a 3 star for you based on our different criteria, I do wish that there was an official rating scale everyone followed but sadly that will stay a dream. With that being said I am FINALLY giving myself an official rating guideline to follow.
One to two star reads are books that I could barely finish.
Three star reads are books that are good but wouldn’t be recommended.
Four and five star reads are books I am left thinking about and would recommend.
If I don’t finish a book I will not rate it because I feel like that is unfair to the author in my personal opinion.
Let’s dive in deeper!
One Star
⭐️
This book did not keep me interested, I found myself struggling to finish the book and had to practically force myself to get through it. I did not feel connected to the characters or they did not build as much as I feel they should have. I found the book too predictable and drawn out. Maybe there wasn’t enough showing but too much telling of the story.
Two Stars
⭐️⭐️
I finished this book but really did not enjoy what I was reading. A character really got on my nerves, the plot felt unoriginal or boring and maybe parts of the book just felt distracting such as; many grammar/spelling errors, plot holes and things just got too jumbled.
Three Stars
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This was a good book but I wasn’t in love with it. I probably won’t be recommending this book to anyone because it didn’t leave me with something amazing to talk about. I might have found something about it that left me wondering why it was even there in the first place. Maybe it was a slow build and left me underwhelmed, these are probably books that were overhyped.
Four stars
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This is a book that I would recommend however there were probably just some small details that were missing or the ending was just kind of meh. I was left wanting just a little more from this read or it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for and had played out in my mind. This book played out more like a movie in my head and the characters stood out.
Five stars
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I absolutely loved this book and either found nothing wrong with it or there were minor issues that I can live with and forget about. This is a book that I can’t stop talking about and I find myself recommending it to everyone I come across. Maybe I can’t put the book down and I fly through it or throughout the day I find myself thinking of the book and craving to sit down and read.
In conclusion, one and two star reads I will not be recommending to anyone and I will probably be unhauling them soon, a three star read was good but if I see someone posted a three star rating I might be questioning the book on my TBR pile, and last but not least four and five star ratings will be getting recommended and I might just talk you ear off about them!
Do you use a similar rating system or is yours different? Do you rate DNF books? What are some of your overall thoughts?
World of Bai 
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