Here’s a little cheat sheet to how I rate the books I read. While the five-star rating system isn’t the most comprehensive, I do find it works fairly well to illustrate how much I liked (or didn’t like) a book. I give honest ratings and reviews, and don’t think a three-star book is a bad book.
Loved this book! I probably won’t shut up about it and I think you all should check it out (unless otherwise noted, because I give a lot of weird books five-star ratings, and I understand they’re probably not for everyone).
Really enjoyed this book. I’m not in love, but I had a great time. It’s a really good book, but had a few flaws. Or I really enjoyed it, but I personally think it didn’t merit a full five stars (i.e. the story was predictable or reminiscent of another book, the writing wasn’t great, etc.).
I liked it. Not bad, but didn’t blow me away, either. The story didn’t excite me. Or maybe it didn’t feel very original. The writing probably wasn’t particularly great, either. There might be some things I didn’t like about it, but they didn’t ruin my reading experience. I don’t regret reading it, but I probably won’t remember all that much from it later. Didn’t make a huge impression on me.
It was fine. Not the worst thing I’ve ever read, but I didn’t have a good time. Might just be not my cup of tea. Maybe the story was fine, but the writing sucked. Or the writing was pretty good, but I didn’t like the story. Or maybe it had me thinking of how I could slap some sense into fictional characters. Either way, I probably wish I hadn’t read it.
Did not like this one. At all. Maybe even hated it. Absolutely regret reading it and wish I could scrub it from my brain. It might have some not awful qualities, but they weren’t enough to redeem it.