Mandy’s Review Rating System

March 21, 2013

I’ve posted a few reviews last year and am making a point to post more this coming year. I started doing reviews for Snakebite Horror and when I handed in my first review Mark (from Snakebite Horror) asked me, “How many stars?”

I had to stop and think for a moment.

I wasn’t sure.

All I knew was that I liked the book and I wanted my friends to read it, so I was going to post a review…

I realized I had to stop and ask myself, how does one choose how many stars a certain book should get?

From that point on, I spent a lot of time reading other book reviews, be it a one star or a five star, on Amazon, Smashwords or Goodreads.
While a lot of reviews made sense there were always a bunch that didn’t…

I’m still not sure what’s the reasoning is behind everyone’s book rating system, but I have come to realize that every reviewer is different.
We all have our own reasons to give a book a 5 star review or the opposite.

For those who follow my reviews, here’s my reasoning:

5 stars: Means the book was awesome, I’d definitely read it again and I want all my friends to know about it.
4 stars: Means the book was great and you should probably check it out.
3 stars: Means the book was good, it was entertaining enough to keep me reading, you could check it out if you want.
2 stars: Means I can’t believe I spent time reading this crappy book but I will not be bothered writing a review.
1 star: Means I couldn’t finish the book or it sucks really bad, be it the editing or the writing, so I won’t waste my time writing a review.

I guess that I’m more of the recommendation type reviewer.
If I like something, I’ll tell you about it.
If I don’t, I’m not going to drag it through the mud.
It is what it is. Someone else might love it, but it just wasn’t for me.

I think the main idea to recommendations or reviews is to find a reviewer who’s decisions you agree with and follow what they say.

MDG

Written by mandydegeit Posted in review Tagged with mandy degeit, rating, reviews, stars