My Star Rating & Spice Rating System

Each person’s rating system is going to be unique and personal to them. In my case, I try my best to balance quality writing, worldbuilding/plot, and character development with entertainment value. I take the average of those four categories to get my overall rating.

Here is a brief explanation of each star rating:

• 5 ⭐️ I loved this book. I would re-read and highly recommend. I’ll likely be thinking about this book, the plot, or the characters months from now.

• 4 ⭐️ I liked this overall. This book has lots of great qualities that others will enjoy but I have a few small complaints and probably wouldn’t re-read. I would still recommend widely though!

• 3 ⭐️ Good book and had a fun time reading it, but probably won’t think about it again. I would recommend with some caveats.

• 2 ⭐️ I disliked overall but it had some redeeming qualities. I would not recommend though.

• 1 ⭐️ I finished it but I wish I hadn’t.

However, I understand it’s difficult to determine whether you should read a book based off star ratings alone. My reviews are usually around 500 to 700 words. My reviews run 500–700 words because I'd rather give you too much information with than too little. I bold the key points if you don’t want to read the entire review!