Review Method

Process:
While I am an English major in addition to a librarian, all aspects of my review will reflect only my personal opinions as a reader.  I read a lot of genres and all types of authors. I mostly read for the pleasure and fun it brings me.

As a reader, I tend to focus on writing, characters and the world being presented to me. If one or more of these things don’t work for me personally, my rating will suggest as much. I do tend to be better about finishing books I can give higher ratings to, but my ratings will probably be all over the place. I will always do my best to explain why I felt the way I did. For more on the way I read, go to this entry.

Ratings:
Here is a general breakdown of my ratings:

5 stars – Amazing! Great characters, great world, great writing and something I would love to read again. This may result in mostly incoherent gushing.

4 stars – Really good, worthwhile, and entertaining.

3 stars – Good and enjoyable to read.

2 stars – Not good. Most elements didn’t gel and I felt like I wanted a lot more than I got, but there was potential.

1 star – Bad. Some elements worked since I finished this book, but this was definitely not an enjoyable read.

I may occasionally add or subtract 1/2 a star when I’m on the fence about whether a book was truly great, good or so-so.

To see examples of my latest reviews where I put both my method and rating system into action, click here.

(Last updated and slightly revised on 2/24/2012)