A note on how I review books
Periodically, I like to put out these little reminders about how my review system works and why I still write critical reviews as a published author. I think transparency in product reviews is important and it's helpful to see someone's personal rubric when looking at what they review and why.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- If I give a book five stars, it's because I genuinely loved it. This is a book I'd recommend to a stranger. It might not be perfect, but it basically is to me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Four stars means a book was really good but fell short in some significant way of being a book I'd return to again and again. I liked this book a lot and am really happy I read it, but it's probably not a keeper.
⭐️⭐️⭐️- Three stars means I liked it but the book probably also annoyed me or was hard to get through in sections. Usually this is because the idea was fun but the execution was stupid or unfulfilled. Or it might be pure trash but I just happened to be in the mood for trash. Probably wouldn't recommend this but YOLO.
⭐️⭐️- Meh. I hate writing two star reviews. They are the worst because the book was uninteresting to me enough that I probably didn't finish it but not so boring that it filled me with anger. With a lot of these, I just couldn't get into it.
⭐️- Really didn't like whatever this was. It probably mad me mad.
I don't rate books I didn't read and won't review authors I can't read impartially. I used to get into book drama but I'm not about that life anymore. I feel like the public cancellations that some authors get just result in free publicity for the "cancelled" author in question, which kind of defeats the purpose in the first place. It also bothers me that authors who maybe make one social misstep on Twitter ONE time, or who perhaps make a controversial writing choice, automatically get lumped with authors who are, perhaps, making more habitually problematic choices that are causing genuine harm on the reg. If I see an author being a dick to me or to other people, I won't read their work, because at that point, I don't think I can read their books impartially, but I'm not a fan of taking public rides on the cancel train.
I rate my DNFs because if I think a book is so bad that it is unfinishable, that's worth a rating and a comment. I'm honest about where I stopped in my reviews and why. This seems to really infuriate some people for some reason but honestly? Life is short. If I have to read 600 pages of an 800 book to wait for it to get good, that's not going to happen. I could read two amazing three hundred paged books in that time period. I think I'd rather do that.
As an author, I try to conduct myself with the same behavior that I expect from other people: I don't revenge-rate and I don't attack, block, or unfriend people who dislike my work.
There's a lot of joy in reading and reviewing and I think sharing books with people you like is what this community is all about. That's something I think about also when writing my reviews: how much I love reading and how grateful I am to have a place at this virtual table, to talk about what I love with people I really like.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- If I give a book five stars, it's because I genuinely loved it. This is a book I'd recommend to a stranger. It might not be perfect, but it basically is to me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Four stars means a book was really good but fell short in some significant way of being a book I'd return to again and again. I liked this book a lot and am really happy I read it, but it's probably not a keeper.
⭐️⭐️⭐️- Three stars means I liked it but the book probably also annoyed me or was hard to get through in sections. Usually this is because the idea was fun but the execution was stupid or unfulfilled. Or it might be pure trash but I just happened to be in the mood for trash. Probably wouldn't recommend this but YOLO.
⭐️⭐️- Meh. I hate writing two star reviews. They are the worst because the book was uninteresting to me enough that I probably didn't finish it but not so boring that it filled me with anger. With a lot of these, I just couldn't get into it.
⭐️- Really didn't like whatever this was. It probably mad me mad.
I don't rate books I didn't read and won't review authors I can't read impartially. I used to get into book drama but I'm not about that life anymore. I feel like the public cancellations that some authors get just result in free publicity for the "cancelled" author in question, which kind of defeats the purpose in the first place. It also bothers me that authors who maybe make one social misstep on Twitter ONE time, or who perhaps make a controversial writing choice, automatically get lumped with authors who are, perhaps, making more habitually problematic choices that are causing genuine harm on the reg. If I see an author being a dick to me or to other people, I won't read their work, because at that point, I don't think I can read their books impartially, but I'm not a fan of taking public rides on the cancel train.
I rate my DNFs because if I think a book is so bad that it is unfinishable, that's worth a rating and a comment. I'm honest about where I stopped in my reviews and why. This seems to really infuriate some people for some reason but honestly? Life is short. If I have to read 600 pages of an 800 book to wait for it to get good, that's not going to happen. I could read two amazing three hundred paged books in that time period. I think I'd rather do that.
As an author, I try to conduct myself with the same behavior that I expect from other people: I don't revenge-rate and I don't attack, block, or unfriend people who dislike my work.
There's a lot of joy in reading and reviewing and I think sharing books with people you like is what this community is all about. That's something I think about also when writing my reviews: how much I love reading and how grateful I am to have a place at this virtual table, to talk about what I love with people I really like.
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