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How Books Earn Five-Star Ratings From Readers
An unforgettable world. A cast of lovable characters. A plot twist that leaves you breathless. What does it take for a book to earn a five-star rating?
To help us define perfection, we asked avid readers on Facebook and Twitter to finish this sentence: "When I give a book five stars, that means…" and listed some of the most popular answers. Which ones do you relate to? Share your favorites in the comments.
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1. "It cured my depression, cleared my acne, and aligned my chakras," says Brooklyn.
2. "That I think even the guy who loaded the book onto the delivery truck did a perfect job," says Heath.
3. "I called in sick to stay home and finish it and I will be pressing it into your hands next time I see you," says Judy.
4. "I couldn't put it down and was sad when it was done. A five-star book should pull you in and refuse to let you go," says Nathaniel.
5. "I want to read it again…and again…and again," says Denise.
6. "I will have difficulty finding my next read because this one really rocked me," says Tonya.
7. "I didn't guess the ending," says Claire.
8. "I forgot to sleep, eat, and everything else until I finished it," says Nenad.
9. "It means the characters came to matter to me; they were authentic; they drew me in and I came to care about them. A five-star book has changed me in some way that I can't even necessarily name." says Gracie.
10. "The author was able to drag me out of reality, paint a picture for me, and suck me into the story like I was truly there, every time I read that book," says Lizzie.
11. "That it profoundly affected me and changed the way I think or brought new meaning to my life," says Stephen.
12. "I was living the book, not just reading it," says Susan.
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Tell us what a five-star rating means to you in the comments!
Check out more recent articles:
February's Hottest New Releases
13 Ways of Coping with a Book Hangover
A Top Goodreads Reviewer Picks Her 26 Indie Books of the Season
Catch Up Now: These Big Series All Have Books Coming Out Next Month
To help us define perfection, we asked avid readers on Facebook and Twitter to finish this sentence: "When I give a book five stars, that means…" and listed some of the most popular answers. Which ones do you relate to? Share your favorites in the comments.
1. "It cured my depression, cleared my acne, and aligned my chakras," says Brooklyn.
2. "That I think even the guy who loaded the book onto the delivery truck did a perfect job," says Heath.
3. "I called in sick to stay home and finish it and I will be pressing it into your hands next time I see you," says Judy.
4. "I couldn't put it down and was sad when it was done. A five-star book should pull you in and refuse to let you go," says Nathaniel.
5. "I want to read it again…and again…and again," says Denise.
6. "I will have difficulty finding my next read because this one really rocked me," says Tonya.
7. "I didn't guess the ending," says Claire.
8. "I forgot to sleep, eat, and everything else until I finished it," says Nenad.
9. "It means the characters came to matter to me; they were authentic; they drew me in and I came to care about them. A five-star book has changed me in some way that I can't even necessarily name." says Gracie.
10. "The author was able to drag me out of reality, paint a picture for me, and suck me into the story like I was truly there, every time I read that book," says Lizzie.
11. "That it profoundly affected me and changed the way I think or brought new meaning to my life," says Stephen.
12. "I was living the book, not just reading it," says Susan.
Tell us what a five-star rating means to you in the comments!
Check out more recent articles:
February's Hottest New Releases
13 Ways of Coping with a Book Hangover
A Top Goodreads Reviewer Picks Her 26 Indie Books of the Season
Catch Up Now: These Big Series All Have Books Coming Out Next Month
Comments Showing 101-150 of 155 (155 new)
message 101:
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Frances
(last edited Feb 25, 2019 05:34PM)
(new)
Feb 25, 2019 05:33PM
Five stars have to make me cry. They have to make me laugh. They have to make me scared. They have to make me care about the characters, the plot, the setting, whatever. I re-read them and re-read them and re-read them. I recommend them all over the place. I quote them. I literally talk about them nonstop for hours after I finish. Unfortunately, they're so rare that I find one every year and a half- but a true book lover (like me, haha) knows when they've found a five star.
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5 stars to me means.... oh I’m sorry. I was reliving my favorite book moments. What’s we’re we talking about? *Hears nothing you say. Still lost in the book...
1 star: aghhh what an idiot; what the heck were you thinking when you wrote this? 2 stars: I didn't like it personally, and there's a lot of stuff I would change but the writing might've been okay so an extra star for you because you seem like you need it and maybe your other books are okay.
3 stars: wasn't my top favorite, still some things I would change but the writing was a little bit more than okay.
4 stars: hey, I like it, but there's some stuff I didn't like. The writing is close to amazing though and I might read it again.
5 stars: I either: LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT; I LOVE YOU AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK! or it's something that I think other people should read and I liked it! (doesn't mean there isn't stuff I wouldn't change but hey, not every book is perfect. I'm pretty generous with stars.)
I had my own rating system before goodreads, also out of 5 but including 0. In that system, a 4 star book is excellent, and a 5 star book is a book which gives me what C.S. Lewis called being "surprised by joy", a glimpse of something so unspeakably beautiful that it produces a sharp desire for something out of my grasp and fills me with both wonder and melancholy. So I have very few 5 stars. In goodreads, though, I rate books much like everyone is describing in the comments here. I give 5 goodread stars to the books which I have rated both 4 and 5 in my previous system.
For 5-star fiction, if I'm sad when it's over, because the people/characters have become like friends whom I care about.For 5-star non-fiction, it made me think or rethink...Neitzsche, Marcuse....and/or informed me greatly.
Five stars means I loved it and the quality of the writing was excellent.
1 Star - didn't finish reading the book, selling to the used bookstore 2 Stars - read the whole book but I didn't really think it was very good, selling to the used book store
3 Stars - decent read, probably going on my shelf, and I may pick up other books by the author
4 Stars - I'm definitely going to get other books by this author and may potentially reread the book multiple times if it's part of an ongoing series
5 Stars - Generally reserved for the best of the best. The book really has to stand out to get a 5 star rating.
When I want to show my Goodreads' friends how cool and sophisticated I am.
I can relate to 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Also, since everyone else is explaining their rating system, may as well explain mine:1 star: No redeeming qualities, could barely finish it.
2 stars: Barely tolerable, only one or two redeeming qualities.
3 stars: Did the bare minimum, nothing special but not bad.
4 stars: Above average. Not perfect, but great nonetheless.
5 stars: As close to perfection as one can get.
Bare in mind that the most important factors in anything I'm reading are characters and entertainment. For something to be a five star read for me, it has to be both incredibly entertaining and have amazing characters. I can forgive simple writing and an unimpressive story if the latter is phenomenal :)
Can't figure out what is going to happen next, don't guess the ending, can't wait to finish it, and can't wait to tell everyone I know about it. Now that gets you 4 stars,. To get to 5 stars I have to think about the book even when I'm not reading it. I think about it day and night and compare everything I read after that book to it. Now for me, that's a 5-star book.
Five stars for me means that I forget who I am when reading a book. Reality? Never heard of her. I only know of the characters in the story.
I think your list is great! I would say I most agree with #4, that the book pulls you in and you are sad when it is finished.
I agree with 4, 8, and 10. For me 1 star is i hated it, 2 is i didn't like it, 3 is neutral, 4 is i liked it and 5 is i loved it.
I know I'm in the minority here but I sprinkle 5-star ratings like glitter. If I really loved the story, five stars. If I liked it a lot but something was slightly off, four stars. If it was just average, three stars. If it was pretty bad, two stars. If it was absolutely horrible, one star.Personally I believe in heaping praise on things I like, so I'm not one to say 'oh, I liked that, I'll give it three stars'. To me that's an extremely low rating and shows that I didn't like it very much.
So yes, there are a lot of books I like a lot that I've rated five stars and a lot of books that mean the world to me that I've also rated five stars, which I suppose can be confusing for some people, but I prefer to work that way and give things the praise that (I think) they deserve.
Edit: this would probably change if Goodreads implented half-star ratings! Then I would be able to rate books I like as 4.5 and books I LOVE as 5.
It's hard for me to say about five star books. Because I liked them so much that have no right words to explain my feelings. They just became my best books for the rest of my life. It's a little bit selfish I guess...
I always follow the meaning a site gives to a rating. So on Goodreads five stars means "it was amazing"; that's my baseline. A book has to captivate me, it has to be rare, to get five stars. I reserve it only for my all-time favourites.
یک ستاره: متنفرم و اصلا دوست ندارم دیگران هم بخواننددو ستاره: خوشم نیامد ولی افتضاح نبود
سه ستاره: معمولی است و اگرچه ضعف هایی دارد اما حتما چیزهای خوبی هم دارد
چهار ستاره: اگر چند تا نقص را نمیداشت عالی میشد
پنج ستاره: هم از نظر فکری و هم از نظری فنی میپسندمش و توصیه میکنم دیگران هم بخوانند
شش ستاره: یک ارتباط عمیق شخصی باهاش دارم و دلم میخواهد کتاب را حتی به دیگران هدیه بدهم
Lesley wrote: "I always follow the meaning a site gives to a rating. So on Goodreads five stars means "it was amazing"; that's my baseline. A book has to captivate me, it has to be rare, to get five stars. I rese..."I agree, that's why I only have a few books that I have given 5 stars to.
9 & 12 for me is exactly what a five star books feels like!
A 5 star rating to me is when the characters make me laugh and cry, I am taught something new, I get to experience different than my normal, new perspectives are seen, and when I finish I've a wide smile on my face and a peaceful feeling in my heart.
for me, 5 stars means when i finished the book, i spend the next minute smiling like an idiot and staring at the wall. It means i will need a long time to recover and pick a book to read after it.
1: No other human being should read this ever, and the author should be ashamed of themselves. The editor should quit their job and work in another industry - probably waste management since they like garbage.2: Hated it
3: Meh
4: liked it
5: I'll consider reading it again.
I must not get that excited, based on other responses here.
A 5-star book for me is the one that can blow my mind when reading it. I will lost track of time and space. I can vividly imagine myself doing the things that were mentioned in the book. The best book would stir up some issues that I can totally relate to but some how fail to notice. It should bring about new ideas or perceptions that would help me solve problems
1 star: NOPE2 stars: I finished it but probably wish I hadn't
3 stars: I was entertained while reading it. Neither hate nor love. Will probably forget most of the details by the time I start my next read. 3 stars is the standard that all books start with and go up or down from there.
4 stars: Yes I like this book enough to tell you about it and would recommend it.
5 stars: It is an absolute favourite, something I connected deeply with, or is at the top of/an exemplary work of it's group/genre/style etc. Does not have to necessarily compare to other books I've given 5-stars. A 5-star contemporary romance will vary greatly from a 5-star nonfiction title.
I try not to give too many books a 5 star rating. I really do try to reserve it for books that simply blew me away for one reason or another. Stephen at #11 said it best for both fiction and non-fiction, for me, but especially non-fiction.
A 5 star fiction book is one that was incredibly well-written with three dimensional characters where I *felt* the emotions and became immersed in the characters' lives, often identifying emotionally with them.
Brilliant list, to me a 5 star has to be no4, no9 & no12 with maybe a bit of no8 too.
If I love a book it gets 5 stars. I love just about every book I read.
my system⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars - Excellent book. Story will likely never leave me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars - Enjoyed the story, highly recommend.
⭐⭐⭐ 3 stars - Story was pretty good although there may have been a couple areas for improvement. Maybe poorly paced, a discrepancy in the story, odd wording in a place or two - but still good story worth reading.
⭐⭐ 2 stars - Poor story line, dialog, undeveloped characters - or simply couldn't hold my interest. May or may not have finished reading. Unlikely to bother to review.
⭐ 1 star - I've never given 1 star. Life is too short and there are too many books to be read.
A book that deserves five stars to me is a book that stays with me long after I’ve read the last page. A book that you actually love. A book that has characters that you actually bond with like real friends. That to me is a five star book.
1 star - terrible2 stars - bad
3 stars - average
4 stars - good
5 stars - great
To give a 5 star rating, I related so strongly to the words on the page that I made secret photocopies of my favorite passages at work the next day... Lol.
CindyLovesBooks wrote: "my system⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars - Excellent book. Story will likely never leave me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars - Enjoyed the story, highly recommend.
⭐⭐⭐ 3 stars - Story was pretty good although there may have been a c..."
I like your system. I usually have struggled with rating on the basis of the story or on the basis of the writing quality.
Message 51: by Nancy Glenn Powell March 5, 2019I read a lot of books, books that I buy, Louis Lamour and western books my husband buys, children's books for my grandchildren, books loaned or recommended by friends, but if it does not captivate me in the first chapter, I do not continue. Therefore, the four and five star books are ones I read to the end--the ones that keep me reading past bedtime. The four and five star children's books are ones my kids and grandchildren wanted read over and over.
A strong five star for me is a book that affects me emotionally, whether that be a little bit of a tear in the eye, or laughing uncontrollably.
This Goodreads article was just posted - where did all the comments come from so fast?Anyway, if I rate the book too soon (ASAP) I have changed my mind at times after the initial rush is calming, I'm still pondering if I should give more importance to how it reads or to how it is written.
ELDEE wrote: "This Goodreads article was just posted - where did all the comments come from so fast?Anyway, if I rate the book too soon (ASAP) I have changed my mind at times after the initial rush is calming, ..."
It was posted two weeks ago. :)
I see - I didn't read the dates on the newsletter.
I'm usually a slow reader, but if a book over 400 pages gets me to finish it in less than a week than it receives 5 stars from me. That means it has pulled me into where I just want to devour it with very little breaks in between.
Patty wrote: "I'm usually a slow reader, but if a book over 400 pages gets me to finish it in less than a week than it receives 5 stars from me. That means it has pulled me into where I just want to devour it wi..."Here. Here. Have to agree. If a long book can distract me from just about all other activities and books and I resent having to stop to eat, go to work and sleep, definitely a 5 stars
For me I rate books like this:1 star- absolutely hated it
2 stars- didn't like it much
3 stars- alright, interesting
4 stars- really liked it!
5 stars- <3 reAD pleASE
A five-star rating to me means that the book either engrossed me so thoroughly I forgot where it ended and I began, or it changed me in some way (or both!).
1 Star: So bad I couldn't finish it2 Stars: I finished it, but only barely and with some major page flicking to get me to the end quicker
3 Stars: Liked it
4 Stars: Loved it, something about the characters, the story line or the world building grabbed me as being above the norm (for that specific genre)
5 Stars: Left a lasting impression, something to be re-read and savoured
A five star book is one that picks you up at the start, totally involves you throughout and leaves you wanting more at the end.
A five star book is one that I fall in love with characters, I can see them as friends. It’s a book that I’m sad to finish, but at the same time, race to finish.
It gave me a book hangover...cause I was up till dawn desperate to know what happened.
A 5 means that I read it straight through, loved it and THEN immediately went back and read it again and have read entire sections over and over since. It’s also the book I recommend the most regardless of if it’s a genre that the friend typically reads.
5 stars from me usually means I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. The book will go on my favorites shelf to be enjoyed again and again. Sometimes 5 stars means I immediately started reading the book again after reaching the end. (The last has only happened when reading certain books by the incomparable Beverly Jenkins)
The thing is, people on Goodreads seem to act as if giving out stars costs them something (a piece of your soul, perhaps)- as if it's the most precious commodity, those stars, that you cannot come by so easily. In my opinion, that leads to many uptight ratings- 'oh, a book only deserves 5 stars if it fundamentally changed my world'. Think about how much work goes into writing a novel; how much passion and time and effort- if you liked something, if it made you feel things, helped you escape reality just for a little bit- why not give it a good rating? A book does not have to be a heavenly-crafted gift sent down from book deities right into your hands. TL;DR- people need to be more chill with their stars.
I partly agree with you, Nyell. It's mostly all about how the book makes me feel in the end. Overall. It doesn't have to include everything possible to be good.
