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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
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I read about Roger Ebert's criteria for judging a movie and I apply it to books. To get five stars, a book has to be completely captivating while I am reading it and I also have to be thinking about it days later.
These items from above are on my list:#5 If you do not want to read the book again, then it not a 5 star.
#8 The first time you read it, you do not want to do anything else but read the book, without interruptions (except necessary toilet breaks, but you take the book with you) until you are finished.
For me, both 1 star and 2 star are negative ratings. complete1 star is either I hated it or the book was, literally, unreadable. With self published books on Amazon, one does find literally unreadable books for sale, books that no publisher would touch, books by authors who cannot write, even if their life depended on it. The "I hated it" label is entirely personal. The book was readable, it could even have been published by a real publisher, but something about the book annoyed the h**l out of me.
For a 1 star book: I threw the book away if it was a physical book because it was so bad in my humble opinion. I normally give books I have not further use for away. But this 1 star book was so exceptionally awful, I am breaking my norms and tossing it in the trash.
2 star books are a better than 1 star books, however I still didn't like it. It was deeply flawed in some way. I do not want to give it a 1star but I did not consider it a good book. These books are given away, not tossed in the trash.
3 star books are books that I neither liked not disliked. They are passable, but not anything special. They are also given away because they are not good enough to keep (sorry, author, good try but not noteworthy. Something to read to pass the time once, but not worth ever reading again. These are the book ratings I am most suspicious of from other reviewers. The review says they liked it but they gave it a three? Really? I can never understand how anyone could give the book anything better than a three when I rate it a three because it was just nothing special.
4 star books are books I liked and will read again. Keepers in other words. I think the book is good, I liked it, and and I think others will like it. It did not wow me. A pleasant and enjoyable read. Good, not great, but I did like it.
5 star books are books I loved. It may not be an award winner but I really enjoyed reading the book. These are the books I enjoy reading over and over again. Frequently. A book that left me thoughtful for days (or years) afterwards would definitely be a 5 star ( "Blindness" by Jose Saramago) even though parts are unpleasant to read.
The 4 and 5 star ratings are the only positive ratings on my scale. 3 is a neutral, slightly negative rating.
Notice the absence of "life changing" in my ratings and all that other gushy stuff. Sorry. I do not believe in fairy tales.
There have been life changing events in my life but none of them came out of books. Well, maybe some textbooks I have read could be classified as life changing but I do not give ratings to textbooks.
I give a star for 1. Format - 2. Grammar - 3. Author’s Goal vs resulted content - 4. Style - 5. My own personal feelings.
Interesting. I tend to come about the other way. People are too free with the stars they give out. How can someone abandon a book, give it a negative review, and award it 2 stars? (For the record, I tend to not rate books I don't finish). By the same token, I clearly like some books much, much more than others. I want those stand out. Not every book is above average.