How do you rate and evaluate HPs?

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Harlequin Presents are my crack!]

Do you have a systematic manner in which you rate the HPs that you read (assigning stars or subtracting? Or do you go by feeling?) What is your average rating for a good HP?

[willaful]

I mostly go with my gut and follow the general guidelines GR suggests. I might add a little for particularly good writing or a fresher approach than usual, or take away for the opposite.

A good HP will be a 3-4. Many fall into the "it was okay" realm of 2.

[Kate]

I pretty much go by a gut feeling, although I sometimes think I should be more systematic. And I rate them based on the fact that it's an HP and don't compare it to either genres (so, while an HP might be a literary classic like To Kill a Mockingbird, it can still be a five-star HP).

If I felt a connection to the characters and/or plot, I usually give it a four or five. Generally, I think of a five star as a book I'd recommend to someone who normally wouldn't read an HP. I'd recommend a four-star book to someone who likes romance but normally doesn't read HP.

If I'm not too into the book but can muddle my way through it (often skimming the expository parts), it usually gets two stars. If I have a really hard time finishing it and find myself skipping ahead to the end just to see how it all wraps up, I'll give it one star.

If it doesn't fall into any of these areas, it gets three stars. And if I'm between stars, I'll add in a half-star.

[AgentScully]

I just go by how much I enjoyed it. I might give an extra 1/2* for good writing, originality, or unusual setting. HP's I like get 4*, a few get 5*. If it had problems it's 3* or less.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Harlequin Presents are my crack!]

My rating system:

5: Loved this book. It was perfect to me. Will reread and cherish, and it's going on my HP favorites shelf.
4: Really enjoyed, keeper, will read again, found something standout about the story even though it had a few small or a large flaw(s).
3: Not bad writing but just kind of blah and nothing special. Not a keeper unless it's by a favorite author, or it has a certain theme I really like, such as Russian hero. Fairly flawed but decent.
2: I didn't like this book. It had serious flaws or I couldn't get past issues with a character.
1: I hate this book. Really disliked the story and/or characters. Going in the trade pile immediately.

Averate rating for HPs tends to be four stars. But then, I mainly read the ones highly recommended or by authors I like.

[Vashti]

Same here for me Danielle

[Jacqueline J]

I'm a gut feeling reviewer. If it was fresh and different, well written with a solid plot I'll give it 5 stars. Exciting drama and angst will always add stars or half stars for me. Four stars for better than average but it didn't blow me away. Three stars for a typical nice read. Two stars for boring and one star for totally ludicrous. Of course I only rate HPs against other HPs. Five stars for HPs might not equate to five stars for general fiction or even mainstream romances. I accept stuff in HPs that would totally turn me off in a mainstream romance, ass hat heroes for example.

What it comes down to is how well did it fulfill the need that HPs serve for me? Did it totally take me away to fantasy land?

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Harlequin Presents are my crack!]

That's a good way of looking at it, Jacqueline.

I don't think that HP writers aren't good writers compared to other genre/romance writers, but they have certain conventions that they have to write to, so you do have to look at them differently.

[willaful]

Jacqueline wrote: "What it comes down to is how well did it fulfill the need that HPs serve for me? Did it totally take me away to fantasy land? "

Yes, exactly. I like that GoodReads suggested ratings are based on feelings about the book rather than a quality evaluation. Of course I don't think The Billionaire's Pregnant Mistress is of the same quality of prose as, say To Kill a Mockingbird. But it gave me 5 stars worth pf pleasure, for sure.

[Kate]

A few years ago, I read something by Roger Ebert talking about film ratings being about the movie itself and not comparing it to other movies (e.g., a four-star romantic comedy isn't comparable to a three-star drama), and that's how I feel about rating books. I have to take into account the genre, theme and intentions of the writer.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Harlequin Presents are my crack!]

I think that is very good advice, Kate. I don't like to compare books because it's not really fair. Each book is its own creation. Sometimes we do automatically have the tendency to have things that weigh highly that we use as a standard for comparison. But I try to enjoy each reading experience separately and to the best of my ability.

[Kouk]

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "My rating system:

5: Loved this book. It was perfect to me. Will reread and cherish, and it's going on my HP favorites shelf.
4: Really enjoyed, keeper, will read again, found something stan..."

I agree with you on these Danielle!
It looks a lot like how i do it!