how I rate and review books

We've been talking about this for a few videos now, but I figured I'd polish the conversation off by updating my video about how I rate and review books. Hope this was helpful but also these are just generalizations and guidelines! I've probably broken my own "rules" DON'T COME FOR ME.
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[@yogiwithabook]

i rate very similarly to you in terms of how i decide to use star ratings. i would say that the half stars are where i inject more emotion, which is also why i don't round up ever, even if mathematically i *should* round to a higher star. a 3.5 for me is a 3 but one i found more entertaining or engaging or that i'd be more likely to try again from an author, even if it was still mostly average. if it were a 4, i would've given it a 4, but it's still mostly a 3. same with 4.5, they're excellent and compelling and *nearly* 5 star perfection, but they weren't so i can't justify going up to a 5. 2.5 are my generous 2s where i understand why people liked it but i still think it was on the worse end of average. i'd never heard the road trip analogy, but i enjoy that! i'm the same. it is impossible for me to love something with my whole heart and have a major issue with it at the same time. problems with any aspect of the story just inherently change the rating and that's even more so true with the cumulative experience. it's often why i dnf now more than i used to. if there's something (typically writing) that was already grating to me from the beginning of the story but i haven't found anything to latch onto after a certain point, then i've noticed i just get really petty. i start to resent the book for what i've identified as a major flaw and i can't leave those feelings when i pick it up. most of the books i dnf feel like they'd be 3s if i could forgive them, but because i fixate they live as 2s in my gut and i don't like putting all that energy into them. it usually is a relief to decide i'm done.

[@yogiwithabook]

oh ALSO i love the nail colors you've got going on. the whole color palette of this video actually is just so aesthetically pleasing.

[@mynameismarines]

I give half stars too and this is somewhere in less precise and not consistent, especially as I decide whether or not to round up or down. My half stars are usually because I’ve decided on a star rating for a book but that book feels better or worse than the other books in that category. It’s often a comparison thing for me. Also I’m always hesitant to say I DNF things because I often come back to books when I’m in a better mood for it, but lately I’ve been way more given to starting a book and deciding quickly if it’s the one for me at that moment. My brain can only take so much.

[@zezeest.9744]

Great discussion. I run a book blog and I use the star rating system, but I don’t place much importance/emphasis on the star rating. I use them only to indicate whether or not I enjoyed what I read. Much more goes into the review to point out what worked, what didn’t, and what I really think about what I read.

[@daniellemhall1358]

I love your honesty and frankness. A lot of the books you rate low are books that are the popular five star books. I love that you don't let that affect your assessment of the books.

[@ChloeFrizzle]

It was shocking and refreshing to see so many popular books in your ⭐ and ⭐⭐ lists

[@Rikrobat]

I love your step of reading/checking out reviews that run contrary to yours as a way of gauging your argument. That’s a clever way to see if there is an angle you might not have seen or an angle the other reviewer may have overlooked. Your scale for the star ratings is great! I personally struggle with star ratings when it comes to media I enjoy. I use the stars in iTunes to help indicate songs I no longer want on there, but that’s about it. I think it’s because my enjoyment of something is difficult to condense into a number, especially if I can likely find something about the book or movie or whatever that bothered me. It probably wasn’t a big bother, but I still noticed it. However, I appreciate the breakdown of your system because it helps knowing your qualifiers for each tier.

[@bookishsabrina]

I really love your metaphor about being in the car. I am not very comfortable with passively consuming a story or not paying attention to the road even though I will very rarely take the actual driver's seat. I feel like my ratings on goodreads are a lot less concrete. I don't exactly follow the prescribed rating system, rather my star rating is always an initial gut-check right when I finish a book, and then I leave the option to fill in a review later with my justification. I haven't ever done much comparison between books I've given the same rating, but I'm inconsistent enough that it's probably totally arbitrary from an outside perspective. I love this kind of video and don't know why I've never made one myself. I respect how methodical your methods seem. I like to see myself as an analytical and critical reviewer, but much like my papers as an English major, many of my arguments and conclusions seem to just appear from the ether, rather than any sort of concrete, rational method. I can't really explain it! I just start talking or writing and my analysis and feelings somehow come together in a hopefully comprehensible way. I don't follow any particular steps, the process feels a lot more organic than that. I know I value my relationship with the characters (ie: how believable they were and how invested I was in their stories, rather than how likable they were) and then writing, and I like to talk about major themes and how well I thought they were expressed. Beyond that, I guess I just follow my intuition. I'm sure I'd be a better reviewer if I turned the mirror back on myself and broke down patterns I saw in my own reading and reviewing habits, but I don't know if I'll ever actually do that 😅

[@hetau4824]

Delurking again! It was super interesting to listen to you talk about this topic, especially star ratings. I also really like star ratings, but I don't really get a gut feeling for them when I finish reading, so I take some time to compose the jumble of thoughts I have on the book onto a review and rate it later, usually I give star ratings to the entire month's books at the end of the month. I started doing this at the beginning of 2020 and it has really worked for me and I feel like my star ratings now more accurately represent my thoughts on the books. I give half-stars but super rarely though, maybe 4-5 books from an average reading year. So far I haven't given any 1 stars in 2020 which scares me because I know the one star is just looming around the corner somewhere on my shelves lol.

[@mynameismarines]

I love this! I’m going to share this as a strategy for people who don’t get that gut feeling about star ratings because I feel like a little distance and reflection would help the process overall. I give half stars out pretty regularly, particularly for a book I feel is in a star category but also feels better/worse than the other books in that category. Finally, may your future reading be 1 star free.

[@mikalareads]

This was so eloquent and helpful. Thank you for making this! I understand my own reviewing process better now too

[@mynameismarines]

I’m glad it was helpful! 🥰

[@kristenbooks]

I've been meaning to update my own rating and review system for a while now & have been putting it off because I haven't been able to decide if my star ratings need to change. Right now, 3/5 encompasses everything from *shrug* to "I liked it" & anything lower is a variation on dislike, which means I rarely use my 1&2 stars and over-use my 3 star rating. I've been considering changing to something more similar to yours where 2/5 is my shrug and 3/5 is reserved for my "I liked it" books. Like you mentioned, a star rating can convey a lot on its own and I've been concerned that 2/5 conveys something a lot harsher than a shrug to most people, hence my hesitation. But this might have assuaged that a bit lol. And I'm with you on enjoyment vs quality/technical aspects! I personally find that I tend to weigh my enjoyment of a book really heavily into my rating because I'm not likely to love a book or want to give it 5/5 stars if I think there's a glaring quality flaw. And I love the car/road trip analogy-- I think which passenger I am depends on the book, genre, etc, but I'm probably usually the backseat driver as well 😅

[@mynameismarines]

A few people have said they hesitate to give lower star ratings and I get that! Especially when you really feel like a work wasn’t *for you* but could very well be a great experience for someone else. I guess the second half of this all is how we consume reviews? Your 2/5 shouldn’t necessarily dissuade someone from reading the book if they want to, and that’s more on them than you! Idk. It’s a bunch of moving parts and we all just are trying to figure out the way that works best for us. ❤️

[@mushroomc0re]

I'm currently editing a review (I've been writing, filming, and editing the same review since this all started) and I find this all very interesting. I've noticed I focus mostly on emotions because that's what sticks with me but I do always try to address more technical details liking pacing and writing

[@robertfaith]

I love the car trip analogy. But also if the car speaks to you, like the seats are super comfy and relatable, then you tend to pay less attention to technical aspects. It's all subjective.

[@kadycrea]

Loved watching your video and also believe that it is a great idea to read the one star reviews on Goodreads before writing our own if we've really liked a book! Will definitely try that too next time I really like a book ! Thank you 😊😊😊

[@filoma1970]

A really great explanation video, which helped me to look at how I rate and review. I approach some of this like you, but you have given me food for thought on how I can improve what I'm doing, especially for those books I'm not sure to round up or round down. I too use the Goodreads rating for my basis. I loved the examples you used to give context on you explanation. TFS

[@mynameismarines]

Thank you for watching! The rounding up and down thing is probably one area where I'm most inconsistent, and give myself more room to just judge by feeling. Star ratings are fascinating to me, so I"m always down to discuss them! ❤️

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I really should do an updated version of this. It's always interesting to hear how people approach ratings. One thing that I've come to realize about my own ratings is if an author is a debut, self-published or from an marginalized group trying to break into a genre that is overwhelmingly white, male, straight etc., I will tend to bump my ratings by about a half star. I never lie about a book, but I'm also aware that if I decide to champion a book, versus give it 3 stars, that can affect who will pick it up. So sometimes even if I see imperfections in the writing, especially for a debut, I give a little more leeway.

[@mynameismarines]

That's fair! This is the kind of stuff I would prefer to capture in a review than in a star rating, but I understand why you would want to encourage someone with the star rating.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

@@mynameismarines Yeah, I try to address it in reviews as well, but sometimes I think people overlook books that aren't rated as highly even if they are worth reading. I don't know that there's a right answer though!

[@maiawithani]

Watching your videos has definitely inspired me to become a more critical and intentional reader. I’m starting to determine what my own reading/reviewing style looks like, and this video is a huge help! Thank you for being you! ☺️☺️☺️

[@mynameismarines]

This is so sweet and kind! I’m so glad this video was helpful and appreciate the watch and comment. ❤️

[@DaKid27]

Your content is amazing. I have only recently found you and have gone back and binged watched so many of your videos. I like how you take literature seriously and I feel like I can really learn from your content. I have subscribed and I will keep coming back because I trust that your opinions are reached honestly and after a lot of thinking. It does not matter whether the review is good / bad ... what matters is why.

[@mynameismarines]

😭 thank you so much! This was so kind. Thank you for watching and subscribing and hope to see you around the comments. ❤️

[@TheBookLife]

Watching this has made me realise I’ve never actually discussed how I rate and review books on my channel so I’m going to do and film that 👏🏻. It is very interesting seeing how people approach reviewing books, I find it fascinating. Really loved this video!

[@mynameismarines]

Yaaaas I can’t wait to see yours!

[@RachaelFryman]

Thanks for this video!! I've been reconsidering my rating/review system recently and plan to revise it soon after some more research/"soul searching". I very much enjoyed how detailed and thought out your system is and your clear explanation in this video! This video has been my favorite (and the most relatable) one I've come across so far while thinking about my own rating! I might have to try a video like this myself in the future when I've come up with a better system for my reviews! Thanks for the information and inspiration! Happy reading!!

[@mynameismarines]

Thank you! I’m glad it was helpful. Hearing how other people do things is a good guide even if your way is different! Also, no set of guidelines is perfect and they should be flexible for your individual reading experiences! You get something in place that feels good enough and go from there. ❤️

[@PagesAndStages]

This was such an interesting video, and really helpful as I'm still figuring out my preferred way of reviewing books. I find star ratings really limiting but I still use them because like you said it helps me to have a jumping off point from which to think more about what the book did well or not so well. Sometimes I just won't give a rating if I feel like the issues were more with me or my engagement than with the book, and I'm a big fan of half stars! Most of my goodreads reviews start with a half star clarification

[@ReginasHauntedLibrary]

This is an interesting topic. Thanks for sharing. P.S. I love your eye make-up!

[@julibaro575]

I do use stars, and I have a rating system for fiction. It has 5 categories: Plot, Characters, Writing, Personal Enjoyment and Extra Points (this last one is for things like world building, romance... things that not every book has). In each category, I give it a rating from 0 to 1, and explain to myself the reasons behind these ratings. Then, I add up all the ratings and the result is a rating in the 5 star system. Then I write the review, with the notes I took while reading the book plus the things I considered when I rated it. But an interesting detail is that if I gave a book a rating based on a gut feeling, inmediately after finishing it, the rating using my system ends up being the same or very simmilar.

[@mynameismarines]

This is a great system and definitely more precise than my general guidelines. I’d like to share this in an upcoming comment response video because I have a feeling this method could help people who want to get better at rating/reviewing!

[@julibaro575]

@@mynameismarines That would be great! I love your comment response videos 💙

[@anne-marie339]

I've been loving all the extra content you've been producing! Your review method on Goodreads with the "reasons you may/may not like this" set-up are really fantastic as well. I quite like the star system - I find it's helpful in giving an initial gauge of a book as well as statistically speaking (sorting, comparison, etc.). I do wish there were half-stars, because if a book is a 3 or 4 stars but I enjoyed it slightly more than my subjective opinion of the execution, I would rather be able to round up (or vice versa and round down!). I do include the half-star in my review though ;)

[@mynameismarines]

Thank you! Things are still weird and hard but my brain finally settled down and making things was possible again. I’m so happy to be back! I do half stars in my review too! One thing I’m not consistent about is whether or not I round up or down when I give a star rating. I go based on feeling there. And YES about the statistical appeal of star ratings.

[@WildeBookGarden]

Big fan of star ratings here! I agree they’re a good snapshot. I also feel they’re super helpful when it comes to the relative weight of things I thought were good or bad about a book. Like if I say the worldbuilding was underdeveloped but I liked a lot of other elements and give it a 4 star, that to me communicates that the worldbuilding wasn’t a huge detractor. But if I gave that same review and instead gave the book a 3 star rating, to me that says the lack of worldbuilding *did* substantially detract from my enjoyment of the book. Yes exactly! I do consider personal enjoyment but that’s very much wrapped up in my analytical process. Wait I thought I was the only one who did the lazy phone note taking method, I love it 😂 I often do it when there’s a particular line that makes me angry that I want to be sure to talk about specifically. I think “frankness + humor” is a great way to sum up your review style! 😄 I also find this topic super interesting! I’ve been planning this video for so long that it’s cycled back around to being topical so maybe I should get on filming this one 😂

[@ashdondondon]

I love your makeup look in this video!

[@MsAwesomeSaucey]

It’s really interesting to hear you rate and review! ❤️

[@mynameismarines]

Thanks for watching!

[@thejordanjournals]

Wow, I love that analogy of reading is like a road trip. You may be shocked to learn (lol) that I’m a destination reader. I’m zoning out for most of the trip and just focusing on getting there. I have never heard of it that way, but I really relate to that. But, I’m trying to learn and be better at paying attention to the scenery along the way :)

[@bettyreads222]

The enjoyment of a story influences my review in that I enjoy a book because the writing and descriptions take me there and the review/star rating is less because the writing and plot just does nothing for me. Always great to think about why we rate and review the way we do.

[@thisdaemoninpurple]

I do use star ratings, and I do use them very similarly to your "gut-check" system. I use star ratings to make sure I'm not letting my Cancerian brain operate solely on my feelings towards the book. I often struggle to rate books objectively if I end a book on a high note, lol. But I'm learning and getting better at being more critical. I actually love being critical (I'm an English grad), because I know it'll help readers who want an honest opinion. I'll always latch on to one to three of the strongest or weakest elements and explore those points the most in my reviews. But sometimes a book is something I feel lukewarm enough about that I just stick with the star rating, and if I feel it sticks with me enough over time, I'll go back and give it a more analytical review.

[@suzannahdarcy6903]

My have a similar scale for my ratings and reviews. I used LibraryThing, and I show half-stars, so it gives me a little more wiggle room. Five star reads are very rare for me, and I don't bother to finish 1 star books unless I end up hate-reading it and want to write a snarky review.

[@Tutankhamun18Reads]

I really like the idea of this video. I recwntly started making a few videos and might make this too! I do the star rating first too and then force myself to justify it to myself like you loved this book but then what stopped it from getting a 5 ect. The people I hear on booktube not like star ratings as much tend to be alot less „list-y“ than me and also enjoy categorising less. You sound „list-y“ too! :)

[@themidnightlibrarian5159]

I really enjoy that analogy of a book being a car ride. It really clarified for me some of the things I've been feeling with books, particularly books with protagonists that aren't well liked. I end up feeling guilty, that was the point in writing the character, does that make the whole book bad? I believe so. Why would I want to spend an 8-16 hours car ride that makes me want to smack them? Brilliant. Thank you for this insight.

[@mynameismarines]

Yeah the character thing is very much a piece of the enjoyment puzzle. Sometimes I do enjoy unlikeable characters but if there is something else going on in the story, you know? Like are we stuck in a beater with no AC and a crappy person OR are we in a catered party bus and sure this one person sucks but I’ve got other things to enjoy. ...has this analogy gone too far....?

[@desiraeriddick3005]

This was helpful - thank you!

[@mynameismarines]

Thank you for watching!

[@ashdondondon]

Three star books are difficult for me because they’re either generally okay books I didn’t care for, or generally bad books that I really enjoyed reading, so my reviews end up being all over the place.

[@mynameismarines]

Oh, that’s interesting! I kind of just generalized about half good, half bad things but yes! It could be that the good things are all about enjoyment and the bad all about craft or vice versa. Polar opposites all housed in one star rating.

[@FromJessToYou]

Agreed I enjoy star ratings too.

[@saragouveiaa]

I may not be adding anything to the conversation, but I feel the need to vent about the fact that I just don't understand how some people distinguish between enjoyment of a book and its "quality". I say this because my enjoyment of a book is completely dependent on the execution of its various components (writing, characterization, etc). Not because I will always like a book that is considered good, but because a book being good is completely subjective. What I consider "good" or "of quality" can be different from what others say is good. And I consider it good (for me) if I like it. So it doesn't make sense to me to even argue about whether one is rating or should rate a book based on quality or enjoyment because it's all the same!!! At least this is my perspective, and it seems to be close to yours too, but correct me if I'm wrong.

[@mynameismarines]

This is close to what I think! Like I know that my measures of enjoyment and quality are subjective just because of the nature of humans and reviewing and art. However, even though I’m in that camp of “we can disagree on what is ultimately good and bad” I feel like there are some shades of difference between “I liked this” and “this is good.” For instance, I love McDonalds French fries and they are not great quality and really bad for you and not something I would pay much money for. I can still love them but are they good? Nah. Sure you can also go to a Michelin Star restaurant and not enjoy the food, even if the ingredients are fresh, the atmosphere amazing, the plating and the service spectacular, etc. Do enjoyment and quality ultimately inform each other and are they largely in the eye of the beholder? Yes? Are they slightly different to me though? Also yes.

[@AbiofPellinor]

I definitely use my emotions more in my ratings of books compared to how you talked about your star ratings here, but I definitely try to do the same thing in regards to actual reviews. I look at those negative/positive reviews and state why I didn't or did agree with it. I personally like star ratings because even with all these different viewpoints they're still a vague jumping off point that gets people on the same page before reading your review.

[@mynameismarines]

Yes! Regardless of what my personal definition of “this is an amazing book” is, if you see a 5⭐️ review, you have the base of “this person thought that was an amazing book.”

[@AbiofPellinor]

@@mynameismarines 100%! And when you follow someone for long enough/know them irl just the star rating can tell you a lot about what they thought. But of course the written review is definitely such an important part

[@bookwhimsy]

I’ve started disliking star ratings mostly because of books that did not work for me but did things well and I know will be loved by others 💁🏽‍♀️

[@mynameismarines]

That seems to be a common sentiment! My take is that ratings are meant to signify what you liked and not necessarily what others might like. It’s up to them to interpret the information accordingly.

[@sophiathedandilioness]

I'm listening to this while doing my daily physical therapy (on a break to type this) and I got the biggest frickin grin on my face when you said Howls Moving Castle is five stars for you! It's a five stars for me as well, and a book I pick up every couple of years and get sucked right into and struggle to put down. The world building is fantastic, the characters (Sophie and Calcifer to be specific) are wonderful and so engaging, and the way everything clicks together at the end makes me feel so happy and satisfied and fullfilled, I just can't recommend that book enough! I also love the sequel, tho I don't like the characters as much, except the ones that come back from the first book 🤣

[@mynameismarines]

I read it for the second time this year and finished off the series! I didn’t love the second book but the third one was also 5 stars for me. The series is so fun and full of magic and whimsy and those characters and their found family? 😭 Amazing!

[@sophiathedandilioness]

@@mynameismarines 🤩🤩🤩 yes yes yes! One of the best found family stories! I haven't gotten my hands on the third book yet, and I was looking forward to it before but now I'm absolutely STOKED having heard it's another fives stars for you! 😍

[@knigoholik9946]

I was waiting for that video, thank you ♥ I use the star rating, since I'm using Goodreads, but as you've said more like a tracking tool than anything. I'd say the way we rate is pretty similar regarding the number of stars, but the depth you go into reviews is mind blowing for me. I've tried to think how could I explain my feelings and stop after the following sentence "I liked it and.. it was awesome" most of the time. And I've bookstragam for f*cks sake! The idea of watching more negative reviews might help me :) so thanks for the suggestion! Or how do you even review something that you loved, but the ending sucked; or more like you didn't like it, because it is logical and you understand it, but.. the struggle is real over here!

[@mynameismarines]

Thank you for watching! ❤️ Those are things that it’s always tricky to kind of weigh out. A bad ending depends for me but is usually like a docked star? Depending if it’s bad like I didn’t personally like this or this didn’t make sense in the story or something so bad it kind of colors the rest of the story. An example of the last for me is Daisy Jones and the Six. That book did a lot of amazing things. I liked the complexity of the characters, the framing device and the atmosphere. I think the final plot twist and ending were bad, and bad in a way that it changed so much about the book itself. I ended up giving that 3 stars, I believe.

[@LiteratureScienceAlliance]

I don’t hate the star rating system but I also feel constricted by it, probably cause I should use 2 stars more but especially with books that aren’t super popular I don’t like giving a book a 2 or 1 unless its really bad or problematic (or so popular that my rating will not affect its average) like I will honestly describe what is going wrong in reviews/wrapups but I give more 2.5 than 2 stars and I always round up on goodreads. For my reviews I think I approach is a bit like you and start from my baseline enjoyment and then try and figure out what really worked, what didn’t etc I think I value character connection and my engagement with the material more than writing style although if that writing style prevented me from connecting with the material thats a problem. I also really like to focus on the themes the work presents and what that made me think and how well it was incorporated into the work overall.

[@mynameismarines]

I guess I just don't feel so bad about it lol. I treat it the same way as if I went to a mom and pop restaurant that served me bad food. Like yes, I want them to succeed, but my experience was still not good? True, someone else might like it, but I'm sharing *my* opinion of a thing, you know? This IS why I'm careful about what I accept for review, though, and why I don't typically accept indie or self-published authors. I understand that my word carries more weight when then are fewer reviews, so I would rather not accept than feel like I can't rate or review honestly. Not that I wouldn't read these things just for me, but that I wouldn't promise to talk about them online. I almost talked about character connection, but the truth is that I'm pretty game for something plotless but character deep OR something so whip fast, the characters are secondary. And YES, I LOVE THEMES. Picking the thesis statement of a work is a game Nicole and I play, and it's so fun. I love taking a stab at what the book is saying and the way it went about saying it.

[@bridgembooks3694]

I like star ratings but I do think that I’m one of those people that relies on their feelings too much when giving star ratings. That’s one of the reasons I really enjoy your content and reviews because I look up to the way you go about it and I would like to read more critically. Also, I find reviews incredibly hard to film! I would love to know if you’d have any more tips on creating a quality book review. This video was super helpful for me, so thank you!

[@mynameismarines]

I’m going to take a little break from this topic in general but I’ll be back with some more “tips” for reviewing. I call them tips but really they are more like how I bumble my way through and what works for me lol.

[@bridgembooks3694]

It’s so true! Everyone has their own way of going about reviews, which is something I think is very interesting on this platform. Booktube is based on reviewing and I think it’s so cool how lots of people can be successful on here but review books so differently.

[@mariana.c89]

I loved the road trip analogy and I'm still trying to figure out which kind of reading I am hahah

[@mynameismarines]

Maybe a little bit of both depending on the mood or the book! ❤️

[@mariana.c89]

@@mynameismarines definitely! some books I care only about the ending, but others I want to enjoy the ride..... I guess the author also counts a lot for that, and their writing

[@BookChats]

Not related to this video but, I just noticed Chemistry face out on your shelf and yes. That book. I've been meaning to ask you, as a rereader when your thoughts on a book change after a reread, do you change the star rating? (Ex. Did your recent reread of Mockingjay prompt a change in GR star rating or only a new written review???)

[@mynameismarines]

This just happened to me with An Absolutely Remarkable Thing in fact. I'm going to bump it up to 4.5 stars, I think, and yes, I'll change the star rating, but note the original star rating in the review!

[@BallgownsAndBooks]

Gosh, Marines, every single time I watch a video of yours with this kind of discussion, I always come away feelings like you've articulated my thoughts exactly. I wouldn't claim to be a particularly sophisticated critical reviewer, but I do always try to approach from a 'this is what I did and didn't like, and here's why' perspective, and aim to be balanced in that. The only place where I somewhat disagree with you is star ratings. I rate very much on gut feeling; I've never really expressed my classifications out loud, though I think they're similar to yours in principle, but I also feel like they're so uselessly arbitrary? Star ratings meaning different things to different people is one thing, but even for myself I find that I can have such such a spread of opinions even about books I've rated the same thing - particularly in the 3 and 3.5 star categories, which are something of a catch-all?

[@mynameismarines]

A previous comment made a great point about the 3 stars in particular in that the good half of the book might all be enjoyment stuff and the bad half all craft and that average out to 3. But the polar opposite can be true and end up also at a 3. Those are two very different books and two very different reviews. Also though these are my general guides, and there is something to be said about how different genres fit into these and what a five star romance book likes like for me compared to five star literary fiction or fantasy or whatever. There is a ton of variation within the star ratings but not all of it can be accounted for because of the ratings themselves, if that makes sense.

[@booksvsmovies]

Star ratings are only useful to me insolation when I know the reviewer's taste very well and even then I'm always looking for the specific reason why they gave that rating. I was wondering how you feel about rating books you DNF. I personally don't and while I try not to judge other people's ratings I get incredibly frustrated at reviewers who rate DNF'd books. This may just be because I rarely hand out one stars (even if I rated my DNFs they'd likely be in the 2-3 star range). I just don't get the confidence to go "one star. it was boring'. I reserve that for the truly atrocious, poorly written, problematic books and a boring book just doesn't fall in that category.

[@mynameismarines]

I typically do not rate DNFs. If I DNF a book, it’s usually early on and at that point I don’t have enough information to rate or review. I also find it kind of 🙄 when I see people have rated a book they mostly did not read. Past a certain point, I feel like maybe you could be confident that nothing that would happen would change your impression of it, but you are still ultimately rating and reviewing an incomplete experience.

[@ThoughtsOnTomes]

It saddens me that in a video titled “how I rate and review books” there were still multiple points in which you had to make the disclaimer “not saying that other people don’t do this”/“not saying if you don’t do this that it’s wrong.” 😫 also got a giggle out of your statement that you will basically read anything besides “something that will invite the devil into your home” which is so specific but totally makes sense for you and made me smile.

[@mynameismarines]

Lol everyone has been lovely in the comments but I still have that reaction to make sure we all know we can all do what we want. And also yes will read trash, will not read about the devil, thank you very much.