A lot of bloggers have been talking about whether or not to abolish ratings, but they work for me and I love them.
My point system is out of 5. I rate on if I would recommend the book overall to other YA book lovers (that's you guys).
5: Amazing. Everything was in place for a strong story; perfect in plot, characterization, and vivid writing.
4: Good. A great read, but possibly lacking in one small area or another.
3: Okay. One or two elements of storytelling stood out and were strong, but overall the book had a lack of drive/direction. Take it or leave it.
2: Bad. It was probably boring. Even if there was a good theme or literary value, it was not what a YA reader wants to read about. Possibly the copy-editing was so terrible as to impede readability. I wouldn't recommend it unless you REALLY SPECIFICALLY like that topic or author or style.
1: Could Not Finish/Or FORCED Myself to Finish: It was a painful experience trying to do so. Cringe. Let me move on and forget about having picked it up.
These aren't exactly set in stone. When I review something that isn't YA or is a completely different style, such as a play, I will take that into consideration. There will be explanations of why I chose that rating if there are any such special cases.
Please don't take the rating as the final say. Use it in conjunction with my review and the reviews of others to make an informed decision about a particular book's possible appeal to you.
If you look through my blog, you will probably notice that there is hardly anything rated below a 3. Negative reviews are not my specialty. I tend to rant in the moment and then realize that it was mean, so to avoid conflict I rather not post negative reviews. I want this blog to be more about great books to read rather than what books to buy and which to not.
