Read While It Rains

It’s tricky to know how to rate different reads, especially because reading is so subjective and so is our enjoyment of different books. For me, rating books just depends on how much I enjoyed them. No matter the genre, if I had a great time reading the book, I’ll rate it highly.

My enjoyment depends on me being entertained, learning something new, making me laugh and feeling immersed in the read. I often reflect on my ratings for quite some time, and may edit them even months later.

So, with all that said, here is how I rate books. (I don’t use half-stars as this is not compatible with the Goodreads system.)

★- Truly terrible with no redeemable features. I read very few books that I dislike this strongly, so there usually has to be some problematic element such as homophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia.

★★- Not for me but with some good qualities. This tends to be the rating I give books I didn’t hate but that I didn’t enjoy. Perhaps the plot was lacking or the writing style just wasn’t for me.

★★★- Good but flawed. These are books that I enjoyed overall, but that had some issues, perhaps due to pacing or character development.

★★★★- Great read. This is the rating I give for nearly perfect books. There is usually one element missing that stops it from being a 5 star read.

★★★★★- Absolutely perfect. A book that blew me away and is a new favourite.