Book Reviews
Jen’s rating system:
I begin my rating based on how much I like the book. Then I add or subtract stars based on a range of other criteria including:
1) writing quality & style (e.g., clarity, simplicity vs. complexity, use of humor, wit, satire, harmony, rhythm, effectiveness of dialogue).
2) characters & character development (e.g. are characters flat or 3-dimensional, do characters experience growth throughout the book, etc.).
3) plot (any devices of plot complication or resolution, is there sub-plot, etc.)
4) setting (e.g., a sense of atmosphere, scenic effects used & effective, etc.).
5) novelty or uniqueness (e.g., writing style, story, etc.)
6) contribution/influence (influences– on society, the genre, future books, movies).
7) knowledge learned (a strictly personal category since I don’t assume that information that is new to me will be new to everyone else & vice versa).
8) depth (e.g., is this just a good story or does the author do more than tell a story? use of symbolism, motifs, parody, allegory).
So, my final rating system will look something like this but will vary according to criteria I listed above:
★ Hated it, & no redeeming additional qualities noted. Recommend avoiding it.
★★ Disliked it, may have 1 redeeming quality (writing style, novelty, etc).
★★★ Liked it or may have a few interesting qualities.
★★★★ Really liked it & it has at least a couple interesting qualities.
★★★★★ Loved almost everything about it. Only a few, if any, minor limitations noted.
Book Worm’s Rating system
jenp27
Nicole Del Sesto
The Reader's Room 
I have trouble with book reviews. I feel bad giving a book low stars just because I didn’t like it. Like, there’s nothing wrong with the book but I didn’t like the way the story went. I’m sure there are others out there who loved the way it went. I don’t want to affect the sales or discourage people from reading if there wasn’t anything wrong. I usually give 4 stars for everything that doesn’t have horrible writing or misinformation about something important. And I give 5 stars if I loved it.
Maybe I should rethink my reviews
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