April 2019 | Book Recap & Star Ratings

April 2019 Book Recap & Ratings

Month in review & factors in determining a star rating:

Hello! How was your month of reading? April was a mix of some 4 & 5-star favorites and some 3-star books that were just okay. Last week when I was answering some reader questions on Instagram Stories, my friend Emily asked me what factors go into my star ratings for a book.

I thought this was a fantastic question and now that I have been a part of the Bookstagram community for a while now, I have seen that people’s answers for this can vary so much! Here is how I decide what to rate a book I have read…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣ 5 stars mean I loved the book so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about it long after I had finished!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫⁣ 4.5 stars mean I enjoyed it a lot. <3

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣ 4 stars mean I highly recommend it and there was maybe a thing or two that gave me pause but all in all I enjoyed it very much.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars mean it was a solid read with a few things that didn’t work for me as a reader.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars mean it was just okay.

⭐️⭐️ 2 stars mean that the book was not for me and I would not recommend it. These are tough ratings for me to give because I really try to be thoughtful about the positives aspects when reviewing a book but sometimes a book just isn’t the right fit. Whenever I write a more “negative” review, I do try to share both the highs and the lows and I also recognize that our own perspectives and even mood can change our reactions to books.

⭐️ I have never rated a book with just 1 star. As a reader, I do think there is something you can get out of everything you read and so I avoid this rating just because I don’t think it allows for a lot of conversation.

How do you rate books? I would love to hear!