How I rate books

Reviewing books with just the star rating isn't enough, because we all rate very differently. That's why I want to explain how I use the rating system! I know many people have problems with the ''in between stars'' which means that everybody sees those stars very different, so maybe my explanation will be helpful.

This is what Goodreads says when you rate a star:

5 stars: it was amazing

4 stars: really liked it

3 stars: liked it

2 stars: it was ok

1 star: did not like it

 

That's how I rate books as well. In our country we have the 1-10 rating system and 1 means then very bad and 10 really good (so 1 is a F and 10 is an A). We also use 0.5 between those number, which you can translate to for example 3.5 stars. So this is my rating:

5 stars: 10, which means amazing; recommend it to everyone and I could read this book multiple times.

4.5 stars: 9, I really, really liked it and it surprised me, but I don't think I'm going to re-read it in the future.

4 stars: 8, I really, really liked it and it was entertaining, but it didn't surprise me that but. but I got through it really fast. This is the star I give to most classics as well, even though some of them weren't that enjoyable, but the moral was really good and I understand why it's such a good classic. So I give classics usually a higher rating.

3.5 stars: 7, I liked it and I got through it fast, but it was my favorite read.

3 stars: 6, I liked it, but I had some problems with it or there were (many) cliché things in it. Usually people think the 3 star rating it a bad rating, but not for me. A 3 star rating means that I liked it, but that I have nothing more to say about it. It also means that I'm still interesting in continue the rest of the author novels or upcoming books in a series!

2.5 stars: 5, I had more problems with it and I didn't agree with many things. When you have a 5 in our country it means that you didn't pass something (a 5,5 or above is), which in this situation means that I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're curious and you think you'll like it: you can still read and there's nothing that stops you to do so.

2 stars: 4, which means I was able to finish, but I hated most of the things that happened, so it was just okay (most people give 3 stars then, but I don't!).

1.5: stars: 3, I was really close to not finish it, but the plot got me excited and at the end I decided to not finish it. This means that I was excited in the beginning, but that it got worse and worse.

1 star: 2, could not finish it, didn't like the plot at all so I stopped reading it and I really, really do not recommend this book.

 

I hope you guys understand my rating system now. I personally think this is the best way (at least for me), to rate books. This also means I rarely give books (especially most YA) 5 stars, but 4, while other people usually give a higher rating. That does not mean I didn't like them! Maybe I'm more critical at giving a book a rating, because even though I don't think there was something wrong with a book, I would still ''only'' give it 4 stars because I don't think I would like to re-read it in the future.

 

How do you rate books and do you rate the same as I do?