How I Rate My Books

First of all, it’s important to know that book rating is subjective. Everyone seems to have a system that works for them, and it’s absolutely okay to be different. This is just what works for me.

However, I have tried to make my star system one that can be easily tracked and clearly understood.

Star Ratings⭐️

Five Stars

I absolutely loved this book. I thought about it even while I wasn’t reading it–it completely captivated my attention. I would recommend this book to everyone. 

Four Stars

I really enjoyed this book, but it didn’t always hold me captive. I would recommend this book to others 

Three Stars

To me, three stars isn’t bad. It’s exactly in the middle, neutral. I didn’t love this book, but I didn’t dislike it either. I would recommend this book to others that I believe would really enjoy it.

Two Stars

I did not like this book and I probably only finished it to mark it “as read” for a reading goal. Though, because I don’t have a problem DNF-ing a book, I normally don’t give books two stars because I just don’t finish them.

One Star

DNF. I did not like this book and would not recommend it to anyone. I don’t normally give books one star.

Spice Ratings🌶️

Five Peppers

On-page sex/smut/open-door scenes, and may contain all of the below. I will not read nor recommend an open-door book, even if it’s “skip-able.” And therefore will never rate a book five peppers.

Four Peppers

Fade-to-black, mentions of arousal, heavy breathing, and may contain all of the below. As a rule of thumb, I don’t intentionally read books with a four-pepper rating–they honestly just make me uncomfortable.

Book example: “Practice Makes Perfect” by Sarah Adams

Three Peppers

Descriptive make-out scenes, thoughts of attraction toward the other person, and may contain all of the below. 

Book example: “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer

Two Peppers

Longer kisses with some description, but not lots of details, hand-holding, snuggling described, and may contain all of the below.

Book example: “It Couldn’t Be You” by Rebecca Jo Jackson

One Pepper

If there’s any kissing, they are only pecks. May have hand-holding, but no snuggling.

Book example: “Seas the Day” by Anna Barroso

Language Ratings🗣️

Level Five

At least twenty curse words used.

Level Four

At least fifteen curse words used.

Level Three

At least ten curse words used.

Level Two

At least five curse words used.

Level One

No language use.

Half-Ratings

Even with a descriptive rating-system, it isn’t a one-size-fits all sort of approach. This is when I’ll use half-ratings. Half-ratings will always be accompanied with a description of why. For example, if a book has four curse words and all four of them are F-bombs, it would get a three on language use.

Conclusion

As a disclaimer, I will never intentionally read a book that contains smut or LGBTQ+ characters. Books will also get docked for excess language use.

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