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My Book Review System || A Bookish Post

1/11/2021

8 Comments

 
Hello everyone! Today I have a fun little book-related post…my new review system and how it works! So strap on your seat belts, here we go!

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So, basically, I’ve never liked the 5-Star system. But since that’s all Amazon, Goodreads and Bookbub allow me to use, I’m kinda stuck with it there. But here? I’m gonna start using the good old 10-Star system! This post will cover four things: my Content Meter, my Quality Meter, My Personal Enjoyment Meter, and my 5-Star Converter!

My Content Meter||

This is where I list my personal opinions of a book’s content. Who I would feel comfortable recommending a book to. Please note, the reader age suggestion is just a guide. Some may feel differently about the proper age, or I may change my rating based on the book’s uniqueness. There are only 5 sections to this meter.
 
5| Completely Clean
100% clean content for all ages

4| Mature Content/Minor Censoring for Young Readers
100% clean content for a reader 16+. A book dealing with topics too hard for a child to handle, but in a clean, moral way (Abortion, the Holocaust, PTSD, Violence, etc.)

3| Mature Content/Mild Censoring for Mature Readers
For readers 18+. It may contain minor swear words/have a storyline that needs to be censored (Romance, Excessive Violence, etc.)

2| Major Censoring
For readers 21+. Contains more serious swear words/storylines that are inappropriate but still have enough good content to be worth the effort of censoring.

1| Filthy
This book contains inappropriate scenes that are the bulk of the story/has excessive language/too detailed in acts of violence,/glorifies evil. I would advise no one read this book.

My Quality Meter ||

This meter judges the author’s work according to my personal reading standards.
 
1| Pitiful/Lazy
The book is riddled with typos, with no clear direction or plot in the story. The author basically published their notes.

2| Brainstorming
This book had some potential but needs to be fleshed out and outlined—complete writing overhaul.

3| First Draft
Interesting idea, but no story to grasp. Needs revising and editing.

4| Hard to Follow/Doesn’t Flow
This is a book that has a plot, but only the author can see it. Not enough information is given to keep the readers hooked. Or the writing is too choppy and throws you out of the story.

5| Cluttered
The story has promise, but there’s excess information that clouds the story from being seen.

6| Needs Polishing
The story is good; it just needs some editing.

7| Good
A solid story. Could use minor clean up edits.

8| Great
An amazing story. Minor tune-up and character development.

9| Well Done
No problems and exceeds expectations in setting, characters, and plot.

10|Excellent
This author is a genius and takes things above and beyond!
 
Take Away || 1-5 Not so Great || 6-10 Worth Reading

My Personal Enjoyment Meter ||

This is where I give my rating on how much I enjoyed the story. This is my personal opinion and may not line up with the ratings I give on the other meters. I will, of course, provide an explanation on why it received a particular rating if needed 😉
 
1| Shakes Head
I stopped/should have stopped reading it.

2| Sigh
I didn’t enjoy it at all.

3| Eye Roll
Waste of Time.

4| Meh
Not my cup of tea.

5| Shrug
Not good, not bad, not a favorite.

6| Smiles
This book was okay. Not bad!

7| Grins
I like this book. It had a good plot, and I would definitely recommend it!

8| Beams
A Good solid book! I enjoyed it!

9| Heart-Eyes
I couldn’t put it down!

10| Star-Eyes
Top Favorite! I may just reread this every year! 😉

My 5-Star Converter ||

This one is simple.
 
1| 1-2 on my Overall Rating.

2| 3-4 on my Overall Rating.

3| 5-6 on my Overall Rating.

4| 7-8 on my Overall Rating.

5| 9-10 on my Overall Rating.

So, What is an Overall Rating? ||

This is the final score I give the book. Since I don’t know my rates in the other sections, I can’t give you an example, but I will explain the Overall Rating on each book as required!
 
I hope to reread a few of the books I’ve already read and update their reviews here with the new system as I go!
 
Just a quick thought: If you were a book, how would God rate you?
 
Writing Prompt: How do you rate the books you read?
 
Thanks for stopping by today! God Bless and happy reading!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22
8 Comments
Laura G.
1/11/2021 09:51:01

Respectfully I agree with you on most of your rating points but there are younger authors out there that may publish a story without really understanding how to write a book. We need to make sure when we leave a review of their book that we are kind and helpful in our review. Also, I think in this day and age younger people need to be aware of topics like abortion and how they effect young people, of course in an appropriate way. I also think we need to be careful. Many holocaust children's books deal with hard topics but it is so important for us to remember history without sugar coating it. I'm not sure why you would rate a holocaust book 16+ unless there was inappropriate scenes between people or excessive gore. I'm curious how you rate a book 5 stars? I mean, I usually rate it on how good it was. I'm just wondering what books are good for all ages? A kid's book may be rated 5 stars but it may not be interesting to an adult...just not sure what you mean by that. Thanks!

Reply
Ryana Lynn
1/11/2021 16:32:30

Very good points, Laura! I actually intended to add a young author clause in there and totally forgot! I definitely take authors ages into consideration when reviewing and of course criticize it a way that is constructive and Christ-honoring.

As for hard topics for kids, I'm simply saying that I haven't ever read a book on the above topics that we're appropriate for the a younger reader. Now, if I found one, I'd gladly recommend it to a young reader! Just most books give more detail than needed for young readers. I don't believe in sugar-coating things either, but I do prefer to preserve innocence where I can. I just believe certain topics should be introduced at the parents’ discretion.

And as for how I rate a book 5 stars. I do take into account who I am writing the review for, and for whom the book was intended for. While I might not get much out of a children book, I would rate it 5 stars if it was wholesome and give my age recommendation. Then I'd mention it's not meant for older readers, etc if needed.

Hope that answers your questions! Thank you so much for commenting and bringing up these points! Very thought, provoking!

Reply
Lilly W, link
1/11/2021 15:18:29

Your 10 point system sounds good! I look forward to more book reviews in the future!

Reply
Ryana Lynn
1/11/2021 16:33:06

Thank you!

Oh, I'm so glad!

Reply
Rebekah Davis
1/12/2021 13:45:13

That was so helpful. Sometimes I have trouble deciding wither or not to allow my younger siblings to read certain books. I really struggle with recommending books to friends, because most books could use minor editing. How would you recommend I that I go about giving books and recommending books to friends when they need minor edits. Your thought on how God would rate me was very convicting.

Reply
Ryana Lynn
1/12/2021 13:55:38

I always preface my recommendations with an explanation that this book has content. My copies are censored, so if they borrow a book from me, it will be clean. But if they are getting their own copy I will share my concerns about the book and the amount of censoring that is required/if it's worth the time and effort.

I thought it was convicting too...hard stuff to process sometimes...

Reply
Kassie link
2/7/2021 07:23:28

One of these days I'm gonna sit down and figure out my own system like this! Now I have some ideas...

Reply
Ryana Lynn
2/11/2021 10:25:23

YAY!!!!!!!

Reply

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    Ryana Lynn

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