Ratings

I really wish I had some complicated system of numbers and figures that I used to give the ratings to the books I read.  I wish it involved fractions and decimals and all other sorts of number-ey sounding words.  But, alas, it doesn't.  Here's a (sorta) brief explanation of how I rate what I read.  For most books, when I finish it - I will just get a feeling about the book.  That sounds a lot more hippie-fied than I intend it to.....but that's really the only way to describe it.

BUT....if I have to break it down - here goes:

• 1 Star ★ - This is the easiest one.  If I hated the book, it gets a 1 star.  Like, I hated it to the point of it having no redeeming qualities whatsoever.  It could be that the book was poorly written or the characters were terrible or the story as a whole just didn't work for me.  Or it was a combination of all three.  Usually I know by about half way through a book if it's going to get the 1 star treatment.  I'd never read this crap again and I surely would warn others away from it.

• 2 Stars ★★ - I hated the book, but there might have been a few things that I enjoyed (characters, a sex scene/scenes, or theme).  Still, I will never read it again, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, either.

• 3 Stars ★★★ - This is the tricky one.  This is neutral ground.  I didn't love it; I didn't hate it.  I was just sort of meh.  Sometimes for books I've given this rating to, I've actually used a system of averages that I just swore I never used.  For one book in particular, I gave it a 5 for smoking hot sex scenes and a 0 for everything else.  That averaged up to a 2.5, which I rounded to a 3.  For books in the 3 star zone, the only thing that usually saves them from being a 1 or a 2 is the smoking hot sex.  

• 4 Star ★★★★ - This is the rating that I've probably given to the most books.  It means that I loved it, I'd easily recommend it to others, and I'll go back and read it again.  So....why not give it a 5, then?  Well....maybe it just didn't have that oomph.  I don't know.  I teeter most often between giving books a 4 or a 5 rating, and this is where I have to go with my gut telling me to give it a 4 or a 5.  Sorry.  I wish I had a more scientific method to explain my madness.

• 5 Star ★★★★★ - I'll admit it, I do give out a 5 star rating a lot.  But you know, there are so many books that I've read that just hit me for one reason or another.  That's not to say that every book that I rate as a 5 star book is perfect.  No.  Far from it, actually.  But 5 stars usually denote the following:  

1. I loved every second of the book; I wouldn't change a thing.  This book is perfect.
2. This book was just crazy hot sex scenes strung together with just enough plot to get them to the next sex scene.  Yea, some folks may have an issue with me giving a 5 star rating to these types of books and ALSO giving a 5 star rating to books with actual storyline and character development, etc.  I get that.  But you know what - you gotta judge apples to apples.  And sometimes that apple strives to be nothing more than sex.  In that case - if the sex is super hot and I grow to love the characters and the storyline....what little there is....I have no problem dropping a 5 star on that baby.
3. Sure, the book may have had some issues, but I'll be rereading it (or at least scenes from it) for a long time.  I fell in love with the characters, the sex was hot, the plot was great, the story was original, etc.  Who cares if it wasn't perfect?  

So basically, that's my rating system in a nutshell.  I may come back and update this page from time to time.....as I continue to rate books and make note of what makes me love, hate, or just meh that book.