Everyone has an opinion so I wanted to be clear about what mine means when you see those stars.
5 stars: I love this book. I can’t stop thinking about this book. I’m going to tell everyone about this book until they read it or stop talking to me.
4 stars: I really like this book. The odds are good I will tell other people about it.
3 stars: It was okay. This can go one of two ways.
The first scenario: I enjoyed it (I might have even really enjoyed it), but there were things I didn’t like and enough of them it was problematic, but overall I liked the story. If the book is part of a series I will probably still continue.
The second scenario: I have no idea how to feel about it or it wasn’t for me, but I can see that it was a good story. I will not punish the author for not falling into their target audience and I don’t want to discourage readers who will enjoy it.
2 stars: I didn’t like it. There were enough problems in it I can’t justify giving it 3 stars or I had to force my way through it. If it’s a series I likely will NOT continue, unless I’m really invested in a character, think the story has potential, or really like the author. There is also the chance that this book is not for me and I will note that. (This is a “it might be me, but I’m pretty sure it’s you” rating.)
1 star: I really didn’t like it. Odds are if it gets a single star you should add a few more “really”s before “didn’t like”. The book was extremely problematic or I found it boring. Regardless of the reason I couldn’t find anything redeeming about it. (This is a “it’s not me it’s definitely you” rating.)