This week's Blog Hop question (hosted by Crazy for Books), is one that I especially love:
Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?My review system is kind of... complicated. I use a rating system, but not your typical 1-5 stars system. Because I love to see what exactly makes a book work (or not work) I look at ten different elements of a book and give each one a 1-10 rating. I look at
PREMISE
PLOT
CHARACTERS
RELATIONSHIPS
SETTING
THEMES
VOICE
ENDING
RECOMMENDABILITY (ie. how strongly or widely would I recommend this one?)
FANGIRLY (ie. how much did I personally love this book?)
I strive to make every facet of my review (except for the "fangirly" portion) as objective as possible, partly because I feel this is how reviews should be and completely subjective reviews annoy me, but also because I think that's the best way to help readers decide if they would like a book or not. What's important to me in a book (characters, voice, relationships, setting) might not be the most important features to other readers and that's one of the things I really love about books and reading: not only can two people disagree on a book, but they can also love a book for completely different reasons.
By the time I've finished a review, the book has a score out of 100%, which is the easiest way for me to understand how good a book is. The interesting thing (at least to me) about this type of review system is that the books I love most don't always have the highest scores. Objectively, they aren't always the best books. Likewise, I can read a really phenomenal book from an objective standpoint and as great as it is, it doesn't end up being one of my favorites.
(Also: please excuse the mess on my blog as I try to find a theme/design I love.)
Hopping by to visit and follow! Whoa, that's a very detailed grading system, and I love it. There are so many facets to a book, and it's important to weigh how technically "good" it is against how much we actually enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteAnd yay for being Team Peeta! Me too. Have you read Mockingjay yet?
-Tiger
http://tigersallconsumingbooks.blogspot.com
Adorable name and design.
ReplyDeleteJust hopping by....
Stop by my blog if you get a chance for reviews on I'd Know you Anywhere by Laura Lippman, Saving Cee Cee Honeycut by Beth Hoffman, and many others.
Happy Hopping, Everyone.
Hi! This is my first hop :) Really liking your blog, do keep experimenting - I'm not embarrassed to say that today I just announced the winner of my first contest - to name my blog ;)
ReplyDeletee-Volving Books
Wow, that seems like a really thorough rating system! I do understand about how a book that objectively gets a high score isn't always one of your favorites...there's always that certain personal element that's involved in a reader's impression of a book.
ReplyDeleteDanya
A Tapestry of Words
Tiger Holland - Actually the only one I've read so far is THE HUNGER GAMES. I know, I know, I'm so behind. I've ordered CATCHING FIRE though, so hopefully it'll arrive soon.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth & Deepali - Thanks!
danya - Exactly. There are plenty of books I've read that I just don't connect to even though they're objectively very good, and others that are just par that I absolutely love love love.
Exactly, see that's why I don't rate. We may like a book for the same reason or I might hate it for the very same reason you love it. So if, as I've read some people's comments today they just look at the rating and if it's bad they skip it, they might be missing out on the best book of their lives. And they are trusting me to tell them that. I would rather say what I liked and didn't like and why. Though as you can tell, I'm rather long winded.
ReplyDeleteHeather
Hey! I'm dropping by via the blog hop! I hope you've been having a great weekend! :)
ReplyDeleteLoving your background :) coming through via blog hop. am now a follower! happy reading
ReplyDeleteTheBookBluff