Review Policy

Star Rating

Ratings are done on a whim, which means I can love a book and still give it three stars because opinions are complicated and rating is hard, okay?

Don’t think I’ve ever given one of these out, and I’d like to keep it that way! In theory, this book would be best used for roasting marshmallows.

Not a fit for me, for any number of reasons. Possibly too many fatal flaws, poor execution, not a topic I’m interested in, tropes I hate, or plot points that I find problematic. Would recommend for a niche group of readers.

Good read, which I enjoyed, but didn’t love, for any number of reasons. Likely some sticking points or tropes that I’m just not a fan of. Would still recommend to read.

Great read with a couple sticking points that kept it from being a favorite. Might be a perfectly good book, but didn’t inspire that wow, omg, must shove it in everyone’s face and force them to read it reaction. Would definitely recommend.

Excellent read with re-read potential. Something I will fiercely throw at friends and family and demand they read or else. Would gladly add a copy to my bookwyrm den. Would recommend/buy/stalk author for more.

Review Policy

Reviews are spoiler free. If I happen to mention a spoiler, it’s tagged appropriately or called out before the review. I don’t consider anything that happens in the first 15% of the book or anything mentioned in the summary to be a spoiler.
Reviews are 100% my opinion—nothing more, nothing less. Which means that if a book doesn’t work for me, it doesn’t necessarily say anything about that book and everything about me. I’ve tried being the audience for every single book, but for some reason, I’m not. Trust me, no one’s more disappointed about this than I am.
I reserve the right to not review any particular book. Because I know, logically, I’m not going to love every single book, I have the habit of DNF’ing books that I’m simply not enjoying. Sometimes this means I won’t review every single book I receive, though I’ll still attempt to publicize it (and sometimes I buy it for my library, anyway, because my patrons have very different tastes!).
Reviews are posted on my blog and on Goodreads.
I do not rate DNF books. I do, however, post something on Goodreads (and sometimes the blog) as to why I ended up putting it on the “Did Not Finish” list. I recognize that my readers may very well be interested in books that didn’t work for me, and I want to bring them to their attention still!
I do post low-starred reviews on my blog. However, I strive to do so constructively. I do not post rant reviews or flames. I always post positives and negatives of the books I read (because my negatives are someone else’s positives) and attempt to offer a balanced perspective of what I thought worked and didn’t for any particular book. For more on this: Why I Write Negative Reviews
I review books, not authors. There’s a difference. Books may be receive a low ranking, but I’ve never met an author who hasn’t deserved five stars. Yet. I mean, I guess there’s the off-chance they start sacrificing their readers to the writing gods, and I suppose I might have to knock off a star for that, but hey, four stars is still pretty good, too.
For the sake of transparency: finished copies I receive and choose not to keep will be donated to my library. I try to limit my physical shelves, if I don’t love it enough to keep in my personal collection, it’s donated to my teensy, rural local library to be put on the shelves for the enjoyment of others.