I have to be honest with ya: I have a love/hate relationship with the 5-star rating system.
Somedays, I don’t mind it.
It’s a consistent way to express through multiple websites whether a product was excellent, great, good, meh, or sh!t. If there’s one thing I learned through nursing school, it’s that it’s good to have standards that are consistent wherever you go. Whether we’re talking about the proper steps of inserting IVs or reviewing books, using a tried and true method is just a good way to keep things in line and constant.
But other days? I can’t stand it.
I feel like even when you use the half-stars, it’s just not enough. It’s why when I first made this blog, I had started using the letter grading system that’s used here in the US Higher Education system. I believe that the grading system gives me more leeway.
Yet, there’s still that issue of wanting some sort of standard that I can use with every website. Sure, I could give a book a B+, but how
Solution? Use both.
Ok technically speaking, I already used both. But, I wanted to make a fancy chart.
| Letter Grade | Star Rating | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| A+/A | 5.0 | Amazing. Blew me away. I probably laughed and/or cried about it in the shower after I finished reading the book. Hands down, the best of the best. |
| A- | 4.5 | Awesome book and I enjoyed it a lot. Had one or a few minor issues that I noticed, but didn’t bother me too much. |
| B+/B | 4.0 | Good and awesome book that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, the minor issues are far more glaring. |
| B- | 4.0 | Again, still a great book. Probably loved it. However, the problem I had was much more major and took some enjoyment away from reading the book. |
| C+ | 3.5 | It was okay. Not good. Not bad. Just okay. Some good moments, some bad moments. 3.6 roentgen — not great but not terrible either. |
| C | 3.0 | An ok book. Not great, but not terrible either. But there were things that prevented me from truly enjoying the book or falling in love with it. |
| C- | 2.5 | Mediocre. There are better books out there. |
| D+ | 2.0 | Unable to enjoy it at all. There were way too of problems that completely overshadowed the good. |
| D | 1.5 | Horrible. An utterly unpleasant experience. How I managed to finish the book is beyond me. |
| F | 0 to 1 | I would rather walk barefoot on lava than read this book ever again. No saving grace. Why did I waste time on this book? |
Addendum
I go into my book review policies and the formats I use on another page and I invite you to check that out. Now, I try to be fair when I’m reviewing books. Whenever I write reviews, I actually have this rating system open. Keep things consistent.
When it comes to GR ratings, I usually round up when I am using their rating system. Sometimes, I will round down because the book just does not deserve that extra full star.
However, I will always make it clear in the written review what the actual rating/grade is for that book.
Prior to reaching out for review requests, please read the book review policies page.
If you have any questions regarding my rating system, feel free to use the contact form or email me nurseveronica.reads@gmail.com.
