As I get into my ARC and reviewing era, I figured I would post this first, so that everyone understands where I'm coming from when rating and reviewing books.
Please keep in mind that book ratings are very subjective. These ratings are my own, and are in no way ever reflective of the authors whose books I review. A book that I rate 5 stars may be a 1 star read to another reader for a multitude of reasons. Anything I rate 3 stars or above is a book that I would absolutely recommend to other people.
Overall Star Rating (Characters & Storyline/Plot)
- ⭐: Did not enjoy. A book I most likely DNF. Any book I DNF will not get a formal review here on my blog or on IG. You probably won't even know that I read it.
- ⭐⭐: I finished the book, but it didn't really resonate with me. Probably took me a long time to finish.
- ⭐⭐⭐: This is a good rating for me. These books are definitely books that I would recommend to others to read.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐: This book was great, and something I would recommend to others. Probably has minor negative points.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: I'm obsessed. The book is absolutely exceptional with no flaws. I probably finished it in a short time-frame.
Spice
- No Spice: YA books; purely wholesome lovey vibes
- 🌶️: Plot heavy, very minimal spice; fade-to-black; likely kissing on page, but nothing further (1 - 25% spice)
- 🌶️🌶️: Mostly plot, with some open-door spice sprinkled in; minimal details (25 - 45% spice)
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️: Approximately half plot, half spice; mildly detailed sexual scenes (45 - 65% spice)
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️: More spice than plot, but the plot is still there; very detailed sexual scenes; might include minor kink/BDSM aspects (65 - 85% spice)
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️: Straight up smut/erotica; a lot of kink/BDSM (85%+ spice)