Everyone rates things differently in reviews. Different websites use different rating systems, and while I'm of the camp that thinks people should pay more attention to words rather than numbers (since numbers actually mean different things to different people, rendering the 'average' highly inaccurate unless you have loads and loads of ratings) Amazon's system seems to be: 1 star - it was terrible 2 stars - it was pretty bad 3 stars - it was okay 4 stars - it was good, but flawed 5 stars - it was good This is problematic, because it makes people feel like anything less than 5 stars is unacceptable, and because LitRPG readers are nice and want to encourage authors who have potential, so ultimately 5 stars turn out to mean nothing. I know it's nice. It feels wonderful to receive a 5-star review and it boosts your inspiration and writing speed by +50% for the next few days -- but it's ultimately not helpful. I don't think giving every child an A+ on every subject just for their effort makes for a healthy society in the long run. Goodread's system: 1 star - didn't like it 2 stars - it was okay 3 stars - liked it 4 stars - really liked it 5 stars - it was amazing Goodread's system is also problematic, because people have difficulty equating 3 stars = 'liked it', and because in society we're trained to give 5 stars whenever something is 'satisfactory', so it's confusing. And as an author, it's impossible to tell if someone gave you 3 stars on goodreads because they "liked it" or because "it was meh". As a reader, I don't like either system, because it muddles a lot of things. There are books that I think are excellent but which I don't love at all, and a 5-star scale can't reflect how I really feel. So after thinking about it, I'm experimenting with a new personal system, where I give 3 numbers. Vision: awarded for what the story set out to do, originality, creativity, ambitiousness, consistency and depth of the game system (very much like the 'difficulty score' in gymnastics) 1 star - very little thinking went into this story 2 stars - a standard, run-of-the-mill story 3 stars - nothing ground-breaking, but done well 4 stars - quite a bit of thinking went into this / or very ambitious but also flawed in some ways 5 stars - this was unique, original, creative, and really tried to do something new or meaningful ['but with some very interesting stuff' adds +.5 to +1 star] Execution: the quality of the writing, the presentation of the information, how well it fulfills what it set out to do, judged by 'mainstream traditional publishing' standards 1 star - very low-effort 2 stars - 'fanfic' quality 3 stars - satisfactory / or extremely good in some ways and flawed in others 4 stars - very competent writing, consistently done with some very nice touches 5 stars - extremely well-crafted in all aspects *Note: more ambitious books will be more difficult to 'execute' well, so a book with good ideas but not-so-great execution will usually end up with about the same score as normal-story-done-really-well, which I think is fair Personal enjoyment: this is the normal 'how much I enjoyed it' scale, which is purely subjective 1 star - hated it / it was offensive 2 stars - okay 3 stars - a good time-killer / glad I read it 4 stars - liked it quite a bit 5 stars - I'm going to sing endless praise and make sure everyone knows how awesome it was [Everything that makes me teary-eyed gets an automatic +.5 to +1 star] [Everything that should make me feel something but doesn't, or ends up disappointing gets deducted -.5 star] Of course, this is still going to be incredibly biased, but at least it gives other people a more nuanced view of the review. I know the scales still need tweaking, but I'm going to try using these scales right now when I rate a book. I've actually tried this system out with a few books I've read and I think so far it reflects the 'general' view of the book fairly well. There's also such a thing as 'weighing for expectations' and 'weighing for preferences', too, since over-hyped books are going to end up a little disappointing, but when you pick up a virtually unknown book and it manages to surprise you, your level of enjoyment goes up. So the next step is I'm now going to try to incorporate this into the rating as well. What's your personal rating system?
Overall 1 - I'm offended that you thought it was okay to charge money for this. Aren't you embarrassed? 2 - I'm done with this series. There were too many problems that detracted from enjoyment. 3 - It was okay. I'd probably give another one of your books a shot. 4 - This is a good read/listen and I don't regret my purchase in the slightest. 5 - This will become a part of my collection that gets read/listened to over and over again. It's the kind of story I go back to when I'm frustrated by a series of unfortunate reads. Crafting Refers writing mechanics, sentence construction, flow of language, etc. 1 - Are you sure you speak English? This feels like the work of Google Translate. 2 - Did you finish high school English? Because I've read a lot of college level student work, and it was a lot better. Did you publish your first draft without re-reading? 3 - Decent. There were a few issues here and there, but I stuck with it to the end. 4 - You've got a good thing going here. You have my respect as a fellow author. 5 - That was... beautiful and amazing. f**k you for being intimidating, when's the next book coming out? Pathos Referrs to the emotional engagement with the characters/story. 1 - This makes no sense. Why are they behaving this way? I can't relate to this at all. 2 - Eh... Not very distinctive. I don't really care what happens to anyone because I'm not attached to the characters. 3 - I kinda like these people, or if I don't they are interesting enough to keep me reading until the end of the novel. I might not remember who they are if too many months pass before I read the next one. 4 - OMG... I feel their pain, and my heart beats fast when theirs do. I want to meet them in person, and they are real enough to me that they seem like people in my head. 5 - I feel like I just had a vision of a past or future life. Holy shit... That was powerful. GMing Refers to the world building, research (if necessary) and game mechanics. 1 - I'm laughing at you, not with you. Seriously... It doesn't work like that. 2 - Bland. Unremarkable. I've seen it all many times before. Maybe check if some of those sequences were physically possible? 3 - I was taken to your world for the duration of the story. It all made sense. I'll forget what it feels like to be there within a month. 4 - Nice. I'll always remember what it's like to be in the world you created, or at least I will for the next few years. This is a place I can imagine visiting... for better or worse. 5 - *Looks around my real world bedroom suspiciously * Where am I? ... oh right...
(For LitRPGs specifically... insert a 5 point Questing scale along the same lines to represent the plot points, and quests in the story.)
If I'm using the simple 5-star for Amazon & Goodreads, my review pretty much runs like this. 1 star - I couldn't even finish it. It either annoyed me far too much or was just so badly written it gave me a headache and I didn't want to slog through another moment. 2 stars - I was interested enough to see if it got better. It never did. I may or may not have finished it, depending on if the writing was at least passable enough it wasn't frustrating me to understand it. 3 stars - Decent. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. It was readable, but didn't wow me to the point of 'Wow, I must read more from this author!' 4 stars - Quite good. Not perfect, but I liked it. Any flaws were minor in my eyes, I liked the characters, and I want to read more. Where's the next one? 5 stars - Did you sell your soul to a demon for such writing skills? More importantly, where can I find this demon? This is amazing and I will read it again (and probably again) when I want to go back to the world you created. My personal scales (which I don't use much to write out honestly, but I sort of mentally tally up and average out for the simple 5 stars system). All of them can have 0.5 added if they're 'in between', of course. The World/Story Idea - the setting, how the world works, the general idea of the story itself 1 star - this is horrible. This is either such a complete ripoff I'm offended or just so ridiculous it takes away from the story for me. 2 stars - Meh. This isn't a great world and feels kind of generic. If the story's amazing, I can forgive but if you're trying to hook me by the setting, it's not working. 3 stars - Not bad, but not great. I kind of like this world. It didn't amaze me, but it was easy to slip into and it didn't take away from the story. 4 stars - Wow, this is a really awesome world. It might not be the most original, but you presented it well and added enough touches that I'm really enjoyed it. 5 stars - You've stolen Tolkien's soul from the grave and have created a living world. You're a wizard. Actually, better than a wizard! The Actual Writing - prose, how it flows, if it paints a picture for me, etc. 1 star - I can't even read this. I don't understand it and I'm pretty sure you're a space alien because no human could fail this badly at language, even if they're using Google Translate. 2 stars - You probably don't speak/write English as a first language so...Google Translate might be to blame for this mess. You tried, but it's confusing and hard to follow. 3 stars - 'Fanfic'/Middle School level. It's readable and understandable, but lacks 'life' and doesn't really paint a picture to me. 4 stars - I really enjoyed. A good level of skill, nicely paints a picture, and takes me into story. 5 stars - Holy crap. That was fantastic. I laughed. I cried. I was there and it was so clear in my head that I want to read it again already. The Main Character(s) - since it's all about them, they're a major part of if I enjoy the story 1 star - I actively hate this MC. They have some incredibly unlikeable features that are shoved so violently into my face on such a frequent basis that I literally put the book down because I disliked them so much. 2 stars - I do not like this MC. I sort of hope that they started off bad and got more mature, but alas, this was not so. They're just as much a horse's butt now as they were in chapter 1. I don't want to deal with them anymore. 3 stars - Not good, not bad, just there. The MC was bland to the point that I didn't really feel anything for them. The rest of the book might have been good, but I didn't feel any emotional draw to their struggles. 4 stars - I liked this MC and it was interesting to see them develop. I enjoyed watching their struggles, hearing their experiences, and I want to read about them some more! 5 stars - I loved this MC. They were flawed in all the 'right ways', they grew up as the story went along, they were likeable or at least sympathetic depending on if they were a hero or not, and I desperately want to know how it ends up for them. Overall - how I felt when I read it, if I want to read it again, etc. 1 star - I didn't enjoy this and probably didn't even finish it. I was immediately irritated by the end of chapter 1 or found everything just far too ridiculous to be enjoyable (normally saved for overpowered MCs in boring settings) 2 stars - not the worst thing I've ever read, but not that great either. Probably won't bother reading any more of the series because it wouldn't be worth it to me. (Morbid curiosity/Snark reads aside) 3 stars - Actually not bad. Not amazing, but I didn't find anything too offensive, too overpowered, or just too annoying to continue. I'd probably give the next book a read because I want to see if the author's improving. 4 stars - Really enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect, but it was good and I want to keep going with the series. I actually felt emotionally involved and attached which is something I enjoy. 5 stars - I enjoyed it from front to back. I felt a variety of emotions and I want to feel them again. I want to read the book again and more importantly, I want to read more books by this author!
I usually use a score of 10 to rate anything. Because book sites don't allow half stars I end up rounding up most of the time. my rating is affected by these factors in order. 1. Effort. How much effort was put into this. Believe me, it shows. This is what will influence my judgement the most. If I see effort put into something it's an automatic 3-4 stars depending on how much effort was put into it regardless of anything else. 2. Enjoyment. Was this book fun for me the reader? I've come across a few books where the author is attempting to shove his own ideology down your throat and the characters are nothing but mouth pieces. I'm pretty sure writing something like that is fun for the author as it's the equivalent of airing your thoughts in your diary BUT I didn't pay to read your dairy did I. If I feel like dropping the book 3 chapters in or go over the same page five million times and still don't get it then I'm clearly not having fun. on the other hand if I can't put it down and even re-read it later then that's an auto 5. 3. Your Point I would usually place originality here but even a simple straight forward story (say rags to riches) can be made interesting. So instead I look at the point the author is trying to make. Anything positive works here but bonus points if it's something out of left field. One of my favorites here is Terry Pratchett because he uses small stories to deliever bigger messages. Negative messages however (don't go to collage, don't do this, don't do that. ) Take away from the story and turns it into the author pushing his ideology down my throat again only this time it's a don't instead of giving an alternative for me to choose. Worse still is pointlessness. an automatic bad rating. If you're point is pointlessness then find another point! You are not pickle Rick and can't pull it off! The Etc. Those are the side things I've started to notice in my old ripe age of -insert lie here- and I guess for me are a red flag. Did you plagiarize someone's work? An automatic 1 star and I will be mentioning it in the review in bold. Any of the -isms highlighted? Sexism, racism, cataclysm...etc We are all human and have our biases, a person's own views will be reflected in his work no matter what BUT highlighting any of the -isms is a huge negative for me and affects my enjoyment, how much so usually depends on how bright that highlighter was though I rarely go too low just for that. Word play, Yeah I know it's low brow but I actually enjoy finding puns and the occasional play on words in my books. Bonus points if they are hidden or part of the plot not something highlighted with a neon sign. All this boils down to :- 6 - Rare, when something is so good that I actually write to the author to complement them. Can count those on one hand. 5 - Love it and totally recommend it because blah blah blah. 4 - Really like it and would recommend it, it's blah blah blah so fun blah. lost one star because of blah blah only. 3 - It's ok, nothing too good or bad here. Will slip through my sift of a mind soon. 2 - Unreadable, had to drop it because of factors one or two. Do not recommend spending money on it. 1 - Very rare, only given to blatant plagiarists.... and one book that should have been re-titled INTOLERANCE! Looking through good read most of my ratings are 4 and 5s with a rare 2. It's not that I don't get the boring middle of the road books, it's that I mostly don't care enough to rate them. Too many books not enough time.
On Amazon, I reserve 1 star ratings for something that's utter trash. Like wrong information, incomprehensible writing, plagarism, something disgusting like child rape written in a way that implies the author isn't totally against it (I'm looking at you, An Island Called Moreau. Ugh). It'd be nice if there was a 0 or -5 rating for that BS. I don't think I ever give anything 2 stars. If something is between Trash Tier and mildly disappointing I don't bother leaving a review. Three stars is for something that has an interesting idea in it, but fluffs the execution rather badly - lack of editing, plot structure problems, clumsily handled characters. It wouldn't pass muster with a publishing company, but the author should not give up and keep trying (although I probably won't be buying any more of their books in the near future unless they really improve). I also really dislike books that confuse "ending on a cliffhanger" with "getting to a word count and stopping abruptly without telling a complete story" especially if the book was published a long time ago and no sequel was forthcoming. Four stars is for a solidly written book, but one that isn't particularly outstanding, or a sequel that didn't live up to the promise of the first book. Still good enough I'd be willing to read more from that author. Five stars is for something really excellent, that stands out from the crowd for some reason. On my kindle I've got folders that range from Gold (books I love utterly and will reread over and over for comfort) through Silver and Bronze to Lead, the last being stuff that may be bad but has something I might want to riff off of in my own work. Like, so bad it's actually inspiring.
I forgot about the grotesque rape scenes. I've recently blasted a book that was otherwise ho-hum because the hidden motivation for the MC to involve herself in clearing her roommate's name was that said roommate was getting the dorm girls drunk then selling their sex tapes with her group of guys and the MC was a near victim. The author made it sound like a girl so drunk she can't even walk without help was and I quote "fine with being filmed but I knew you were too uptight for that so I rescued you" and for that the MC had to be grateful and the roommate is viewed as an go-getter. Some times I wonder about people...
Scary part The writer is a middle aged woman herself. In her recent books however she is starting to look more and more like the sterrotype that hates other women and thinks men are better. Just because they're men! Any women that is "redeemed" in her books has to the perfect Mary Sue with no personality AND prove herself to the MC. The men are automatically good even if they start off as villians they are still viewed kindly... kinda why I called it out in the review.
I realized for GameLit/LitRPG books I have sort of another rating that I forgot about when I posted before. Game System - basically how stats, skills, leveling, etc. works in the world 1 star - inconsistent jumbled mess of a system that even the author forgot to keep straight. 2 stars - too OP or too easy far too fast. Normally a system where the stats/skills/etc. don't even matter. They're just fancy page filler and distract from the story. 3 stars - An ok system. Probably something very generic/light or basically a copy of a well-known system. However, it works all right and doesn't distract so not so bad. 4 stars - I like this system. I think it needs some tweaking in some areas, but it's got a touch of originality without being ridiculous and actually mattered in the story. 5 stars - This is a really well-thought system and I'm actually really impressed. If this isn't a 'real' system in a tabletop or game, why not? Someone get on it! It's that good! Obviously this rating system only applies to certain books, of course, but it's a pretty big part of GameLit/LitRPG so pretty important for that genre.
