I used to give a token rating out of 5 for all of the books I reviewed, but I've stopped doing that as of, I don't know, a few weeks ago?
The post doesn't spring from an obligation I feel to justify myself to devout followers, because let's face it, this post is in most of your feeds because you're following me for giveaways. I'm just explaining my decision to completely scrap my rating system because I was dissatisfied with it for a long time and I know other reviewers are in that situation.
So circa two weeks ago I wrote a review of this book I'd just read, but ended up puzzling over what to give it out of five. It wasn't objectively great, but it was very enjoyable. I usually give books of that nature a 3, but what does that even mean? That it was a so-so read? But it wasn't, the 3 was like an average of my conflicting like and dislike for it. It wasn't so-so, it was both good and bad, not some point between.
So I've done away with the numbers, and I don't have to feel weird giving my arbitrary one-character summation of my feelings.
Through my reviews you can see whether I liked the book or not, but not necessarily as easily can you see the extent. I'll read an amazing book, and I'll write a review praising the story and the style, but I don't usually gush and make it obvious upon scanning the review that I loved the book.
But of course, all of my reviews are posted on Goodreads as well, where I will still rate things as a personal reference, and my opinion might not be so ambiguous, so you could always follow my reviews (or friend request, if we have similar taste) there as well.
