Rating Scale & Review Policy

Confessions Of A Bibliophile’s Rating Scale

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There is a form at the bottom of this post if you would like me to give your book an honest review.

My review rating is based on many different factors. The authors writing style, the book’s plot and development, character development are all the general makeup of my ratings. With each review, I give a brief synopsis of the book and follow up with my comments and opinions. 

This is my own personal Rating Scale and it should be taken as such…

6 Stars (★★★★★★): ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL BOOK!

These are few and far in between! These are reserved for those very, very special books that have literally blown my mind from the very first page to the very last page. Flawless writing, original and amazing plot, and unforgettable characters. I’m totally obsessed, could NOT put it down, LOVED it! So damn good that 5-stars just doesn’t cut it and it deserves wayyy more! This is the type of book that I will be thinking about for a long time to come! There isn’t one single thing I would change in this book, absolutely spectacular read! GO BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

5 Stars (★★★★): AMAZING READ, I LOVED THIS BOOK!

This book is completely PERFECT! The plot, the characters, the pace, EVERYTHING! I couldn’t put it down and I would re-read again and again. This book will receive multiple recommendations on my social media accounts, I HIGHLY recommend!

4 Stars (★★★★): GREAT READ, I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK!

This book was awesome and I REALLY liked it. There may have been a couple things that could have been improved upon, but nothing major. Oftentimes in the dialogue, character development, grammar/editing mistakes that were distracting or characters that I was unable to relate too personally. BUT for the most part, it held my attention and was a pretty GREAT read. I would HIGHLY recommend and think most readers would really enjoy this one!

3 Stars (★★★): This book was OKAY. It wasn’t a horrible read, but it could have been better. Maybe just not my cup of tea.

For the most part, I enjoyed it. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. It wasn’t an awful book, I didn’t have to struggle to finish it, it just wasn’t my favorite. Usually, a 3-star rating comes from either a somewhat predictable plot line, characters that I just did not like or relate to or something in the writing just was NOT working for me. It does not mean that these books should not be read, however, these books will rarely receive a recommendation from my social media accounts but I will recommend to readers who I think would enjoy it.

2 Stars (★★): MEH. I really struggled with this one.

I did not like this book and I REALLY struggled with finishing it. It did not hold my attention, had a terrible plot line, and/or was not well written. There may have been a moment or two that I liked but there were SEVERAL issues that made reading this book not enjoyable. These books will NOT receive a recommendation from me and depending on how bad a particular book is, I may advise my followers and bookish friends to avoid it.

1 Star (): Did not like or enjoy this book… at all.

I really disliked this book and had several issues with it. I did not enjoy it at all, there wasn’t anything I liked about this book, and I had to force myself to finish it. With that being said, I generally do NOT review a book that I consider a one-star read. I will rarely even give it a star-rating as I really HATE to criticize someone’s book baby. However, if I disliked a book this much, then I rarely would finish it. Therefor not reviewing or rating it at all, I seldom use this rating. But, I will NOT be recommending it.

Did Not Finish (DNF):

I will NOT leave a review or a star rating on a book that I am unable to finish. I don’t believe it’s fair to put a rating on a book that I did not read from beginning to end. It’s highly unlikely that I will DNF a book unless the writing and/or the story line is truly horrible. I will NOT be recommending it.

Although they are not shown above, I do use half stars.

If the rating has a half star then it’s somewhere in between the rating criteria posted above. HOWEVER, since Goodreads, Netgalley, BookBub, and Amazon do not allow half-ratings, I normally round ratings up when reviewing on those sites.

NOTE ON RATINGS: I do NOT rate books any lower than 3-stars. I will NOT post on Goodreads, BookBub, nor Amazon unless the author has viewed and okayed it first. I feel that the author puts their heart and souls into their book babies and although I WILL give the author my HONEST review no matter the rating, I will okay it with them before posting on the above-mentioned review sites.

Not everyone will agree with my reviews, and that’s okay.

These are MY personal thoughts and opinions.

Any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me anytime!

Happy Reading! 💜💜💜

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Advance Reading Copies (ARC)

You may see many of my reviews have a graphic saying “I voluntarily reviewed an advance complimentary copy of this book.” I sometimes receive advanced reading copies (ARC) of books for review prior to the publication date, either from the publisher or the author. I will always give my honest thoughts and opinions pertaining to these books and reviews will ALWAYS remain genuine regardless of where the books were sourced or who the author is.

I do NOT charge for reviews, nor do I receive discounts, gifts, or favors in exchange for a review. All other books are acquired by per­sonal purchase.

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GENRES/CATEGORIES I READ

  • Romance
  • Young Adult
  • New Adult
  • Dark Romance (the darker the better)
  • Taboo
  • Reverse Harem
  • Suspense

Note: Confessions Of A Bibliophile mainly reviews works of fiction with some sort of romantic element. I have been branching out a bit lately, so feel free to submit your request for non-romance books too.

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GENRES/CATEGORIES I DO NOT READ

  • Biographies
  • Historical Romance/Historical 

My Brand of Book Reviewing

If you follow me you may notice that the vast majority of the books that I review are rated 4-stars or higher. However, in saying that I have become quite selective in which books I choose to read and review.

Apart from the fact that it can take me any 3-4 hours to write a review start to finish

I would need a pretty damn good reason to spend 3 hours of my time telling other readers why I did NOT enjoy a book, I just see no point in doing so. In the grand scheme of things, I see my “role” as a book blogger/reviewer as a positive one, rather than a negative one. I am here to tell you about the GREAT books I’ve read, about the way they’ve affected me, hoping that they’d do the same for you.

I have given lower ratings to books in the past I am not saying it will not happen again in the future, but in each one of those instances, SOMETHING in those books made me want to finish them even though there were things I wasn’t enjoying, and then left me with something to say afterward.

So much so that I needed to write that review. There is never an agenda behind it, only a need to express or expel my thoughts on that book because SOMETHING about that story left a significant mark on me, good or bad.

Reviewing isn’t a science. You will rarely find two people who will COMPLETELY agree on a book, as my daily interactions with my fellow bloggers and readers continue to prove. Our ratings are arbitrary and should not be taken too seriously or personally, BUT they are valid and should be respected as such. I also believe that all reviews are good reviews, as long as a story is engaging the reader and provoking emotions from them. If you get a reader to spend even half an hour writing about a book, engaging with the story line and the characters, you’ve done your job as a writer.

Everything I do is entirely motivated by my LOVE of books, of reading and writing in general, and the more amazing books I read, the more my expectations change. That is why it is becoming increasingly difficult at times to find THAT book that ticks all the boxes for me. But when I do, THAT is the book I will spend my time reviewing so that I can tell you all the ways in which that story touched me.

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BLOG TOURS & PROMO POSTS

I am signed up through many PR companies and tour companies and although I mainly try and post promotional content for books that I have read and reviewed and would recommend, sometimes I will also share promotional content for books I have not read yet but that I feel like could be of interest to my fellow readers and followers. I will NOT post promotional content for books that I read and did NOT enjoy. I want my blog to be a place of honesty and transparency and posting promotional content for books I did not connect with or enjoy seems contradictory to those goals.

Thank you for understanding.

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GIVEAWAYS

If I review your book and enjoy it, I’d love to offer a copy (ebook or paperback) to my readers! However, you would be responsible for sending a copy of the prize to the winner. I have readers/followers that live outside of the United States, so giveaways that are open internationally are welcome but are not necessary.

(It is very expensive, I completely understand.)

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REVIEW ON THESE SITES

  • Blog
  • Amazon
  • Goodreads
  • BookBub

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PROMOTE ON

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If you would like me to give your book an HONEST review, please fill out this form.

http://bit.ly/ConfessionsBookReviewRequest

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