Here are some definitions of our ratings system for books. We give an overall rating and separate ratings for different book elements.
Five Stars
*Fan Girl Squeal* This book has it all. We were up all night reading it and immediately went out and bought three copies. One copy to loan to friends, one to sit all pretty on our shelf forever, and one for us to read over and over again and write our fangirlish thoughts in while highlighting our favorite passages. We would love to live in this book and possibly marry one of the characters from it. Heck, we'd marry the author if it meant they'd continue writing forever.
Four Stars
Yay! A new book/author that we're genuinely excited about! There's a lot going on with this book, and we'd highly recommend it to our readers and our friends. This is a book that we'd buy and reread, and we'd love to read more books by this author.
Three Stars
An overall good book, one worth finishing, but not something we'd buy for ourselves or push upon our friends. Three star books are great for rainy days when you need something new and interesting to read.
Two Stars
A lot of things about this book just didn't click for us. We finished the book, but sort of wish we hadn't. The writer made a good attempt at creating an interesting and compelling story, but it just fell flat. This is not a book we would recommend to our friends or really a whole lot of people who appreciate a good book. However, this writer still has some potential so we encourage them to try, try again.
One Star
*groan* We either did not finish this book or really wish we didn't take the few days it took us to read it. There is a lack of character development, the sentences just aren't very well done, and there is no plot. Or possibly, there are plots or characters, but they're boring and overdone. We usually say that you should still try the book if it sounds like something you'd like, but we highly recommend skipping this one.
Unrated/Did Not Finish
These are books that we couldn't give star ratings to for various reasons. We either couldn't finish the book, had mixed feelings for the book, or couldn't settle on a star rating for the book. We may still give separate ratings for the writing/book elements but just don't provide an overall star rating.
ONE FINAL NOTE:
We have also decided to add a new part to our ratings system, and that is our Flirt Factor. Since our books tend to have a whole lot of romance in them, we thought we'd create a rating system for romance/pda. This can range anywhere from chaste to downright raunchy. This is an important rating to watch out for if you blush at certain scenes in books. Also, this rating may not be applied to a book if there really is no romance/love interest in the book.
Flirt Factor
Chaste
Little to no romance/pda. Characters may flirt a little and share a few short kisses, but really nothing that would make you blush.
Example: Beneath the Glitter
Playful
A lot more flirty and romantic. Characters may share some steamy kisses and there is definitely some sexual tension. May allude to further sexual acts but doesn't actually describe them.
Example: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Steamy
You might need the AC on for this book, and it'll probably make you blush. Full of flirting, fooling around, and sexual tension. The characters do... things. And describe them.
Example: The Duff
Raunchy
Not only do the characters do things, but they do them frequently and give you great detail about what is happening. These books will leave you blushing and overwhelmed with girlish desire. Recommended for older teens and adults only.
Example : We typically don't read these books so we don't have an example at this time.
Keep in mind, this is a rating system for YA books. The sexual scenes in these books are tame in comparison to adult romance novels and none of the books are completely inappropriate for people under 18. However, what we deem appropriate may not be appropriate by your standards, which is why we have created this guide.
