Star ratings are pervasive: Yelp, Google, Goodreads, and The Storygraph. It’s usually thought of as an easy way to rate a product or service.

But….

Star ratings have gotten more nuanced lately, especially in the book community. Some people give every book an enthusiastic five stars regardless of how much they loved or didn’t love a book. Some people give a book one star because it has a concept the reader disagrees with. Other reviewers rate books based on tone, voice, and technical skill (often down to the editor, not always the author!).

The point is… how do you know how to rate a book? How do you understand what others feel when they rate books? It’s difficult to know across the board, but at Beguiled By Books, here’s what the Star Ratings mean.

5 Stars

Amazing. Loved it. Will make some aspect of it part of my personality. For nonfiction, I learned something useful/practical.

4 Stars

Excellent, but not quite as good as a 5-star. I still really liked it, I’d recommend it.

3 Stars

Middle of the road. Probably enjoyed. Maybe would recommend, maybe not. Not terrible, not great.

2 Stars

Most likely, if I’m giving a book 2 stars, it’s not technically bad or poorly written, I just wasn’t the right reader for it. Two stars means I don’t recommend it and didn’t enjoy it. I may rate a book two stars if I DNF’d it.

1 Star

Yikes. I don’t recommend it. Maybe it was poorly written or edited. It could be plotless or confusing. There are a lot of reasons a book could be a 1-star, but I’ve DNF’d it and washed it from my brain.