Every rating on this site is a single reader’s judgement after finishing the book. It is not an average, not a score from a panel, and not weighted by popularity or sales.
What the numbers mean
- 5.0 — Would press into someone’s hands. Rare.
- 4.0–4.9 — Genuinely good. Worth your time and money.
- 3.0–3.9 — Worth reading if the subject appeals to you, with real flaws.
- 2.0–2.9 — Something in it works, but the book does not hold together.
- 1.0–1.9 — We finished it so you do not have to.
Decimals are deliberate
A 4.2 and a 4.8 are not the same book. Whole-star scales flatten distinctions that matter, so we use one decimal place.
We do not re-rate for sales or awards
A prize does not raise a score and a bad sales week does not lower one. If we change a rating, it is because we reread the book, and we say so in the review.
Books we did not finish
We do not rate or review books we did not finish. An unfinished book tells you about the match between reader and book, not about the book.