5 stars: The near perfect end of the spectrum. 5 stars generally means I couldn’t put the book down and didn’t want it to end. The writing was convincing and so descriptive that I either felt like I was there or like I experienced the exact same emotions. I connected with and loved the characters.
4 stars: There might be some slow moments, but still a lot of “couldn’t put the book down” moments. Not 100% convinced by the plot, descriptions, or characters, but still felt decently connected with the characters.
3 stars: Neutral. Not bad, but not great.
2 stars: Didn’t really like it, but may have some redeemable qualities.
1 star: Not for me.
My personal book rating scale (on my blog) is from 1 to 5 in .25 increments. In instances where I have to rate a book a whole number on a scale of 1 to 5 (like on GoodReads), I round down to the nearest whole number. This allows me to reserve 5 star ratings for my absolute top tier books and get to the crux of why I couldn’t justify bumping a book up to the next whole number.