I know in the past I’ve sharing my rating scale, which was used on any post prior to 2024. But as of 2024, I’m using a new system. So, I figured I would do an updated post summarizing everything from what I read to my review policy to my rating system.
If you would like me to check out your book, you can submit a request per my email which is on my contact page. Make sure you use the subject text Review Request and please include the title, genre, a cover, and a quick overview of the book in the email. If you need the book reviewed in a specific time frame please mention this in the email, so we may discuss dates.
Genres I Review
These are the genres that I typically enjoy reading. I tried including most of the subgenres, but by no means is this everything. And of course, I enjoy overlap between these as well.
- Fantasy (Epic, Dark, Paranormal, Retellings/Fairy Tale, etc.)
- Romance (Sports, Dark, Mafia, etc.)
- New Adult
I no longer read Young Adult or books intended for younger audiences, as I am not the target audience. That is not to say that I don’t enjoy these books, or haven’t enjoyed these books in the past, but I know I can’t give an accurate review anymore.
Review Policy
I always give my honest opinion, it doesn’t matter whether I receive the book as an ARC (advanced reader copy), was gifted the book, or purchased the book myself. Though I’ll always make it clear if I received a book for free when I’m giving reviews in case any bias slips in due to that fact. Plus, it’s literally a law to disclose that kind of thing and I ain’t trying to get in trouble with anyone for that kind of thing.
I start all reviews with information regarding the book including: title, author, date of publishing, genre, amount of pages, and any trigger warnings (if applicable). So, it’s easy for readers to see that information in case they want to avoid any potential spoilers that may be in my reviews. I try keep them spoiler free as possible, but usually I end up discussing the beginning of the book more in detail before getting vague about what happens after the 50% mark in the book.
Rating System
I used to use a star system, but as of 2024, I made the decision to no longer use that. Too many different places have too many different ideas on how a five-star system works, where 3 stars is bad in some places and means ‘I liked it’ in others. Rather than trying to mesh all those different star rating together, I’m going to use the following system, at least here on my blog:
- Don’t Recommend, usually books that I DNF (did not finish) or think they were highly problematic.
- Wasn’t For Me, but I think others would enjoy it.
- Recommend, usually books that I enjoy and think others would enjoy as well if they like the same genres.
- Highly Recommend, books that I seriously enjoyed and will re-read multiple times in the future. Or something I could see myself becoming obsessed with.
Over the last year or so, I found myself struggling with rating romance books compared to fantasy books. Because while I enjoy them, I’m not about to make them my whole personality like I do with fantasy books, so I end up rating them lower star wise even when really they were still good. Since it didn’t cross that line, even when I was reading those books multiple times. So, I think this new system will really help with that. And then I don’t feel my own pressure to have my GoodReads rating match my blog rating, when those are two very different systems.
If there are ever any questions about my new rating system, please feel free to ask me. I’ll be happy to elaborate further in the comments!
Love ya,
Mae Polzine
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