Beyond five stars: how to rate books by feeling

Most apps ask for one thing when you finish a book: a number from one to five. But a four-star cozy romance and a four-star war novel have nothing in common, and three months later "4" no longer tells you why. A rating can say much more, as long as you decide what it means. Here is how.

Why five stars fall short

• One number for different things. How much you enjoyed it, how well it is written, how it made you feel: three answers, one star count.
• Everything drifts to the top. When a three feels unkind, most books end up as fours and fives, and the scale stops telling them apart.
• Your week gets in. The same book rated on a hard week and a good one can get two different scores.
• A number forgets. It keeps the verdict and loses the reason.

A rating system that still means something

1. Write down what each star means. In your own words, once. Then a four is always the same four.
2. Use half stars. Some books are not a three and not a four. A half star is honest, not indecisive.
3. Rate the feeling, not the "quality". You are not a critic writing for strangers. What it did to you is the part worth keeping.
4. Keep other things out of the stars. Spice, mood, tropes and content warnings describe the book; they are not a grade. Note them apart, and the stars stay clean.
5. Add one line of why. The best part, or a sentence about how it ended for you. A few reading journal prompts help.
6. Rate the books you did not finish. Why you stopped is worth remembering too. Here is when to DNF a book.
7. Let a reread have its own rating. You are not the same reader twice. Keeping both ratings shows how a book changed with you.
8. Prefer favourites to averages. One favourite a month, and a final between them at the end of the year, says more about your taste than any average.

An example scale

This is the scale Storyfeel starts with. Copy it, or rewrite every line in your own words:

• ★★★★★ Obsessed! New favourite, highly recommend, would reread.
• ★★★★ Loved it! Really good book, enjoyed it a lot.
• ★★★ It's fine! More good than bad, could've been better.
• ★★ Boring! Barely finished it, wouldn't recommend.
• ★ Nope! Very bad, waste of time, almost DNF.

Rating by feeling in Storyfeel

• Half stars. A book's Rating goes in half stars: click the left half of a star for a half, the right half for a full one. Only Completed and DNF books can be rated, and half a star is the lowest, called Definitely Not!. Each half star borrows the name of the level above: 4½ is Almost Obsessed!
• Your own scale. In Settings, the Rating guide gives each of the five levels a name, a description and a Star color. Change any of them to your words. While you rate a book, the i next to Rating shows your guide.
• The feeling behind it. In Feels, Add Highlight lets you give each saved moment one of 31 feelings, from Swooning and Mind blown to Wrecked, Heartbroken or Unmoved, and filter them by Feeling. The moments that made the rating stay next to it. More on remembering what you read.
• The why. Every book has a Summary and a Best part.
• Everything else apart. Spice level, Mood, Tropes and Content warnings have their own fields, so the stars only say how it was for you.
• Rereads. Read again keeps the earlier read, with its own rating, under Earlier reads.
• Whole series. A series has its own Series rating.
• Favourites. Choose a Book of the Month each month; then they play the Book of the Year tournament. See your year in books.
• Your taste in numbers. Stats shows your Average rating, the Ratings given at each level (the paler part is books you set aside) and the Rating by genre. In Stories, filter by Rating or sort by Rating.
• Coming from Goodreads? Your stars come with you when you import your library; add the halves later.

Questions

What is a good rating scale for books?

One you will still understand in a year. Five levels with a name and one line each is enough for most readers.

Should I use half stars?

If you often hesitate between two numbers, yes. A half star records the hesitation instead of hiding it.

Should I rate a book I did not finish?

In Storyfeel, a DNF book gets a rating too, half a star at least. It reminds you how far it went for you, and why you stopped.

Is this on the free plan?

Yes. Ratings, the Rating guide, feelings, Book of the Month, Book of the Year and Stats have no free-plan limits.

To keep the feeling behind every star, try Storyfeel free.