Here is mine (for fiction):
1 star - truly terrible, little or no merits. not even so bad its good kind of bad. Will most likely drop the book. Whether we should even rate books we haven’t finished is another discussion. However, I am of the believe if a book has nothing going for it even though you’ve read 100 pages, it’s probably a 1 star.
2 star - it was ok. Enjoyed bits here and there. It did not feel like a waste of time, but would not read again.
3 star - this one is hard to define. it was better than ok, but not great. would probably not reread, but fairly enjoyed.
4 star - very enjoyable, would not mind rereading. maybe there were a few flaws here and there, but nothing detrimental.
5 star - this book made me think about it for days, weeks, maybe even months. I care about the characters like they’re my own family. I would want to reread it again and again. Although, there are some books I would not want to reread, maybe because it dealt with dark or violent topics, but I would still rate 5 star because of the impact it had on me. Did the book change me, did it make me want to reread it, those are pretty good criteria for me to see if the book deserves 5 stars.
Note, I have never really rated books until recently. I realize it helps me reflect on how I feel about the book, and helps me get closure and move on to the next book without any unnecessary lingering attachment. Unless its a 5 star of course, then I’ll think about it forever, haha. I don’t even have a goodreads or do reviews or any of that jazz, just thought it would be fun to discuss.
1 - I felt like meeting my maker while reading this book. Maybe I finished it, maybe I physically couldn’t due to the agony, or maybe I skimmed through the last 16 chapters at a rate of 1 word per page so that I could say I finished it without suffering the pain of actually finishing it. Either way the author owes my bloodline compensation.
2 - Eh, this book was bad, but I didn’t want to die while reading it so there’s that. That’s about the only plus it has though.
3 - It was okay. Nothing to write home about. I wouldn’t reread it and I’m giving it away to charity now that I’m done with it, but it was palatable once I switched my brain off.
4 - I very much enjoyed this book a whole lot, but either there was one little thing that irked me that honestly doesn’t even matter, or I just don’t want to give it 5 because every book I enjoy is given 5.
5 - this book is likely going to be taking up my every waking hour for the next 5-6 months. Maybe years. We’ll see.