Rating Scales - Spice Scale - How Books Are Rated

I'm sure you've noticed like I have, that book ratings, opinions on books, and likes/dislikes across the reading community are completely subjective. My 5-star reads will have different criteria to another reviewer. What I deem to be the spiciest of spice may not be the same for someone else. 

In appreciation of that, I wanted to share the rating scales that I use when I am creating my reviews and star ratings. 

STAR RATINGS

Let's start with star ratings. I am a mood reader. I don't have a literary background, so I very rarely rate books from the standpoint of writing quality or correct use of symbolism for example (not to say I don't notice these things, but my eye and my brain gravitate more towards how the book makes me feel!). These things of course impact and change the way the book feels to read, but I am often to caught up in the emotion to be able to pinpoint what caused it! 

As a result my star rating scale is based broadly on emotion :)

⭐ - DNF (I am unlikely to rate any book 1 ⭐, my DNFs are usually more about my personal preference and not the writing or the plot and I have lots of respect for the passion of the author along with my own subjective opinion. I have failed to finish many books only to pick them up again 6 months later and really enjoy them)

⭐⭐ - Readable, but maybe left something to be desired (for me this tends to be if the plot is extremely predictable or confusing)

⭐⭐⭐ - Good all-rounder, easy to read and enjoyable

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Highly recommended, robust story that captivates me and stays with me after I am finished.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - A book I can't stop thinking about, will actively suggest that people read (even when they aren't asking!). This is often a book that makes me feel big emotions. Think throwing the book across the room, ugly crying and the likes! 

SPICE RATINGS

My reviews now contain ratings based on the level of spice, how graphic, the language used, frequency and intensity. I use fire levels to give a visual representation. 

Spice is also pretty subjective, what is too far for one person may seem more appropriate to another, but I have tried to base my 5 levels on identifiable situations within the book. Bear in mind though that to rate a book as a 4-fire level, it doesn't need to contain ALL of the things mentioned below, these are just the general area that the spice level falls into. 

🆒 - no spice, not even closed door. There either aren't any romance elements in the book, or it is more emotion than anything physical. Kissing/holding hands, with no mention of what's next. 

🔥- a little spice, implication that something happens beyond a kiss but no descriptors. Speak of heat and desire, passion. Fade to black, closed-door. Maybe some banter of a sexy nature. 

🔥🔥 - Touching, maybe some descriptions of body parts or over the clothes action, but no graphic scenes. 

🔥🔥🔥- Similar to the two fire rating for spice, books I rate 3 fires will generally have one descriptive non-closed-door scene, with intimate descriptions of body parts or traditional acts. Think Mills and Boon...

🔥🔥🔥🔥- multiple intimate scenes, described fully. May be multiple people, acts, or graphic language. Some scenes may be a little "rough" or "kinky" Not Mills and Boon! 

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥- Books with 5 fire ratings will generally have trigger warnings around consent, and violence, as well as contain multiple graphic descriptions of acts. These books may be very sex-based, with little to no plot (though this is not always the case of course!).

There you have it. In most of my reviews, where I put a spice/fire rating, I'll explain it through the review or give a little reasoning beside the rating. I know that everyone has preferences on where their limits are, so hopefully this helps! 

In the meantime, happy reading! Remember that you can subscribe to my blog to stay updated with new posts and reviews.