Review Style + Rating System

My Review Style

My reviews follow the below structure:

• the book blurb;
• my thoughts about the plot, characters, writing style;
• positive and negative points;
• a rating;
• a short summary of my review.

Rating-system

Here at A Universe in Words we rate in Universes, rather than stars. Credit goes to Shutterstock for the photo.

One Universe:

This rating means I didn't enjoy the book, would not recommend it and definitely would not give it to someone as a present. I will make this judgement based on the development of both plot and characters, the author's writing style etc. I will hardly ever hand out this rating since I tend to only start reading books I know I will at least enjoy a little bit.

Two Universes:

 This book is not bad, but the characters were a bit flat, story-lines were not convincing or closed. Although I managed to finish it there was not a lot to the book that held my attention and captured me. I would not recommend this book.

Three Universes:

I enjoyed reading this book. The characters were convincing, the story-lines entertaining. Although I wasn't entirely blown away by it, it captured my attention and made me want to continue reading. I would recommend it to friends and family.

Four Universes:

I really enjoyed this book and would have loved to read more. The characters were well developed and the plot was fascinating. I will definitely recommend this book to friends and family and would even buy it for them if they were too stubborn to take my advice.

Five Universes:

The 5th Universe is one which I save for books that, in my opinion, hold a certain kind of power. Some of these might be classics, but quite often this goes to books that carried a real emotional weight for me. Please read these!