Different reviewers have different styles and methods that they use. Sometimes just understanding areas of the book that they choose to focus on will give a whole new insight into their final thoughts and review.

For those curious, I thought I’d give some background behind the contents of my posts and how my ratings are formulated.

Discussion Policy

For each book that I read, I will share discussion posts.

These will include:

• my thoughts and feelings at different points throughout the book
• my predictions
• anything else that stands out, whether good or bad

It would be fun to hear from you whether you had the same thoughts and predictions or completely different ones!

Due to the nature of discussion posts, they will contain spoilers. These will be clearly flagged at the start of the post so if you wish to avoid them, you will be reminded of the spoiler content.

There will also be more than one discussion post per book. The spoiler warning will also include the page numbers that the book is based on. This gives you the option to effectively buddy read with me before heading to each discussion post!

While the page numbers will be as they appear in my copy of the book, I would advise you to read a few pages after what is stated in the discussion post. If you are reading a different edition to me, there is a chance that the page numbering will be slightly different.

Review Policy

When reviewing a book, there will be no spoilers.

I’ll provide:

• a summary of key details about the book
• a short summary for those looking for the highlights and lowlights
• a longer summary that will provide some more depth behind my thoughts of various aspects of the book.

The key details will include my rating. When choosing my rating, I have decided to focus on how a book makes me feel throughout the story and also its lasting impression.

If I give a book a low rating, that will be because it just didn’t resonate with me. That doesn’t mean to say that it wouldn’t resonate with you. Because of this, if I’m deliberating between two ratings, I’ll more often than not favour the higher rating.

My rating criteria is as follows:

• 5 stars – A sensational read that left a strong impact; I’m excited to recommend it.
• 4 stars – An enjoyable read with standout elements; I’d happily recommend it.
• 3 stars – A solid read with nothing particularly remarkable, but still worth recommending.
• 2 stars – An underwhelming read with noticeable weaknesses; I wouldn’t recommend it.
• 1 star – Lacked anything noteworthy or enjoyable.

The 1 star rating is included in the scale but I don’t believe I will use it. I believe that every piece of work has merit. Even if it isn’t something I enjoy, there is always an appreciation for the craft and the author’s efforts.