WHAT MAKES A GOOD, BUT FAIR, REVIEW?

Emotional response when reading equates to how many stars lost or gained?

​One. One star for each criterion.

​But I loved that book! It changed my life! I absolutely hated it! The main character was an absolute pain and whoever thinks bush pilots are cowboys are wrong on every level. The number of stars kept or removed should equal the number of emotions I felt!
      Consider this: Does your emotional response to a book mean that you don't take the rest of the book into account? 

Okay, but what if I didn't like the book at all but feel bad about removing stars? I can just remove one star and that'll show the author I didn't love it.
​     Consider this: Removing one star because you feel bad for the author actually shows everyone that you still really liked the book, not how you really felt. 

But they worked so hard writing their book and I don't want to discourage them. 
     Consider this: If you are providing constructive criticism, nicely, then a true author will accept it and if it can be fixed, like mechanical/grammatical issues for example, they will adjust it.
​       Are you really helping the author provide their best written work if you are not being honest with them?    
      Are you really helping fellow readers find good/great/excellent books by providing reviews that don't truly express how you felt about the book? 
                               
​Side Rant: I did not finish (DNF) this utterly boring, horrible book but I'm still leaving a review. 
     How could you possibly know if the author's book got better or worse to be able to leave a fair and thorough review!?
       Even if you write in your review that you did not finish the book, what star rating should that equate to?
      If you decide a book isn't worth your time to finish reading it, then why it is worth your time to rate and/or review it? 

Writing a review for fiction books can be as simple as one star per criterion. 

1. Are the characters believable?
2. Does the plot make sense or have holes? Does it plod along or feel rushed?
3. Is the dialogue realistic?
4. Did you stumble when reading because the writing mechanics, grammar or spelling threw off the flow or made you re-read a section?
5. Did the author make you angry, happy or cry?

That's it! ​

Non-Fiction book reviews have slightly different criterion but a fair review is still needed. 

1. Did you stumble when reading because the writing mechanics, grammar or spelling threw off the flow or made you re-read a section?
2. Is the information relevant, is it out-of-date, could people find it helpful? 
3. Does the author cite where they got their information or have first-hand knowledge of the material?  
4. Does the author write like they are an expert in their field or is it childish and unprofessional? (Worth 2 points)
5. If you have an emotional response, you can simply add it here instead of doing 2 points for criterion #4. 

Either way, it still makes 5 stars. 

If you feel this leaves you detached from your review, it can if you felt no emotional link to the story or characters, but that doesn't mean everything else about the story was not done well. Your emotions are what makes reviews subjective. The characters, plot, dialogue and writing mechanics can be perfectly executed but you still felt nothing when reading the book. Therefore, it's a 4-star read. If a book you read wrecked you emotionally, one measly star doesn't seem like enough to show how much it affected you, but that's what the written part is for! Share your emotional upheaval caused by this author's book in the review and provide examples. Your feelings will shine through. Either way, other readers will know this book's true rating and then they can decide for themselves, based on your fair review of the book, whether to try it or not. ​

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