This Dragon’s Guide to Stars and Chili Peppers

✨ Hello!!

I’m still talking to myself… for now.

I should be sleeping (sunrise waits for no one), but curse my adhd. If I don't write this now, it'll be gone forever.

So picture this: you're trying to decide which book to read next, and you check out the reviews. One person says they enjoyed the book but gave it three stars. Another person says they enjoyed it as well, but gave it five stars.

I’m not the best at making my thoughts coherent all the time, so bear with me. 😅

Two people who seemed to enjoy the book equally as much gave such a different star ratings. What does it mean???

Unfortunately, unless you ask them yourself how they rate books, you may never figure it out. So here’s my rating system. Hopefully this gives you a little insight into how I rate my books.

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⭐ Stars Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5 stars: absolutely loved these books. They consumed my thoughts while I was reading. If I can’t put it down, it’s a five star.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4 stars: great, but not obsessed. I'll recommend these books to other people, but it didn’t become an all-consuming read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

3 stars: I enjoyed the book. Wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t have a negative thought while reading.

⭐️⭐️

2 stars: interesting… but didn’t connect. Something about it just wasn’t for me.

⭐️

1 star: I really struggled to get through the book.

Half stars (✨) happen when I'm torn between two ratings. And because I'm a mood reader, my ratings are often shaped by where I'm at in life. Sometimes I devour books (especially around the winter holidays), other times I get in slumps and one book takes me weeks. I try to be objective, but my heart usually wins over my head.

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🌶️Chili (Spice) Rating

I based this off of another blog when I first started reviewing books. So I’m giving credit where it’s due.

🌶️

1 chili pepper: romance with some sexual tension, there’s probably kissing, definitely some hand holding, but no sex. Think like the first few episodes of a k-drama.

🌶️ 🌶️

2 chili peppers: romance with lots of sexual tension, but it frustratingly fades to black as things get hot and heavy.

🌶️🌶️🌶️

3 chili peppers: romance with explicit sex scenes, but milder language. No dirty mouths here.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

4 chili peppers: romance with three or more explicit sex scenes that use all the naughty words for body parts. Words that would make you giggle when you first used them.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

5 chili peppers: romance that is almost purely smut (i.e. erotica) or books that include BDSM, reverse harem, and really anything else that I deem suuuuper hot.

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I’ve seen some bookstagrammers include this on their pages, but I think this should be a little more widely adapted. Tell me why you review the way you do.

Books that I DNF I do not typically put a rating. If you want to know why, I’ll probably make a post regarding my favorite tropes and themes/tropes I wouldn’t touch with a seven and a half foot pole.

From this dragon’s den to yours, may you always find comfort in the pages and may every chapter bring you closer to your next favorite.