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How do you review your books?
How do you review your books?
As a mediatory reader, I love a good story, but I have strong opinions on what makes a story legitimately "good." I judge books based on ...
Creativity
Wholesomeness
Language
Depth and Developement
and Significance
Creativity is how unique I found the book. I love unique ideas and hate clichés. Some of my favorite books have original magic structures, special characters and creatures, distinctive settings, one-of-a-kind plot twists, or even fun but rare writing styles like footnotes and poetry.
Wholesomeness is how edifying I found the book. As devoted follower of Christ my savior, I strive to keep my mind and heart clean from dirty thoughts and wicked images. This does not mean that I avoid subjects like death, murder, weapons, or dark magic altogether. What the author of the story says about evil objects and situations is what makes the difference. Does the author include darker themes and elements to show the evil of them? Do the protagonists see these elements as evil and something that must be defeated? And most importantly, does the author show the wickedness of our fallen world to entice or educate the reader? As those bought with the precious blood of Christ, we are called to live in the world, but not be of the world [John 17:14–16]. If the author includes unclean things for the sake of being unclean or even promoting them as "not that bad," the book is not edifying.
Language is the quality of the literature. I love books written by Shakespeare, Jonathan Auxier, and Lemony Snicket which use words cleverly and clearly to portray their point. As a grammar nerd, I have a hard time standing poorly-written prose. Typos and grammatical errors take away from much of the story for me.
Depth and Development is the profundity of the story, reflected in the plot, setting, and characters. I adore well-written character arcs and genius story structures of a deep and thoughtful novel. I love complex characters and intricate conflicts which drive the story to new heights. The use of foreshadowing and other storytelling tools fall under this category as well.
Significance is the impact of the story. This is where both the pleasure measurement and my critical thinking skills come into play. Everything we take in, everything we surround ourselves with, has an impact on us and changes our minds and hearts in subtle ways. I also consider historical, societal, and emotional significance at this point.
What are Bookwyrm Bingos?
What are Bookwyrm Bingos?
"Bookwyrm bingos" are my equivalency of stars. Bookwyrm bingos come in wholes and halves based on a combination of the above conditions.
Five bookwyrm bingos
What is the Bookwyrm Bingo scale?
What is the Bookwyrm Bingo scale?
One bookwyrm bingo: I really did NOT enjoy this book and almost didn't finish it, usually because of poor writing style, extremely boring and shallow story aspects, or even worse morals.
One and a half bookwyrm bingo: This book was particularly boring to me or had something I found disagreeable, but some aspect about it was nice enough that I'll remember it.
Two bookwyrm bingos: This book was okay, but it was not extremely notable, or some part of the story was unique and memorable but the morals were particuarly bad.
Two and a half bookwyrm bingos: This book was almost average but something was unsatisfactory, like a reused plot or clichéd character or even unmistakable and reoccuring typos.
Three bookwyrm bingos: To me, this book was average, enjoyable, but not parituclarly unique. There is usually a character or other story aspect that I really liked, though.
Three and a half bookwyrm bingos: This book was about average but there were one or two things that really stood out to me.
Four bookwyrm bingos: I thought this book was really cool, with some unique characters and worldbuilding that I don't often see and a great writing style that I really enjoyed.
Four and a half bookwyrm bingos: I REALLY enjoyed this book and will probably recommend it to every stranger on the street, but if I could I might change a few things.
Five bookwyrm bingos: I absolutely ADORED this book, will die if I don't have a copy of it for myself, will likely reread it a hundred times before I die, and found it nearly perfection.
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