I AM CURRENTLY CLOSED TO REVIEW REQUESTS. This is due to quite a hectic year and not having time to do due diligence. I will hopefully be able to accept requests later in the year. Thank you.
I will accept review requests on a limited basis if contacted though my contacts page. I will accept both print and eARCs. I will most likely prioritise books from my favourite genres (see my About Fi page ). Please note: I reserve the right to refuse to review a book, If I do the review will be published on my blog and Goodreads (with a link to the orginial blog post) and from 2019 on wards will use my rating system. I DO NOT write reviews I deem to be below a 2 star Goodreads rating.
I use a system for reviews is one I have devised myself and called ESCAPE.
What Does ESCAPE stand for?
Ending
Was the ending fitting/satisfying/leave me wanting more? Was it an enjoyable end to the book? Did it round out the plot well? If it was a cliffhanger was it suitable and does it encourage me to want to read on in the series? Or did the end make me want to throw the book across the room (in a good way or a bad way)?
Style and pace of writing
How much did I enjoy the writing style? Did it add or deter from the story? Was it info dumpy or did we get the right amount of information at the right times? If from multiple perspectives were all enjoyable? Were there too many or not enough points of view? Was the overall pace engaging or discouraging?
Characters
Were the main characters fully fleshed out, did I get a sense of who they were? Did they have enough information/growth to feel invested in the story. Were the side characters three-dimensional did they feel more than just a convenience to move the story along?
Atmosphere and worldbuilding
Was the world building fullfilling? Does it feel fully structured and explained or are there holes in its development? Does it feel like it is another character with its own stories etc or is it merely just a setting?
Plot
Is the over all Plot intriguing/engaging/entertaining? is it complete? Were there any major plot holes that were distracting for the story-line, or could they be forgiven as the story is still awesome?
Enjoyment
My personal enjoyment of the book. Did I enjoy reading the book? did I get bored? would I recommend the book? Would I re-read the book?
Each category will be given a rating out of 10 to give a total score out of 60 Points
Converting from ESCAPE to a 5 star system?
We all wrestle with the Goodreads 5 Star system at some point as it just doesn’t seem nuanced enough to fully let us show just how much we liked the book but as it is the primary at a glance system used my most online retailers too we are kinda stuck with it.
Converting from escape to the 5 star system is quite straight forward.
| ESCAPE Points | Star Rating | ||
| > 50 | 5 | Written Review | |
| 40-49 | 4 | ||
| 30-39 | 3 | ||
| 20-29 | 2 | No Review Written | |
| <20 | 1 | ||
What the Star ratings mean to me
1 Star: It just wasn’t for me. Not every book can be the perfect read for me. It may be problematic or it may just be I just wasn’t in the mood for it or I personally didn’t gel with the writing and that’s OK.
2 Stars: It was an OK book. It wasn’t good but it was readable. It just didn’t stand out to me. It can also be for “cheeseburger books”. A “cheeseburger book” is a book that is problematic/bad writing but it is oh so addictive to read – what some might call guilty pleasure books.
3 Stars: This book was nothing overly special but it was a good read and I enjoyed it. to me 3 stars is still a good rating, the book is just not a favourite. Not making it onto my re-read pile
4 Stars: A great book it was just lacking a little oomf, a missing spark to push it to 5 stars. They are still likely to get a re-read at some point but not immediately.
5 Stars: I LOVED the book!
This book goes straight onto the re-read pile.
Fi's Bibliofiles 