I’m bringing back my love for weekly memes with participating in Let’s Talk Bookish. Created by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, this is a segment where discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts. Posts are written on Friday’s.
This week’s prompt: What Makes a Book a Five-Star Read? (suggested by M.T. Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left)
Prompts: How do you decide whether a book should get 5 stars? Do you try to keep 5 stars rating prestigious, or do you give them generously? Do you have a checklist of things a book must accomplish to be 5 stars? Are 5 star books perfect, or just very good? What are some of your favourite 5 star reads? What made them stand out?
To me, what makes a five-star read is everything: the interesting characters, the plot, the setting, character development, and the connections between the characters, and the writing. If the characters are enough to where I can both root for and relate to them personally, then it will help me move along with the story. Same with plot and setting. Everybody knows that I’m not a fantasy reader; it takes me a lot to like a fantasy book. But if the characters are strong with a ton of vulnerability, then I’m all for it. I guess setting matters too, but I imagine whatever the story is set like in my own head, anyway, so that doesn’t really apply to a five-star read. Character development is very important to me, because I like seeing characters grow into themselves, grow from their mistakes, take responsibility, and move forward into the story. Connections between characters are super important to me too. Best friends, lovers, married, boyfriends/girlfriends, family, it all fits! And if the connections between them are strong, again it makes me want to root for them in the story.
Another five-star read for me is the writing. If the writing draws me in the whole way, descriptions, prose, poetry, throughout the pages, then I’ll consider it a five-star read. There are a lot of books out there that have horrible characters, unbelievable romances, but their writing is really good! So it is possible to be a good writer but in a bad book.
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Comment below! What makes a book a five-star read to you?
Thanks for reading,
For me it’s usually about the writing being good – not necessarily excellent – but the story catching my imagination. If I know it will stay with me, or if it makes me think about a topic differently or if I know I will recommend it to people, it’s a five star read.
I also don’t think that horrible characters automatically make for a bad book? It takes huge skill to write a truly vile character or uncomfortable storyline realistically. ‘Lolita’ was a five star read for me because I spent the entire book thinking ‘this character and his actions make me want to puke,’ and the prose was magnificent. I don’t know if I ever want to read it again, but I’m still thinking about it weeks after finishing it.
Hi Francesca! And yes totally well put! It does take a certain skill to write a horrible villain but that’s what makes them so good. I’ve never heard of ‘Lolita’ before; who’s it by?
It’s by Vladimir Nabokov. Some people consider it a love story and automatically won’t read it, because the general description is ‘Man falls in love with his landlady’s 12 year old daughter.’ They assume it’s condoning or encouraging paedophilia. But I read it a few months ago and although the man is our protagonist and the only person we really hear from, we are under no illusions that he is absolutely the villain. It’s so well written, because in some parts you’re sat there thinking ‘oh, gross. Oh no, you’re not going to do that are you? Oh, you are.’ But Nabokov is an absolute master at making it clear that this guy is appalling, and it’s a very engrossing book. It’s quite something. I knew it was considered a classic before I read it, but didn’t realise how long I’d be thinking about it after I was finished. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I recommend Googling it at least!
Woow yeahhhh I’ll definitely start with Google lol 😆 sounds so creepy!!
It felt less creepy and more… psychologically unnerving? Partly because the prose is so well done (there are whole paragraphs of descriptions of places, for example, that are just beautiful) but the subject matter is so dark. I’d sell a newborn for Nabokov’s skill because I have NO IDEA how he got so good.
In order for me to leave a five star review, the author has to be able to keep my attention throughout the whole book. I also look at how well developed the characters are, and how good the author is at strong telling. The author has to be very detailed-oriented when it comes to describing the characters, their feelings, their actions, and so on. I like being able to relate to the characters.
Love this response! Yes, the book has to keep my whole attention too. I get distracted easily so if I’m able to get sucked into the story then it’s on it’s way to being a 5-star read.