Hello friends! I’ve decided to give this post a little refresh and talk about how I rate books. There really is no wrong or right way to rate books, but if you’d like a bit of a guideline, you’ve come to the right place.
G from Book Roast first introduced me to this rating system, so please check out her video as well. I’ve changed it up a bit, but this is basically how I rate books!
{You might also like: We Set the Dark on Fire – Book Review}
The CAWPILE system
The CAWPILE rating system has seven categories:
- Characters,
- Atmosphere,
- Writing,
- Plot,
- Intrigue,
- Logic,
- and Enjoyment
These categories make it much easier to organize your thoughts on a book, and they allow you to dive deeper into the book. I’ll explain each one in more detail, but overall these categories cover the elements found in books pretty well.
Each category then gets a rating out of 10, which is later converted into a star rating, and basically how I rate books!
Characters
For this category, I usually look at character development. I want to see fully formed main characters and interesting enough side characters. It’s important to see the character development throughout the story, and I want characters with believable motivations. Another important aspect is diversity and believable conflict. If the book or characters are lacking in these areas I would definitely rate it lower.
If it’s a sci-fi or fantasy book, I’ll also factor in character relationships in this rating. For romance (as the romance is the main plot of the story) I’ll rate the romance in the intrigue category.
Atmosphere (worldbuilding)
The atmosphere is an important one for me. Is the book making me feel the things I need to feel? Did I feel the tension when I was supposed to, did I feel surprised when I was supposed to? I also rate the worldbuilding here. If the book takes place in a really creepy setting, am I creeped out while reading it? Is the sci-fi world fleshed out and believable? Was the fantasy worldbuilding done well? All of these are things I look at when rating the atmosphere.
Writing
Rating the writing is really a matter of personal preference. I don’t like too flowery writing, and neither do I like too many descriptions of scenery. I want to be in the world fast and I want the writing to be simple, yet elegant. A one-punch sentence is usually more impactful than a whole paragraph if you get my meaning. But to each their own.
Plot
As we all know, the plot is probably the most important aspect of a book. I look for well-balanced plots that make sense and don’t rely too much on impossible feats or plot conveniences. Some questions I might ask myself is; did I enjoy the story and resolution? Are there any plot points that lack development?
I don’t always go fully in-depth, but it’s nice to have these questions as a guide.
Intrigue (conflict)
When I started using this system I found intrigue hard to rate. What is it really? But since then I’ve been using intrigue to rate the central conflict of the characters or plot. Does the conflict make sense? Is it not just contingent on some flimsy miscommunication (looking at you romance)? I also use intrigue to rate romance in romance books. The more I root for a romance, the higher this rating.
Logic (magic or themes)
Logic is where I rate magic systems, or in the case of contemporary and romance books, the themes. Do the rules of the magic system make sense? Does the layout and geography of fight scenes or action scenes make sense? What are the themes of the book, and how is it portrayed by the author and discussed by the characters?
Enjoyment
This is once again, purely personal preference (as is every review, to be honest), but my enjoyment of the book could be much higher than any other score. Sometimes I like books where not everything makes sense or the magic system is a little flimsy. And that’s fine. I gave The Shadows Between Us a higher rating than it probably deserved, but I just enjoyed it immensely. At the end of the day I try to be objective when writing reviews, but personal biases slip in.
No one person has the same experiences or worldviews, and I read and review books through the lens of my own worldviews. The CAWPILE system is my attempt at being more consistent, but no one can be free of bias. I guess what I’m saying is: let people enjoy and dislike things (as long as it’s not hurting anyone).
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What the ratings mean
As I mentioned previously, the CAWPILE ratings are out of 10. I use the following key:
- 0-3 Really Bad
- 4-6 Average
- 7-9 Really Good
- 10 Excellent
I then add up all of the numbers and divide them by seven to get an average score. That average score is then converted into a star rating using the following:
- 1.1 – 2.2 = 1 Star
- 2.3 – 4.5 = 2 Star
- 4.6 – 6.9 = 3 Star
- 7 – 8.6 = 4 Star
- 8.7 – 10 = 5 Star
How I rate books
As I mentioned previously, I don’t usually rate the books I read for fun. I only rate books that I read for review purposes. This is because reading is supposed to be fun, and I don’t want to be working and thinking critically about every book I read. You’re very welcome to think differently, but this is how I do it.
And there you have it! That’s how I’ll be rating books from now on.
Chat with me about how I rate books!
How do you rate books?
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This is brilliant – but I’m far too lazy to put it into action 😉
I usually just rate overall.
I always have admired your rating system. It’s much more ~scientific~ than mine. I actually just scheduled a post on my rating system so you can see what I mean next week. Thanks for sharing your update!
love the system and love how you explained it.. I would love to do something like this but i know i am not going to be able to do it consistently.. now i have stopped putting any stars or similar to my reviews on my blog too 🙂 (but unfortunately have to do it on goodreads..)
Hmm, I like the the sound of this type of rating system. Thanks for sharing.
I rate everything and I still feel like I am enjoying reading.
I like the way you split your thoughts into sections. It would be great not to rate books but when you come to the likes of Amazon and Goodreads they want a rating, just like the authors do. Would be so much easier without a rating system.
It would be easier without ratings tbh.