A review of our reviews

Lately, I’ve been started to feel as though some of the book review scores given on Sci-Fi Books Club aren’t quite right. I’ve reviewed 30 books and never given a 5-star rating to any of them.

So what? It depends, I suppose, on what 5-stars means. When I first started writing reviews, I didn’t have a baseline score system to work with. In essence, it was just a gut feeling. However, I don’t believe a 5-star score should only be given to the world’s most perfect book. Any book that I love reading, even if it has faults, might be worthy.

Thus, I am adjusting many scores on the site. Quite a few books will go up by half a star. Some will not change. Often, a book score will be an in-between number. Is it a 3-star or a 3.5-star book? At times, I must round up or down depending on my gut feeling. With an extra half a star to play with, some scores now feel a little low, while others seem about right.

From now on, Sci-Fi Books Club will not be afraid to offer 5-star scores to exceptional books, and other review scores may be slightly higher as a result.