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Digital Book Club 
January 2022 Week 4
 
Hey First name / friend, 
 
I hope you enjoyed last week's book review of Unwind by Neal Shusterman! Did any of you happen to buy some of my Miles & Breaker books last week? I saw a huge, random spike in Miles & Breaker sales this last week, and I genuinely have no clue where it came from 😂 Thank you for your support!
 
This week, I want to talk about star ratings for books. Normally, when we post book reviews, we also give the book a rating between one and five stars.
 
But we all have different book rating systems. No website illustrates that more dramatically than Goodreads, where reviewers are known for being unforgiving and stingy with those 5 star reviews!
 
Did you know that many advertisers will not accept a book with an average rating of below 4.3 stars? So, if you give a book 4 stars, you will be lowering its overall rating in many cases, which directly affects the author's ability to market the book.
 
Now, I'm not saying to only ever hand out 5 stars — there's plenty of books that don't deserve 5 stars. I have plenty of 4 star, 3 star, even 2 star reads in my history. But, as readers, we have the responsibility to make sure we are judging our reads fairly.
 
I screenshotted an amazing explanation of the star rating system that major book advertisers use from teylarachelbranton.com and added it to my reading journal! You can read the whole explanation in the picture below. Here's a quick summary of the content:
  • 5 stars: Enjoyable, no major problems, would recommend to others
  • 4 stars: Liked, still finished quickly, but had at least one major issue (didn't like the plot, writing style, major unresolved plot hole)
  • 3 stars: wouldn't recommend unless it was the only book someone had available and they were stuck in an airport for two hours
  • 2 stars: did not enjoy, you also feel others would not enjoy. At least 3 major issues
  • 1 star: the author should throw the book in the garbage and quit writing forever
So, the next time you're rating a book, try to remember this system. And, when in doubt, round up that star rating! 😊
 
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Social Media Corner

 
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Are You a Giveaway Addict?
Check out the giveaway page on the YA SFF blog! We update it regularly to make sure the best YA giveaways are always at your fingertips.
 
 

Reader Recommendations

 
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I really enjoyed the ending of the Unwind series by Neal Shusterman, Undivided. It wrapped things up in such a satisfying way for every main character while revealing more elements of Shusterman's brilliantly crafted world. If you're looking for a complex dystopian book with fascinating concepts and lots of moving parts, give this series a try!
 
Teens control the fate of America in the fourth and final book in the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology by Neal Shusterman that Horn Book Magazine calls “ambitious, insightful, and devastating—a fitting conclusion to a provocative series.”

Proactive Citizenry, the company that created Cam from the parts of unwound teens, has a plan: to mass produce rewound teens like Cam for military purposes. And below the surface of that horror lies another shocking level of intrigue: Proactive Citizenry has been suppressing technology that could make unwinding completely unnecessary. As Conner, Risa, and Lev uncover these startling secrets, enraged teens begin to march on Washington to demand justice and a better future.

But more trouble is brewing. Starkey’s group of storked teens is growing more powerful and militant with each new recruit. And if they have their way, they’ll burn the harvest camps to the ground and put every adult in them before a firing squad—which could destroy any chance America has for a peaceful future.
 
 

Weekly Cat Pic

 
 
Linky needed surgery last week, but his surgery went smoothly and he's recovering well. ❤
 
Have a question? Reply to this email to Ask the Author.
 
 
 
 
 
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Thank you so much for being a loyal member of the Digital Book Club! Next week, I might answer the question: what makes a character instantly likeable? I will answer that question eventually. Something else might get my attention first, though. My brain is like a crow alighting upon a shiny object.
 
Wishing you a week of hefty hardcovers,
 
 
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