My Review Policy & Rating System

I love books right? And authors love to have someone review their books right? I will happily review any book that an author wants to send me provided it meets these criteria.


I am currently not accepting any titles to review. 


My Review Policy

1. It has to be fiction. I will on occasion review nonfiction, but those are few and far between. Any nonfiction books I review will come directly from the publisher because it will be one that I have selected and has piqued my interest. Exceptions are for nonfiction from my favorite authors.

2. Since the majority of the books I review are published under the Christian Market, I will be happy to review a secular book as long as it is clean. I'm okay with violence, language, etc. But I'd prefer not to review books that have an abundance of sex (graphic or otherwise) in them. If I read a romance and it has love scenes in it, chances are it won't be reviewed on my blog. I have a lot of readers who only read Christian novels and I personally would not fell comfortable posting a review of such a book on my blog.

3. Please don't expect me to drop everything and read/review your book. I will work it into my reading rotation of the books I'm reviewing. Unless I have a specific date when the review MUST be posted by, I try to post the review within about 6 to 8 weeks of receiving the book. I am busy with work, my business, my life outside of reading, and of course the books I review. Since I review for 6 Christian publishers, and the occasional Netgalley book, these books take precedence over anything else I read.

 4. I will post my review on Amazon, Goodreads, here on my blog, and Facebook/Twitter. My blog automatically updates to facebook and Twitter. I will also email or Facebook you a direct link to the blog's review once it is posted. If there is anywhere else you wish for me to post it, you must let me know when you contact me.

5. I am not being paid to review books. Please understand that if I don't like the book, I will be honest and tell you. I try to be fair, and tell my opinion. Remember, that it's my opinion, and while your book may not be my favorite, it is possible that it is someone else's favorite read.

6. If after reading my reviewing policy and you still want me to review your book, please contact me using this form. Email me at dawn dot janis at gmail dot com (spelled out to prevent the spammers) to let me know you have submitted a review request. If I agree to read/review your book, you as the author will provide me a copy of the book.

My Rating System

Since Amazon, Goodreads, and other sites  use a 1-5 star rating system, I also use that system to rate the books I read & review. Let me tell you how I come about my decision of how to rank the book. In most cases, a half rating (example 3.5 stars) will be rounded down to the 3 star rating. There are times, though they are few, when the book will be rounded up to the next rating.


1 star - The book is poorly edited. It puts me to sleep when I'm not tired. I feel it is more torture than pleasure to read. I just don't like it. It made me mad (examples Scripturally unsound)
               Any of these items are enough for me to give the book  either a 1 or 1.5  star rating.

 2 stars - I don't hate the book, but I will never read it again. It's not my genre. It didn't hold my interest. I don't connect to the characters. Any of these will give a 2 star rating.



3 star rating - I don't hate it. I don't really like it. It's not a keeper. I feel rather blah about the book. It has nothing to do with the quality of the writing or the plot, but I'm just indifferent about it. I can easily recommend it, but it's not really my cup of  tea. Any of these will garner a 3 or 3.5 star rating.




4 star rating - The majority of what I review is here. I really enjoyed the book. The characters capture me. I'll keep the book. It's by a favorite author
                                               and it's not my favorite by that author. It was a pleasure to read. Any of 
                                               these will get a 4 star rating.


5 star rating - I absolutely loved the book. There's something in it that causes me to go WOW. It touches me someway. I will highly recommend it to any and everyone. Any of these will cause it to  get a 5 star rating. Most 4.5 star ratings will get rounded up.