I have a pretty good grasp on what books I'll like, which is part of the reason why every book I've read in the past couple years is somewhere in the 2.5 to 5 star range. The rating process is very abstract and vibe-based and I don't put much thought into it, but I'll try to retroactively describe what each rating means based on the books in each group. I don't actually have any of this in mind when I'm going to rate a book.

The books I've given 2.5 stars (which are very few) or 3 stars were enjoyable to read in some way or another but felt very surface level or contrived. E.g In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. It's a pageturner, but in a "watching a car accident" kinda way. The vibes are terrible and I'm not sure whether to respect or abhor it for that.

3.5 seems to usually be for books that are thematically affecting to me but fall short of fulfilling their potential. E.g. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I'm not always on Haig's wavelength throughout, but there are moments where it does really click.

4 stars are very well-written, enjoyable books that I'd be hard-pressed to find flaws in but may have felt the tiniest bit slight or didn't emotionally resonate with me quite enough to get a higher rating. These books do what they aim to do really well, they just may not be as precisely geared towards me. E.g. The Thing in the Snow by Sean Adams. I don't usually read books of this genre (kinda dry comedy, although in a slightly abstract/surrealist sci-fi world which *is* up my alley), but this one was really fun to read and I liked the writing style.

4.5 stars are mostly books that swing for the fences and/or surprised me with how much I liked them. It's generally hard to say what little bit of abstract judgment differentiates these from 5 stars. Maybe it's a small hiccup in pacing, or a bit of triteness in some of the lines, but everything thematically and vibes-wise works for me. E.g. My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin. My love of this book is mostly coasting on the quality of its vibes, I can't lie.

5 stars tend to be the ones that hit me emotionally the hardest, the ones that stick with me the most and I can't stop thinking about. They explore topics that fit right in with my own brain and its sensibilities and anxieties. Often beautiful prose, subtly devastating themes, and usually a nice mixing of genres. E.g. Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield; The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez.