Edited April 4, 2025
My New System
I’m implementing a new book overview infographic system. I don’t know about you but I don’t often have the time or the attention span to read lengthy blog posts.
The goal with these graphics is to make it easy for people like me to get a quick overview of each book without reading the whole blog post, so you can quickly find books you’ll love! If you’re intrigued and want more info, you can dive into the post.
Here are each of the sections and how to interpret them:
Weekly Reads vs Reviews Vs Author’s Takes
The top will either indicate that the book is a “Weekly Read,” a “Review,” or an “Author’s Take,” along with the book’s title and author name.
A “Weekly Read” shares my thoughts on a book I just finished reading.
A “Review” shares my thoughts on a book I’ve read but not necessarily recently.
An “Author’s Take” shares an author’s thoughts on their own book using my graphic system. An Author’s take does not reflect my opinion or endorsement of a book. I may not have read books included in “Author’s Takes.”
Style
Every author has their own unique style, but I’ve narrowed it down to four: voicey, vibey, straightforward or lyrical.
Voicey: the narration style is snappy, sassy, humorous or unique
Vibey: the narration evokes a strong mood or feel
Straightforward: the narration style focuses on getting information across clearly
Lyrical: the narration style uses poetic imagery and word choices
POV
POV stands for point of view. This shows how many characters “eyes” you’ll be seeing the story through, and whether you’ll be experiencing it directly in their head, or more as a by-stander following the action from a distance.
I’ve started listing POV in my newer review graphics because some readers have a strong POV preference. For example, some readers only like romances where they get to see into both lovers’ minds, so they only read Dual POV romances. Others like to be immersed in one character’s head and “live” the story as the main character.
Single POV = You’re following one main character.
Dual POV = You’re following two main characters.
Multiple POV = You’re several characters.
First person = You’re inside the character’s head. The character will narrate using the pronouns “I, we,” etc.
Third person = You’re outside the character’s head. The narrator will use pronouns like “he, she, and they” to describe the action.
Spice Scale
I’m including this scale because some romance readers are not comfortable with graphic or sensual scenes, while other readers are specifically looking for spice. Since I review both sweet and spicy romances, I think it’s important to include this info so you can find the books you’re looking for.
N/A: no romantic element
One Kiss: Books with a romance element to the plot but nothing more than kissing on page. This may include books with closed door/implied sex scenes.
Two Kisses. Books may include “more than kissing,” such as foreplay interactions on page.
Three Kisses. Books may include one or more on-page sex scenes.
Four Kisses. Books may include an abundance of sex scenes, RH scenes or kinky stuff.
Five Kisses. Books that pretty much just exist for the sex scenes. You won’t see many 5-kiss reviews on this blog as I generally don’t review erotica.
Triggers
I tend to avoid extremely dark books or books with rape described in graphic detail, so you’re not likely to see those books in my “weekly reads” or “reviews.”
But most sci-fi books include at least some level of violence or dark, dystopian elements. I won’t mention basic sci-fi violence but I’ll mention anything I notice that I think might be a potential trigger.
Of course, I can’t catch everything, so do make sure to read other reviews to make sure each book is right for you.
All my reviews are intended for an adult audience able to use their own discretion about content. I do not necessarily recommend any of the books I review for children, even the YA books. Some of the books may contain content a particular person may want to avoid for personal or religious reasons. You can find secular reviews for children at Common Sense Media and religious based perspective reviews at Plugged In magazine.
Tropes
Tropes are commonly-used plot elements such as “enemies to lovers” “redemption” “love triangle” etc.
I’m listing tropes in my newer review graphics because many readers use trope lists to help them narrow down their book choices to the exact kind of book their looking for. Trope lists also help readers try a new kind of book if it at least contains a beloved trope they can grab onto.
Price
I used to list book prices in Canadian dollars in my older reviews. On my newer reviews, I don’t list price and only mention whether the book is available in KU or has a special deal.
Summary
This is not a copy/paste of the publisher description. This is a quick summary of the book in my own words.
I’ve noticed sometimes publishers can be cagey about what a book is about, but if you’re looking for reviews, it means you don’t want to be left in the dark by a teaser blurb, so I try to avoid being mysterious.
My Take
I’ll either write “enjoyed it” or “loved it” at the beginning of this section.
“Loved it” is stronger than “enjoyed it,” but either way, if I’ve made and infographic it means I recommend the book for adult readers looking for books of this book’s type.
When I read a book I don’t enjoy or DNF a book, I don’t post about it. So you know the books on here are ones I like and recommend.
