The WEIRDE Reviews System

 I've always had a hard time figuring out what to write when reviewing a book and reducing it down to a five star scale, but I do want to offer insightful reviews for those that might be interested in a book I've read. So I've created the WEIRDE review system (inspired by Erika McCorkle's, @kiraofthewind on Bluesky, WYVERN system).

This system focuses on the things I care about the most when reading a book: worldbuilding, emotion, ingenuity, relationships, descriptions, and engaging.

Worldbuilding:

I'm a sucker for thoughtful and intentional worldbuilding. If a book has a glossary (or heaven forbid footnotes) I know I'm going to be in for a good time. Of course, books that are lighter on the worldbuilding still have their merits, but I'm more likely to gush over a book that has a really intricate magic system or pages of lore than if it doesn't. Obviously, this category will mostly apply to fantasy and sci-fi books, but since that's the bulk of what I read I couldn't not include it. Books set in the real world that don't require worldbuilding won't be dinged for not having any worldbuilding.

Emotion:

Every book is going to illicit some kind of emotion from it's reader (hopefully). This section will be primarily a space for me to talk about the kind of emotions a book made me experience.

Ingenuity:

Tropes are fun and all, but I often find myself wanting something new. Strange formatting, turning tropes on their heads, fantastical worlds not grounded in reality, etc. These kind of things push a book up to a higher standard in my mind.

Relationships:

I'm not a huge romance reader, but I love a book with a strong romance sub-plot. This category also extends to platonic relationships. I like to read about strong bonds, found family, blossoming new relationships, flourishing established relationships, and how the plot interacts and effects those relationships.

Descriptions:

I have aphantasia and have found that I really need vivid descriptions to ground me in the book. I can’t visualize a character or setting for myself so when authors do that for me it helps immensely. When descriptions are left vague or aren't present at all I have a really hard time following along and differentiating characters.

Engaging:

I have a pretty short attention span and it can be hard sometimes to find books that can keep me reading. Any book that keeps me up to finish that next chapter and forces me to think critically about the prose gets an A+.

And that's the system! There's no number score assigned at the end, just a way to break down my thoughts on a book.