Books, like all art, are subjective. What we enjoy reading and how we rate those stories, varies from person to person. At Dite & Patra, we rate three main categories: Plot, Romance, and Spice. Here is a more in depth description as to how we rate the romance books that we read.
⭐️ Plot Rating
| # | Description |
| ⭐️: 5 | Can’t stop thinking about the book long after it’s finished, strong emotional investment in the characters, ultimate page-turner with great pacing, so immersive that I forgot I was reading, would consider re-reading |
| ⭐️: 4 | Often think about the book, strong emotional investment in the characters, page-turner with good pacing, flowing and immersive story |
| ⭐️: 3 | Cared about what happened to the characters but not strongly attached, decent pacing with slow parts, stayed in the story while reading |
| ⭐️: 2 | Indifferent to the characters, slow pacing for most of the story, elements that sometimes took me out of the story while reading |
| ⭐️: 1 | Did not like the characters very much, distracting pacing issues, many elements that took me out of the story while reading |
💗 Romance Rating
| # | Description |
| 💗: 5 | Tremendous romantic chemistry and tension, entertaining witty banter, well developed characters who grow, believable and immersive love story, great emotional depth, acts and words of love that move the plot forward and make you swoon |
| 💗: 4 | Great romantic tension and chemistry, witty banter, well developed characters, immersive love story, impactful acts and words of love that make you swoon |
| 💗: 3 | Some romantic tension, some witty banter, somewhat developed characters, sweet love story, some acts and words of love |
| 💗: 2 | Occasional romantic tension, very little banter, not a lot of character development, indifferent to the love story, occasional acts and words of love |
| 💗: 1 | Little to no romantic tension, little to no banter, under-developed characters with little to no growth, not believable or bland love story, little to no meaningful acts or words of love |
🔥 Spice Rating
| # | Description |
| 🔥: 5 | Contains several graphic intimate scenes where the reader is present, has erotic and explicit sexual language throughout the book, smut overwhelms the plot, no limit to the spice or kink, trigger warnings are present, your mental health matters |
| 🔥: 4 | Contains two or more graphic intimate scenes where the reader is present and has explicit sexual language |
| 🔥: 3 | Contains one to two intimate scenes where the reader is present, some sexual language |
| 🔥: 2 | Passionate kissing, make out sessions, references to sexual content, but nothing on-page |
| 🔥: 1 | Sweet, kissing only, closed door/fade to black |
These are the general guidelines we try to follow when rating plot, romance, and spice in the stories that we read. Again, ratings are subjective, so be sure to look for any trigger warnings about content, and familiarize yourself with plot summaries if this information is important to you, before you dive into a book. Happy reading!
