The Worth Meter

For reviews, I use the Worth Meter, a five-tiered scale with two extremes to measure a story’s worth. From the bottom up, here are those tiers explained:

Less Than Worthless: This is when a book/movie/play/whatever is so bad, that it should not only be shunned; it should be protested. Rough Star equivalent: negative stars, if such a thing is even allowed.

Worthless: Self-explanatory. No worth, whatsoever. The lowest of the non-extreme ratings. Rough Star equivalent: No stars.

Worth Skimming/Sitting Through/Reading About: It has some redeeming quality, but a cursory glance will give you everything this story has to offer. Rough Star equivalent: 1 star.

Worth Borrowing/Waiting for/Seeing Bootleg performance: This is something worth experiencing, but only once, and not if you have to spend money on it. Rough Star equivalent: 2 stars.

Worth Owning Used/Renting/Seeing Once/Seeing an Amateur performance: This is a good story, worth experiencing and spending some time with, and even some money on, but it’s got some flaws and isn’t quite worth full price. Rough Star equivalent: 3 stars.

Worth Owning New/Owning/Seeing Multiple Times/Seeing Professional performance: A great story, one of the best, incredibly well done and definitely worth paying full price on and having in your collection. The highest non-extreme rating. Rough Star Equivalent: 4 stars.

Ultimate Recommendation: The upper extreme. This is a great story that has some element that means that I would recommend it to anyone I met, regardless of their background. Rough Star Equivalent: More than four stars, if such a thing is allowed.