Policies & Disclaimers

Reviews

Honesty Policy

All reviews will be based off of our, the bloggers', personal thoughts and preferences. We are honest through our reviews. If we did not enjoy the book, we will say so. Likewise, if we enjoyed the book, we will state so in the review. We have the right to state our own opinions. If you, the viewer, do not agree with our opinions, well then, so be it. Everyone has different opinions, so we ask that you respect ours. Thank you.

In addition, the FTC Guidelines requires us to state that we are not compensated by any author, publisher, editor, etc. for our reviews. We will note the source of the book in our reviews, but this will not affect our final opinions of the book in a review. 

What to expect in a review

• Cover art
• Any images, unless stated so, are NOT YAN's personal property.
• General information about the book - Source will be provided
• Title
• Author
• Publication Date
• Publisher
• Tags and/or genre
• Summary 
• Rating System - See below.
• Honest review
• YAN is comprised of different writers, so it's natural that each of us is bound to have a different perspective, a different review-writing style, and a different level of how in-depth the review will be. See Honesty Policy above.

Rating System

Just if you were wondering what sort of system YAN has of reading and analyzing books...

The Gals at YAN base their system off of a .5 to 5 star rating. It's the traditional, little kid system of least to greatest;  .5 being the worst, and 5 being the best. The Gals were sick of using strictly whole stars that GoodReads provided, and decided to go by way of halving of a star. Here's our gargantuan list of stars!

We rate our books based on a set criteria:

• Technical Details
• Plot
• i.e. Was it a cliche? Was it a fairy-tale retelling, but with a super-cool mecha twist? Was it something completely, and wholly unique? Did we ENJOY it?
• Pace/Flow 
• Did it go too fast? Was it way darn too slow? Full of action?
• Grammatical Errors
• If there are so many errors that we couldn't even get through the book, or errors that completely changed the intended meaning of certain parts, we will definitely say so.
• Conflicting Details
• Yeah. You, the author, obviously did NOT pay enough attention. Wake up, please!
• Stylistic Details
• Formal/Character POV (Point of View)
• Funny? Formal? Was it written like the author had a stick up his/her butt while writing?
• Characters
• Lovable or hatable? (This really is opinion-based; you may LOVE the characters, while we may DESPISE them.)
• Relatable? Logical? Stupid? Unreliable? Annoying? Jerks? Or worse of all.... FLATTER THAN PANCAKES!
• Overall Questions We Consider
• Did we enjoy the book?
• Was it terrible to get through?
• Could we finish it?
• Did it leave a lasting impression?
• When reading, did it give us a sense that we were participating in what was going on in the book?
• Did we want to read more?

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Star Meanings

5 Stars

Oooo, mama! Give us with some more of that fantastic book lovin'! We just couldn't put it down. This book is perfection technically, emotionally, stylistically, and flows at just the right speed! Interesting plot, characters, background, setting, & idea. It just works. This book is definitely one of our top favorites. Bravo!

4.5 Stars

Almost there! We loved it, but.... there was just one little thing that we couldn't overlook, which made us give a rating just below awesomeness. We have little to no issues/annoyances/issues/problems/reasons-to-be-angry with anything else. This book is a keeper!

4 Stars

Really quite good. Easily an "Excellent" in our books!  One major category that we thought was crucial to be a five may have been sacrificed. Overall, characters, plot, story, idea, tone, style are great. We are looking forward to reading more from this author! Definitely recommend this one.

3.5 Stars

Nice book! Definitely not in our top 5, but probably one of our "pretty good" sections. Really good overall. Nothing much to say. No lasting impressions, but it didn't leave a bad taste. Good job. *applause, applause*

3 Stars

Okay, okay, we can see this book had some potential. The idea and plot were pretty cool; hey, now, we give it some credit, we did decide to crack the cover, you know! It may have been lacking in a few categories, but we did enjoy it overall.

2.5 Stars

Ehhhh, this was a "meh" book for us. It was neither disgusting nor godlike. Right smack dab in the middle, it was just one word: AVERAGE!!! Yay!! Welcome to the middle part of town, dearies. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but it's far better than being .5 stars. If this book was a human, it'd live in an apartment with their cat named Kitty (not to point any fingers.)

2 Stars

Okay, now we're getting towards the nasty part of the pile. The book could have improved in all categories. Plot, characters, flow, likability.... although it may have been painful to read, there was one factor that made us keep on reading. Far from book-burning, but definitely not worth the re-read.

1.5 Stars

*Face palm* Oh dear. Not again. This book has left us with a nasty, nasty, nah-sty! taste in our mouths. It's just above horrible, and hangs between "Meh-Ish" and "Icky." Technical stills are lacking, and the writing style is boring with a side of yawn. Oh yeah, not to mention that obscene amount of clichés.

1 Star

Dear Author: What the are you doing? Clearly, this is quite far from a masterpiece. You have much more work to do if you are seeking that special work that'll make you famous. Well, if you're looking for infamy, you've certainly achieved new heights, *cough cough*new lows. We could barely finish your book- if at all - and your writing was very, very, poor. Terrible characters, plot, setting, idea, and, well, everything. There were many grammatical errors . (ARCs will be an exception in this case; they are unproofed copies, after all)

.5 of a Star

Absolutely disgusting! We probably weren't able to finish. There were technical, stylistic, and  many other yucky errors that made us want to close. the. book. This book is NOT AT ALL a recommended read. Please, take caution dear reader. Please. For the sake of humanity, do not stray too far into this book!

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Giveaways and Contests

Remember, these are the basic rules and disclaimers. Further information about separate giveaways/contests will be provided in the post. Please check our blog's sidebar and top tabs for any ongoing giveaways! We wish you luck! Thank you for stopping by!

Requirements of Participants

• All participants MUST be 13 years or older.
• Participants must fully complete the requirements for entry.
• Participants must live in the areas according to the giveaway's guidelines.
• Absolutely only one entry per household!

Winners/Shipping

• Giveaway winners will be selected randomly.
• Contest winners will be chosen by YA Novelties according to which entry/entries most fit the requirements.
• Winners will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond to said email, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.
• Winners, if you have not received your prizes within a month or more after giveaway has ended, please email us at yanovelties@gmail.com for further instruction.

YA Novelties has the right...

• To change the date of a giveaway/contest.
• To delete any entries that we suspect are cheats. PLEASE DO NOT CHEAT! (We are merciless monsters with minions ready to torture you if we catch you, which we will! ♥)
• To choose contest winner(s).
• To choose the prize(s).

Disclaimers/Privacy

• YA Novelties is NOT responsible for any lost OR damaged prizes.
• If prizes are provided by authors, publishers, or any other sources that is not YA Novelties, it is out of our control whether or not winners receive the prize(s).
• YA Novelties is NOT responsible for any information given out through public comments. Please be careful about what you put out on the Internet. Anyone and everyone can and will see it.
• YA Novelties will not NOT keep/share/sell any addresses. After the prizes are shipped, all addresses will be DELETED permanently.

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Whelp, thank you so much to everyone; whether you may be a long time follower, or an accidental viewer! All of you mean so much to us! Thank you for taking time out of your day to check out our blog.

Sincerely,

The Gals @ YA Novelties