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Book Cave Rated Books Database
Movie-like ratings for books to help connect readers with the right books for them.
Why rate books?
Have you ever wondered if that popular, new YA/NA novel is okay for your pre-teen to read? Or if that book you keep seeing on BookTok is going to be mature enough for your preferences? Have you spent more time combing through different book reviews on Amazon to decide if a book is right for you than actually reading the book? Or maybe you purchased a book you thought you’d enjoy, only to be turned off by unexpected content that you don’t enjoy?
We have. And that’s why we decided to start providing movie-like ratings for books.
We don’t aim to censor books with our content ratings but simply allow readers to know what kind of content they can expect before beginning to read. This is similar to information you research before watching a movie, so we thought, “why not books, too?”
Ratings are for everyone
Movies and video games have been using rating systems for decades, and these trusted ratings influence your choices more than you realize. The very same person may quickly select a PG/PG-13 Halloween movie for their child, trusting it to not contain anything too scary, then later that evening select a rated-R horror film for themselves in the hopes that it won’t be as cheesy as a lower-rated movie.
Browse Book RatingsMeet the Ratings
Books are assigned ratings based on seven categories: crude humor/language, profanity, drug and alcohol use, kissing, nudity, sex and intimacy, and violence and horror.
Within each of these categories, there are levels of varying degrees, which are assigned a rating (All Ages, Mild, Mild+, Moderate, Moderate+, Adult, and Adult+).
The book itself is assigned an overall rating in relation to the highest level across all categories, and the individual rating level for each of the categories is also provided.
We List All Content, Not Just the Rating
Inside each individual book listing is a rating system that goes more in-depth and describes the actual contents for that particular book. For example, If you don’t mind high-levels of violence but do mind explicit sex scenes and wonder if an adult book earned that rating due to sex or violence or both, then inside the book rating you will see more details on exactly what kind of content that book was rated for.
Tips for Selecting Ratings
If you want some romance in your books but don’t want intimacy, select Mild and Mild+. If you prefer your romances with a bit more heat, from some discussion of sex to closed-door scenes, look for Moderate and Moderate+. For up to three on-screen sex scenes, choose Adult. For more than three sex scenes and erotica, choose Adult+.
If you want action and adventure with fight scenes and violence, select Moderate, Moderate+, or Adult. You would select this rating even if you didn’t want any intimacy or swearing or crude humor. Then you’d look at the warnings on each book to make sure it has only the violence and not the other content you don’t want.
If you’re looking for children’s books or nonfiction advice and how-to books, be sure to select All Ages or Mild. Very few books are All Ages, because most books have some violence, kissing, intimacy, or drug and alcohol use. Think of a book that is rated All Ages as similar to a clean How It’s Made episode or a show like Sesame Street, while a Mild children’s book might have some crude humor (perhaps in the form of fart jokes).
Click each rating to find out more about it
Two Different Kinds of Ratings
Official Book Cave Ratings
Official Book Cave ratings are provided by our team of editors who carefully review the books and provide official ratings. These are accompanied by an official Book Cave rating badge.
We typically prioritize popular books and books that go through our promotional services for official ratings. If you’d like to request an official Book Cave Rating, learn more about official Book Cave ratings here.
Community Book Ratings
Community Book Ratings are provided by authors, readers, and book lovers like you! Simply hop on over after reading a book and we’ll walk you through the criteria for rating the book.
The rating that displays is an average of all the submitted ratings, in case there is some disagreement among readers.
Rate your latest read or check out our rated books database below!
We Can’t Do it Alone
With millions of books already in print and many more being published daily, we need help from readers to rate books for content. Until a reader, author, or publisher adds and rates a book, it won’t be on our My Book Ratings page, so WE NEED YOU!
By using the comment section on each book, you can also let the world know how you feel about the book’s content and agree or disagree with others’ ratings and comments.
Spread the Word
Do you have a book club, teach a school class, live with roommates, participate in an author group, or maybe attend a church? Please let all those you interact with know about our rated books database.
Looking for Free and Discounted Ebooks Instead?
In addition to providing movie-like ratings for books, Book Cave also provides daily FREE and steeply discounted ebook deals.
Subscribe to get personalized daily ebook deals sent directly to your inbox each morning, or click here to browse our current selection of ebook deals.
