The Marci Rating System

A recent audiobook was WAY more of a journey than I expected, and it went something like this:

*oh, here's one to try, it's only 4 and a half hours long; that seems good

*I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M NOT EVEN ONE HOUR INTO THIS IT FEELS LIKE IT'S GONE ON FOREVER ALREADY

*am I bored enough to stop listening?

*ooh, but I'm mildly interested in what happens

*[trying to explain it] 'there's a volcano! and there was just an avalanche! by all reckonings, this book SHOULD be exciting, but somehow it isn't!'

*okay, I only have an hour-ish left, and I'm now moderately interested in how this is all going to wrap up, because it feels like there's a lot of plot to resolve and not a ton of time to do it

*[checks time remaining] hang on, now there's less than five minutes left?????

*oh, so they're just... not going to resolve the plot, okay, that's cool too

*sometimes the best a way to end a story is to just stop writing

*it was what the author wanted! (I guess? I don't actually know how published books work.) I genuinely love that for them! it wasn't my favorite book of all time, but I sure did have an experience, and I appreciate that!