One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “Do you have any tips on how to write a book review?” and honestly I’m flattered because I feel like my reviews are awful but then again I guess all writers feel that way. In this post I’m going to share a few tips that have helped me over the past few years. I am also going to include some things you may want to incorporate into a review. Now I’m not an expert reviewer so please don’t feel like you have to conform to my style or do everything that I do. You do you. Anyway, here are some pointers!
Develop a rating scale. Do you want to use stars? Letter grades? Whatever method of rating you decide on you have to take into consideration what it means to you. What makes a five star book? What makes a one star book? Once you’ve thought over this you should make a note of it and put it somewhere on your blog so your readers know what type of rating you’re using.
The review post itself should include the following: Cover, Title, Author, Number of Pages, the Publisher (this part is up to you but it is helpful), the Synopsis, and a Rating. Some people also like to include the dates that they read the book as well where readers can purchase the book.
If this book is an arc (Advanced Readers Copy) or from the author don’t forget to thank them for the book in your review!
Now comes the hard part. What on Earth are you going to talk about?
First of all, you want to hook your reader with an opening line (sometimes I use a gif, sometimes a quote from the book) that will get them interested.
You may want to talk about how you came across the book. Maybe a friend let you borrow it. Maybe the cover enticed you. Sharing what attracted you to a certain book can be helpful to whoever is reading your review.
Since you’ve already given a synopsis of the book it would be repetitive to rehash what the book is about. Granted if you do decide to summarize the book again, keep it brief.
Talk about what you liked and what you didn’t like. You can create a list of pros and cons if it is easiest for you. Sometimes I like to do a pro, a con, and then a pro again because I hate ending a review on a bad note. That’s just me though.
You may want to discuss the following things in your review: characters, character development, world building, plots, and the writing.
Conclude your review. Wrap up your review by stating if you enjoyed the book or not. What did you give it the rating that you did? You may want to include if you’d recommend it to a friend (who would enjoy this type of book?) or read the next book if it’s a part of a series.
At the end of a review some people include links to the book on goodreads or where to purchase it. This is just an option.
Sometimes it helps to take notes while reading or highlight key things that you want to include in your review.
Let’s talk about the tone or your voice while writing your review. Do you want your review to be professional and business like? Or maybe you want your review to have a relaxed vibe like you’re talking to a friend. Whatever you decide on be consistent.
Be courteous to the author and others. Sometimes it’s hard. You read a book and it’s so awful and you want to rip it to shreds and point out all the awful flaws. You can still do that without being rude or nasty. Also NEVER, EVER, EVER berate an author. You are here to critic their book, not them. I can’t stress that enough.
Be honest. If you’re not going to be honest with your review it’s not fair to those reading your review.
Have fun and write for you! Unless you’re getting paid to write reviews, don’t take it too seriously.
So there you go! That’s how you write a book review. Hopefully some of these tips will be useful to you when you are writing your on review! Good luck and happy blogging!!
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