Finding splendid books is like mining. You have to pull out the ones that you like from the mountain of possibilities and sift through the streams of information to discover the gold.
One of the biggest systems that helps readers do this are reviews.
Why Write a Book Review
First, I want to thank you for supporting authors. It is difficult to get reviews, but as they add up, it creates a snowball effect.
As more and more readers leave reviews, more readers see the book and choose to read it. Reviews give potential readers the opportunity to see other people’s opinions and determine if the book is their favorite type of jewel.
ARC readers, or advanced reader copy readers, have the responsibility and privilege of reading a book before it has been released. So that on release day, they can immediately add their reviews and help bolster the sales of the new book.
It is important to know the genre of the book you are reviewing and read it attentively. Then leave a review that is both objective and opinionated. Can you tell the carat of the jewel? And how closely must you look to see any flaws?
How do you do that? I’m glad you asked. Writing an excellent book review is easier said than done. So, here are a few tips.
How to Write a Good Book Review
How to Start a Book Review
It may be obvious, but you should start a good book review with the title and name of the author. This makes it clear which book you reviewed. In some cases, like Amazon and Goodreads, this is done for you by the review being associated with only that item.
Why both? Some titles are repeated and it could become confusing to the reader whether you are reviewing the nonfiction or the fantasy fiction novel of the same name. The author’s name helps pick through rocks, fool’s gold, and genuine gold.
Knowledge about the author can come in handy here. What awards have they won? What accreditations do they have? Is this a debut? Is it a long book or short, as in how many pages is it?
Next, include a basic summary of the plot and themes if you are writing a review for fiction, or a basic premise of what the book is about if you are writing for nonfiction. Try to sum up the theme of a book in one sentence, then add details. Keep it clear and avoid spoilers. This is where you differentiate between quartz and diamonds.
Give a sense of the book and writing. Share quotes that stood out to you. As a Fictionary StoryCoach Editor, I like to add my take on the structure of the book, structure of the scenes, and whether they used all thirty-eight Fictionary elements, like the five senses, to give depth to their story.
How to End a Book Review
Here is where you give your opinion of the book. Be honest but balanced in your review. I usually do this in two sections. Put what you loved first or that the author does well before addressing your constructive feedback. I think it helps to think of it as constructive feedback because then I see it as a way to help instead of criticizing the author’s choices or abilities.
You can go into depth on characters, setting, plot, structure, and prose. Try to keep it objective because what one person dislikes might be what someone else loves. Back up your criticism with examples and how it affects the reader’s experience. Was the ending satisfactory or not? Can you say why without spoiling it? Is the book unique or does it hit the familiar tropes readers love?
Compare and contrast to similar books on the market. Are they sapphires or emeralds? This can help the reader determine if they would like the book or not based on their personal preference instead of yours.
The author does the same thing when marketing the book because it is a good way to tell what the themes and style of a story are. Genre and even subgenre are pretty general, but comparing it to a specific book can give a potential reader a much better handle on if the book is their typical reading go-to.
Tips For Writing a Book Review
This is where you polish your skills and make a book shine.
Remember kindness. The author needs your respectful constructive feedback to improve. And as I said before, what one person dislikes about a book might be the very thing that other people like about a book. Hurting someone’s feelings helps no one.
There are many places today where you can publish your reviews. Including but not limited to social media, Amazon, Good Reads, blogs, BookTube, and more. The content and tone of reviews vary based on where it will be published. So, think about your audience and what the purpose of your review is.
Keep it succinct. People searching for their next read are unlikely to read a dissertation. However, you should also put time and effort into making it convey the most important aspects of the story and writing.
Break it up into brief paragraphs. Writing on the internet today has become about creating as much white space as possible to keep the attention of the reader. So, break it up with your pickax instead of keeping it all in one block of text.
Add a star rating. Star ratings are used on many of the review sites or you can make your own system for your social media. But using stars can help the author build trust with their readership. High star ratings improve click counts, but don’t necessarily create sales. And remember, one-star reviews can really hurt the business of a new author starting out and should be saved for very special cases.
Avoid spoilers or at least include a warning about spoilers. If spoilers are included in the review, it can ruin sales. Especially for a mystery or thriller where the primary goal of reading to the end is discovering who done it.
Consider which format you read. There are differences in the experience of reading an ebook versus paperback versus hardcover versus audiobook. If you have read a special edition, include in your review any pictures, maps, quality of paper, printing, or the cover. Sometimes authors like to change their covers to give their book a fresh look. So, include your likes or dislikes of the cover as well in your balanced, respectful feedback.
This might just be the author/editor in me talking, but…write a draft of your review, then edit and revise it. And please, make a grammar check before you post it. This will make it ever so much easier for the author and review readers to understand what you are trying to get across, instead of throwing out your opinions based on assumptions or simple illegibility.
Point out your own personal biases. Personally, when reading romance, I prefer closed door and less spice. So, I will be honest about what I read, skipped, or whether I will read that author again based on that preference. This helps other readers like me who want their romance closed-door to avoid the book or choose the same books. But it also helps the readers who like spice to perk up and say, “Ooh, I should try this one.”
Some people like the author to wax lyrical with their purple prose and some readers like gritty and hard writing. Preference can affect your opinion of the book when that is something very subjective.
So, mentioning it in the review can help readers get an overall picture of how the author has written the book, and whether it will appeal to them—even if it wasn’t your favorite jewel. This is a kindness to both the author and the potential readers, reading your review.
How to Review a Book Conclusion
A good book review is a balance between objective and subjective. Writing one takes time and effort. If you always consider pulling out the positive things you liked about a book before you go off on a rant, you’ll help yourself, the author, and potential other readers better.
Think of the book like a geode. It may just look like a rock on the outside, but if you take the time to crack it open and inspect what is inside, you might find some sparkly crystals.
Reading is often a matter of taste, but classics are loved by many throughout time for a reason, which has to do with deep structure and an understanding of the language they are written in.
Learning and using the Fictionary method of editing with the 38 elements can help you not only see your own stories more objectively but also other people’s. It will enhance your ability to give great reviews that are honest and helpful to the reading and writing community.
So, good luck, and I hope you find some real gems out there! If you do, please give them a review, so I can find them too.
