How to Write a Good Book Review | Six-Steps Guide

Have you recently read a book and want to share your opinion with others?

Well, writing a book review is a great way of helping fellow readers decide on their next read. But the quintessential skill here is to be able to do justice to a great book in just a few words. Whether you choose to write on your blog or websites like Goodreads, it is imperative to craft an honest, unbiased, and informative review.

Before deciding on your review structure, below are a few ground rules for composing a compelling book review.

Considerations while writing a book review-

• Review what’s there, not what you had expected: An author writes with his ideas and expectations and in all likelihood, he would have done justice to that. You may write about your expectations and whether they have been met or not. But don’t filter the writer’s work by the lens of your expectations.
• Don’t be over-critical: The book in your hand is the result of someone’s hard work. So treat it with respect. Every author deserves fair treatment, so it’s better not to be harsh. You can always point out the shortcomings and failures, but choose the words that are suggestive and not critical.
• Adjust your tone: The tone of your writing should depend upon the medium of review and your audience there. For example, the reviews on blog posts sound more conversational than the ones on Goodreads which are usually informative.
• Keep it precise, succinct, and meaningful: Last, but not least, try to maximize your impact with every thoughtfully chosen word. Verbose and rambling writings put off the readers. So it’s better to keep it concise and crisp and still get your point across. Usually, a thousand words give you enough leeway to put forth a meaningful and engaging review. But short or long, don’t waste your words.

Now that you have got the ground rules of writing a book review right, it’s also important to have a template in place. Here is the six-step guide on how to structure your review in a way that makes it useful, impactful, and engaging for the audience

Six-Step Guide on How to Structure a Book Review

1. Start with Addressing Audience

Start with something that piques your audiences’ interest; something catchy, something which makes them read further, and something which may linger on. It could be a provocative or introspective statement or a question to ponder upon. For example:

• In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others, it’s a more subtle process, and that’s OK too. So where does Freefall fit into the sliding scale? From Crime Fiction Lover; for Jessica Barry’s Freefall

• An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem. From Kirkus Reviews reviews; for Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man

2. Summary of the book

This brief introduction is to give context to your readers. In this section, you can briefly touch upon the author and his other works, the relevance of the book title, whether the book is a part of a series, and a bit about the theme. It’s important to keep it very short, write only as much as is necessary.

3. Plot synopsis

Share only a very broad-level summary of the plot to acquaint the readers with what it is. You will not want to give away any spoilers. And in case you decide to do, keep them hidden (as is possible in some review websites). Make sure to keep the plot synopsis concise as book summaries are easily available on Google searches and as book blurbs.

4. Your likes and disappointments

Always make a point to start with the praise part,i.e, what you liked in the book, and then subtly bring in the things you think could have been better. It’s a good practice to be specific while presenting your viewpoint and not to use generic phrases or words like good and nice. But be mindful that whatever you write are only your viewpoints, so, leave enough space for the audience to form their opinions.

This section can also include a befitting quote from the book and let it do the taking.

The following reference questions about the four aspects of fiction writing can help you draft this section more sensibly:

• Character: Did you like the choice of characters? Which character outshone and why? Does the book include detailed character sketches? Are the characters believable? Are they stereotypical?
• Storyline/plot: Is the story appealing? Is it relevant and in line with the theme? Does it have enough cliffhangers? Was the climax unpredictable and awe-inspiring?
• Narration: Is the writing compelling enough? Does it help you visualize the scenes? What is the tone of writing- witty, sensitive, informative, humorous, optimistic, serious? Is the narrator, the protagonist?
• Setting: Did you like when and where the story took place? Is it relevant to the storyline? Is the story timeless or rooted in a particular place or time? Does it support the overall theme?

5. Your recommendation

Now to wrap up, you may suggest what type of readers are most likely to enjoy this book. You can do this by suggesting the genres that the book fits into for example- mystery, thriller, romance, inspirational, comedy. Or you can compare it to a similar popular book and let the reader decide for themselves. You may also state your opinion on whether the book deserves a chance and why so.

6. Ratings

Though a lot of review sites ask for ratings, you can also do the same with your blog. You can give an overall rating or break it down into different categories – writing style, plot, characters, relevance, etc.

Now that you have the template and guidelines on how to write an engaging book review, it’s time to pick up the book and get going!!

But, remember to stay patient. Writing strong book reviews take time and effort. It’s always a good practice to read reviews from other experienced book reviewers to get the feel and flavor of their good writing.