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How to Write a Book Review: A Comprehensive Tutorial With Examples

You don’t need to be a literary expert to craft captivating book reviews. With one in every three readers selecting books based on insightful reviews, your opinions can guide fellow bibliophiles toward their next literary adventure.

Learning how to write a book review will not only help you excel at your assigned tasks, but you’ll also contribute valuable insights to the book-loving community and turn your passion into a professional pursuit.

In this comprehensive guide,  PaperPerk  will walk you through a few simple steps to master the art of writing book reviews so you can confidently embark on this rewarding journey.

What is a Book Review?

A book review is a critical evaluation of a book, offering insights into its content, quality, and impact. It helps readers make informed decisions about whether to read the book.

Writing a book review as an assignment benefits students in multiple ways. Firstly, it teaches them how to write a book review by developing their analytical skills as they evaluate the content, themes, and writing style .

Secondly, it enhances their ability to express opinions and provide constructive criticism. Additionally, book review assignments expose students to various publications and genres, broadening their knowledge.

Furthermore, these tasks foster essential skills for academic success, like critical thinking and the ability to synthesize information. By now, we’re sure you want to learn how to write a book review, so let’s look at the book review template first.

Table of Contents

Book Review Template

How to Write a Book Review- A Step-by-Step Guide

Check out these 5 straightforward steps for composing the best book review.

Step 1: Planning Your Book Review – The Art of Getting Started

You’ve decided to take the plunge and share your thoughts on a book that has captivated (or perhaps disappointed) you. Before you start book reviewing, let’s take a step back and plan your approach. Knowing how to write a book review that’s both informative and engaging is an art in itself.

Choosing Your Literature

First things first, pick the book you want to review. This might seem like a no-brainer, but selecting a book that genuinely interests you will make the review process more enjoyable and your insights more authentic.

Crafting the Master Plan

Next, create an  outline  that covers all the essential points you want to discuss in your review. This will serve as the roadmap for your writing journey.

The Devil is in the Details

As you read, note any information that stands out, whether it overwhelms, underwhelms, or simply intrigues you. Pay attention to:

• The characters and their development
• The plot and its intricacies
• Any themes, symbols, or motifs you find noteworthy

Remember to reserve a body paragraph for each point you want to discuss.

The Key Questions to Ponder

When planning your book review, consider the following questions:

• What’s the plot (if any)? Understanding the driving force behind the book will help you craft a more effective review.
• Is the plot interesting? Did the book hold your attention and keep you turning the pages?
• Are the writing techniques effective? Does the author’s style captivate you, making you want to read (or reread) the text?
• Are the characters or the information believable? Do the characters/plot/information feel real, and can you relate to them?
• Would you recommend the book to anyone? Consider if the book is worthy of being recommended, whether to impress someone or to support a point in a literature class.
• What could be improved? Always keep an eye out for areas that could be improved. Providing constructive criticism can enhance the quality of literature.

Step 2 – Crafting the Perfect Introduction to Write a Book Review

In this second step of “how to write a book review,” we’re focusing on the art of creating a powerful opening that will hook your audience and set the stage for your analysis.

Identify Your Book and Author

Begin by mentioning the book you’ve chosen, including its  title  and the author’s name. This informs your readers and establishes the subject of your review.

Ponder the Title

Next, discuss the mental images or emotions the book’s title evokes in your mind . This helps your readers understand your initial feelings and expectations before diving into the book.

Judge the Book by Its Cover (Just a Little)

Take a moment to talk about the book’s cover. Did it intrigue you? Did it hint at what to expect from the story or the author’s writing style? Sharing your thoughts on the cover can offer a unique perspective on how the book presents itself to potential readers.

Present Your Thesis

Now it’s time to introduce your thesis. This statement should be a concise and insightful summary of your opinion of the book. For example:

“Normal People” by Sally Rooney is a captivating portrayal of the complexities of human relationships, exploring themes of love, class, and self-discovery with exceptional depth and authenticity.

Ensure that your thesis is relevant to the points or quotes you plan to discuss throughout your review.

Incorporating these elements into your introduction will create a strong foundation for your book review. Your readers will be eager to learn more about your thoughts and insights on the book, setting the stage for a compelling and thought-provoking analysis.

How to Write a Book Review: Step 3 – Building Brilliant Body Paragraphs

You’ve planned your review and written an attention-grabbing introduction. Now it’s time for the main event: crafting the body paragraphs of your book review. In this step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of constructing engaging and insightful body paragraphs that will keep your readers hooked.

Summarize Without Spoilers

Begin by summarizing a specific section of the book, not revealing any major plot twists or spoilers. Your goal is to give your readers a taste of the story without ruining surprises.

Support Your Viewpoint with Quotes

Next, choose three quotes from the book that support your viewpoint or opinion. These quotes should be relevant to the section you’re summarizing and help illustrate your thoughts on the book.

Analyze the Quotes

Write a summary of each quote in your own words, explaining how it made you feel or what it led you to think about the book or the author’s writing. This analysis should provide insight into your perspective and demonstrate your understanding of the text.

Structure Your Body Paragraphs

Dedicate one body paragraph to each quote, ensuring your writing is well-connected, coherent, and easy to understand.

For example:

• In  Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë writes, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.” This powerful statement highlights Jane’s fierce independence and refusal to be trapped by societal expectations.
• In  Normal People , Sally Rooney explores the complexities of love and friendship when she writes, “It was culture as class performance, literature fetishized for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys.” This quote reveals the author’s astute observations on the role of culture and class in shaping personal relationships.
• In  Wuthering Heights , Emily Brontë captures the tumultuous nature of love with the quote, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” This poignant line emphasizes the deep, unbreakable bond between the story’s central characters.

By following these guidelines, you’ll create body paragraphs that are both captivating and insightful, enhancing your book review and providing your readers with a deeper understanding of the literary work. 

How to Write a Book Review: Step 4 – Crafting a Captivating Conclusion

You’ve navigated through planning, introductions, and body paragraphs with finesse. Now it’s time to wrap up your book review with a  conclusion that leaves a lasting impression . In this final step of “How to write a Book Review,” we’ll explore the art of writing a memorable and persuasive conclusion.

Summarize Your Analysis

Begin by summarizing the key points you’ve presented in the body paragraphs. This helps to remind your readers of the insights and arguments you’ve shared throughout your review.

Offer Your Final Conclusion

Next, provide a conclusion that reflects your overall feelings about the book. This is your chance to leave a lasting impression and persuade your readers to consider your perspective.

Address the Book’s Appeal

Now, answer the question: Is this book worth reading? Be clear about who would enjoy the book and who might not. Discuss the taste preferences and circumstances that make the book more appealing to some readers than others.

For example:  The Alchemist is a book that can enchant a young teen, but those who are already well-versed in classic literature might find it less engaging.

Be Subtle and Balanced

Avoid simply stating whether you “liked” or “disliked” the book. Instead, use nuanced language to convey your message. Highlight the pros and cons of reading the type of literature you’ve reviewed, offering a balanced perspective.

Bringing It All Together

By following these guidelines, you’ll craft a conclusion that leaves your readers with a clear understanding of your thoughts and opinions on the book. Your review will be a valuable resource for those considering whether to pick up the book, and your witty and insightful analysis will make your review a pleasure to read. So conquer the world of book reviews, one captivating conclusion at a time!

How to Write a Book Review: Step 5 – Rating the Book (Optional)

You’ve masterfully crafted your book review, from the introduction to the conclusion. But wait, there’s one more step you might consider before calling it a day: rating the book. In this optional step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the benefits and methods of assigning a rating to the book you’ve reviewed.

Why Rate the Book?

Sometimes, when writing a professional book review, it may not be appropriate to state whether you liked or disliked the book. In such cases, assigning a rating can be an effective way to get your message across without explicitly sharing your personal opinion.

How to Rate the Book

There are various rating systems you can use to evaluate the book, such as:

• A star rating (e.g., 1 to 5 stars)
• A numerical score (e.g., 1 to 10)
• A letter grade (e.g., A+ to F)

Choose a rating system that best suits your style and the format of your review. Be consistent in your rating criteria, considering writing quality, character development, plot, and overall enjoyment.

Tips for Rating the Book

Here are some tips for rating the book effectively:

• Be honest: Your rating should reflect your true feelings about the book. Don’t inflate or deflate your rating based on external factors, such as the book’s popularity or the author’s reputation.
• Be fair: Consider the book’s merits and shortcomings when rating. Even if you didn’t enjoy the book, recognize its strengths and acknowledge them in your rating.
• Be clear: Explain the rationale behind your rating so your readers understand the factors that influenced your evaluation.

Wrapping Up

By including a rating in your book review, you provide your readers with additional insight into your thoughts on the book. While this step is optional, it can be a valuable tool for conveying your message subtly yet effectively. So, rate those books confidently, adding a touch of wit and wisdom to your book reviews.

Additional Tips on How to Write a Book Review: A Guide

In this segment, we’ll explore additional tips on how to write a book review. Get ready to captivate your readers and make your review a memorable one!

Hook ’em with an Intriguing Introduction

Keep your introduction precise and to the point. Readers have the attention span of a goldfish these days, so don’t let them swim away in boredom. Start with a bang and keep them hooked!

Embrace the World of Fiction

When learning how to write a book review, remember that reviewing fiction is often more engaging and effective. If your professor hasn’t assigned you a specific book, dive into the realm of fiction and select a novel that piques your interest.

Opinionated with Gusto

Don’t shy away from adding your own opinion to your review. A good book review always features the writer’s viewpoint and constructive criticism. After all, your readers want to know what  you  think!

Express Your Love (or Lack Thereof)

If you adored the book, let your readers know! Use phrases like “I’ll definitely return to this book again” to convey your enthusiasm. Conversely, be honest but respectful even if the book wasn’t your cup of tea.

Templates and Examples and Expert Help: Your Trusty Sidekicks

Feeling lost? You can always get help from formats, book review examples or online  college paper writing service  platforms. These trusty sidekicks will help you navigate the world of book reviews with ease. 

Be a Champion for New Writers and Literature

Remember to uplift new writers and pieces of literature. If you want to suggest improvements, do so kindly and constructively. There’s no need to be mean about anyone’s books – we’re all in this literary adventure together!

Criticize with Clarity, Not Cruelty

When adding criticism to your review, be clear but not mean. Remember, there’s a fine line between constructive criticism and cruelty. Tread lightly and keep your reader’s feelings in mind.

Avoid the Comparison Trap

Resist the urge to compare one writer’s book with another. Every book holds its worth, and comparing them will only confuse your reader. Stick to discussing the book at hand, and let it shine in its own light.

Top 7 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Writing a book review can be a delightful and rewarding experience, especially when you balance analysis, wit, and personal insights. However, some common mistakes can kill the brilliance of your review. 

In this section of “How to write a book review,” we’ll explore the top 7 blunders writers commit and how to steer clear of them, with a dash of  modernist literature  examples and tips for students writing book reviews as assignments.

Succumbing to the Lure of Plot Summaries

Mistake: Diving headfirst into a plot summary instead of dissecting the book’s themes, characters, and writing style.

Example: “The Bell Jar chronicles the life of a young woman who experiences a mental breakdown.”

How to Avoid: Delve into the book’s deeper aspects, such as its portrayal of mental health, societal expectations, and the author’s distinctive narrative voice. Offer thoughtful insights and reflections, making your review a treasure trove of analysis.

Unleashing the Spoiler Kraken

Mistake: Spilling major plot twists or the ending without providing a spoiler warning, effectively ruining the reading experience for potential readers.

Example: “In Metamorphosis, the protagonist’s transformation into a monstrous insect leads to…”

How to Avoid: Tread carefully when discussing significant plot developments, and consider using spoiler warnings. Focus on the impact of these plot points on the overall narrative, character growth, or thematic resonance.

Riding the Personal Bias Express

Mistake: Allowing personal bias to hijack the review without providing sufficient evidence or reasoning to support opinions.

Example: “I detest books about existential crises, so The Sun Also Rises was a snoozefest.”

How to Avoid: While personal opinions are valid, it’s crucial to back them up with specific examples from the book. Discuss aspects like writing style, character development, or pacing to support your evaluation and provide a more balanced perspective.

Wielding the Vague Language Saber

Mistake: Resorting to generic, vague language that fails to capture the nuances of the book and can come across as clichéd.

Example: “This book was mind-blowing. It’s a must-read for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Use precise and descriptive language to express your thoughts. Employ specific examples and quotations to highlight memorable scenes, the author’s unique writing style, or the impact of the book’s themes on readers.

Ignoring the Contextualization Compass

Mistake: Neglecting to provide context about the author, genre, or cultural relevance of the book, leaving readers without a proper frame of reference.

Example: “This book is dull and unoriginal.”

How to Avoid: Offer readers a broader understanding by discussing the author’s background, the genre conventions the book adheres to or subverts, and any societal or historical contexts that inform the narrative. This helps readers appreciate the book’s uniqueness and relevance.

Overindulging in Personal Preferences

Mistake: Letting personal preferences overshadow an objective assessment of the book’s merits.

Example: “I don’t like stream-of-consciousness writing, so this book is automatically bad.”

How to Avoid: Acknowledge personal preferences but strive to evaluate the book objectively. Focus on the book’s strengths and weaknesses, considering how well it achieves its goals within its genre or intended audience.

Forgetting the Target Audience Telescope

Mistake: Failing to mention the book’s target audience or who might enjoy it, leading to confusion for potential readers.

Example: “This book is great for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Contemplate the book’s intended audience, genre, and themes. Mention who might particularly enjoy the book based on these factors, whether it’s fans of a specific genre, readers interested in character-driven stories, or those seeking thought-provoking narratives.

By dodging these common pitfalls, writers can craft insightful, balanced, and engaging book reviews that help readers make informed decisions about their reading choices.

These tips are particularly beneficial for students writing book reviews as assignments, as they ensure a well-rounded and thoughtful analysis.!

Many students requested us to cover how to write a book review. This thorough guide is sure to help you. At Paperperk, professionals are dedicated to helping students find their balance. We understand the importance of good grades, so we offer the finest writing service , ensuring students stay ahead of the curve. So seek expert help because only Paperperk is your perfect solution!

What is the difference between a book review and a report?

Who is the target audience for book reviews and book reports, how do book reviews and reports differ in length and content, can i write professional book reviews, what are the key aspects of writing professional book reviews, how can i enhance my book-reviewing skills to write professional reviews, what should be included in a good book review.

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How to Write a Book Review: The Complete Guide

by Sue Weems | 23 comments

If you've ever loved (or hated) a book, you may have been tempted to review it. Here's a complete guide to how to write a book review, so you can share your literary adventures with other readers more often! 

You finally reach the last page of a book that kept you up all night and close it with the afterglow of satisfaction and a tinge of regret that it’s over. If you enjoyed the book enough to stay up reading it way past your bedtime, consider writing a review. It is one of the best gifts you can give an author.

Regardless of how much you know about how to write a book review, the author will appreciate hearing how their words touched you.

But as you face the five shaded stars and empty box, a blank mind strikes. What do I say? I mean, is this a book really deserving of five stars? How did it compare to Dostoevsky or Angelou or Dickens?

Maybe there’s an easier way to write a book review.

Want to learn how to write a book from start to finish? Check out How to Write a Book: The Complete Guide .

The Fallacy of Book Reviews

Once you’ve decided to give a review, you are faced with the task of deciding how many stars to give a book.

When I first started writing book reviews, I made the mistake of trying to compare a book to ALL BOOKS OF ALL TIME. (Sorry for the all caps, but that’s how it felt, like a James Earl Jones voice was asking me where to put this book in the queue of all books.)

Other readers find themselves comparing new titles to their favorite books. It's a natural comparison. But is it fair?

This is honestly why I didn’t give reviews of books for a long time. How can I compare a modern romance or historical fiction war novel with Dostoevsky? I can’t, and I shouldn’t.

I realized my mistake one day as I was watching (of all things) a dog show. In the final round, they trotted out dogs of all shapes, colors, and sizes. I thought, “How can a Yorkshire Terrier compete with a Basset Hound?” As if he'd read my mind, the announcer explained that each is judged by the standards for its breed.

This was my “Aha!” moment. I have to take a book on its own terms. The question is not, “How does this book compare to all books I’ve read?” but “How well did this book deliver what it promised for the intended audience?”

A review is going to reflect my personal experience with the book, but I can help potential readers by taking a minute to consider what the author intended. Let me explain what I mean. 

How to Write a Book Review: Consider a Book’s Promise

A book makes a promise with its cover, blurb, and first pages. It begins to set expectations the minute a reader views the thumbnail or cover. Those things indicate the genre, tone, and likely the major themes.

If a book cover includes a lip-locked couple in flowing linen on a beach, and I open to the first page to read about a pimpled vampire in a trench coat speaking like Mr. Knightly about his plan for revenge on the entire human race, there’s been a breach of contract before I even get to page two. These are the books we put down immediately (unless a mixed-message beachy cover combined with an Austen vampire story is your thing).

But what if the cover, blurb, and first pages are cohesive and perk our interest enough to keep reading? Then we have to think about what the book has promised us, which revolves around one key idea: What is the core story question and how well is it resolved?

Sometimes genre expectations help us answer this question: a romance will end with a couple who finds their way, a murder mystery ends with a solved case, a thriller’s protagonist beats the clock and saves the country or planet.

The stories we love most do those expected things in a fresh or surprising way with characters we root for from the first page. Even (and especially!) when a book doesn’t fit neatly in a genre category, we need to consider what the book promises on those first pages and decide how well it succeeds on the terms it sets for itself.

When I Don’t Know What to Write

About a month ago, I realized I was overthinking how to write a book review. Here at the Write Practice we have a longstanding tradition of giving critiques using the Oreo method : point out something that was a strength, then something we wondered about or that confused us, followed by another positive.

We can use this same structure to write a simple review when we finish books. Consider this book review format: 

[Book Title] by [book author] is about ___[plot summary in a sentence—no spoilers!]___. I chose this book based on ________. I really enjoyed ________. I wondered how ___________. Anyone who likes ____ will love this book.

Following this basic template can help you write an honest review about most any book, and it will give the author or publisher good information about what worked (and possibly what didn’t). You might write about the characters, the conflict, the setting, or anything else that captured you and kept you reading.

As an added bonus, you will be a stronger reader when you are able to express why you enjoyed parts of a book (just like when you critique!). After you complete a few, you’ll find it gets easier, and you won’t need the template anymore.

What if I Didn’t Like It?

Like professional book reviewers, you will have to make the call about when to leave a negative review. If I can’t give a book at least three stars, I usually don’t review it. Why? If I don’t like a book after a couple chapters, I put it down. I don’t review anything that I haven’t read the entire book.

Also, it may be that I’m not the target audience. The book might be well-written and well-reviewed with a great cover, and it just doesn’t capture me. Or maybe it's a book that just isn't hitting me right now for reasons that have nothing to do with the book and everything to do with my own reading life and needs. Every book is not meant for every reader.

If a book kept me reading all the way to the end and I didn’t like the ending? I would probably still review it, since there had to be enough good things going on to keep me reading to the end. I might mention in my review that the ending was less satisfying than I hoped, but I would still end with a positive.

How to Write a Book Review: Your Turn

As writers, we know how difficult it is to put down the words day after day. We are typically voracious readers. Let’s send some love back out to our fellow writers this week and review the most recent title we enjoyed.

What was the last book you read or reviewed? Do you ever find it hard to review a book? Share in the comments .

Now it's your turn. Think of the last book you read. Then, take fifteen minutes to write a review of it based on the template above. When you're done, share your review in the Pro Practice Workshop . For bonus points, post it on the book's page on Amazon and Goodreads, too!

Don't forget to leave feedback for your fellow writers! What new reads will you discover in the comments?

Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .

23 Comments

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin is about a girl that shows no emotion befriending a ice dragon.

I chose this book based on the cover that had a little girl riding a ice dragon, and wondered what is about.

I really enjoyed the interaction the little girl had with the dragon.

I wondered how how the girl’s bond with the dragon.

Anyone who likes a coming of age story set in a fantasy will love this book.

Thanks for sharing your practice, Azure!

You’re welcome.

A interesting, at times perplexing, subject! And one on my mind lately,as I’ve agreed to do a few. I do enjoy giving reviews and am delighted when I can say, “This was a great book!” Or even, “I enjoyed this book.” It gets perplexing when I agree to review a book — and simply don’t like it. Then what to say? I hate to disappoint the writer but I’ve promised to give my honest opinion.

I’ve found some books mediocre and yet I see a dozen other reviewers saying “A great story!” Tastes do vary. But when there are obvious flaws I tend to skip all the best-friend-and-cousin reviewers and find the first person who says, “This writer has a problem with…” Usually there’ll be a number of reviewers who spot the same problems I do.

I like upbeat main characters, but not aggressive, belligerent, and/or self-centered ones. I like to meet in a story the kind of people I’d like to meet in real life— not people I’d avoid if possible. I recently read a book where the main character came across as insipid and the story only mildly interesting. Other reviewers said it was great and I know for this specific audience — readers who want a certain slant to a story — it was quite suitable. So I tried to cut the book some slack. Everyone has their limit as to how much blood and gore, smooching and snuggling, they are willing to read about.

Once I agreed to review a book and would have tossed it after the first chapter — for several reasons. A lot of “writer inserting facts for reader’s benefit”; teach/preach paragraphs; excess of description; attitudes of MCs. Once it’s live on seller’s sites like Amazon, what can you say? The one thing good it had going for it was the story line or theme. With a pro editor’s help it could have been a great story.

As for a review, one book I read lately was “A Clue for the Puzzle Lady” by Parnell Hall. It’s one of those “Stayed up half the night to finish it” books; I think anyone who likes a compelling cozy mystery would probably like it. Downside: I didn’t care for the “Puzzle Lady.” She’s a lush, hangs out at the bar getting sloshed. The upside: her sensible niece has a starring role —trying to keep her aunt on the straight-and-narrow and the mystery keeps you guessing until the end.

Christine, Thanks for sharing your insight! It sounds like you are approached often to review new books. It does make it tricky if it’s a request, especially outside your own preferences. Thanks for chiming in about your process, as I’m sure others will appreciate the perspective too. I’ll have to take a look at the Puzzle Lady– I do enjoy cozy mysteries. Sue

Here’s another cozy mystery book review in case you’re interested. I’m not approached by writers that often, but there are the Story Cartel, Book Bub and Goodreads, all sites where authors ask for review volunteers.

Reel Estate Ripoff by Renee Pawlish

The detective Reed Ferguson is a fan of Humphry Bogart, movie memorabilia of that era, and fancies himself a bit of a Sam Slade. Though not your super-sleuth, rather inept at times, he’s a likeable character. Told in first person, the story has a Philip Marlowe tone to it, but much tamer. Dialogue and story line are well done, the story well plotted and believable. I’d gladly read more stories about this particular gumshoe.

If you like cozy mystery books, I’ll send you a list later, Sue. Love them too and I’ve met many authors who write in this genre. Back on topic– you inspire me again to add some reviews to my Blog. I have been reading and writing many middle grade mysteries for a project! My latest favorite: “The World’s Greatest Detective” by Caroline Carson (who I hope to meet tomorrow in Arlington, VA!) My 12 year old grandson borrowed it and finished it before I could. “It’s the best mystery I ever read, Grandma! You’ ll never guess the ending with unpredictable twists!” What better review could we read. The target audience and I both highly recommend this 2017 mystery.

Adding it to my stack, Beth. Thanks!

Not wanting to sound life an idiot, but willing to risk it here among friends: What exactly is a cozy mystery?

Glad you asked! It’s a subgenre of mystery. The best examples of cozy mysteries are those by Agatha Christie. They usually avoid profanity, excessive gore/ violence, and sex. They focus more on the puzzle, sleuth, and their smaller world. Hope that helps!

Thanks, Sue.

Wonderful article. The first I have read by you. It especially gets those of us who don’t feel we have the formula down for review writing to be introduced to a form we can build upon with experience. You’ve kept it simple but you have given us the main ingredients needed for a good review. I printed this one off to look at the next few times I write reviews. Thank you.

Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for reading and commenting!

I haven’t gone into all this. It’s a matter of time, Joe. I gad about all over the place, not knowing where I am or where I’m going. Within weeks, I’ll be 87. I’ve books of my own that I’d like to see reviewed. Even sorting them out, however, even finding where any of them are, would be a time burden. You see the fix?

Hi Dave, You aren’t alone in feeling the press of time for getting your stories out into the world. May I gently offer this: start with finding and sorting one. If you can’t find it, write it anew. You’ve probably grown in time and perspective since you wrote the first draft, which will make for a stronger story. Good luck. I’m cheering you on!

This is an article for me, because I am happy to receive a rating. I haven’t sold many books. But, at least some thinks that it was worth the time to read. That was refreshing. And, I think I wrote two reviews, so far. It was on Amazon.com. Thank you.

You’re welcome!

Hi, Sue. Thanks for the helpful advice. I did a review on Amazon for the first of a 7-part thriller titled ‘Mosh Pit (The Rose Garden Incident)’ by Michael Hiebert. [Here it is.]

“5.0 out of 5 stars Advance copy review. By A fellow author on September 18, 2016 Format: Kindle Edition I Recommend This Book Strongly

I enjoyed reading this first part of the thriller. The author’s opening chapter/prologue was fast paced, and set me in the middle of the inciting incident along with two of the main characters. After that thrilling opening, I felt the ensuing chapters moved at a more leisurely pace, and was about to grade them as less praiseworthy when I watched a lecture by Brandon Sanderson on YouTube about building three dimensional characters and realised Michael Hiebert had done exactly that by introducing the reader to the minutiae of other characters who had parts to play in the development of the story. So, instead of cardboard cutouts of bland stock characters, the author shows us real people with real concerns that the reader can relate to.and actually care about. I look forward to reading the rest of this intriguing thriller, and highly recommend it to all lovers of well-written, and well-crafted thrillers.”

I also reviewed Part 2 of the series, but that review is too long to post here.

Footnote: The author, Michael Hiebert, was so pleased with my reviews, he recently asked me to beta-read a short story collection he plans to publish in November.

Great review, John! I like how you shared a bit of your process as a reader too, in recognizing what the writer was doing with their characterization. Thanks!

Thank you, Sue.

Five out of five stars When I picked up a copy of “The Girl with All the Gifts,” by M R Carey, at the used book store, I somehow had it in my head that it was a YA dystopian novel along the lines of “Divergent” or “The Hunger Games.” While I would definitely say that I was not right about that, I wouldn’t say that I was completely wrong. I was, however, completely unprepared for a zombie novel–which is a good thing, cause I wouldn’t have read it, and I’m glad I did. Think “The Walking Dead” meets (why do I want to say ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night”?) “Peter Pan.” I really enjoyed seeing things from, the main character, Melanie’s point of view. Her limited knowledge of her own situation was intriguing, to say the least (and probably why I thought of “The Curious Incident”). I was a bit disappointed when the POV changed to another character’s, but, as the novel progressed, I found myself sympathizing with nearly all the characters–with one exception, and I’ll leave that for you to ponder when you read it. I wondered how much of the science was real, but not enough for me to research it myself. Although, based on other reviews, I guess most of the science about the fungus is real. I also wondered about the fate of the remaining ‘lost boys’ of the cities. If you liked…. well, I don’t know. I’m not typically a fan of things zombie, so I don’t have a comparison, but the book was somewhat similar to “Divergent” and “The Hunger Games” in that the main character goes through a hellluva time and comes out the other side with a plan for her future.

“Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom is a true story about how one man found meaning in life when his doctors gave him a death sentence. Morrie was a college professor who passed on his new found wisdom in the last year of his life to a favorite student, the author, who chronicled his professor’s perspectives on death and dying.

I chose this book because of its philosophical topic, and because it is so well written that the words just jump off the page.

Knowing we are all mortal beings, I especially liked the insights, the tidbits of wisdom imparted by the dying man. Death is a subject that few, if any of us, ever talk about seriously with friends and family. The subject of death is verboten. We deny its existence. And, if we are religious, we pretend we will not really die, but we deceive ourselves and think we will live on in some afterlife existence for all eternity. But the professor, Morrie, learns some valuable life lessons from his impending death, and Mitch Albom was gracious enough to capture them in this short but eminently readable book.

I really liked the book because it is timeless. This true story will impart serious life lessons for all future generations, and will help us gain perspectives on our lives and the relationships with those we love the most.

R. Allan Worrell

Sue, I’ve been meaning to come back since this was first posted to tell you thanks for a great article. I seldom review books for alllllll the reasons you listed. This is a perfect tool and I’ll surely use it. Cathy

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Want to write a perfect book review that readers enjoy? Discover how to pen a book review in 6 easy steps. To help you understand, we’ve included amazing examples of book reviews. 

We’ve also answered many questions you might have such as: How long should a book review be? How to start a book review? How to conclude a book review? For beginners, we’ve also mentioned the basic book review format. So without further delay, let’s begin! 

Get a professional review for your book! Learn more

What is a book review? 

A book review is the critical analysis of the book’s content and significance. It includes an evaluation of the plot, character development, and writing style. A good book review highlights the book’s strengths and weaknesses. Reviewers often include quotes to support the opinions mentioned in the book review. A book review is different from a book report which objectively describes the book’s main content. 

Now that we know what is a book review, let’s understand their length. 

How long is a book review? 

The length of a book review can vary, depending on the purpose and the medium used. Book reviews in newspapers, magazines, and journals can range from 500-2000 words. In contrast, book reviews by readers on platforms like Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook, or Google can range from 50-500 words. 

Now let us see the 6 easy steps to write book reviews. Whether you’re writing book reviews for your assignment or book promotion, these steps will help! 

How to write a book review

• Note down the key points- This is an important step before writing a book review. Jot down your analysis about the characters, themes, plot, and your personal view. Also, note down the book title, author’s name, and any relevant information about the book. 
• Start with a strong introduction- Mention the author’s name, book title, themes, and main characters in the introduction. The introduction should give a very brief book summary without giving spoilers. 
• Analyze the book- Discuss the book’s strong points and weaknesses. This can include your opinion on the narrative pacing, writing style, character development , and structure. You can also compare it with books belonging to a similar genre. To enhance the review, you can also use relevant quotes to support your perspective. 
• Reflect on your experience- Describe how the book makes you feel. Did you find it engaging or was it slow-paced? Were you happy with the climax or did you expect more? 
• Conclude the review- Summarize the important points and end the review with a final evaluative statement about the book. This is where you can state whether you will recommend the book to readers or not. This is an important step in writing a book review. 
• Rate the book (Optional)- Depending on the platform requirements, you can rate the book out of 5 or 10. 

Now that we’ve seen how to write a book review, let’s see five amazing tips to create the perfect book review.

Top 5 tips to create an amazing book review 

Here are the top 5 tips to create the perfect book review: 

• Start with an attractive hook- Begin the review with an intriguing question or statement, capturing the book’s essence. For example, “In ‘The Enchanted Labyrinth’, every page takes you into a magical world of intrigue and wonder. 
• Discuss originality- Write what makes the book unique as compared to other books in the same genre. If the book highlights an unexplored theme or gives a unique take on a common theme, you can mention it in the book review. 
• Analyze worldbuilding- Review the fictional world created by the author (Its depth, complexity and detail). You can discuss how the setting of the story affected your experience as a reader. This is a good practice, especially while reviewing fantasy and science fiction novels. 
• Evaluate key themes- Discuss how the central themes of the story are seamlessly woven into the narrative. You can do this by highlighting how the characters’ relationships and choices reflect the themes. Describe how themes add depth to the story. 
• Edit and proofread- Once you’ve completed your book review, thoroughly check it. Correct any grammatical mistakes , spelling, and word choice errors. 

Book review examples

1. a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini .

“A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini, is a profoundly moving story set against the backdrop of Afghan history. This novel tells the tale of two women, Mariam and Laila, whose lives become entwined in a harrowing journey of friendship, suffering, and redemption.

Mariam, an illegitimate child, suffers from stigma and rejection from an early age. Her tragic story evolves when she is forced into an abusive marriage with Rasheed, a brutish shoemaker. Laila, born generations later, is initially a symbol of the new Afghanistan – hopeful and educated. Their shared struggles against the backdrop of Afghanistan crumbling under Taliban rule form the novel’s heart.

Hosseini’s writing is evocative, capturing the stark realities in Afghanistan while also highlighting the profound resilience of his characters. The author masterfully portrays the emotional landscapes of Mariam and Laila, making them vividly relatable.

“A Thousand Splendid Suns” is more than a story of survival; it is a testament to the unyielding strength of human connection and endurance. This book is a must-read, not only for its storytelling brilliance but for its deep exploration of the often-unheard voices of Afghan women. It’s a heartbreaking, yet ultimately hopeful novel that stays with you long after the last page.

Now let’s see another example of a book review. 

2. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 

“A Man Called Ove ” by Fredrik Backman is a heartwarming novel that takes readers on an emotional journey of its titular character, Ove. At first glance, Ove appears to be nothing more than a grumpy old man. However, as the story unfolds, we discover that there is so much more to Ove than meets the eye.

The novel skillfully explores themes of loss, grief, and the human capacity for change. Ove’s journey is one of rediscovery and redemption, as he learns to open his heart to the people around him. Backman’s writing is both poignant and humorous, capturing the essence of human relationships and the power of community.

Ove is a character who is easy to relate to, with his quirks making him all the more endearing. As we delve into his past through flashbacks, we understand the events that shaped him. These glimpses provide depth and complexity to his character, making him incredibly three-dimensional.

The supporting characters are equally charming and well-developed. Parvaneh, the pregnant neighbor, and her family are a refreshing contrast to Ove’s gruff exterior. Their interactions with Ove are both heartwarming and hilarious, playing an important role in his transformation.

What makes “A Man Called Ove” truly exceptional is its ability to elicit a wide range of emotions from its readers. It can make you laugh out loud on one page and bring tears to your eyes on the next. The story is a testament to the importance of human connection.

In conclusion, “A Man Called Ove” is a beautifully written novel that explores the themes of love, friendship, and the capacity for change. Fredrik Backman’s storytelling is both touching and humorous, and his characters are unforgettable. For those who appreciate heartwarming stories that inspire the soul, this book is a must-read.”

After seeing these book review examples, let’s see a simple book review template you can use. 

Book review template

The following template highlights a basic book review format and book review outline. You can use this template for reference. 

We hope this book review template and book review examples have inspired you to start writing. Now that you’ve understood how to write a good book review, you can begin brainstorming. Want to get a polished, professional book review? At PaperTrue, our team of experts can help you craft the perfect review for your book. Get in touch with us and forget all stress about how to do a book review. 

You can also take advantage of our self-publishing services like editing, book cover design, securing an ISBN, and creating a copyright page. This ensures that your book is ready for publication. Whether you want a simple edit or an end-to-end service package, we’re here to help! 

Here are some other articles that you might find interesting: 

• Top 10 Best Print-on-Demand Book Companies in 2024
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• What Is a Blurb? Meaning, Examples & 10 Expert Tips

Frequently Asked Questions

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How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide

WHAT IS A BOOK REVIEW?

Traditionally, book reviews are evaluations of a recently published book in any genre. Usually, around the 500 to 700-word mark, they briefly describe a text’s main elements while appraising the work’s strengths and weaknesses. Published book reviews can appear in newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. They provide the reader with an overview of the book itself and indicate whether or not the reviewer would recommend the book to the reader.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A BOOK REVIEW?

There was a time when book reviews were a regular appearance in every quality newspaper and many periodicals. They were essential elements in whether or not a book would sell well. A review from a heavyweight critic could often be the deciding factor in whether a book became a bestseller or a damp squib. In the last few decades, however, the book review’s influence has waned considerably, with many potential book buyers preferring to consult customer reviews on Amazon, or sites like Goodreads, before buying. As a result, book review’s appearance in newspapers, journals, and digital media has become less frequent.

WHY BOTHER TEACHING STUDENTS TO WRITE BOOK REVIEWS AT ALL?

Even in the heyday of the book review’s influence, few students who learned the craft of writing a book review became literary critics! The real value of crafting a well-written book review for a student does not lie in their ability to impact book sales. Understanding how to produce a well-written book review helps students to:

●     Engage critically with a text

●     Critically evaluate a text

●     Respond personally to a range of different writing genres

●     Improve their own reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Not to Be Confused with a Book Report!

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BOOK REVIEW AND A BOOK REPORT?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are clear differences in both the purpose and the format of the two genres. Generally speaking, book reports aim to give a more detailed outline of what occurs in a book. A book report on a work of fiction will tend to give a comprehensive account of the characters, major plot lines, and themes in the book. Book reports are usually written around the K-12 age range, while book reviews tend not to be undertaken by those at the younger end of this age range due to the need for the higher-level critical skills required in writing them. At their highest expression, book reviews are written at the college level and by professional critics.

Learn how to write a book review step by step with our complete guide for students and teachers by familiarizing yourself with the structure and features.

BOOK REVIEW STRUCTURE

ANALYZE Evaluate the book with a critical mind.

THOROUGHNESS The whole is greater than the sum of all its parts. Review the book as a WHOLE.

COMPARE Where appropriate compare to similar texts and genres.

THUMBS UP OR DOWN? You are going to have to inevitably recommend or reject this book to potential readers.

BE CONSISTENT Take a stance and stick with it throughout your review.

FEATURES OF A BOOK REVIEW

PAST TENSE You are writing about a book you have already read.

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE Whatever your stance or opinion be passionate about it. Your audience will thank you for it.

VOICE Both active and passive voice are used in recounts.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF TEXTS

⭐ Make  MOVIES A MEANINGFUL PART OF YOUR CURRICULUM  with this engaging collection of tasks and tools your students will love. ⭐ All the hard work is done for you with  NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.

This collection of  21 INDEPENDENT TASKS  and  GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS  takes students beyond the hype, special effects and trailers to look at visual literacy from several perspectives offering DEEP LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES by watching a  SERIES, DOCUMENTARY, FILM, and even  VIDEO GAMES.

ELEMENTS OF A BOOK REVIEW

As with any of the writing genres we teach our students, a book review can be helpfully explained in terms of criteria. While there is much to the ‘art’ of writing, there is also, thankfully, a lot of the nuts and bolts that can be listed too. Have students consider the following elements before writing:

●     Title: Often, the title of the book review will correspond to the title of the text itself, but there may also be some examination of the title’s relevance. How does it fit into the purpose of the work as a whole? Does it convey a message or reveal larger themes explored within the work?

●     Author: Within the book review, there may be some discussion of who the author is and what they have written before, especially if it relates to the current work being reviewed. There may be some mention of the author’s style and what they are best known for. If the author has received any awards or prizes, this may also be mentioned within the body of the review.

●     Genre: A book review will identify the genre that the book belongs to, whether fiction or nonfiction, poetry, romance, science-fiction, history etc. The genre will likely tie in, too with who the intended audience for the book is and what the overall purpose of the work is.

●     Book Jacket / Cover: Often, a book’s cover will contain artwork that is worthy of comment. It may contain interesting details related to the text that contribute to, or detract from, the work as a whole.

●     Structure: The book’s structure will often be heavily informed by its genre. Have students examine how the book is organized before writing their review. Does it contain a preface from a guest editor, for example? Is it written in sections or chapters? Does it have a table of contents, index, glossary etc.? While all these details may not make it into the review itself, looking at how the book is structured may reveal some interesting aspects.

●     Publisher and Price: A book review will usually contain details of who publishes the book and its cost. A review will often provide details of where the book is available too.

BOOK REVIEW KEY ELEMENTS

As students read and engage with the work they will review, they will develop a sense of the shape their review will take. This will begin with the summary. Encourage students to take notes during the reading of the work that will help them in writing the summary that will form an essential part of their review. Aspects of the book they may wish to take notes on in a work of fiction may include:

●     Characters: Who are the main characters? What are their motivations? Are they convincingly drawn? Or are they empathetic characters?

●     Themes: What are the main themes of the work? Are there recurring motifs in the work? Is the exploration of the themes deep or surface only?

●     Style: What are the key aspects of the writer’s style? How does it fit into the wider literary world?

●     Plot: What is the story’s main catalyst? What happens in the rising action? What are the story’s subplots? 

A book review will generally begin with a short summary of the work itself. However, it is important not to give too much away, remind students – no spoilers, please! For nonfiction works, this may be a summary of the main arguments of the work, again, without giving too much detail away. In a work of fiction, a book review will often summarise up to the rising action of the piece without going beyond to reveal too much!

The summary should also provide some orientation for the reader. Given the nature of the purpose of a review, it is important that students’ consider their intended audience in the writing of their review. Readers will most likely not have read the book in question and will require some orientation. This is often achieved through introductions to the main characters, themes, primary arguments etc. This will help the reader to gauge whether or not the book is of interest to them.

Once your student has summarized the work, it is time to ‘review’ in earnest. At this point, the student should begin to detail their own opinion of the book. To do this well they should:

i. Make It Personal

Often when teaching essay writing we will talk to our students about the importance of climbing up and down the ladder of abstraction. Just as it is helpful to explore large, more abstract concepts in an essay by bringing it down to Earth, in a book review, it is important that students can relate the characters, themes, ideas etc to their own lives.

Book reviews are meant to be subjective. They are opinion pieces, and opinions grow out of our experiences of life. Encourage students to link the work they are writing about to their own personal life within the body of the review. By making this personal connection to the work, students contextualize their opinions for the readers and help them to understand whether the book will be of interest to them or not in the process.

ii. Make It Universal

Just as it is important to climb down the ladder of abstraction to show how the work relates to individual life, it is important to climb upwards on the ladder too. Students should endeavor to show how the ideas explored in the book relate to the wider world. The may be in the form of the universality of the underlying themes in a work of fiction or, for example, the international implications for arguments expressed in a work of nonfiction.

iii. Support Opinions with Evidence

A book review is a subjective piece of writing by its very nature. However, just because it is subjective does not mean that opinions do not need to be justified. Make sure students understand how to back up their opinions with various forms of evidence, for example, quotations, statistics, and the use of primary and secondary sources.

EDIT AND REVISE YOUR BOOK REVIEW

As with any writing genre, encourage students to polish things up with review and revision at the end. Encourage them to proofread and check for accurate spelling throughout, with particular attention to the author’s name, character names, publisher etc. 

It is good practice too for students to double-check their use of evidence. Are statements supported? Are the statistics used correctly? Are the quotations from the text accurate? Mistakes such as these uncorrected can do great damage to the value of a book review as they can undermine the reader’s confidence in the writer’s judgement.

The discipline of writing book reviews offers students opportunities to develop their writing skills and exercise their critical faculties. Book reviews can be valuable standalone activities or serve as a part of a series of activities engaging with a central text. They can also serve as an effective springboard into later discussion work based on the ideas and issues explored in a particular book. Though the book review does not hold the sway it once did in the mind’s of the reading public, it still serves as an effective teaching tool in our classrooms today.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BOOK REVIEW GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (TEMPLATE)

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Book and Movie review writing examples (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of book reviews.  Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail.  Please take a moment to both read the movie or book review in detail but also the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the key elements of writing a text review

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of book review writing.

We would recommend reading the example either a year above and below, as well as the grade you are currently working with to gain a broader appreciation of this text type .

BOOK REVIEW VIDEO TUTORIALS

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Book Reviews

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you write a book review, a report or essay that offers a critical perspective on a text. It offers a process and suggests some strategies for writing book reviews.

What is a review?

A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon. Reviews can consider books, articles, entire genres or fields of literature, architecture, art, fashion, restaurants, policies, exhibitions, performances, and many other forms. This handout will focus on book reviews. For a similar assignment, see our handout on literature reviews .

Above all, a review makes an argument. The most important element of a review is that it is a commentary, not merely a summary. It allows you to enter into dialogue and discussion with the work’s creator and with other audiences. You can offer agreement or disagreement and identify where you find the work exemplary or deficient in its knowledge, judgments, or organization. You should clearly state your opinion of the work in question, and that statement will probably resemble other types of academic writing, with a thesis statement, supporting body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Typically, reviews are brief. In newspapers and academic journals, they rarely exceed 1000 words, although you may encounter lengthier assignments and extended commentaries. In either case, reviews need to be succinct. While they vary in tone, subject, and style, they share some common features:

• First, a review gives the reader a concise summary of the content. This includes a relevant description of the topic as well as its overall perspective, argument, or purpose.
• Second, and more importantly, a review offers a critical assessment of the content. This involves your reactions to the work under review: what strikes you as noteworthy, whether or not it was effective or persuasive, and how it enhanced your understanding of the issues at hand.
• Finally, in addition to analyzing the work, a review often suggests whether or not the audience would appreciate it.

Becoming an expert reviewer: three short examples

Reviewing can be a daunting task. Someone has asked for your opinion about something that you may feel unqualified to evaluate. Who are you to criticize Toni Morrison’s new book if you’ve never written a novel yourself, much less won a Nobel Prize? The point is that someone—a professor, a journal editor, peers in a study group—wants to know what you think about a particular work. You may not be (or feel like) an expert, but you need to pretend to be one for your particular audience. Nobody expects you to be the intellectual equal of the work’s creator, but your careful observations can provide you with the raw material to make reasoned judgments. Tactfully voicing agreement and disagreement, praise and criticism, is a valuable, challenging skill, and like many forms of writing, reviews require you to provide concrete evidence for your assertions.

Consider the following brief book review written for a history course on medieval Europe by a student who is fascinated with beer:

Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600, investigates how women used to brew and sell the majority of ale drunk in England. Historically, ale and beer (not milk, wine, or water) were important elements of the English diet. Ale brewing was low-skill and low status labor that was complimentary to women’s domestic responsibilities. In the early fifteenth century, brewers began to make ale with hops, and they called this new drink “beer.” This technique allowed brewers to produce their beverages at a lower cost and to sell it more easily, although women generally stopped brewing once the business became more profitable.

The student describes the subject of the book and provides an accurate summary of its contents. But the reader does not learn some key information expected from a review: the author’s argument, the student’s appraisal of the book and its argument, and whether or not the student would recommend the book. As a critical assessment, a book review should focus on opinions, not facts and details. Summary should be kept to a minimum, and specific details should serve to illustrate arguments.

Now consider a review of the same book written by a slightly more opinionated student:

Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 was a colossal disappointment. I wanted to know about the rituals surrounding drinking in medieval England: the songs, the games, the parties. Bennett provided none of that information. I liked how the book showed ale and beer brewing as an economic activity, but the reader gets lost in the details of prices and wages. I was more interested in the private lives of the women brewsters. The book was divided into eight long chapters, and I can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to read it.

There’s no shortage of judgments in this review! But the student does not display a working knowledge of the book’s argument. The reader has a sense of what the student expected of the book, but no sense of what the author herself set out to prove. Although the student gives several reasons for the negative review, those examples do not clearly relate to each other as part of an overall evaluation—in other words, in support of a specific thesis. This review is indeed an assessment, but not a critical one.

Here is one final review of the same book:

One of feminism’s paradoxes—one that challenges many of its optimistic histories—is how patriarchy remains persistent over time. While Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 recognizes medieval women as historical actors through their ale brewing, it also shows that female agency had its limits with the advent of beer. I had assumed that those limits were religious and political, but Bennett shows how a “patriarchal equilibrium” shut women out of economic life as well. Her analysis of women’s wages in ale and beer production proves that a change in women’s work does not equate to a change in working women’s status. Contemporary feminists and historians alike should read Bennett’s book and think twice when they crack open their next brewsky.

This student’s review avoids the problems of the previous two examples. It combines balanced opinion and concrete example, a critical assessment based on an explicitly stated rationale, and a recommendation to a potential audience. The reader gets a sense of what the book’s author intended to demonstrate. Moreover, the student refers to an argument about feminist history in general that places the book in a specific genre and that reaches out to a general audience. The example of analyzing wages illustrates an argument, the analysis engages significant intellectual debates, and the reasons for the overall positive review are plainly visible. The review offers criteria, opinions, and support with which the reader can agree or disagree.

Developing an assessment: before you write

There is no definitive method to writing a review, although some critical thinking about the work at hand is necessary before you actually begin writing. Thus, writing a review is a two-step process: developing an argument about the work under consideration, and making that argument as you write an organized and well-supported draft. See our handout on argument .

What follows is a series of questions to focus your thinking as you dig into the work at hand. While the questions specifically consider book reviews, you can easily transpose them to an analysis of performances, exhibitions, and other review subjects. Don’t feel obligated to address each of the questions; some will be more relevant than others to the book in question.

• What is the thesis—or main argument—of the book? If the author wanted you to get one idea from the book, what would it be? How does it compare or contrast to the world you know? What has the book accomplished?
• What exactly is the subject or topic of the book? Does the author cover the subject adequately? Does the author cover all aspects of the subject in a balanced fashion? What is the approach to the subject (topical, analytical, chronological, descriptive)?
• How does the author support their argument? What evidence do they use to prove their point? Do you find that evidence convincing? Why or why not? Does any of the author’s information (or conclusions) conflict with other books you’ve read, courses you’ve taken or just previous assumptions you had of the subject?
• How does the author structure their argument? What are the parts that make up the whole? Does the argument make sense? Does it persuade you? Why or why not?
• How has this book helped you understand the subject? Would you recommend the book to your reader?

Beyond the internal workings of the book, you may also consider some information about the author and the circumstances of the text’s production:

• Who is the author? Nationality, political persuasion, training, intellectual interests, personal history, and historical context may provide crucial details about how a work takes shape. Does it matter, for example, that the biographer was the subject’s best friend? What difference would it make if the author participated in the events they write about?
• What is the book’s genre? Out of what field does it emerge? Does it conform to or depart from the conventions of its genre? These questions can provide a historical or literary standard on which to base your evaluations. If you are reviewing the first book ever written on the subject, it will be important for your readers to know. Keep in mind, though, that naming “firsts”—alongside naming “bests” and “onlys”—can be a risky business unless you’re absolutely certain.

Writing the review

Once you have made your observations and assessments of the work under review, carefully survey your notes and attempt to unify your impressions into a statement that will describe the purpose or thesis of your review. Check out our handout on thesis statements . Then, outline the arguments that support your thesis.

Your arguments should develop the thesis in a logical manner. That logic, unlike more standard academic writing, may initially emphasize the author’s argument while you develop your own in the course of the review. The relative emphasis depends on the nature of the review: if readers may be more interested in the work itself, you may want to make the work and the author more prominent; if you want the review to be about your perspective and opinions, then you may structure the review to privilege your observations over (but never separate from) those of the work under review. What follows is just one of many ways to organize a review.

Introduction

Since most reviews are brief, many writers begin with a catchy quip or anecdote that succinctly delivers their argument. But you can introduce your review differently depending on the argument and audience. The Writing Center’s handout on introductions can help you find an approach that works. In general, you should include:

• The name of the author and the book title and the main theme.
• Relevant details about who the author is and where they stand in the genre or field of inquiry. You could also link the title to the subject to show how the title explains the subject matter.
• The context of the book and/or your review. Placing your review in a framework that makes sense to your audience alerts readers to your “take” on the book. Perhaps you want to situate a book about the Cuban revolution in the context of Cold War rivalries between the United States and the Soviet Union. Another reviewer might want to consider the book in the framework of Latin American social movements. Your choice of context informs your argument.
• The thesis of the book. If you are reviewing fiction, this may be difficult since novels, plays, and short stories rarely have explicit arguments. But identifying the book’s particular novelty, angle, or originality allows you to show what specific contribution the piece is trying to make.
• Your thesis about the book.

Summary of content

This should be brief, as analysis takes priority. In the course of making your assessment, you’ll hopefully be backing up your assertions with concrete evidence from the book, so some summary will be dispersed throughout other parts of the review.

The necessary amount of summary also depends on your audience. Graduate students, beware! If you are writing book reviews for colleagues—to prepare for comprehensive exams, for example—you may want to devote more attention to summarizing the book’s contents. If, on the other hand, your audience has already read the book—such as a class assignment on the same work—you may have more liberty to explore more subtle points and to emphasize your own argument. See our handout on summary for more tips.

Analysis and evaluation of the book

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into paragraphs that deal with single aspects of your argument. This arrangement can be challenging when your purpose is to consider the book as a whole, but it can help you differentiate elements of your criticism and pair assertions with evidence more clearly. You do not necessarily need to work chronologically through the book as you discuss it. Given the argument you want to make, you can organize your paragraphs more usefully by themes, methods, or other elements of the book. If you find it useful to include comparisons to other books, keep them brief so that the book under review remains in the spotlight. Avoid excessive quotation and give a specific page reference in parentheses when you do quote. Remember that you can state many of the author’s points in your own words.

Sum up or restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book. You should not introduce new evidence for your argument in the conclusion. You can, however, introduce new ideas that go beyond the book if they extend the logic of your own thesis. This paragraph needs to balance the book’s strengths and weaknesses in order to unify your evaluation. Did the body of your review have three negative paragraphs and one favorable one? What do they all add up to? The Writing Center’s handout on conclusions can help you make a final assessment.

Finally, a few general considerations:

• Review the book in front of you, not the book you wish the author had written. You can and should point out shortcomings or failures, but don’t criticize the book for not being something it was never intended to be.
• With any luck, the author of the book worked hard to find the right words to express her ideas. You should attempt to do the same. Precise language allows you to control the tone of your review.
• Never hesitate to challenge an assumption, approach, or argument. Be sure, however, to cite specific examples to back up your assertions carefully.
• Try to present a balanced argument about the value of the book for its audience. You’re entitled—and sometimes obligated—to voice strong agreement or disagreement. But keep in mind that a bad book takes as long to write as a good one, and every author deserves fair treatment. Harsh judgments are difficult to prove and can give readers the sense that you were unfair in your assessment.
• A great place to learn about book reviews is to look at examples. The New York Times Sunday Book Review and The New York Review of Books can show you how professional writers review books.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Drewry, John. 1974. Writing Book Reviews. Boston: Greenwood Press.

Hoge, James. 1987. Literary Reviewing. Charlottesville: University Virginia of Press.

Sova, Dawn, and Harry Teitelbaum. 2002. How to Write Book Reports , 4th ed. Lawrenceville, NY: Thomson/Arco.

Walford, A.J. 1986. Reviews and Reviewing: A Guide. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to Write a Book Review: Introduction

• Introduction

Steps to Write a Book Review

• Other Resources on Writing Reviews

Writing Book Reviews

Academic book reviews are helpful in enabling people to decide if they want to read a given book. A book review is not a book report, which you may hae done in elementary school. A book report describes the basic contents. Book reviews go far deeper than that. This guide will explain what an academic book review is and how to write one well.

Introduction to Writing Book Reviews

• What is a Book Review?
• Benefits of Writing Book Reviews

 What is a Book Review?

• Describes the purpose of the book
• Describes the contents of the book (subject of each chapter)
• Analyzes the approach/argument(s) of the book: Does it seem accurate? Does it make sense? Is the argument strong or weak?
• Assesses whether the book did what the author said it would do
• Suggests potential audiences for the book (pastors, students, professors, lay people) and potential uses, such as a textbook
• Based upon a careful reading of the entire book
• Uses a structured, formal, academic tone
• Most often appears in academic journals, though more informal versions may appear in magazines and blogs
• May include comparisons to other works in the same subject, e.g., if you are reviewing a book on Paul's theology, it would help to compare it briefly to another book on Paul's theology
• In an academic setting, a review assumes an academic audience

A book review requires the reviewer to read the book carefully and reflect on its contents. The review should tell a reader what the book seeks to do and offer an appraisal of how well the author(s) accomplished this goal. That is why this is a "critical" book review. You are analyzing the book, not simply describing it. A review assumes that the readers know the vocabulary of the discipline. For example, a reviewer of a book on the Gospel of Matthew could use "Q" and not need to explain it because it is assumed that the audience knows what Q is in the context of talking about the canonical gospels.

A book review does not

• Seek to be entertaining and/or engaging
• Describe your feelings regarding the book, e.g., “I loved it,” “it was terrible,” or “I disagree completely.”
• Superficial treatment similar to the blurb on the back of the book
• Offers an ad hominem (against the person) attack on the author

Here are two examples of typical academic book reviews:

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLAiFZU171223002713&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,sso&custid=s8984749

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLAi9KZ180630003303&site=eds-live&authtype=ip,sso&custid=s8984749

You may see non-academic book reviews that are more inform al or use humor but that is not appropriate for an academic book review.

Why would you write a book review? There are a few reasons.

• Meet a course requirement
• Understand a book better and grow as a scholar
• Write reviews for publications in the future, such as magazines

1. Your professor assigned it. You are probably reading this page because a professor gave you an assignment to write a review. This is straightforward. Your professor may have a specific set of requirements or directions and you need to follow those, even if they differ from what you read here. In either case, assume that your review is for a large audience. 

2. Writing a review will help you understand a book better. When you are going to write a good book review, you need to read the entire book carefully. By assigning a book review, the professor is seeking to help you understand the book better. A book review is a critical assessment of a book. “Critical” here means analytical. What did the author seek to do and how convincing was it? Your professor wants you to read the book carefully enough to explain both. A critical assessment recognizes that the status of an author/scholar is no guarantee that the book accomplishes its goal. The skill of critical assessment is valuable in all your research work, both now and after graduation.

3. You may have an opportunity in the future to write a book review for a denominational publication, a magazine like Christianity Today , a church newsletter, or in a blog post, which is very common.

So, a book review can fulfill a course requirement, make you better at critical assessment of the views of others, and create opportunities to use that skill for various publications.

Step 1: Read the book carefully.

Step 2: Write the basics.

Step 3: Fill in the details.

These steps are explained in the next tab of this research guide.

This is not for Book Reflections

If you have a (personal) reflection on a book assigned, what this guide says, besides step #1, likely does not apply to your assignment. You need to ask your professor for guidance on writing a reflection. There are two reasons.

1. A book reflection is not a standard, academic type of document. Therefore, general help based upon reading book reviews is not relevant.

2. Book reflections are heavily dependent upon exactly what a professor asks for. These frequently require comparing good and bad points of the book. That is not a feature of book reviews as such and reviews do not include your personal reflections.

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

A book review is a thorough description, critical analysis, and/or evaluation of the quality, meaning, and significance of a book, often written in relation to prior research on the topic. Reviews generally range from 500-2000 words, but may be longer or shorter depends on several factors: the length and complexity of the book being reviewed, the overall purpose of the review, and whether the review examines two or more books that focus on the same topic. Professors assign book reviews as practice in carefully analyzing complex scholarly texts and to assess your ability to effectively synthesize research so that you reach an informed perspective about the topic being covered.

There are two general approaches to reviewing a book:

• Descriptive review: Presents the content and structure of a book as objectively as possible, describing essential information about a book's purpose and authority. This is done by stating the perceived aims and purposes of the study, often incorporating passages quoted from the text that highlight key elements of the work. Additionally, there may be some indication of the reading level and anticipated audience.
• Critical review: Describes and evaluates the book in relation to accepted literary and historical standards and supports this evaluation with evidence from the text and, in most cases, in contrast to and in comparison with the research of others. It should include a statement about what the author has tried to do, evaluates how well you believe the author has succeeded in meeting the objectives of the study, and presents evidence to support this assessment. For most course assignments, your professor will want you to write this type of review.

Book Reviews. Writing Center. University of New Hampshire; Book Reviews: How to Write a Book Review. Writing and Style Guides. Libraries. Dalhousie University; Kindle, Peter A. "Teaching Students to Write Book Reviews." Contemporary Rural Social Work 7 (2015): 135-141; Erwin, R. W. “Reviewing Books for Scholarly Journals.” In Writing and Publishing for Academic Authors . Joseph M. Moxley and Todd Taylor. 2 nd edition. (Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield, 1997), pp. 83-90.

How to Approach Writing Your Review

NOTE:   Since most course assignments require that you write a critical rather than descriptive book review, the following information about preparing to write and developing the structure and style of reviews focuses on this approach.

I.  Common Features

While book reviews vary in tone, subject, and style, they share some common features. These include:

• A review gives the reader a concise summary of the content . This includes a description of the research topic and scope of analysis as well as an overview of the book's overall perspective, argument, and purpose.
• A review offers a critical assessment of the content in relation to other studies on the same topic . This involves documenting your reactions to the work under review--what strikes you as noteworthy or important, whether or not the arguments made by the author(s) were effective or persuasive, and how the work enhanced your understanding of the research problem under investigation.
• In addition to analyzing a book's strengths and weaknesses, a scholarly review often recommends whether or not readers would value the work for its authenticity and overall quality . This measure of quality includes both the author's ideas and arguments and covers practical issues, such as, readability and language, organization and layout, indexing, and, if needed, the use of non-textual elements .

To maintain your focus, always keep in mind that most assignments ask you to discuss a book's treatment of its topic, not the topic itself . Your key sentences should say, "This book shows...,” "The study demonstrates...," or “The author argues...," rather than "This happened...” or “This is the case....”

II.  Developing a Critical Assessment Strategy

There is no definitive methodological approach to writing a book review in the social sciences, although it is necessary that you think critically about the research problem under investigation before you begin to write. Therefore, writing a book review is a three-step process: 1) carefully taking notes as you read the text; 2) developing an argument about the value of the work under consideration; and, 3) clearly articulating that argument as you write an organized and well-supported assessment of the work.

A useful strategy in preparing to write a review is to list a set of questions that should be answered as you read the book [remember to note the page numbers so you can refer back to the text!]. The specific questions to ask yourself will depend upon the type of book you are reviewing. For example, a book that is presenting original research about a topic may require a different set of questions to ask yourself than a work where the author is offering a personal critique of an existing policy or issue.

Here are some sample questions that can help you think critically about the book:

• Thesis or Argument . What is the central thesis—or main argument—of the book? If the author wanted you to get one main idea from the book, what would it be? How does it compare or contrast to the world that you know or have experienced? What has the book accomplished? Is the argument clearly stated and does the research support this?
• Topic . What exactly is the subject or topic of the book? Is it clearly articulated? Does the author cover the subject adequately? Does the author cover all aspects of the subject in a balanced fashion? Can you detect any biases? What type of approach has the author adopted to explore the research problem [e.g., topical, analytical, chronological, descriptive]?
• Evidence . How does the author support their argument? What evidence does the author use to prove their point? Is the evidence based on an appropriate application of the method chosen to gather information? Do you find that evidence convincing? Why or why not? Does any of the author's information [or conclusions] conflict with other books you've read, courses you've taken, or just previous assumptions you had about the research problem?
• Structure . How does the author structure their argument? Does it follow a logical order of analysis? What are the parts that make up the whole? Does the argument make sense to you? Does it persuade you? Why or why not?
• Take-aways . How has this book helped you understand the research problem? Would you recommend the book to others? Why or why not?

Beyond the content of the book, you may also consider some information about the author and the general presentation of information. Question to ask may include:

• The Author: Who is the author? The nationality, political persuasion, education, intellectual interests, personal history, and historical context may provide crucial details about how a work takes shape. Does it matter, for example, that the author is affiliated with a particular organization? What difference would it make if the author participated in the events they wrote about? What other topics has the author written about? Does this work build on prior research or does it represent a new or unique area of research?
• The Presentation: What is the book's genre? Out of what discipline does it emerge? Does it conform to or depart from the conventions of its genre? These questions can provide a historical or other contextual standard upon which to base your evaluations. If you are reviewing the first book ever written on the subject, it will be important for your readers to know this. Keep in mind, though, that declarative statements about being the “first,” the "best," or the "only" book of its kind can be a risky unless you're absolutely certain because your professor [presumably] has a much better understanding of the overall research literature.

NOTE: Most critical book reviews examine a topic in relation to prior research. A good strategy for identifying this prior research is to examine sources the author(s) cited in the chapters introducing the research problem and, of course, any review of the literature. However, you should not assume that the author's references to prior research is authoritative or complete. If any works related to the topic have been excluded, your assessment of the book should note this . Be sure to consult with a librarian to ensure that any additional studies are located beyond what has been cited by the author(s).

Book Reviews. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Book Reviews. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Hartley, James. "Reading and Writing Book Reviews Across the Disciplines." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 57 (July 2006): 1194–1207;   Motta-Roth, D. “Discourse Analysis and Academic Book Reviews: A Study of Text and Disciplinary Cultures.”  In Genre Studies in English for Academic Purposes . Fortanet Gómez, Inmaculada  et  al., editors. (Castellò de la Plana: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I, 1998), pp. 29-45. Writing a Book Review. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Book Reviews. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University; Suárez, Lorena and Ana I. Moreno. “The Rhetorical Structure of Academic Journal Book Reviews: A Cross-linguistic and Cross-disciplinary Approach .” In Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos, María del Carmen Pérez Llantada Auría, Ramón Plo Alastrué, and Claus Peter Neumann. Actas del V Congreso Internacional AELFE/Proceedings of the 5th International AELFE Conference . Zaragoza: Universidad de Zaragoza, 2006.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Bibliographic Information

Bibliographic information refers to the essential elements of a work if you were to cite it in a paper [i.e., author, title, date of publication, etc.]. Provide the essential information about the book using the writing style [e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago] preferred by your professor or used by the discipline of your major . Depending on how your professor wants you to organize your review, the bibliographic information represents the heading of your review. In general, it would look like this:

[Complete title of book. Author or authors. Place of publication. Publisher. Date of publication. Number of pages before first chapter, often in Roman numerals. Total number of pages]. The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party's Revolution and the Battle over American History . By Jill Lepore. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010. xii, 207 pp.)

Reviewed by [your full name].

II.  Scope/Purpose/Content

Begin your review by telling the reader not only the overarching concern of the book in its entirety [the subject area] but also what the author's particular point of view is on that subject [the thesis statement]. If you cannot find an adequate statement in the author's own words or if you find that the thesis statement is not well-developed, then you will have to compose your own introductory thesis statement that does cover all the material. This statement should be no more than one paragraph and must be succinctly stated, accurate, and unbiased.

If you find it difficult to discern the overall aims and objectives of the book [and, be sure to point this out in your review if you determine that this is a deficiency], you may arrive at an understanding of the book's overall purpose by assessing the following:

• Scan the table of contents because it can help you understand how the book was organized and will aid in determining the author's main ideas and how they were developed [e.g., chronologically, topically, historically, etc.].
• Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject?
• From what point of view is the work written?
• Was the author trying to give information, to explain something technical, or to convince the reader of a belief’s validity by dramatizing it in action?
• What is the general field or genre, and how does the book fit into it? If necessary, review related literature from other books and journal articles to familiarize yourself with the field.
• Who is the intended audience?
• What is the author's style? Is it formal or informal? You can evaluate the quality of the writing style by noting some of the following standards: coherence, clarity, originality, forcefulness, accurate use of technical words, conciseness, fullness of development, and fluidity [i.e., quality of the narrative flow].
• How did the book affect you? Were there any prior assumptions you had about the subject that were changed, abandoned, or reinforced after reading the book? How is the book related to your own personal beliefs or assumptions? What personal experiences have you had related to the subject that affirm or challenge underlying assumptions?
• How well has the book achieved the goal(s) set forth in the preface, introduction, and/or foreword?
• Would you recommend this book to others? Why or why not?

III.  Note the Method

Support your remarks with specific references to text and quotations that help to illustrate the literary method used to state the research problem, describe the research design, and analyze the findings. In general, authors tend to use the following literary methods, exclusively or in combination.

• Description : The author depicts scenes and events by giving specific details that appeal to the five senses, or to the reader’s imagination. The description presents background and setting. Its primary purpose is to help the reader realize, through as many details as possible, the way persons, places, and things are situated within the phenomenon being described.
• Narration : The author tells the story of a series of events, usually thematically or in chronological order. In general, the emphasis in scholarly books is on narration of the events. Narration tells what has happened and, in some cases, using this method to forecast what could happen in the future. Its primary purpose is to draw the reader into a story and create a contextual framework for understanding the research problem.
• Exposition : The author uses explanation and analysis to present a subject or to clarify an idea. Exposition presents the facts about a subject or an issue clearly and as impartially as possible. Its primary purpose is to describe and explain, to document for the historical record an event or phenomenon.
• Argument : The author uses techniques of persuasion to establish understanding of a particular truth, often in the form of addressing a research question, or to convince the reader of its falsity. The overall aim is to persuade the reader to believe something and perhaps to act on that belief. Argument takes sides on an issue and aims to convince the reader that the author's position is valid, logical, and/or reasonable.

IV.  Critically Evaluate the Contents

Critical comments should form the bulk of your book review . State whether or not you feel the author's treatment of the subject matter is appropriate for the intended audience. Ask yourself:

• Has the purpose of the book been achieved?
• What contributions does the book make to the field?
• Is the treatment of the subject matter objective or at least balanced in describing all sides of a debate?
• Are there facts and evidence that have been omitted?
• What kinds of data, if any, are used to support the author's thesis statement?
• Can the same data be interpreted to explain alternate outcomes?
• Is the writing style clear and effective?
• Does the book raise important or provocative issues or topics for discussion?
• Does the book bring attention to the need for further research?
• What has been left out?

Support your evaluation with evidence from the text and, when possible, state the book's quality in relation to other scholarly sources. If relevant, note of the book's format, such as, layout, binding, typography, etc. Are there tables, charts, maps, illustrations, text boxes, photographs, or other non-textual elements? Do they aid in understanding the text? Describing this is particularly important in books that contain a lot of non-textual elements.

NOTE:   It is important to carefully distinguish your views from those of the author so as not to confuse your reader. Be clear when you are describing an author's point of view versus expressing your own.

V.  Examine the Front Matter and Back Matter

Front matter refers to any content before the first chapter of the book. Back matter refers to any information included after the final chapter of the book . Front matter is most often numbered separately from the rest of the text in lower case Roman numerals [i.e. i - xi ]. Critical commentary about front or back matter is generally only necessary if you believe there is something that diminishes the overall quality of the work [e.g., the indexing is poor] or there is something that is particularly helpful in understanding the book's contents [e.g., foreword places the book in an important context].

Front matter that may be considered for evaluation when reviewing its overall quality:

• Table of contents -- is it clear? Is it detailed or general? Does it reflect the true contents of the book? Does it help in understanding a logical sequence of content?
• Author biography -- also found as back matter, the biography of author(s) can be useful in determining the authority of the writer and whether the book builds on prior research or represents new research. In scholarly reviews, noting the author's affiliation and prior publications can be a factor in helping the reader determine the overall validity of the work [i.e., are they associated with a research center devoted to studying the problem under investigation].
• Foreword -- the purpose of a foreword is to introduce the reader to the author and the content of the book, and to help establish credibility for both. A foreword may not contribute any additional information about the book's subject matter, but rather, serves as a means of validating the book's existence. In these cases, the foreword is often written by a leading scholar or expert who endorses the book's contributions to advancing research about the topic. Later editions of a book sometimes have a new foreword prepended [appearing before an older foreword, if there was one], which may be included to explain how the latest edition differs from previous editions. These are most often written by the author.
• Acknowledgements -- scholarly studies in the social sciences often take many years to write, so authors frequently acknowledge the help and support of others in getting their research published. This can be as innocuous as acknowledging the author's family or the publisher. However, an author may acknowledge prominent scholars or subject experts, staff at key research centers, people who curate important archival collections, or organizations that funded the research. In these particular cases, it may be worth noting these sources of support in your review, particularly if the funding organization is biased or its mission is to promote a particular agenda.
• Preface -- generally describes the genesis, purpose, limitations, and scope of the book and may include acknowledgments of indebtedness to people who have helped the author complete the study. Is the preface helpful in understanding the study? Does it provide an effective framework for understanding what's to follow?
• Chronology -- also may be found as back matter, a chronology is generally included to highlight key events related to the subject of the book. Do the entries contribute to the overall work? Is it detailed or very general?
• List of non-textual elements -- a book that contains numerous charts, photographs, maps, tables, etc. will often list these items after the table of contents in the order that they appear in the text. Is this useful?

Back matter that may be considered for evaluation when reviewing its overall quality:

• Afterword -- this is a short, reflective piece written by the author that takes the form of a concluding section, final commentary, or closing statement. It is worth mentioning in a review if it contributes information about the purpose of the book, gives a call to action, summarizes key recommendations or next steps, or asks the reader to consider key points made in the book.
• Appendix -- is the supplementary material in the appendix or appendices well organized? Do they relate to the contents or appear superfluous? Does it contain any essential information that would have been more appropriately integrated into the text?
• Index -- are there separate indexes for names and subjects or one integrated index. Is the indexing thorough and accurate? Are elements used, such as, bold or italic fonts to help identify specific places in the book? Does the index include "see also" references to direct you to related topics?
• Glossary of Terms -- are the definitions clearly written? Is the glossary comprehensive or are there key terms missing? Are any terms or concepts mentioned in the text not included that should have been?
• Endnotes -- examine any endnotes as you read from chapter to chapter. Do they provide important additional information? Do they clarify or extend points made in the body of the text? Should any notes have been better integrated into the text rather than separated? Do the same if the author uses footnotes.
• Bibliography/References/Further Readings -- review any bibliography, list of references to sources, and/or further readings the author may have included. What kinds of sources appear [e.g., primary or secondary, recent or old, scholarly or popular, etc.]? How does the author make use of them? Be sure to note important omissions of sources that you believe should have been utilized, including important digital resources or archival collections.

VI.  Summarize and Comment

State your general conclusions briefly and succinctly. Pay particular attention to the author's concluding chapter and/or afterword. Is the summary convincing? List the principal topics, and briefly summarize the author’s ideas about these topics, main points, and conclusions. If appropriate and to help clarify your overall evaluation, use specific references to text and quotations to support your statements. If your thesis has been well argued, the conclusion should follow naturally. It can include a final assessment or simply restate your thesis. Do not introduce new information in the conclusion. If you've compared the book to any other works or used other sources in writing the review, be sure to cite them at the end of your book review in the same writing style as your bibliographic heading of the book.

Book Reviews. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Book Reviews. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Gastel, Barbara. "Special Books Section: A Strategy for Reviewing Books for Journals." BioScience 41 (October 1991): 635-637; Hartley, James. "Reading and Writing Book Reviews Across the Disciplines." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 57 (July 2006): 1194–1207; Lee, Alexander D., Bart N. Green, Claire D. Johnson, and Julie Nyquist. "How to Write a Scholarly Book Review for Publication in a Peer-reviewed Journal: A Review of the Literature." Journal of Chiropractic Education 24 (2010): 57-69; Nicolaisen, Jeppe. "The Scholarliness of Published Peer Reviews: A Bibliometric Study of Book Reviews in Selected Social Science Fields." Research Evaluation 11 (2002): 129-140;.Procter, Margaret. The Book Review or Article Critique. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Reading a Book to Review It. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Scarnecchia, David L. "Writing Book Reviews for the Journal Of Range Management and Rangelands." Rangeland Ecology and Management 57 (2004): 418-421; Simon, Linda. "The Pleasures of Book Reviewing." Journal of Scholarly Publishing 27 (1996): 240-241; Writing a Book Review. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Book Reviews. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University.

Writing Tip

Always Read the Foreword and/or the Preface

If they are included in the front matter, a good place for understanding a book's overall purpose, organization, contributions to further understanding of the research problem, and relationship to other studies is to read the preface and the foreword. The foreword may be written by someone other than the author or editor and can be a person who is famous or who has name recognition within the discipline. A foreword is often included to add credibility to the work.

The preface is usually an introductory essay written by the author or editor. It is intended to describe the book's overall purpose, arrangement, scope, and overall contributions to the literature. When reviewing the book, it can be useful to critically evaluate whether the goals set forth in the foreword and/or preface were actually achieved. At the very least, they can establish a foundation for understanding a study's scope and purpose as well as its significance in contributing new knowledge.

Distinguishing between a Foreword, a Preface, and an Introduction . Book Creation Learning Center. Greenleaf Book Group, 2019.

Locating Book Reviews

There are several databases the USC Libraries subscribes to that include the full-text or citations to book reviews. Short, descriptive reviews can also be found at book-related online sites such as Amazon , although it's not always obvious who has written them and may actually be created by the publisher. The following databases provide comprehensive access to scholarly, full-text book reviews:

• ProQuest [1983-present]
• Book Review Digest Retrospective [1905-1982]

Some Language for Evaluating Texts

It can be challenging to find the proper vocabulary from which to discuss and evaluate a book. Here is a list of some active verbs for referring to texts and ideas that you might find useful:

• account for
• demonstrate
• distinguish
• investigate

Examples of usage

• "The evidence indicates that..."
• "This work assesses the effect of..."
• "The author identifies three key reasons for..."
• "This book questions the view that..."
• "This work challenges assumptions about...."

Paquot, Magali. Academic Keyword List. Centre for English Corpus Linguistics. Université Catholique de Louvain.

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• Writing & Editing

How to Write a Book Review (The Definitive Guide)

You should know how to write a book review, whether you want to help a writer friend with his or her book sales or just want to provide your two cents on a specific book.

A book review is a subtle yet effective way to show your reaction to a book, and it holds a great deal of weight with readers.

Let’s delve into book reviews and how to write them properly.

What is a book review?

A book review is a written assessment of a specific book. The book review is often well-regarded by book aficionados because they look for affirmation from a well-known source.

As a rule, if you are going to write a book review, you should make sure that you write the book review as effectively as possible.

Here is a step-by-step guide to on how to write a book review:

1. Read the book thoroughly

When you receive a copy of the book, the first thing you should do is read it thoroughly. Don't rush into writing a book review. You must be as thorough as possible and be familiar with the most subtle aspects of the book.

Keep in mind that the author is counting on you to write an objective and well-written review of his or her book. If you rush through the book review, you will be doing the author a grave injustice.

2. Choose a rating system

You should make sure to set up a rating system for your book review. By having a rating system, you will be able to convey whether a book is worth reading or not.

The rating system could be practically anything. It could be a five-star system, or any other rating system. What’s important is that your rating system is easy to understand.

3. Know what to include in your book review

While you are reading the book, you should already have a format for your book review. The review should have a set blueprint. As you write the book review, you should include an introduction, thesis, body, and conclusion.

Here is a short description of the book review parts:

Introduction

The introduction should describe the book's title and cover. It should also take note of any subtitles and the name of the author.

This part of the book review should have a quick description of the book’s contents and show the key points of the book. It is best to avoid making any opinions during this part.

Quote at least three parts from the book, and give your own take on them. You should make sure to separate each opinion into a specific paragraph.

The conclusion should include a summary of all the key points from the main body. This should also contain your rating and an overall opinion of the book. You should also explain why you have this specific opinion about the book.

4. Fairness is key

Once you finish reading the book and have written down all the key concepts in it, it is now time to write the book review. As you write your book review, it is important that you have one thing in mind. Fairness is of the utmost importance. Whether you like or don’t like the author, it is very important that you have an unbiased approach to reviewing their book.

5. Take your time with writing the book review

As you are writing the book review, you may be tempted to just write a generic review. What’s so important about honesty or detail, right? This is a very bad way of looking at book reviews.

Remember that readers will use your book review to gauge whether to buy the book. If your book review is half-hearted or rushed, they will not really heed your critique.

If you want readers to follow your book recommendation, you should write a well-written book review. Take the time to double check every aspect of the book review.

Make sure that your grammar, spelling, and word usage are all on point. Remember that readers will base their decision to buy a book on your expertise and experience as a writer.

However, if the book review itself does not make sense or has a lot of spelling and grammatical errors, then the readers may think twice about heeding your recommendations. If you don’t want to get embarrassed, you should make sure to double check every aspect of your book review.

Book reviews are a big part of the book publishing industry. A majority of book lovers often use book reviews to gauge whether they should read a specific book or not. 

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Blogs / Writing Tips / How to Write a Book Review: Tips and Tricks

Write a Novel Readers Love

How to write a book review: tips and tricks.

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.

Book Review: Format Guidelines for Writing

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A book review is a written work on specific ideas from a defined source, such as a novel, literary text, or story. In particular, people read texts and write reviews on some strengths or weaknesses of some aspects of an assigned work. Since writing requires a good understanding of a source and claims of an author or authors, people should know about main characteristics, style, and structure of such a paper. Basically, a book review must be a well-written and well-organized paper that analyzes a specific source and helps readers to understand author’s ideas. Then, a typical writing style must be formal and academic to be clear to readers. Moreover, a normal structure of this paper must represent a logical work on an assigned source. As a result, organizing such a composition means providing a complete work that includes new highlights of a specific source based on a logical representation of its strengths and weaknesses.

What Is a Book Review and Its Purpose

According to its definition, a book review is a detailed critique that assesses a summary and analysis of a particular content, style, and impact of a written piece, such as a novel, literary text, or story, including its strengths and weaknesses. The main purpose of writing a book review is to inform potential readers about what to expect from reading a specific composition, its subject matter, style, and overall quality, helping them to decide whether it aligns with their interests and reading preferences or not (Bunting, 2021). In this case, a book review typically includes a summary of its plot or main arguments, an evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses, and individuals’s personal insights and reflections. Such a work also examines a particular effectiveness of a narrative, developments of characters, and a clarity of arguments or messages. Additionally, people provide feedback to an author and contribute to a broader literary discussion, influencing how a text is perceived within its genre and among its target audience (Janzer, 2021). Whether positive or negative, this text can shape its reception and success, making it a valuable tool in a literary community. In terms of pages and words, a typical length of a book review depends on academic levels, course requirements, and its purposes, and general guidelines are:

High School:

• Pages: 1-2 pages
• Words: 250-500 words

College (Undergraduate):

• Pages: 2-4 pages
• Words: 500-1,000 words

University (Undergraduate):

• Pages: 3-5 pages
• Words: 750-1,250 words

Master’s:

• Pages: 5-7 pages
• Words: 1,250-1,750 words
• Pages: 7-10 pages
• Words: 1,750-2,500 words

Types of Books

• Literary Fiction: Focuses on narrative style, character depth, and thematic complexity.
• Historical Fiction: Sets in a past time period, blending historical facts with fictional elements.
• Mystery: Centers around solving a crime or uncovering secrets.
• Thriller: Fast-paced and suspenseful, often involving danger or high stakes.
• Science Fiction: Explores futuristic concepts, advanced technology, and otherworldly settings.
• Fantasy: Features magical elements, mythical creatures, and imaginary worlds.
• Romance: Focuses on romantic relationships and emotional connections.
• Horror: Designed to scare, unsettle, or horrify readers through suspense and supernatural elements.
• Adventure: Involves exciting journeys and daring exploits, often in exotic locations.
• Crime: Centers on criminal activities, law enforcement, and justice.
• Biography: Serves as a detailed paper of a person’s life written by someone else.
• Autobiography: Represents a self-written composition of an author’s own life.
• Memoir: Include a personal narrative focusing on specific experiences or periods in an author’s life.
• Self-Help: Provides advice and strategies for personal improvement and well-being.
• History: Explores historical events, figures, and periods.
• True Crime: Non-fiction accounts of real criminal cases.
• Travel: Describes journeys, cultures, and experiences from various places around the world.
• Science: Explains scientific concepts, discoveries, and research in an accessible way.
• Philosophy: Discusses fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, and ethics.
• Business and Economics: Explores topics related to commerce, finance, and the economy.

Note: Some sections can be added, deleted, or combined with each other in one paragraph. In turn, a book review should include a summary of a plot, an analysis of key elements, such as characters and themes, an evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses, and individual’s personal reflections and recommendations. As such, a four-stage process that solves a specific issue of how to write book reviews should provide necessary guidelines for writing and learning its main features. However, such reviews may vary from one discipline to another at the college or university (Bunting, 2021). Moreover, a book review structure may change, but an underlying process is invariable.

Steps on How to Write a Book Review

Many people ask themselves how to write a book review. Because this assignment requires a lot of time and effort, students need some guides or steps to follow. For example, to write a book review, people read an assigned composition thoroughly, take notes on key points, summarize its plot, analyze its main elements, assess its strengths and weaknesses, include personal reflections, organize their papers logically, write clearly, and edit for accuracy (Bunting, 2021). In this case, a particular process described in this article can be a useful method for writing good reviews. Besides, if students need to find information on it, they can use this guide in writing their paper reviews. Therefore, this section answers a particular question of how to write a book review by using an effective process. In turn, common steps include:

• Read an Assigned Book: Start with thoroughly reading a written piece to understand its content, themes, and style.
• Take Notes: Write down important points, quotes, and your thoughts while reading.
• Summarize a Plot: Provide a concise summary of a text’s plot or main arguments.
• Analyze Key Elements: Evaluate characters, themes, settings, and writing styles.
• Assess Strengths and Weaknesses: Identify and discuss a composition’s strong points and shortcomings.
• Reflect Personally: Include your personal reaction and any connections you made.
• Organize Your Review: Structure your review with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Write a Review: Draft your paper, ensuring it flows logically and clearly.
• Edit and Proofread: Revise for clarity, coherence, and grammatical accuracy.
• Provide a Rating: Optionally, give a final rating based on your evaluation.

Four-Stage Process

At the college level, independent research is usually encouraged. In this case, this practice leaves students with a particular burden of writing a book review to demonstrate their understanding of an assigned text. For example, cultivating this skill at an early level may prove invaluable to a college student (Lewis, 2020). Moreover, students and other individuals should know paper formats and types of papers they can use in their works. In particular, learning how to write a book review through a right four-stage process that involves first reading, establishing an assessment approach, critical reading, and writing is necessary due to a fundamental role it plays in tertiary education.

Stage 1: First Reading and Reviewing a Book

Although students ask themselves how to write a book review, they should read through an entire work. For instance, skimming through a chosen text allows a reader to identify an overall thesis, methodology, and structure (Donovan, 2023). In this case, a first reading should provide a student with general information about a book’s topic. Additionally, such a practice allows a reader to understand an author’s perspective. Hence, a unique structure and methodology employed in an observed composition become apparent to a reader. Basically, this step is vital for understanding an overall flow of a narrative and a particular relation between some chapters or sections of a given piece of literature.

Stage 2: Developing an Assessment Approach

An effective strategy for solving a particular issue of how to write a book review and analyzing an entire work should be designed to guide a student in dissecting an author’s argument into smaller meaningful parts. For example, such a strategy may take a particular form of a set of questions, concerning structure, methodology, specific evidence, conclusions, and logic (Lewis, 2020). Hence, this technique provides a start point for writing papers but is subject to variations. In this case, the primary purpose of developing a strategy is to ensure a person does not overlook critical aspects of an observed text. Notably, there is a high likelihood that some questions may be modified to fit a unique content of a composition. As a result, it may become more evident as a book is reread.

Stage 3: Critical Reading

In finding a particular answer on how to write book reviews, critical reading is an essential part of an entire process. Basically, this step provides a person with particular information that aids in opinion development. During this stage, a student should make systematic notes based on an actual meaning of various sections and their contributions to a particular creation of a personal understanding (Bunting, 2021). In this case, critical reading takes a significant amount of time. Besides, a reader needs to internalize an underlying reasoning that links an overall narrative to realize an author’s thesis. Hence, straight answers to right questions developed in a previous stage must be provided in writing such compositions.

Stage 4: Writing a Book Review

A final answer to a question of how to write a book review employs a basic essay structure. In turn, students must present an entire evaluation in body paragraphs. Specifically, such a review must have a strong thesis that identifies potential limitations and strengths of a chosen literature text and a person’s overall opinion. In this case, an introduction should terminate with a thesis that wholesomely presents a person’s evaluation (Janzer, 2021). On the other hand, a particular body of a book review has no definitive structure, but its paragraph should be an integrated commentary on a chosen text. Despite using assessment strategy questions, a body part should not be paragraphs answering each of them separately. As a result, a conclusion part contains primary concepts that people can take away with a final recommendation on an overall readability of an observed composition.

All reviews are important aspects in shaping academic knowledge and an ability to learn unique opinions of others. Although some people may find it challenging, this assignment is common in academic writing like movie reviews (Notaras, 2020). Basically, a book review is an analysis, personal opinion, or criticism of an author or authors of a complete work. Moreover, such a composition does not mean a summary of a particular work since these types of papers are different in essence. In most cases, summaries represent a source without an analysis, repeating and paraphrasing an entire information (Lewis, 2020). On the other hand, a deep analysis of claims or ideas of an author or authors helps to understand what a person wants to say to a reader. As such, people should start with reading a specific source, a definition of main points, claims, or ideas, and a final paper that describes all of it. In turn, some examples of sentence starters for beginning a book review are:

• From a first page, [Book Title] by [Author] captivates readers with its … .
• In [Book Title], [Author] weaves a compelling tale of … .
• Set against a background of [setting], [Book Title] explores some themes of … .
• [Author]’s latest novel, [Book Title], offers a fresh perspective on … .
• With well-developed characters and a gripping plot, [Book Title] takes readers on a journey through … .
• In an opening chapter of [Book Title], [Author] introduces readers to a world where … .
• What immediately stands out in [Book Title] is [Author]’s masterful use of … .
• As a [genre] novel, [Author]’s [Book Title] excels in delivering a story that … .
• In [Book Title], [Author] tackles complex issues of [theme] with great sensitivity and insight that … .
• A narrative of [Book Title] unfolds with a pace that keeps target readers engaged from start to finish due to … .

Characteristics

Main characteristics of a book review can be divided into several aspects, such as a representation of a plot of a written work and its details, an attraction of people’s attention, and a choice to help them to make their own decisions. Firstly, a representation of a reading’s plot and its details must be done because not all readers may be familiar with a particular work (Donovan, 2023). Then, since people who read a text must understand an author, such a paper must be written in a coherent, interesting, and academic style. Finally, after reading a paper, people need to define their own position on words and ideas that they get from it. Therefore, typical characteristics of any book review include an explanation of a plot and its points, following a correct writing style, and offering a choice to make a position on a specific issue under analysis.

What to Include

Style of Writing

To start a book review, writers begin with an engaging hook that captures a reader’s attention, introduce an assigned reading by mentioning its title, author, and genre, and provide a brief overview of its premise or main themes. In this case, a particular choice of writing style is simple because of basic rules that people need to follow. Essentially, such a paper must have a formal and academic tone. For example, if a completed composition does not have logical connections between sentences, paragraphs, or ideas, this work will be not accepted by readers (Kraus et al., 2023). Unfortunately, an author does not care about a correct style in this case. In turn, if people organize their papers in a logical order with specific aspects from an analyzed source, then this work will be easy to read and understand. Moreover, another important aspect of writing such a composition is the use of personal points of view. Particularly, readers can get ideas from a paper’s author on potential strengths or weaknesses of an entire reading. As a result, all writers should give causes for reflection.

In text reviews, a standard structure of a paper must not be complex or chaotic. Although some people may think that writing whatever they want is appropriate for reviews, they are wrong since readers can miss a natural flow of ideas because of a weak structure (Janzer, 2021). In this case, any paper must start with an introduction, explaining a specific topic, a hook to get a reader’s attention, key aspects, a title of a source under review with an author or authors, and a final claim. Moreover, this last sentence must be in a form of a thesis statement by referring to a title of an assigned reading with its author or authors. By considering body paragraphs, these parts of a paper must expand an introduction paragraph with cited evidence from a text. As for a conclusion part, this paragraph must be a summary of discussed points, covering discussed strengths or weaknesses of an assigned text.

Common Mistakes

• Spoilers: Revealing major plot twists or a particular ending, which can ruin a whole experience for future readers.
• Overly Long Summary: Spending too much time summarizing a plot instead of analyzing and evaluating a text.
• Lack of Structure: Writing a review without a clear introduction, body, and conclusion, making it hard to follow.
• Personal Bias: Allowing personal feelings about an author or genre to overshadow an objective evaluation of a finished composition.
• Ignoring an Intended Audience: Failing to consider who a review is for and what they might want to know about a reading.
• Insufficient Evidence: Making claims about a novel without providing examples or quotes to back them up.
• Too General: Using vague language and generalizations instead of specific, detailed analysis.
• Neglecting an Author’s Intent: Not considering an author’s purpose, themes, and messages when evaluating a specific reading.
• Ignoring Editing and Proofreading: Failing to check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, which can undermine a paper’s credibility.
• Lack of Personal Insight: Not including personal reflections or how a particular text impacted you, which can make a review lack of voice.

In conclusion, a book review is a critical assessment of a specific reading, such as a novel, literary text, or story, and it includes a summary, analysis, and evaluation of its content. Such a work should highlight potential composition’s strengths and weaknesses and provide insights into its themes and style. Moreover, a particular review must be well-structured, starting with an introduction, followed by a detailed body that covers key points, and ending with a conclusion that includes a person’s overall opinion. Finally, writing in a formal and academic style is emphasized to ensure clarity and coherence.

Bunting, J. (2021). The write structure: The timeless storytelling principles great writers use to craft stories readers love . The Write Practice.

Donovan, S. K. (2023). Thoughts of a book review editor. Publications , 11 (2), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.3390/publications11020034

Janzer, A. (2021). Get the word out: Write a book that makes a difference . Findaway World.

Kraus, S., Breier, M., Lim, W. M., Dabić, M., Kumar, S., Kanbach, D., Mukherjee, D., Corvello, V., Piñeiro-Chousa, J., Liguori, E., Palacios-Marqués, D., Schiavone, F., Ferraris, A., Fernandes, C., & Ferreira, J. J. (2022). Literature reviews as independent studies: Guidelines for academic practice. Review of Managerial Science , 16 (8), 2577–2595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00588-8

Lewis, M. N. (2020). Here’s a good book: Hints on writing a book review for academic journals. RELC Journal , 53 (1), 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688220916239

Notaras, K. (2020). The book you were born to write: Everything you need to (finally) get your wisdom onto the page and into the world . Hay House.

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• How To Series

How to Write a Book Review in 7 Steps

Book reviews are a great way to connect with fellow bibliophiles. A well-written review can help you discover new books, find bookish communities, and spark cultural conversations. When writing a book review, you want to share what you felt about a particular work—why you liked or disliked it—without spoiling it for future readers. Ultimately, the goal of writing a book review is to help readers decide whether to read the book themselves.

Let’s take a look at seven steps to help you write a reliable book review.

1. Read the Book

How can you write a review of a book you’ve never read? Alternatively, why would someone want to read a review by someone who has never read the book? The first and arguably most important first step to writing a book review is to read the entire book. Be attentive to your reading experience and note what captured or lost your attention.

2. Take Notes

Once you’ve finished reading the book, go back and take brief, purposeful notes. What are the major events of the book and what were their effects on you as a reader?

Here are some guidelines that can help lay the foundation for your review:

• Explain how the book as a whole affected you.
• Explain how the author evokes an emotional response.
• Explain the relationship between form and content.
• Explain the function of each character in the novel.
• Explain the characters’ relationships to one another.

3. Summarize the Book

All book reviews should include some kind of summary. You’ll want to inform readers of what the book is about without giving too much away. To accomplish this, here are some things to include in your summary:

• How is it categorized by the publisher?
• How is the book structured?
• Who is the target audience?

4. Form an Opinion

Your opinion is the crux of your book review. Be specific! Don’t just say if the book was good or bad, but explain why . Support your opinion with specific examples from the text and move from passing judgement to a thorough explanation.

5. Contextualize the Book

You can often obtain this information from looking at the book’s cover and introduction. Otherwise, you may need to do a little research. Spend some time relating this book to similar works by the author or from the same genre to further your explanation and judgement of it.

Some important questions to consider include:

• What genre does the book fall into?
• Is it the first of its kind or an imitation?
• Is this the author’s first book or fifteenth?

6. Avoid Spoilers

Please, for the love of literature, don’t ruin the book for others. A good book review does not give away the book’s plot twists or endings but piques the interest of future readers. If you absolutely have to give something away about the book, at least mark your review with a fair warning.

7. Review Your Review!

Hooray! You’ve finished writing your review. Now’s the time to step back and revisit your work. You may have to edit your review to add or remove details. Here are some questions to ask during your revisions:

• Did you explain every major aspect of the book?
• What was your target audience?
• Did you write this for a class with specific criteria—or for a fan magazine whose audience already knows this type of book well?
• Did you make a clear claim about your opinion of the book? Do you support your claim with evidence?

For a more in-depth review on how to write a book review, visit eNotes’ How To Series .

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How to Write a Book Review Tips

Book reviews are like guiding lights in the world of literature, helping readers navigate through countless stories. But writing a good review isn't just about summarizing a book – it's about making your thoughts resonate with the audience. 

Whether you're a writer, a critic, or someone who loves books, knowing how to prepare a book review can enrich your reading experience and contribute to the literary community. 

In this article, experts of our book review writing service break down the key elements and tips for compelling book reviews that spark conversation and excitement.

What Is a Book Review

A book review is a critical evaluation of a book, where the reviewer discusses its content, themes, and overall impact. It typically includes a summary of the book's main points, the reviewer's analysis and opinions, and a recommendation for potential readers. The goal is to inform others about the book's strengths and weaknesses, helping them decide if it’s worth reading.

Later in the article, you’ll find a quality book review example for your inspiration and motivation. If you’re in a hurry, try our cheap essay writing service that covers all types of academic papers.

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How to Write a Book Review: Step-By-Step

Writing a book review might seem complex, but in reality, the process can be divided into only three steps:

Summarize the Book's Content

Book reviews summarize the source's content by providing a brief and clear overview of the main plot, key characters, and central themes without giving away any spoilers. This helps readers understand the essence of the book and sets the stage for your analysis and evaluation.

Actionable Tips:

• Read the Book Thoroughly: Ensure you grasp the full story, including subplots and character development.
• Highlight Key Points: Note down significant events, character arcs, and main themes as you read.
• Be Concise: Keep your summary short and to the point, focusing on the most important aspects.
• Avoid Spoilers: Do not reveal major plot twists or the book’s ending.
• Use Your Own Words: Write the summary in your own language to maintain originality and avoid plagiarism.
• Provide Context: Include the book’s genre, setting, and relevant background information to help readers understand the summary.
• Focus on Clarity: Ensure your summary is easy to read and understand, avoiding complex language or unnecessary details.

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Analyze and Evaluate

You’re always halfway through writing a book review! Next, you have to critically examine its elements, such as the writing style, character development, plot structure, and thematic depth. This step is where you share your personal insights and opinions, providing evidence from the text to support your views.

Conclude with a Recommendation

We’re almost reached the finishing line of the how to write a book review race. Conclude your review of a book with either a summary, recommendation, or addressing readers directly. This step provides a clear and concise verdict based on your analysis, helping potential readers decide if the book is right for them.

Dive into literary analysis with EssayPro . Our experts can help you craft insightful book reviews that delve deep into the themes, characters, and narratives of your chosen books. Enhance your understanding and appreciation of literature with us.

Book Review Structure

A book review outline usually follows a structured format with an introduction, main body, and conclusion.

Introduction

This section introduces the book, mentioning its title, author, genre, and publication details. It gives a brief overview of the book's premise and main themes to provide context for the reader.

The main body offers a detailed analysis and critique of the book. It's divided into paragraphs focusing on specific aspects such as plot, characters, and writing style. Each paragraph provides evidence from the book to support the reviewer's analysis.

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The conclusion summarizes the reviewer's overall thoughts and impressions of the book, restating key points and the main argument. It often includes a recommendation for potential readers and may provide final reflections or insights about the book's significance.

Book Review Template

Here's a basic structure you can follow every time you’re tasked with such an assignment:

Extra Tips for Writing Better Book Reviews

Here are 11 extra tips for writing better book reviews:

• Look for essay topics that are interesting personally for you.
• Consider your audience and what they might want to know about the book.
• Be mindful not to give away major plot twists or endings that could ruin the reading experience for others.
• Use quotes or examples from the book to support your analysis and critique.
• Express your opinions openly, but respect the author and their work.
• Think about the book's historical, cultural, or social context when evaluating its themes and messages.
• Paint a vivid picture of the book's qualities using descriptive language to engage your readers.
• Acknowledge the book's strengths and weaknesses to provide a balanced review.
• Aim to be concise and to the point, focusing on the most important aspects of the book.
• Let your enthusiasm for the book shine through in your review to captivate your readers.
• Gain insights from reading other reviews to see different perspectives and approaches to reviewing books.

Book Review Example

As promised at the beginning of the article, we’d like to share a good example of a book review as it should be done by students either in school or college:

Final Thoughts

Book reviews empower students to become active participants in the literary conversation. They learn to contribute their unique perspectives and interpretations to the broader discourse. With a custom term paper writing service , learners can become true educational powerhouses who never miss deadlines.

Through critical engagement with literary sources, students develop a deeper understanding of complex themes and issues, honing their ability to think analytically and empathetically. At the end of the day, aren’t these two skills that every educated individual should possess? 

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How To Write A Book Review?

What to include in a book review, what is a book review.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

• Added new infographics.
• Updated writing tips.
• Added new example.
• How to write a book review | BookTrust. (n.d.-b). https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/tips-and-advice/writing-tips/writing-tips-for-teens/how-to-write-a-book-review/
• Book Reviews – The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (2024, May 14). The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/book-reviews/
• Research Guides: Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments: Writing a Book Review. (n.d.). https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/assignments/bookreview  

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6 Elements of a Good Book Review

In our discussions of late on reviews and authors’ reactions to reviews, I thought it would be helpful to take a look at the elements of a good review. And when I say “good,” I mean helpful. For the readers.  Because that’s what reviews are about. Helping readers decide if this is a book for them. So here are some things, based on book reviews out there, for reviewers to keep in mind.

A good review is balanced. It takes into account that we all have likes and dislikes, and while this book may not be our cup of tea, it could be someone else’s absolute favorite. (Hey, it could happen!) Yes, share your honest opinion. But realize that’s what it is. Your opinion. A subjective evaluation of what you’ve read. No more, no less.

A good review is about the book, not the author. Focus on the writing, on the treatment of the topic, on the characters, on the storyline, on the research, on the facts, and so on. Don’t make judgment calls about the author’s faith, intelligence, relationships, parenting skills, parentage, or whatever. A reviewer’s job is to share your opinion of the book. You don’t have the right to go beyond that.

A good review is about the author’s craft, not the book’s packaging. Don’t base your review on the cover or endorsements or things over which, I guarantee you, most traditionally published writers have absolutely no control.  (Now, if the authors are indie, then yes, they control those things…) But remember, what you’re reviewing is the writing, not the packaging.

A good book review doesn’t give an extensive summary of the book and then one or two lines about your thoughts. Readers can get the summary from lots of places. What they want to know is what you thought of the writing, the message, the story.

Even more important, a good review doesn’t give away the ending/secret/mystery/twist!  Please, friends, for the love of heaven, don’t ruin the read for others. If you knew who the killer was on page 2, fine, say, “I knew who the killer was by page two.” But do NOT say, “I knew by page two that the butler was the killer.” If a book has a great twist, say that. But don’t give the twist away. Have mercy on not just the readers, but on the author.

A good book review is specific. Don’t just say you loved the book or hated it, tell us why. And tell us what specific aspect of it you loved or hated. For example:

What did you like or dislike about the writing?

What drew you to–or left you cold about–the topic or characters?

What moved or challenged or inspired or infuriated or disappointed you?

That’s my list. How about you? What makes a book review most helpful for you?

About Karen Ball

Reader Interactions

March 11, 2015 at 5:13 am

Thank you for this, Karen. I recently had a potential read ruined by a reviewer who gave away the ending. Who died. Who lived. What happened to the living, afterward. Every novel has mystery. It’s a huge part of what keeps readers turning the pages. I don’t want to know the ending before I start. Or even much of what happens beyond the few chapters (those plot twists).

If I could have unseen that detailed “book report” I’d have done so. A disappointing moment for this avid reader.

This is a great check list for anyone writing a review. Off to share.

March 12, 2015 at 1:37 am

I’ve just had a potentially good read ruined by the publisher … who revealed everything which happened (including the twist in the last chapter) in the book description.

While I generally follow Karen’s suggestion of writing my review about the book, not the packaging, there are rare times when the publisher makes such a mess of the packaging that it spoils the story. In these cases, I believe the publisher should be called on it.

March 12, 2015 at 2:10 pm

Iola, I hear you, but the reality is the publisher doesn’t much care. They’ve moved on to a multitude of covers since they did the cover you’re commenting on. The only one who feels the sting is the author. Which is why, if a reviewer is going to comment on the packaging, it’s best to couch it in terms of, “This book deserves a much stronger cover,” or something like that, so that you’re making it clear that while the packaging isn’t stellar, the writing is. Well…if that’s the case, anyway. Otherwise you can just say, “The cover of this book is a good match for the content.” Nuff said, know what I mean?

March 12, 2015 at 10:11 am

Thanks, Lori! And folks, if you haven’t discovered Lori’s books, run to the store and get them! She’s a gifted writer.

March 12, 2015 at 12:10 pm

Lori that is awful and when I read reviews, I do a super skim. I hate knowing the outcome or even the simple changes in the story. I don’t even like reading the back of the book because they tell me way more than I want to know right off but that is just me.

March 11, 2015 at 5:38 am

Thanks for this article. I review dozens of books a year; some are advance reads, so I am particularly interested in ways to bring out the best in every story. When I read a review, I want to sense depth; depth of character development, depth of emotion; a deep inspirational thread and an interesting story line that remains strong from beginning to end. There are so many good writers out there right now, it’s a pleasure to be a reader!

March 12, 2015 at 10:12 am

Rebecca, love this:

“When I read a review, I want to sense depth; depth of character development, depth of emotion; a deep inspirational thread and an interesting story line that remains strong from beginning to end.”

March 12, 2015 at 10:14 am

Elaine, good point. Now, if a review is well written, I don’t mind if it’s a little longer. But for the most part, people who read reviews aren’t looking for a long read.

March 11, 2015 at 6:00 am

Thanks for this important post. Another consideration is length. If a review goes on for several paragraphs, I know it is probably going to tell me far more than I want to know. A few paragraphs with meaningful, concise info (and no spoilers) means more than a dissertation.

March 11, 2015 at 6:10 am

Thanks, Karen, for such a concise list. I agree with Elaine about length. I’ve read reviews that are really just a summary of the book’s contents, rather than an opinion. I’m not a reader (or movie goer) who has a read spoiled by knowing the end, but I do want to know why a book was or wasn’t a good read.

March 12, 2015 at 10:15 am

Debra, exactly! That’s what most of us are looking for, isn’t it? For someone to share how the book/writing/message affected them.

March 11, 2015 at 7:13 am

All excellent points, Karen. I especially appreciate not giving a long summary of the story and not spoiling it for other readers.

If I were going to suggest possible additions, it might be to consider mentioning how the story affected you. Did it make you laugh, cry, anxious for the hero? Did it affect the way you think about life? About God? About your purpose for being in the world? Would you recommend it to others? Those are all fair to include and potentially helpful to other readers.

March 12, 2015 at 10:17 am

Rick, absolutely those are fair and helpful. You fleshed out what I wrote:

“What moved or challenged or inspired or infuriated or disappointed you?”

March 11, 2015 at 7:23 am

Thanks for this confirmation of what a book review is. I keep my reviews to one paragraph if possible as I think when readers as scanning through the reviews, that is what they are doing – scanning. They don’t want to read another book – in the review.

I do a lot of reviews on either advanced copies or new releases. One thing I try to do is forward the “helpful” emails I get from Amazon to the author. It may indicate a sale…

I think the only time I would post a negative review is if the book advertised itself as one thing and was something else altogether. Example: I once read a book from someone claiming to be a Christian author and the book had sex scenes and AWFUL language. I posted only that if the reader was looking for a Christian book, this was not it.

So I broke my own rule about one paragraph…

March 12, 2015 at 10:22 am

Bobbie, yes, you need to tell readers if a book isn’t what it says it is. And I would definitely inform readers if a book released in the Christian market had those kinds of things. I might even say I couldn’t fathom what the writer was thinking to include those elements in a book for the Christian market. But I’d caution you against saying this author “claims” to be a Christian author. That comes across as a judgement call on that person’s faith.

March 11, 2015 at 8:50 am

Thanks Karen. Very good reminders. Good additions, Rick.

I know that we all have our opinion and it makes me think twice because of a friend and I who share our reviews with each other. She absolutely loved a book, I found awful. I could always go in and say that the writing was good but it had a horrible effect on me but I usually don’t. I like to stay positive if at all possible. I do tell me friend if I was utterly bored to death or there were questionable things in it in regards to God. I really appreciate when people let me know if it has too much violence, sexual issues or innuendoes, language, etc. All of which I don’t have any desire to sift through for a good story. We all have our preferences and compromises and if I see a review that even smacks of it, I am leery. Even if it is one of my favorite authors.

March 12, 2015 at 10:23 am

Sandy, totally agree. Especially with: “I really appreciate when people let me know if it has too much violence, sexual issues or innuendoes, language, etc. All of which I don’t have any desire to sift through for a good story.”

Great points.

March 11, 2015 at 9:15 am

Great points, Karen. I have wondered about leaving comments in a review about what I didn’t like, because usually there is something, even in my favorite books, that I felt could be improved. But I wondered if others, and especially the author if they happened to read it, would feel it was uncalled for. Thanks for the summary!

Amber Schamel

March 12, 2015 at 10:43 am

Amber, yes, what you’re sharing is your opinion, but that’s what people want to know: what you thought of the book and the writing. It’s when people cross the line from that into being nasty that’s problematic.

I have no problem with the reviewers of my books who say they didn’t like a character, or a character’s accent, or whatever. That those things didn’t work for them.

For example, I had one reviewer comment about a novella I wrote that one of the character’s accents was hard for her to follow. I went back and reviewed the dialogue, and I could see where she was right. That helped me learn how to do dialogue/accents better.

But in another book, which I’d set in Southern Oregon, I gave a character dialogue with a “countrified” element to it. And one reviewer took me to task saying something like, “Someone should have told Ms. Ball that Oregonians are not Southerners and don’t talk that way.” I just shook my head. Because I’m here to tell you, there are people in this area–a number of whom I’ve known since childhood–who absolutely do talk that way. And I patterned this character’s dialogue after them. That review wasn’t about helping the author or the readers, it was about the reviewer “knowing” more than the poor, uninformed writer. Yeah, okay…it stuck in my craw. But not because he criticized my writing. It was because he made the assumption he knew my home better than I did.

So as long as reviewers keep in mind the difference between expressing their opinion and trying to show off or show someone up, it’s all good. 🙂

March 11, 2015 at 9:37 am

Thanks, Karen. I haven’t reviewed many books and I wondered about the extent of the book description. Some I look at appear to have copied the paragraph(s) off of the back of the book, others only give two or three sentences.

Your information is helpful!

March 12, 2015 at 10:48 am

Sherry, just keep in mind that folks can get the descriptions in a lot of other places. They aren’t looking for a story summary or book report in reviews, they’re looking for whether or not the book/characters/message/voice and so on were effective for the reviewer.

I like it when a review states what the book is. For example, “A Test of Faith by Karen Ball is an authentic, moving novel chronicling the joys and hardships of a mother-daughter relationship.” Now, I obviously liked that because it was so complementary, but I also really liked the way the reviewer told the readers the basics of what the book was without giving a summary.

August 13, 2019 at 8:55 am

what does the book say is it worth saying how well does it say it

that is what I think a review should provide

October 15, 2019 at 2:15 am

Thanks for your thoughts on how a good review should be. I am to review an upcoming book in Nigeria and yours here is a sure guild for a me not to kill the enthusiasm of would be readers.

September 11, 2020 at 7:08 pm

Very helpful. Giving an opinion is important for the reader to know if its for them or not. Also to describe the essence and type of the book.

March 11, 2015 at 10:58 am

Some great points here! I definitely agree the best reviews I’ve read follow these guidelines. I also like Rick’s point about stating how the book affected you.

I am a little surprised to see so many people commenting on length. Is the length of a review really an issue in and of itself, or only when it’s longer because of summarizing or spoilering? I ask because I think my reviews tend to be on the long side (300-500 words), but I like to think it’s because I’m being specific about what I liked/disliked and why without giving away spoilers or focusing on summarizing. Perhaps I’m being too specific? I do try to make my main point in the first paragraph for those who are skimming and don’t want to read the whole thing.

Now I’m wondering, is there a generally preferred length for a book review? Should I be rethinking the length of my reviews?

March 12, 2015 at 10:50 am

Karen, you bring up a good point. With our “get it now, get it fast” world, I’m not surprised folks tend to prefer a shorter review, so long as it is helpful. Maybe aim for a max of 400? Just a thought.

March 12, 2015 at 11:18 am

Thanks, Karen. I’ll keep that target in mind.

March 11, 2015 at 1:02 pm

I use the back of the book for a summary and then give my review. I think the back of the book gives what their authors want people to know. I put a header called “overview” so people know it’s the overview and then have a header for my review and another about the author. Do y’all think it is bad to use the back of the book? (I only do this on my own blog, for amazon, goodreads, etc. I just use my review).

March 12, 2015 at 10:52 am

Sandy, a lot of reviewers do that, but I really do think it would be better to let readers get the summary elsewhere and just focus on how the book affected you or if the author accomplished what he wanted to. If it’s a book on rebuilding marriages, say that, but then let us know your thoughts. If it’s a suspense novel, tell us that, but again, go from there to your thoughts.

Just my vote.

March 11, 2015 at 1:18 pm

Good article and good comments. I totally agree with not giving things away. In fact, more reaction and less plot seems a better mix.

I try to keep my reviews (both blog and Goodreads.com) to 300 words, but I’ve seen some that run to pages. Those are usually only readable if they are reacting to the book rather than reviewing it.

March 12, 2015 at 10:53 am

Ron, exactly! More reaction, less plot. That’s a good key to keep in mind.

March 11, 2015 at 7:47 pm

Thanks for sharing. I’m going to pass this along to a couple readers groups I’m in. There have been several discussions about reviewing books, so this may help them.

Laura, that’s great. Let me know if they have any questions.

March 20, 2015 at 10:09 am

Thanks, Karen! I’ve read many reviews lately that told the entire plot, and I wondered if I was missing something by not doing that in my reviews. I actually prefer to read people’s responses rather than the summary, which as you say, can be found on the book. Breathing a sigh of relief here. Also, just a couple days ago, I read a review in which the writer of said review told us a main character dies later in the book. Bummer. I felt bad for the author, wondering how many people may not read that book now. This post helps clarify book review content. Thanks again.

January 30, 2017 at 11:11 am

I have much impressed with the charming views of Karen so please keep it up and try to share other views which are helpful for poor students like me

March 7, 2017 at 10:58 am

March 7, 2017 at 11:01 am

April 6, 2017 at 5:18 pm

hey need help

July 12, 2017 at 11:21 am

Thank you so much for this post. I’ve started writing book reviews and while I know not to give away anything in my review such as who dies, who lives, etc. but I wasn’t quite sure what to include.

This post helped me tremendously.

January 8, 2019 at 9:00 pm

Thank you, Karen, for this insightful summary. I’ve just suffered through two reviews that did nothing but rehash the plot (inserting errors that showed the reviewer hadn’t actually read all of the book) and was beginning to doubt my sanity. Do you have any advice on how to locate reviewers with attitudes like Rebecca Maney’s?

July 20, 2019 at 11:14 am

saving this ’cause although i can write an entire novel, i stumble when writing a review!! LOL

March 4, 2020 at 8:24 pm

Thank you for telling me that I should specify what aspect of the book I ended up loving or hating after reading the entire story in the book review I am about to write. For our English class, we were asked to do a detailed book review of The Donna Gentile Story which is based on real-life, but I’m not really good at writing and I’m not sure if I’m doing it right. I’ll keep your tips in mind and see if I could come up with a good and objective book review.

March 18, 2020 at 7:06 pm

hi this is cool

September 21, 2020 at 7:41 pm

Everyone can write a book, but not everyone can produce an amazing one. Whether fiction or non-fiction, it always takes knowledge, experience, passion, and attitude to create praiseworthy literature.

December 29, 2021 at 12:20 pm

I completely agree with what you have written. I hope this post could reach more people as this was truly an interesting post.

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Writing a book review: how to do it (+ 5 mistakes to avoid).

Well-written book reviews are essential for building an audience for a book blog. Here are 5 steps that cover how to write a good book review.

Published on Dec 18, 2022

By Dave Rogenmoser

Book reviews are reflections on a book that ultimately make an argument. The argument should persuade a potential reader to pick up the book or leave it behind, based on the reviewer’s opinions. 

Book reviews typically aren’t longer than 1000 words, but some can be much longer or shorter in certain situations. For example, the New York Times features book reviews of over 2,000 words, while book reviews in your local newspaper might be limited to under 500 words.

In this article, we’ll show you how to write a book review that grabs readers’ attention, while providing useful information. We’ll also share some common mistakes to avoid while writing book reviews and some A+ book reviews worth emulating.

Why book reviews are important for writers and readers

Book reviews are valuable for writers:

• To develop a better understanding of what they learned
• To hone their own writing skills
• To develop a critical eye in literature

Book reviews are also valuable for readers:

• To learn about potential reading material
• To gain an understanding of what the material covers
• To decide whether or not to purchase or read something

The best way to think about writing a review is imagining you’re writing for one person. You’ll have to answer the most important questions they have and help them decide whether to take the book home or not. 

5 essential steps to writing a great book review

To make the most out of your book review, follow these 5 simple steps.

1. Share the most important details

Set the stage for the rest of your review by starting with the most important details of the book. Make sure to include:

• Genre/type of book
• Main character description
• Context of the setting

This is also a good spot to mention any content warnings readers may appreciate. These warnings mention any potential triggering or sensitive topics discussed in the book or your book review. Providing content warnings can help readers choose safe and healthy books for their own needs.

For non-fiction reviews, describe the book’s main theme. Academic journals can include short book reviews that include what special topic the book covers, what questions it answers, or how it approaches the topic. Finally, be sure to mention the author’s name and what relevant expertise they have.

2. Summarize the plot in a few sentences

After explaining the most important details, give readers a brief synopsis . Your summary or synopsis should provide a general idea of what happens in the book . 

Ideally, mention the premise, the inciting event, and the protagonist’s dilemma. Summarizing is important, but don’t go overboard — you don’t want your review to include spoilers or reveal the ending ! The typical rule for summarizing in book review writing is not to mention things in the plot past the midpoint.

3. Write your praise

A book review differs from a book report in that your review should mainly focus on your evaluation of the book itself . This includes both praise and critiques. There should also be a balance of your subjective and objective opinions.

Your evaluation should answer these questions:

• What did you enjoy about the book?
• Did the characters and setting feel real to you?
• Did the story grip you and hold your attention where it should?
• What were the main themes in the book?
• Does the writing style fit the storyline?
• What did you like about the writing style?
• Did the writer use any unique formats? For example, was it a novel-in-verse or written in epistolary format?

An evaluation of a non-fiction book should focus on whether the author was able to convincingly share their perspective. Did you learn anything new? Were the arguments clear and concise? Did you feel persuaded by the conclusion? Share it with readers in concise sentences.

4. Write your critiques

Critiques are easy for some and difficult for others to write. Regardless of how you feel, it’s important to express your discontent constructively , instead of simply ranting about what you didn’t like. 

Some reviewers make a pros and cons list to simplify their points and then justify their list of cons with detailed explanations or quotes highlighting problematic sections of the book.  

It’s also vital to be specific about what did not work for you . “It just didn’t work for me” or “I just couldn’t relate to the main character” may be valid, but unhelpful for your readers. Remember, many critiques are entirely subjective, and what one reader dislikes could be the thing that makes the same book another reader’s favorite. So, if you want to write a good book review, mention why exactly you did not relate to the main character or why the story didn’t work for you.

One of the best ways to remember what you like or don’t like about a book is to take notes as you read . Save your thoughts online in a Google Doc or another writer’s tool you like. You can then transform those notes into thoughtful sentences later as you write your review.

5. Offer your recommendation and star rating

The last part of a book review is your recommendation. Think about the key takeaways for potential readers from your review. Would you recommend this book to a friend? Share who you think would like the book but also who might NOT like the book. Readers will appreciate this information if they fall into one of the two categories. 

Lastly, how many stars out of 5 or 10 would you give it? Don’t forget to offer your logic behind this star rating as well. Having a book rating system may be useful, so you don’t waste too much time deciding. Many readers include the following metrics in their ratings:

• Overall enjoyment
• Writing quality
• Characterization
• Plot development
• Ending satisfaction

Some readers now decline to offer a star rating — and that’s fine too. The key thing is to tell readers your verdict at the end .

5 common mistakes people make when book reviewing

There are a few common mistakes people make while writing book reviews. Double-check your review for any of these mistakes before publishing or submitting them.

1. Over-the-top claims 

Going too far in one direction or another can make your review sound biased. To maintain a professional tone, avoid superlative claims (for example, “this is the best book of all time”). Before you publish, go over your book review or report and ensure you’ve rationalized your claims and that they are appropriate .

2. Repetitiveness

Once you’ve made a point and argued it, there’s no need to keep repeating it throughout the piece. Maybe you liked or didn’t like something, but after reading something once or twice, the reader already gets the point. Driving your argument home so hard only takes away valuable space for more critical points in the review. Make your point once and leave it at that.

3. Making it about you

A book review should let readers see your personal opinion but hear objective points as well. Don’t flatter yourself with references that only you would understand as you’ll turn off readers who want a review that focuses on the book at hand. Remember that the review should serve readers, not you . 

Also, while you should share a few personal criticisms, don’t turn it into “I would do it better” because if you could, then you’d be writing your book instead of a review.

4. Sharing the whole plot

Avoid giving the entire story away. While you should mention the story’s focus — such as whether it’s a romance or a murder mystery — beware of sharing spoilers . Spoilers are any important plot developments meant to keep suspense or not mentioned in the publisher’s summary. Besides, if you spend too much of the review on the summary, you won’t get around to reviewing the characters, language, structure, or cultural context.

5. Writing too much

A review shouldn’t be an accompanying novel. And while a review is meant to share a little more than a testimonial, the key here is the word “little.” You can’t share every single thought you had while reading — that isn’t helpful for readers deciding if they’re going to read it themselves or not. So, limit your book review to the main points you want to make in about 500-1000 words. 

5 good book review examples from around the internet

If you’re still not sure how to write a helpful book review, you might want to check out these examples that we’ve pulled from some popular book review sites. 

Goodreads and Kirkus are some of the most common places for people to write and share book reviews. If you’re looking for inspiration for how to write a book review, these two sites are a good place to start. 

1. Kirkus’s review of Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams  

This short, but telling book review certainly gives readers a clear sense of the main character’s world. But the reasons this book review is especially helpful are the star ratings, the verdict shared, and the age recommendation found at the end of the review. 

2. Roxane Gay’s Goodreads review of The Mothers by Brit Bennett

Roxane Gay’s review immediately mentions the main characters and the theme of The Mothers , followed by her evaluation of what she did and didn't like about the novel . Her criticism is followed by her understanding and reasoning and ends with a positive recommendation . Notice how concisely Gay fits in all aspects of a good review into limited sentences that get her points across quickly.

3. Book of Cinz’s Goodreads review of No Land to Light on by Yara Zgheib  

This review shares a powerful initial reaction in bold — offering enticing expectations and pulling readers in. The summary followed by the emotional impact the novel will make on readers gives a clear sense of what to expect from No Land to Light On. It also mentions the perspective the story is told in , so readers know what to expect.

4. TheBibliophile’s review of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

This review is unique because it is a bit longer, but it’s also conveniently broken up into sections that readers can click on from the top of the page. The personal review can be found between the plot summary and the recommendation where the reviewer describes her experience reading the book . What’s valuable for some is that she compares the book with the author’s previous survival-focused novel , so potential readers can choose between them.

5. Reading Middle Grade’s review of No Place Like Here

Reading Middle Grade’s review of No Place Like Here conveniently separates sections of the review so readers can quickly find what they’re looking for. It begins with the most important aspects — the main character and plotline and follows with positive feedback and negative feedback under their subheaders. The final section also mentions content that potential readers should be aware of , like parental mental illness and incarceration, and concludes with a recommendation as a summer read. 

How Jasper Can Help Write Book Reviews

Ready to write your book review? If you want a guiding hand, consider letting Jasper help you write a review that converts. 

Jasper is an AI copywriting tool that has been trained to write several kinds of copy and content. With over 50+ templates , it caters to all your writing needs, including outlining ( Blog Post Outline template), blog post writing ( Long Form Assistant template), and headline-crafting ( Perfect Headline template).

Because it’s been trained by real expert copywriters and has learned up to 10% of the internet, Jasper knows how to write sentences and paragraphs that flow seamlessly while connecting with your intended audience.

We asked Jasper to help us review Yaa Gyasi’s best-selling novel, Homegoing . Here’s some of what the Long-Form Assistant template generated.

Ever considered starting your own book review blog? Now you can with the help of AI marketing platform, Jasper.  Sign up for Jasper now and start publishing book reviews instantly.

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Dave Rogenmoser

Dave is the Co-Founder Jasper , a Y Combinator-backed tech company based in Austin, Texas. He is also a husband and father of 3 boys.

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How to write a book review

Author Luisa Plaja offers her top tips for how to write a brilliant review of the latest book you read - whether you liked it or not.

Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books you've read. Whether you've loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.

If you're stuck on what to say in a review, it can help to imagine you're talking to someone who's asking you whether they should read the book.

1. Start with a couple of sentences describing what the book is about

But without giving any spoilers or revealing plot twists! As a general rule, try to avoid writing in detail about anything that happens from about the middle of the book onwards. If the book is part of a series, it can be useful to mention this, and whether you think you'd need to have read other books in the series to enjoy this one.

2. Discuss what you particularly liked about the book

Focus on your thoughts and feelings about the story and the way it was told. You could try answering a couple of the following questions:

• Who was your favourite character, and why?
• Did the characters feel real to you?
• Did the story keep you guessing?
• What was your favourite part of the book, and why?
• Were certain types of scene written particularly well - for example sad scenes, tense scenes, mysterious ones...?
• Did the book make you laugh or cry?
• Did the story grip you and keep you turning the pages?

3. Mention anything you disliked about the book

Talk about why you think it didn't work for you. For example:

• Did you wish the ending hadn't been a cliffhanger because you found it frustrating?
• Did you find it difficult to care about a main character, and could you work out why?
• Was the story too scary for your liking, or did it focus on a theme you didn't find interesting?

4. Round up your review

Summarise some of your thoughts on the book by suggesting the type of reader you'd recommend the book to. For example: younger readers, older readers, fans of relationship drama/mystery stories/comedy. Are there any books or series you would compare it to?

5. You can give the book a rating, for example a mark out of five or ten, if you like!

Luisa Plaja loves words and books, and she used to edit the book review site Chicklish. Her novels for teenagers include Split by a Kiss, Swapped by a Kiss and Kiss Date Love Hate. She lives in Devon, England, and has two young children.

More writing tips

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Blog – Posted on Thursday, Nov 11

The only book review templates you'll ever need.

Whether you’re trying to become a book reviewer , writing a book report for school, or analyzing a book, it’s nice to follow a book review template to make sure that your thoughts are clearly presented. 

A quality template provides guidance to keep your mind sharp and your thoughts organized so that you can write the best book review possible. On Reedsy Discovery , we read and share a lot of book reviews, which helps us develop quite a clear idea what makes up a good one. With that in mind, we’ve put together some trustworthy book review templates that you can download, along with a quick run-through of all the parts that make up an outstanding review — all in this post! 

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

Should you become a book reviewer?

Find out the answer. Takes 30 seconds!

Book review templates for every type of review

With the rapid growth of the book community on Instagram, Youtube, and even TikTok, the world of book commentary has evolved far beyond your classic review. There are now many ways you can structure a book review. Some popular formats include:

• Book reports — often done for school assignments; 
• Commentary articles — think in-depth reviews in magazines and newspapers; 
• Book blog reviews — short personal essays about the book; and
• Instagram reviews — one or two-paragraph reviews captioned under a nice photo. 

But while the text in all these review styles can be organized in different ways, there are certain boxes that all good book reviews tick. So, instead of giving you various templates to use for different occasions, we’ve condensed it down to just two book review templates (one for fiction and one for nonfiction) that can guide your thoughts and help you nail just about any review. 

⭐ Download our free fiction book review template  

⭐ Download our free nonfiction book review template  

All you need to do is answer the questions in the template regarding the book you’re reading and you’ve got the content of your review covered. Once that’s done, you can easily put this content into its appropriate format. 

Now, if you’re curious about what constitutes a good book review template, we’ll explain it in the following section! 

Elements of a book review template

Say you want to build your own book review template, or you want to customize our templates — here are the elements you’ll want to consider. 

We’ve divided our breakdown of the elements into two categories: the essentials and the fun additions that’ll add some color to your book reviews.

What are the three main parts of a book review?

We covered this in detail (with the help of some stellar examples) in our post on how to write a book review , but basically, these are the three crucial elements you should know: 

The summary covers the premise of the book and its main theme, so readers are able to understand what you’re referring to in the rest of your review. This means that, if a person hasn’t read the book, they can go through the summary to get a quick idea of what it’s about. (As such, there should be no spoilers!) 

The analysis is where, if it’s a fiction book, you talk more about the book, its plot, theme, and characters. If it’s nonfiction, you have to consider whether the book effectively achieves what it set out to do. 

The recommendation is where your personal opinion comes in the strongest, and you give a verdict as to who you think might enjoy this book. 

You can choose to be brief or detailed, depending on the kind of review you’re writing, but you should always aim to cover these three points. If you’re needing some inspiration, check out these 17 book review examples as seen in magazines, blogs, and review communities like Reedsy Discovery for a little variation. 

Which review community should you join?

Find out which review community is best for your style. Takes 30 seconds!

Which additional details can you include?

Once you’ve nailed down the basics, you can jazz things up a little and add some personal flavor to your book review by considering some of these elements:

• A star-rating (the default is five stars but you can create your own scales); 
• A bullet-point pros and cons list; 
• Your favorite quotation from the book; 
• Commentary on the format you read (i.e., ebook, print, or audiobook);
• Fun facts about the book or author; 
• Other titles you think are similar.

This is where you can really be creative and tailor your review to suit your purpose and audience. A formal review written for a magazine, for instance, will likely benefit from contextual information about the author and the book, along with some comment on how that might have affected the reading (or even writing) process.

Meanwhile, if you’re reviewing a book on social media, you might find bullet points more effective at capturing the fleeting attention of Internet users. You can also make videos, take creative pictures, or even add your own illustrations for more personal touches. The floor is yours at this point, so go ahead and take the spotlight! 

That said, we hope that our templates can provide you with a strong foundation for even your most adventurous reviews. And if you’re interested in writing editorial reviews for up-and-coming indie titles, register as a reviewer on Reedsy Discovery !

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The Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Featuring elizabeth strout, ronald reagan, roddy doyle, and more.

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Elizabeth Strout’s Tell Me Everything , Max Boot’s Reagan: His Life and Legend , and Roddy Doyle’s The Woman Behind the Door all feature among the best reviewed books of the week.

1.  Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (Random House)

7 Rave • 2 Positive • 3 Mixed

“Brings together Strout’s most indelible characters in a rich tapestry, intricately wrought yet effortlessly realized, both suspenseful and meditative … An achingly moving and exhilarating novel that brings people together across lines of age, gender, profession, political affiliation.”

–Priscilla Gilman ( The Boston Globe )

2. The Woman Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle (Viking)

6 Rave • 4 Positive

“I don’t want to hear from a man writing in the voice of a battered, alcoholic older woman (a well-worn template of female suffering). I just don’t … The good news for Doyle is that I read his new Paula Spencer novel, The Women Behind the Door, anyway. And that he’s excellent at capturing the kind of tension I’m describing and the fraught stories we tell about ourselves as a result … There’s much to admire here. And for Doyle fans, the novel will feel familiar: It is unflinching and dark, brutal in its economy, wry and mostly devastating.”

–Fiona Maazel ( The New York Times Book Review )

3. Two-Step Devil by Jamie Quatro (Grove)

5 Rave • 4 Positive

“Quatro alchemizes gloomy subject matter…into transcendent beauty … Rather than pitting these seeming polarities against each other, Quatro skillfully mines the gray areas between them, the realms of ambiguity that are far more indicative of the human experience … Theologically avant-garde and emotionally supple.”

–Melissa Broder ( The New York Times Book Review )

=1. Hiroshima: The Last Witnesses by M. G. Sheftall (Dutton)

4 Rave • 1 Positive

“”[Sheftall] proves that first-person accounts are the most powerful tool to educate and reeducate the world about what happened … Sheftall’s voice is respectful, his perspective balanced, his access to a network of people willing to share their lives with him very deep … Sheftall does not spare readers from this human-made inferno. His chapters are short, the prose is tight, and the memories are in Technicolor … For those who want to understand what happened underneath the mushroom cloud—and shouldn’t we all?—Sheftall’s sweeping, sensitive and deeply researched book is required reading for our human hearts.”

–Karin Tanabe ( The Washington Post )

=1. Who Could Ever Love You: A Family Memoir by Mary L. Trump (St. Martin’s Press)

“Without the Trump name attached, this would still be a moving (if somewhat disjointed) look at a sad childhood. But Trump’s readers get it by now. In her family, cruelty was a feature not a bug.”

–Ilene Cooper ( Booklist )

3. Reagan: His Life and Legend by Max Boot (Liveright)

3 Rave • 1 Positive

“Aims to be the definitive biography, and it succeeds. It’s a thoughtful, absorbing account. It’s also a surprising one. One might expect, given Boot’s trajectory, that this would be a full-throated defense of Reagan, the Last Good Republican. But it is not.”

–Daniel Immerwahr ( The New Yorker )

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Caro’s ‘Power Broker’ To Become E-Book

BY Michael Schaub • yesterday

Robert A. Caro’s The Power Broker  is finally getting an e-book edition.

Alfred A. Knopf will release an electronic edition of the author’s iconic biography, the press announced in a news release. The publication of the e-book is tied to the book’s 50th anniversary.

Caro’s book, published in 1974 by Knopf, is an account of the life and career of Robert Moses, the influential New York city planner. The book won a Pulitzer Prize and has remained popular over the past five decades; it became something of a Zoom status symbol during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Caro said that he wanted an e-book edition of The Power Broker “that would have fidelity to the physical book.”

“I wanted it done because if you’ve learned some things about political power that you think are worth knowing, you’d like as many readers as possible to know them,” he said. “And with so many readers now doing their reading digitally, an e-book is essential. Thankfully, technology advanced to a point that allowed linking of the notes, which should enhance the digital reading experience.”

Knopf publisher and editor-in-chief Jordan Pavlin said, “No book has had a greater impact on our understanding of political power than The Power Broker, and no biographer has captivated the imagination of his readers with greater artistry than Robert Caro. At once magisterial and intimate, The Power Broker is a feat of storytelling and American history on a singular scale, truly one of the great books of our time. It is thrilling to imagine a generation of new readers falling under the spell of Caro’s essential work in its new form.”

The e-book edition of The Power Broker will be released on Sept. 16.

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.

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FICTION The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story Olga Tokarczuk Text, $34.99

“I write for intelligent people, not idiots.” Those of us who slogged our way through Olga Tokarczuk’s 1500-page magnum opus, The Books of Jacob , might well have patted ourselves on the back and haughtily taken the Nobel laureate’s words to heart. We had ascended the mountain and were ready to claim the crown.

Intellectual smugness is a prime target of Olga Tokarczuk’s latest novel. Credit: Friso Gentsch

It is downright funny, then, that intellectual smugness is a prime target of Tokarczuk’s latest novel, The Empusium . There is, after all, a fine line between intelligence and idiocy.

Subtitled A Health Resort Horror Story , The Empusium harks back to the great novels of early 20th-century European literature, when sanatoria were the proving grounds for big ideas on the page. Tokarczuk has said that she wrote it in conversation with Thomas Mann’s masterpiece, The Magic Mountain – published exactly a century ago – and that she sought to engage with that book’s ideas and interrogate its silences. It could have been a disastrous exercise in high-lit navel-gazing.

Instead, The Empusium is an emphatic triumph – a feast of culture, both literary and popular, highbrow and low, that shows Tokarczuk writing at the peak of her powers and enjoying every moment of it.

Mieczyslaw Wojnicz, a young engineering student from Lwow, steps off a train in the small Silesian town of Gorbesdorf. He is headed to the local sanatorium, ostensibly to seek treatment for tuberculosis, but also to rid him of what his father calls his “feminine” inclinations.

In a rather Kafkaesque turn (it’s also the centenary of the Czech great’s death), the sanatorium is full, and so Wojnicz finds lodging at the Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a downtrodden hotel populated by an odd assortment of sanatorium rejects.

The men chat, as men of that ilk do, and gather each night over dinner to debate the big issues of the day. Democracy. Religion. Philosophy. Race. After a few swigs of schwarmerei, a mildly hallucinogenic local brew, they always land on the same topic: women. Or, more precisely, the inferiority of women. Women have smaller brains. They are further back on the evolutionary scale. They ought not have rights. Their bodies belong to men. Of course, women are absent from the conversation. They are all but absent from the book.

Olga Tokarczuk’s novel engages with Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. Credit: Supplied

Tokarczuk clearly revels in this pompous misogynist buffoonery, lampooning the kinds of ideas that were rife among the so-called intelligentsia of Mann’s time, and found particular currency with the dawn of psychoanalysis. It never feels mean-spirited, though, and, with the current state of the world, remains depressingly relevant.

In the ill-conceived but nonetheless assured pontifications spouted over substandard food, you’ll find the kind of thinking that underpinned the overturning of Roe v Wade and continues to be repeated in talking points by MAGA loyalists in the lead-up to the American election. Ditto the dick-swinging toxic masculinity pushing geopolitics ever further to the right.

While the misogynist thought-orgy alone might have been horror enough to earn The Empusium its subtitle, there are some old-school pant-wetting scares at play, too.

Strange things have been happening in Gorbesdorf; things that Tokarczuk teases with ominous flashes. Dead toads. A decapitated duck, strung up like Mussolini from a baking ring. And, in the forest, life-sized female dummies called tutschi, made from sticks, moss and other rotting detritus. Used to relieve the sexual urges of the local villagers, they may well be the embodiment of malevolent spirits – the otherwise absent women, spurned as witches.

Here, Tokarczuk ramps up the genre pastiche, with genuinely terrifying undertones of The Blair Witch Project and the films of M. Night Shyamalan. But it is to Shirley Jackson, the greatest feminist horror writer of all time, that Tokarczuk most knowingly tips her hat.

Wojnicz learns that each November a man is violently killed in the forest. It’s a sacrifice of sorts to an unknown beast that was once satisfied with a local shepherd or charcoal burner, but had recently acquired the taste for patients from the sanatorium. The doctors usually rig the lottery, but the poor guy they were about to offer up just died of natural causes.

One needn’t be a scholar of early 20th-century literature, nor a late-night penny dreadful fan to absolutely delight in what The Empusium has to offer. Having endured The Books of Jacob with reluctant admiration, I was in thrall to this from the first page.

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A Voyage Around the Queen: 'gloriously bizarre' royal biography

Craig Brown's book paints a 'vivid and remarkably telling' picture of Elizabeth II

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As a "man who supposedly trades in throwaway wisecracks", you wouldn't think the satirist Craig Brown would be the person to "tell us something thought-provoking, perhaps even deep, about monarchy", said Stephen Smith in The Observer . Yet in his glorious new book – a follow-up to similar works about Princess Margaret and the Beatles – that's exactly what he does.

Brown has hoovered up virtually everything ever written about Elizabeth II – decades-old newspaper reports, the "memoirs of courtiers, flunkies and hangers-on" – and out of this material has crafted 112 thematic chapters, focused on everything from the Queen's love of horse racing to the dreams people have had about her. (The oddest belongs to Paul Theroux, who imagined "her nipples cool against my ears".)

It adds up to a "vivid and remarkably telling study of our late head of state". Brown has perhaps only one serious thesis, said Matthew Parris in Literary Review : "almost everyone, he says, goes slightly bonkers" in the Queen's presence. "We gabble, we dry up, we lose our thread, we gawp, we stammer." Kingsley Amis even avoided beans before meeting her, so anxious was he about farting or belching.

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Brown devotes a chapter to the "brisk dispatch with which she would terminate conversations". "How very interesting," she'd intone, before moving on. As much as this "wonderfully readable" book is about the Queen, it is also "about ourselves as a nation, reflected and refracted through our own relationships with one person".

"I enjoyed 'A Voyage Around the Queen ' so much that I wished it were longer than its 672 pages," said Christopher Howse in The Daily Telegraph . We learn that when Mahatma Gandhi sent Elizabeth a hand-woven tablecloth as a wedding gift, her grandmother, Queen Mary, declared it a "horrible thing", having mistaken it for one of his loincloths. When, at the beacon lighting for the Queen's Silver Jubilee, the officer in charge confided that "absolutely everything" had gone wrong, she replied: "Oh good. What fun!"

Brown even has "unmistakably irreverent fun" with the aftermath of her death, said John Banville in The Guardian – noting the battier expressions of mourning, including Norwich Council's decision to close a bike rack as a mark of respect. Funny, clever and "gloriously bizarre", his book is an "astute account of the well-nigh unaccountable public life of an intensely private person".

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'Addition' Review: Teresa Palmer Gets a Leading Role Worth the Wait After 'A Discovery of Witches' l TIFF 2024

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OCD comes in all shapes and sizes, so there is still much to explore about this condition on screen. Addition , an adaptation of Toni Jordan 's best-selling novel, sheds light on another branch of OCD, which involves an ample amount of mental math. Grace ( Teresa Palmer ) is triggered by her mind's attraction to counting anything from the bites necessary to eat a piece of cake to the amount of bristles in a toothbrush (which would take hours). Although her counting spree struggle stems from a much greater cause than what meets the eye, the protagonist is unable to move past her uncontrollable urge to stop everything she is doing and double-check the exact number of each item in her home. Marcelle Lunam 's first narrative feature explores how the protagonist can fall in love and maintain a committed relationship, while also learning to prioritize her mental health.

What Is 'Addition' About?

This sensitive and endearing romance begins in a supermarket aisle when Grace accidentally forgets to pick up the exact amount of bananas she intended to buy. In order to remedy the situation, she steals one from the guy behind her in the check-out line. This quick fix ends up connecting her to Seamus ( Joe Dempsie ), a painter who instantly becomes enamored by Grace's cheeky sense of humor. As the two begin to go out on dates and progress as a couple, he suspects that there is something about herself that she is hiding from him. Although the protagonist is a mathematician by profession, she has also developed an obsession for counting in her everyday life, which prevents her from being able to process information that is outside of her very pragmatic agenda. By coming clean about her condition, Grace decides to not only open her fractured heart to someone who can mend it, but also open her mind for the possibility of healing .

Teresa Palmer's Romantic Lead Return Was Worth the Wait

It's been a while since Teresa Palmer has graced our screens as a romantic lead. In between her work on the streaming hit A Discovery of Witches to her supporting part in this year's The Fall Guy , the actress hasn't had the chance to star in feel-good love stories like this in a long time , which only makes her return to the genre that much sweeter. From the moment she shows up in Addition , audiences can't help but be captivated by her character's flirty and easy-going personality, but also understand that beneath her charisma lies an internal struggle that is too hard to shake away. Much to Palmer's credit, it is easy to root for Grace. Whenever she gets the tendency to look at her surroundings through a numerical lens, you can tell that she is trying to pull it together. Although her attempts are mostly unsuccessful at the start, the main character slowly becomes more drawn to the idea of seeking therapy because of Seamus and Larry ( Lou Baxter ), her smart niece who looks up to her.

Given that the film is almost entirely focused on the protagonist, other characters besides Seamus, to an extent, are barely developed . Jill and Marge, Grace's sister and mother, played by Adrienne Pickering and Sarah Pierse , simply function as a plot device to help audiences connect the dots about the protagonist's disorder. Although that doesn't really hinder the narrative from running its course, it is impossible not to wish that there were more moments between Grace and Larry. The few instances we get to see their aunt-niece interactions truly add warmth to the film on top of the romance that is unfolding.

'Addition' Inspects Recovery After Trauma, But Way Too Quickly

In an effort to keep the film lighthearted and well-paced, Addition rushes the depiction of Grace's recovery journey. For years, she hasn't been able to control her urge to count due to a traumatic event from her youth. Her condition led her to find solace in an imaginary friend, Nikola Tesla (played by Eamon Farren ), a real life figure she deems the smartest man that ever walked the earth. Whenever Nik pops onto the screen, it is an indicator that Grace's OCD is taking over. As the character undergoes treatment, the instances that her imaginary friend pays her a visit get reduced. Although his departure from her mind is gradual, in the last few minutes of the film it seems like the protagonist suddenly gets the gist of what makes her disorder tick and manages to recover instantly. Considering that Lunam's feature focuses on Grace's mental health struggle, having her walk into an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant without second-guessing feels a little too abrupt. In rushing the character's improvement, the film misses the mark in what could be an even more realistic depiction of its mental health arc.

Aside from this, Addition has everything that you would want from a romance . It has a meant-to-be couple, a conflict that threatens their relationship, and a joint effort from the love interests to make things work. Palmer and Dempsie's chemistry is noticeable from their characters' meet-cute to the final scene that they share. Their connection onscreen allows for a project that also touches on the difficulty of OCD to feel more uplifting than depressing, which is exactly what you would hope for from something within this genre. By the end, viewers will leave this title with a smile plastered on their faces and sigh, because although romances like this aren't as sugarcoated in real-life as the movie makes them to be, it is delightful to watch it play out in a fictional setting and believe in its existence for the film's duration.

Addition (2024)

Teresa Palmer's return to romance is sweet and endearing, but doesn't fully reward when it comes to its mental health subject matter.

• Palmer nails Grace's bubbly personality, and her struggle with counting OCD.
• The lead pair's chemistry makes audiences root for their happy ending, despite the obstacles in their way.
• The film offers everything you would hope from a romance.
• Grace and Larry's relationship could've been further explored.
• Lunam's project rushes its mental health arc for the purpose of pacing.

Addition had its World Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

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