How to write a good review

How To Write A Good Book Review

How To Write A Good Book Review

A book review is a summary of a book that you have read. You should review all aspects of the story. A book review is therefore written after reading (you may always order a review at a writing service without reading a book) because without reading the book it is difficult to figure out what it is all about and the review will, therefore not make sense. A wide reader will have an easy time in book review writing. This article highlights the guidelines for review writing.

Content of this article

1. Preparation for writing a book review

2. Structure of a review

There are different book review structures. The key review tips to consider are as follows. Whichever format is used, these should be inclusive.

1. Making a draft

The first step to writing a successful book review is always to make a review draft. It is a rough outline for a book review. It includes gathering up the notes taken and making a body out of them. Place the notes in chronological order and write in prose form what you think should be included in the book review. Being the book review introduction, it is written without making any corrections. The draft is the skeleton of the review and gives an overview of how the final copy should be. Know the book review structure to use.

2. The heading

The heading is written in bold capital letters. Write the name of the book and the author.

3. Introduction

In the introduction for a book review, explain who you are. In a paragraph, states that the review is about a book you have read. Start with a couple of sentences that describe what the book talks about. However, do not reveal any plot twists or character plays. In the introduction write about the author and his other works. Reveal whether one needs to read a particular book to follow or not. The introduction should not contain any spoilers. The introduction lays the foundation for the review.

4. Summary

The summary includes details about the book. While writing the summary, book review outlining should be observed. It shows how you feel about the book, how it is written, and how the story is told.

3. Tips for good writing

The key book review tips to consider in book review writing are:

• Character development

Tell who your favorite character was and why. Why did the character stand out in the book?

Did the characters feel real to you and why? How well did the characters grow in the book? Explain to your readers what you think about how well the author developed the characters in the book. Show a pattern of development from the start.

• Plot

Did the author keep you guessing? A good book is one that has suspense till the end or was the story predictable. Explain how well the author brought out emotions like happiness or sadness. Explain what your favorite part of the book was. You can quote phrases in the book that you found to bring out the best. The phrases should be written in italics and quoted. Was the story captivating to keep you turning the pages? If you got bored or lost at a point, explain why and what you think should be done about it.

• Theme

The theme is what the book is all about. Some of the most popular themes are:

The prologue of the book gives an overview of what to expect in the book. As you read, identify whether or not the author stuck to the intended theme. Did you feel the relevance of the theme or did it come off as just another book? This is what sells the book.

4. How to conclude a book review

In a book review conclusion, the writer can state whether or not they have any books they have written. Give a possible link to other book reviews done.

Critique

This is the conclusion of a book review, and it explains what you did not like about the book. It could be the ending of the story. Was the conclusion to your liking? Or would you have preferred if it ended in a particular way? For example, would you have preferred a happy ending and not a cliffhanger? Compare the book to others of its kind and state the differences. It allows the reader to see that the review was based on a large pool of books.

Ensure that the review outline is the recommended one. Recommend the audience you think would find the book interesting and why for example the youth, couples, or entrepreneurs. You can also rate the book.

How to write a review? | C1 Advanced (CAE)

A review is usually written for an English-language magazine, newspaper or website.

The main purpose is to describe and express a personal opinion about something which the essay writer has experienced (e.g. a film, a holiday, a product, a website, etc.) and to give the reader a clear impression of what the item discussed is like.

C1 Advanced (CAE) Review: Structure

CAE, FCE, CPE

More than Practice Tests

C1 Advanced (CAE) Review: Writing Guide

1. Title + Introduction:

Use the introductory paragraph to name what you are going to be reviewing, state its genre (i.e. a science fiction novel, a horror movie and so on).

It is possible to write about the author’s other notable works if there are any. To make your introduction more engaging, you may briefly state your general impression of it. Make your introduction at least 2-3 sentences long.

Example:

Title: A tale of two films
Introduction: In this review I am going to compare two contrasting tales about overcoming adversity. Whereas The Blind Side (2009) left me with a huge grin on my face, sadly, Doctor Zhivago (1965) left me feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders.

2. Main content

The body paragraphs can be used to describe good and bad points respectively. Unlike essays your paragraphs don’t have to be of the same length — if you liked the described thing then your paragraph with good points will be naturally bigger than the other one.

Example:

Paragraph 1: Doctor Zhivago, directed by five-time Oscar winner David Lean, is set in the Bolshevik revolution and follows the title character, who must adapt to the new order while pining for Lara, the beautiful wife of a political campaigner. The director succeeded in creating a film that is thoroughly engaging but full of gritty realism, cruelty and tragic irony. Take the tissues!
Paragraph 2: …..

In the last paragraph, you can outline the negative points, for example, things that could be changed to improve the quality of the reviewed book/film.

4. Recommendation:

It will contain your general impression and your verdict. Use this paragraph to sum up the good and bad points to make an objective assessment of the reviewed material. You may then recommend or dissuade your readers from seeing/attending it.

Example:

Recommendation: I would strongly recommend The Blind Side. It will appeal to a range of people and is a great choice for a movie night. Although Doctor Zhivago is a classic, I think it has more of a niche audience and is best saved for when you want a dose of gloom!

Let’s sum it up…

C1 Advanced (CAE) Review: Example reviews

CAE Review Sample 1

Question:

You have seen this announcement on your favourite music website.

Have you ever been to an amazing concert venue?

Write a review of the best music venue in your local area and tell us about what makes it so special. Say who you would recommend it for a why?

The best entries will be published on our website.

Model answer:

The Apollo: The Theatre of Dreams

Never before have you seen such an amazing spectacle as you will see in the Apollo. It´s not only the facilities and personnel that make this venue so great, but also the amazing acoustics of such a large venue.

From the moment you enter the place there is an awe about it. All of the greatest acts of recent times have played here and you can feel the buzz as soon as you enter. The crowd are so close to the stage that they can literally feel the droplets of sweat coming off of the brows of their favourite artists, this creates an amazing connection between the musicians and the audience and I can tell you, the fans go wild!

I´d definitely recommend this venue to anyone, it has a great feel to it and the prices are at the lower end of what you would expect to pay in such a place. They also don’t go over the top on drinks prices, and through it sounds weird, it´s not all that difficult to get to the bathroom which is a plus. So, without a doubt, the next time your favourite group is playing, come on down to the Apollo, oh, and did I mention it is in London? It couldn´t get any better.

Get Your (CAE) Review Checked!

CAE Review Sample 2

Question:

You see this announcement in an international magazine.

The most UPLIFTING and the biggest DOWNER.
It’s sometimes hard to choose a film that fits your mood purely on the basis of the poster or the description on the cover of the DVD. That’s why we want to publish reviews of the most uplifting and the most depressing films our readers have seen, so that others know what to watch and what to avoid.
Send in a review which describes the most uplifting film you’ve ever seen and the one you found the biggest downer. Make sure you give reasons for your choices.

Write your review in 220-260 words in an appropriate style.

Model answer:

A tale of two films

In this review I am going to compare two contrasting tales about overcoming adversity. Whereas The Blind Side (2009) left me with a huge grin on my face, sadly, Doctor Zhivago (1965) left me feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Doctor Zhivago, directed by five-time Oscar winner David Lean, is set in the Bolshevik revolution and follows the title character, who must adapt to the new order while pining for Lara, the beautiful wife of a political campaigner. The director succeeded in creating a film that is thoroughly engaging but full of gritty realism, cruelty and tragic irony. Take the tissues!

The Blind Side, which is based on a true story, is also a bit of a tearjerker, in a completely different way. Starring Sandra Bullock, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a rich white mother in Tennessee who takes a homeless black teenager under her roof. Understandably, the gentle giant thinks he isn’t good at anything but his new mother sees his potential to become a football star and part of the family. The plot is based on a true story, making it all the more touching.

I would strongly recommend The Blind Side. It will appeal to a range of people and is a great choice for a movie night. Although Doctor Zhivago is a classic, I think it has more of a niche audience and is best saved for when you want a dose of gloom!

Cambridge B2 First (FCE): How to Write a Review

Cambridge B2 First (FCE): How to Write a Review

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Introduction

A review is usually written for an English-language magazine, newspaper or website. The main purpose is to describe and express a personal opinion about something which the writer has experienced (e.g. a film, a holiday, a product, a website etc.) and to give the reader a clear impression of what the item discussed is like. Description and explanation are key functions for this task, and a review will normally include a recommendation to the reader.

from: Cambridge English First Handbook for Teachers

Reviews are included in Part 2 of your writing exam, which means that, unlike essays, you can choose if you want to write a review or instead work on one of the other options (article, report, letter/email, or story in FCE for Schools).

Writing reviews is fun!

OK OK, it might not be as much fun as, for example, going out with your friends or spending a year travelling around the world, but compared to other writing tasks in the FCE exam, such as essays, it definitely feels a little bit more casual and easy-going. So, whenever I practise review writing in my classes my students are surprisingly fine with it and I hope that you will feel confident as well once you’ve finished reading this post.

First of all, for many students it is not fully clear what to expect from a review task. Luckily, there are a lot of similarities between different reviews and you can use this to your advantage. Prepare by studying these characteristics so you can simply replicate them each and every time you sit down to write a review.

We are going to have a look at the typical requirements, structure and other little things you should include, leave out and/or be careful with, so let’s start by having a look at an example task that could be part of your exam.

What a typical review task looks like

When we look at different review tasks we can see very quickly that there are similarities between them which you can take advantage of whenever you sit down to write. A typical example might look like the one below:

I always tell my students to check two things when looking at a writing task: what to include and who is going to read their text. Read the task carefully and underline the key parts. Below I have done all of that for you.

So, who is going to read the review? Because you are writing for an English-language magazine their readers are going to be your audience. Why is this important? In the FCE writing exam you are marked on your use of appropriate language for each task, which includes the right register (formal, neutral, informal). Choosing the wrong one can cost you marks so we don’t want that to happen.

In our example we should choose a neutral to informal style as we are writing for a magazine. Many different kinds of people will read your review so we don’t want it to be too informal, but still keep it light and interesting.

There are also three main points that we have to include in the review: what surprising thing the main character of the book did, why it was surprising and whether or not you would recommend the book.

The good thing for your review writing, in general, is that there are always three things that you have to include. These are usually a description (What did the main character do?), a discussion (Why was it surprising?) and a recommendation (Would you recommend the book to other people?). You can normally look for these three things in every review and you will see how similar all the different tasks are.

How to organise your review

Once you have analysed the task, it is time to organise your review. You might already have guessed it, but there is a plan that you can follow every time because the tasks are all very similar.

Looking back at our example task, there are three main ideas that we have to deal with in our text:

Of course, we can give each of these points a paragraph so our review already has three. (Note that we could combine the first and second point into one paragraph as they both talk about the actions of the main character.) Adding a title an interesting introduction makes it four and we are ready to go. The outline of our review (and every review, really) now looks like this:

And just like that we have a universal plan for most review tasks in the FCE writing exam.

Plan before you start writing

Just before we start looking at the four different parts of every good FCE review I would like to remind you of one very important tool that a lot of students forget about once they are sitting in the official exam. I’m talking about the importance of making a plan before you even start writing.

Take three or four minutes to make a little map with the different paragraphs and just two or three key words under each heading so you know exactly what you want to include in your text. This way, you won’t forget anything you want to write about and feel more relaxed once you actually start putting your pen to paper.

The different parts of a review

In this part of the post we are going to look at the different sections of a review using our example task so you know exactly what to expect and what to be careful with. Obviously, you will have to adjust your language and vocabulary to each specific task, but I will give you some general advice and expressions you can always use.

Introduction

The main purpose of the introduction is to create interest so the reader wants to find out what you have to say about the book, film, restaurant or whatever you have to write about. You can use a few tricks to achieve that:

Firstly, start with a personalised question. This connects the reader to your review and makes them want to continue reading, and secondly, don’t give away the surprise but only give a little hint at it. This way, you can create even more excitement.

With these things in mind, I wrote this example introduction for you:

What would you do if you could travel back in time? Most people would probably meet their great-great-grandparents or watch how the amazing pyramids in Giza were built, but Jake Epping, the main character of the novel “11/22/63” by Stephen King finds himself in a completely unexpected situation and he has to make a very difficult decision that will change history as we know it.

As you can see, I followed my advice and started with a personalised question. It makes the reader wonder what they would do if they were in the main character’s situation. I also tease the surprising decision the main character Jake has to make, but I don’t say what exactly it is.

Description

The next point we’re going to talk about is the description portion of your review. Here, you need to give some information based on your task. In our example you have to say what surprising thing the main character did.

The best part about the description is that you don’t have to do anything special – just answer the question and move on. Of course, there are some things that (don’t) make sense to include so let’s go into a little bit more detail.

Jake, a teacher in a little town in Maine, finds a mysterious time portal in the back of a ragged diner which takes him back to the year 1958. He soon realises that every time he goes through the portal he gets to the exact same point in the past. Eventually, he makes the unexpected decision to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from brutally killing President John F. Kennedy on 22.11.1963.

In my paragraph I don’t talk about unrelated things, but only the details that are necessary to understand how Jake gets to the point at which he makes his surprising decision. I also included some descriptive adjectives and adverbs to make my paragraph a little bit more interesting (mysterious, ragged, exact, eventually, unexpected, brutally).

Follow my advice and don’t make it too complicated for yourself. Describe what you have to describe and go to the next point.

Discussion

The next step is the discussion portion of your review. There is usually some part in which you have to give your opinion in every review writing task (That’s what discussion really means.) so it is really important to keep the following things in mind:

In the example task you need to discuss why the main character’s action is surprising so here is what I would write about my book “11/22/63”:

It seems to me that Jake could choose many other and more personal things to do, but he decides to try and change history to a degree that he cannot predict. I my opinion, that came definitely unexpected and if I were in his position I probably wouldn’t even consider a task this far-reaching.

Once again, I followed my own advice to only answer the question and to use specific language (it seems to me that, in my opinion). You see that it’s not that complicated if you know what to do.

Recommendation

The last part of your review is usually a recommendation to your readers. As in the previous to chapters you have to use specific language to please the examiner and to make it clear to the reader that you are recommending something.

My recommendation looks like this:

I definitely recommend “11/22/63” to everyone who has already read some of Stephen King’s novels as well as to those who like stories with twists and turns around every corner plus you get some modern history on top of that. For me, it was absolutely worth reading and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

As you can see, I used specific language to give recommendations (I definitely recommend) and concluded the review with a final sentence (…it was absolutely worth it…).

If you put all four parts (introduction, description, discussion, recommendation) together and follow the advice given in this post, your review will be a hit.

How your review is marked

Marking FCE writing tasks is like a science and for a lot of students it feels as if there is this big mystery and nobody really knows how it works. Actually, there are very clear rules that the examiners have to follow and the criteria are publicly available.

While it is possible to find all the information on your own I thought it would be a good idea to put everything together in an article for you. Check out how your writing tasks are marked by clicking here.

Now it’s time to practice

I believe that reviews are one of the more enjoyable writing tasks and, hopefully, this article will help you improve. Start practising and let me know in the comments which piece of advice you found most useful.

How to Write a Good Book Review

Have you ever thought about writing a book review, but weren’t sure where to begin? You aren’t alone. Sharing your feedback with other book lovers can feel intimidating. Plus, if you write it, you want to make sure other people are going to read and benefit from it.

Reviewing a book is more than just summarizing the plot. It’s about sharing your experience with other readers to help them gauge if it is something that they would enjoy reading as well. A good book review includes a definitive opinion, shares your own personal experience, and offers a recommendation on what type of person would like the book. Read on to find out how to implement these elements when writing a book review.

Get Started Writing a Book Review

Before putting pen to paper (or in this case fingers to keyboard), there are certain preliminary steps that will help you get started writing a good book review.

First, take some time to think about what initially drove you to pick up the book, what kept you reading, and what you want other readers to know about your experience. You may want to spend some time researching book review examples or revisiting specific reviews that drove you to read a certain book.

Next, decide what it is that you want to say in your book review. Then gather specific examples from the book that support your position. The more you can offer a strong, yet subjective position supporting your view, the more credibility you will have with your reader.

Finally, identify your target audience. Since not every genre of book is going to appeal to every reader, you want to be specific about who will enjoy it. Let your readers know who the review is geared towards. For example, the audience for a review about a science fiction book is going to be different than the audience for a cookbook.

Tips for Writing a Good Book Review

Now that you’ve prepped what you want to say, how you want to say it, and who you want to say it to, it’s time to start writing. Below we’ve gathered our favorite tips to help you write a good book review. Wait… make that a GREAT book review.

1. Include general information

Make sure to include all the relevant book information for your audience, including the title, author, genre, and publisher in your review. While not necessary, it is also helpful to include the number of pages, list price, and ISBN number.

2. Provide a brief plot summary

After the hook, you can then move on to the brief plot summary. This summary shouldn’t be too long, but it can be a paragraph that explains the basic plot so that the reader better understands if it’s a topic of interest. One pitfall to avoid is to give away spoilers in the plot summary. Don’t give away any plot twists, and err on the side of caution if you feel that the information is too much. For example, tell the reader that the plot has unexpected twists rather than explain any surprises in the summary.

3. Focus on the book, not the author

Keep in mind that your main job as a reviewer is to share your opinion on the book, not to critique the author. Keep the focus on the story. Avoid referencing pitfalls in any of the author’s past books or what you about them as a writer. You can provide a brief introduction to the story mentioning the author and past books, but don’t spend too much time focused on the author. The review should focus on the content of the book and its characters.

4. Be clear and specific

It is not enough to just say that you did or didn’t like the book. Let your readers know why. Make your thoughts clear as early as possible and explain the reasons why you liked or disliked specific storyline components and characters. Be specific about what you loved about the writing, what drew you to the characters, or what left you feeling lukewarm about the plot. You don’t need to explain every aspect of the book, but the reader should walk away with a sense that they understand the basic plot and determine from the review if they want to read the book for themselves.

5. Remain subjective

Not all book reviews have to be glowing, but they should be subjective. Rather than just saying you didn’t like something, support it by letting your readers know why. We all gravitate towards different things, so what may not appeal to you may appeal to someone else. If you remain subjective, then you can explain to the reader the basic story and let them decide for themselves. The review can include your likes and dislikes, but they should focus on what you felt the story did well and what parts of the story you didn’t like. However, the main focus of the review should be to explain the story so that readers can determine if they want to read the book further.

6. Avoid spoilers

We know it can be tempting, but do your best not to let any spoilers slip in your book review. Have you ever been excited to see the latest blockbuster hit (or watch the season cliffhanger to your favorite TV show) and then someone spoils the end before you even have time to watch? That is exactly what you don’t want to do to your reader. As you explain the book in your summary, ask yourself if what you are explaining ruins any surprises or twists. As you write the review, keep it vague. For example, explain that there is a major plot twist but don’t go into the specifics.

7. Be transparent

Always share if you received an incentive to review the book, got an advance copy, or have any connection to the author. Your readers will appreciate your honesty. Plus, it helps you avoid the negative impact on your credibility if they find out later. Getting paid for a review is a perfectly reasonable excuse to read a book, but it does allow readers to determine if you’re being unbiased. By specifying if you have any relationship with the author, the reader can better trust your opinion, even if they feel you’re being more biased.

8. Keep it short

While book reviews can be any length, it is always best to keep it short and succinct. Pull in your reader with a strong first sentence that sets the tone of the review and end with your recommendation. Remember, most people start to scan when something gets too long. A book review is a short summary, so writing a novel-length review loses reader interests. Keeping it short will ensure that your readers will dive into your likes and dislikes and use your reviews to determine if they have an interest in the books.

9. Proofread before posting

The quickest way to lose credibility is to post a review filled with typos. Make sure to give your final book review a thorough read before posting it and double check the spelling of any character names or places that you mention. Even better, ask someone else to read it over. It is always good to have a fresh pair of eyes proof to catch any typos. If you don’t have a family or friend who will help with proofreader, you can join a writing community where members offer test reads and proofreading. Make sure that you don’t post the review publicly, because search engines will index it and the review will no longer be unique content.

Also, keep in mind that you will want to write different book reviews for different sites. Don’t just copy and paste the same review. Google search engines scan for duplicate content and if flagged, your review won’t appear.

10. Add a hook

The hook is one or two sentences that grab the reader and convince them to keep going. It should be interesting, but it should also stick with the topic without misleading readers. The hook could be a simple statement that explains the main character of the book, or it could ask a question that resonates with the reader. Don’t make the hook too sensational to avoid sounding like a sales pitch. It should simply provide an introduction that grabs reader interests.

11. Explain what you liked about the book

Writing your own book review is a way to explain what you liked about it, and what you liked could be of interest to another reader. This section allows you to personalize the review. You can explain what you liked about the characters, who was your favorite character, what part of the book was your favorite, and if the book invoked any personal feelings (e.g., you laughed or cried).

12. Explain what you disliked about the book

You likely have something that you disliked about the book, and this section explains what you wish would have been different about the storyline or the characters. Just like the other sections, make sure that you do not reveal too much and give away important plot lines that could be considered spoilers for the rest of the story.

13. Include brief quotes as examples

Brief quotes provide readers with better insight into characters. Using quotes from characters will help the reader follow the plot summary and determine if the characters are people they can relate to. Avoid using excessively long quotes. Since the reader hasn’t read the book, a long quote could ruin plot twists or overpower the review.

14. Reference similar books

A great way to introduce readers to a specific book is to compare your book review with other books. For example, you can explain to the reader that they will like the current book you’re reviewing if they like another similar book. Alternatively, you can also compare characters between books to provide better insight into the story’s characters and the dynamic between individual characters.

Ready to make your own book? Get started quickly and easily with our free bookmaking software, Bookwright.

Steps to Writing a Good Book Review

A good book review is much like an academic book report, but when you prepare a book review for school, you must answer a further question in order to create a perfect and effective book review: “Would I recommend this book for others to read?” When writing a good book review college students forget about such an important nuance and even if the paper is written effectively this can strongly influence your grade. After reading this article you will understand the main purpose and the meaning of a book review and how to conduct your analysis in a way that will meet the requirements of your assignment. Our book review writing steps will assist you in creating a paper for a high grade. Follow these guidelines and steps for how to write a good book review essay now:

Step One: Reading a Book

Step Two: Description

Step Three: Examples and Comparison

Step Four: Conclusion

In the final part of your paper you should highlight some important things. Give your opinion about whom this book is written for and who may want to read it. How good is this book in comparison with other author’s books and why? Would you like to read it once more? If you will give a response for all these questions in a stylish and simple form, you can be sure that your book review will be receive a great grade!

Follow our writing tips and have fun writing a book review because this is one of those writing assignments where you are free to give your personal point of view and present it to your classmates, friends and other people. Our book review guidelines will provide each student with professional book review writing help to get the best grade in your class!