10 Tips on How to Write a Book Review and Why Anyone Can Do It

Don’t aspire to be like anyone else, find your own voice and attract your own community. Then it’s never hard work, it’s just another step on the path towards refining your writing voice.

That is the key to writing book reviews, blog posts, stories, letters and even novels. If you are interested in writing reviews, here are some of my thoughts on how it works for me.

I started to write reviews during a two week hospital visit accompanying my 9-year-old daughter after her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. I wanted to get my writing out there, so with everything else on hold, except looking after my daughter, I read her A Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson, she created digital art of her imagined secret garden and I wrote my first review post.

Writing is a wonderful journey and reading books and writing reviews represent for me, small steps on this journey I travel Word by Word.

The points below are what I consider helpful in creating a book review.

10 Tips on How to Write a Book Review and Why Anyone Can Do It

#1 Be Discerning in Your Reading

It is good to read outside our comfort zone and genre, however when it comes to books I am considering reviewing, I read what I feel sure I am going to really enjoy. I have learned to take great care in the choice of book I read, because writing about something we appreciated improves our ability to convey our opinion to the reader. We understand more the reasons we like a book than the opposite and are better able to articulate those reasons.

Trust your instinct in choosing, that first voice that tells you whether you want to read something or not. If you are not sure, put it back until you’ve read a few reviews and taken into account the opinions of those you trust.

#2 Highlight Your Favourite Passages

Don’t pass by favourite sentences, paragraphs that made you pause and reread or think ‘Wow’! Highlight, mark, turn over the corners, whatever is your habit. Books that fill up with post-it notes or highlights inspire us more and we can prove it. It could be a descriptive passage if you like poetic language, a captivating dialogue or that point where you suddenly became gripped by the story.

Using quotes in the review is visually interesting and lets the reader see if their taste is similar to yours. Some readers decide to read a book based on well selected quotes.

Try to have an awareness of your emotional state while reading, notice how it made you feel and where it changed.

# 3 Believe in Your Voice

To me, writing about books is a conversation. It is like talking to or writing a letter to a friend, they listen to every word, don’t interrupt the flow and even if they are not particularly interested, never communicate indifference. And as with a conversation, it is not necessary to structure it, just communicate what comes to mind.

Believe in your voice, write how you think or speak and don’t dwell on the first draft, just get it down.

#4 Keep a Small Notebook

I write in a small notebook no taller than my pen and it is always with me. I often write the first draft of my reviews in the notebook because my work is mobile and not in front of a computer. I find the freedom of the outdoors and the distance from the familiar environment a better repository for my thoughts. I don’t write a review immediately after reading, I let it incubate a while. The notebook is essential for two reasons:

a. Inspiration

I write when I feel inspired, when my thoughts about a book are about to bubble over, I need to get them down before I forget them. There is no structure, I just write the things that have been occurring to me. Structure comes later, looking back from a distance, a first draft is creative, editing is more logical and less inspired.

b. Convenience

Pour your thoughts into a notebook sitting on a train or bus, a parked car, those in-between moments; my clearest thoughts arrive away from home and the computer, arriving in those free moments in-between, when nothing is demanded of us.

#5 No Spoilers

Never give away anything that identifies a plot turning point, anything that enlightens the reader, details that you really enjoyed, leave pleasures for the reader to discover by alluding to them.

I recently read Robin Oliveira’s new historical novel about the life of impressionist painters Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas and to increase the intrigue I did not look at any of their paintings until I’d finished the book. In order to preserve that option for readers, I also didn’t show any images of their paintings in my review, too much of a pleasure for me, I wanted reader’s to have the opportunity for the same experience.

#6 Constructive Criticism

Don’t be negative. But don’t lie either. Challenge yourself to write about a book you didn’t like (if you do decide to write the review) without being negative, while still being true. We all have personal taste and the purpose is not to convert readers to our taste, or claim superiority, it is to present a book that some will no doubt be attracted to and to point out why it didn’t work for you.

For me, a review has succeeded when someone decides they would like to read a book I have reviewed but didn’t enjoy, despite my personal opinion, because I haven’t put them off, I’ve been honest in a constructive way. They understand I didn’t like it, they understand the reason why, but they think they might like it. When we read a book we don’t like, remember Point # 1 Be Discerning in Your Reading – and ask yourself, did I take enough care in choosing this book, could I have known beforehand that it wasn’t for me?

Some say it’s better not to review a book we didn’t like, but I think it is important to have balanced reviews at both ends of the spectrum and I personally do read the 1 and 2 star reviews, to understand the criticisms. If you want an example of a review I wrote about a book I didn’t like, check out Never Let Me Go on my blog and the interesting comments it attracted. For many, this book was one of their all-time favourite reads. Not for me at all.

#7 Use Pictures and Paragraphs

Always show the cover of the book and if possible an image or two. Pictures make a text easier to read, less dense and add pleasure to reading a review. Similarly with paragraphs, they break up the text making it easier for people to read and less likely to skip over it.

#8 Structure of the Review

For that first creative draft, forget about structure, but when you reread your review, check if you covered these points.

a. Introduction

Write a friendly first paragraph, I usually say how I came across this book, why I decided to read it, whether I’ve read any other books by the same author or the personal story that lead me to picking up this book. Yes, make it personal! Well, unless you are writing for a publication, then edit out the ‘too personal’ bits, but for a blog, save your anecdotes, most readers love knowing about connections related to books.

b. Overview

Plot, characters, setting, era. Give a brief summary of the book, what is it, a novel, short stories, collection of essays, genre, the main character(s), the form (letters, 1st or 3rd person narrative, stream of consciousness), where and when is it set. But remember people read reviews for opinions, keep plot descriptions brief.

c. Highlights

Favourite passages, quotes, images.

d. The verdict

Thoughts, themes, aspects appreciated, whether it was thought-provoking and in what way, anomalies and frustrations (never use the words like or dislike, say why), comparisons with other books. Analyse at a level you are comfortable with, share what you felt, perceived.

Often when I read reviews I scan over plot summaries and look for the paragraph where the reviewer shares their thoughts on the reading experience. It is like the difference between reading a description of a travel itinerary and actually experiencing it. We want to know what the experience was like, how it made you feel as you read it – describe your encounter with the book and don’t be afraid to say why.

#9 Comment on Reviews

I don’t read reviews while I am reading or reviewing a book. Reviews help me decide whether I want to read a book, then once I have it, I stop. Reading reviews while trying to write our own compromises No.3 Believe in Your Voice. Doing so risks awakening the inner critic and silencing the sensitive, more than capable subconscious within us that knows exactly what to say.

No one else can write in your voice as well as you can and people are attracted to your words precisely because of its authenticity. Your audience are people like you!

Once you have completed a review, if it is for your blog, visit other blogs who have reviewed the title and leave genuine, heartfelt comments. Don’t link back to your review, it’s not about promoting your blog, it’s about engaging with and supporting the community.

Great comments are a sufficient invitation for a like-minded reviewer and lover of books to return the favour. Check the twitter feed and join in conversations about the book and reply/tweet reviewers who have written reviews, spread the word!

#10 Be Respectful

Above all, reread your words and make sure they remain respectful to the author. Writers can take criticism if it is constructive, but they are by nature empathetic beings and therefore more sensitive than most, a book is rarely significant to a reader’s life, but it can be everything to the person who wrote it.

Forget the Rules

The last tip is: forget the rules and the advice and just follow your instinct. By writing regularly, we all improve and develop our style and in the blogging world anything goes; people respond to integrity and we attract what we put out. Bonne Courage!

“It’s harder to take the first step towards a goal, than it is to look back from the heights of having achieved it.”

And remember:
Don’t aspire to be like anyone else, find your own voice and attract your own community. Then it’s never hard work, it’s just another step on the path towards refining your writing voice.