A couple weeks ago, someone confronted me on Twitter and suggested that I do a post on how to write great book reviews, because it’s something the person always struggled with. I sat with this idea for weeks and weeks, but never wrote the post. Why? Because my reviews aren’t a formula and I didn’t know how to tell people to write reviews without a formula. But I think I may have finally found my words.
Everyone has their own method for writing reviews
I write my reviews one way and 5 other bloggers probably write them 5 different ways. The bottom line is that you have to find a system that works for you. There is no cookie cutter for writing a great book review. You can’t go through a checklist and hit some specific points just to write a good one; that’s simply not how it works. You have to find your groove and completely work it.
Recipe-free works for me!
Some bloggers have a really specific system. They take notes, they write down themes in the story, they carefully hit all the big topics (characters, plot, writing, world building, etc.), and make sure to carefully analyze the story and relationships. That’s not me. At all. Checklist-type reviews like that clearly work for some people, and that’s awesome. But it’s simply not how I work.
I’m just going to give you the feels!
When I write a review, I don’t want to feel like I’m writing an analytical essay. I don’t want a thesis statement with supporting paragraphs that are carefully organized. Instead, my goal is just to convey to you how I felt when reading the book. Did the characters piss me off? Then I’m going to go on a little rage rant, and I bet 80% of my review will be all about that. Was the romance freaking amazing? Then I’ll fan girl all over it and probably use some OH EM GEE CAPS LOCKS!!!!
My goal is just to tell you what I liked and what I didn’t like. Beyond that I don’t have any rules or criteria. If that means I’m going to talk about the characters, the plot, and the writing style, then fine, that’s what I’ll do. If it means I’m going to spend my whole review just talking about one of those things, then that’s fine too.
My reviews are an expression of my feelings; not a carefully crafted essay
I always see people talking about how they spend days or even weeks writing a review. To me, that just sounds like more high school English classes. My reviews are all about how I feel, which is why I think I whip them out so quickly. It rarely takes me more than 15 minutes to write a review. I just think, “What rocked and what sucked?” and I let the words and emotions flow from there.
Does that mean that sometimes my reviews are messy?
Yes.
Does that mean that sometimes my reviews are incoherent?
Yes.
Does that mean that sometimes my reviews are unfocused and jumbled?
Yes.
Does that mean that sometimes my reviews only talk about one topic?
Yes.
Is that okay?
YES!
I’m a really giggly, crazy, and emotional person, and that’s why my reviews are the way they are. If I were recommending a book to someone in real life, I wouldn’t sit down and say, “The writing style is superb and she really nails the self discovery and family dynamics. Instead, I’d probably have a huge, crazy grin on my face and jump up and down and shout things like, “OHMYGOD WHAAAAT? YOU HAVEN’T READ THIS YET??? GIRL THAT ROMANCE WILL FREAKING BLOW YOUR MIND!” So, that’s a bit what my written reviews are like.
Do what works for you!
Some people are very analytical. They like to break things down into sections and have little boxes to fill out for their reviews. If my spazzy, insane review style doesn’t work for you, that’s fine! Maybe you would be better off with a checklist or headings to help guide you through your writing.
I think the harder you try to “write a great book review”, the less it’s going to happen. Just stop thinking about trying to write a great review, and just write one. If you’re genuine and do what works for you, then it will be great. Experiment with different methods until you find your groove, then totally rock it. Once you’ve found something that works for you, just push it all the way, and your review will become great on its own.
How do you write your book reviews? Do you have a checklist or do you just let the emotions fly?
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Well, I don’t have a checklist, but my reviews do have a similar theme to them. First of all, I take some notes while I’m reading. Just things that I think of like ‘Oh she’s a really fun main character!’ and after reading, those notes help me writing my review. I always write them immediately after reading or as fast as I can. And same with you, they’re done in less than 15 minutes.
My reviews are usually the same in one way. First there’s the intro sentence (or two), then a short summary of the book, my thoughts on the writing, the story, the romance,… After that my thoughts on the characters, and whatever else I feel like writing. I end with a short conclusion of my opinion and who I recommend this book to (or not).
But even that can change a bit. I don’t have much to say sometimes so my review will be shorter. =)
Awesome. Loves.
I always liked your “feels” reviews. But I also like organized reviews too. I try to hit my reviews in the middle. I have my headers: At a Glance, The Good, The Bad, The Snuggly, Final Thoughts. I like those because one thing I don’t like about some reviews from others is them not telling me about the bad or the romance. If they give a book 3 stars, there has to be a mention of what didn’t work or I go insane. But within those categories, I let whatever comes out, come out. I don’t plan that. Sometimes I get a fangirl and squeal a lot, sometimes I am somber, sometimes I am just middle of the road. I let the book dictate my attitude in my review. I do naturally mention plot, characterization and so on cuz I am a writer after all, I notice that crap. lol.
However, it does take me about an hour to write my reviews which is annoying.
I agree with you that every blogger works differently, just like every author has their own style. There is no fomula, you’re very right about that.
I treid a few different things. At first, I just wrote what came to mind, but later I got me a small system. I have list of points I could say something about, but I don’t always do all of them, but go with my feeling of what to focus on for each review. There will always be a plot and a character section, but that’s it for the “have to”s. Thus, if there was a great romance, my character/relationship section will be pretty long, or if it had a lot going on I’ll write more into the plot section, or if I found a totally new and fascinating concept, then that’s what I’ll write about.
Meaning, I like to have some guidelines, but I’m a rebel and rulebreaker. It’s in my genes, what can I say? Can’t even stick to my own rules and guidelines. 😛 But I think that’s okay, because books are individual, and readers are, so reviews are consequently individual and different as well.
I don’t have a method for my reviews. I write down what feels good for me. I do like taking notes, just as a reminder what scenes/quotes I want to use in my review. It’s easier for me to have something on paper and it’s the basic of my review. The rest is filled with emotions/thoughts and sometimes I’m fangirling and hyper. My reviews are never the same.
I alway love to read reviews with feelings, because it shows so much personality 🙂 It almost feels like I’m talking to the reviewer. But I also like analytic reviews, because they tell me all the information about the book I want to hear. It’s great that there is a mix of these reviews in the blogging-world.
I’m the exact same way – which is why I call my “reviews” – discussions – less I rancor some of the more touchy book “reviewers” out there.
I break mine down into open, setting the scene, characters, plot and conclusion but the whole dang thing is how I felt about characters the take etc.and yes I can and do go fangirl. I do not take notes..I just share it.
What a wonderful post, Ashley! This made me relax . Every time I write a review, I always ask myself whether I’m doing it right.
And choosing between essay like reviews and emotional reviews, I would definitely choose reading emotional reviews. It’s more personal and in a way, it makes me know more the person behind the blog.
As for how I write my review, I am now practicing taking down notes. Previously, I don’t but because I’m reading a lot of books now, I think I ‘m bound to forget something important. Once I have my notes, I will quickly go over them and write my review. And before I forget, I just love Goodreads “currently reading” status update feature. If I am lazy to jot down notes on my notebook, I just type short notes on the status update. And I’m good to go.
I really love the idea of this post, Ashley! I think we all struggle with insecurities when it comes to book blogging, and writing a ‘perfect’ review is certainly one of mine. It’s something I certainly struggle with on a daily basis, but hopefully I’ll be able take a page out of your book and allow myself to relax a little.
I’m definitely guilty of being an analytical reviewer. I don’t do anything in my life without extensive planning, care, and attention and this is certainly reflected in my review style. I do take extensive notes as I read, and have a certain number of ‘issues’ (Characters, Themes, Narrative Style, etc) that I ideally like to touch upon in each review. That said, that’s what works for me! I would never be able to fly by the seat of my pants and write a review on a whim, however much time it might save me, and I’m starting to realize that that’s okay. Maybe it does take me a little longer to write a review, and maybe as a result I’ll only post one or two reviews a week instead of three or four. I’m slowly coming to the realization that blogging is a very personal experience and there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to go about it.
The funny thing is, in terms of reading reviews, I really don’t have a preference as to which style I prefer. I think both can tell you valuable information about a novel, and I find that of the 50+ book blogs I read on a daily basis, the split is fairly even between the two reviewing styles. As you mentioned, all that truly matters is the review is true to the author writing it. You can always tell! 🙂
I think I’m the same way. I just write down how I felt, what I liked, what I didn’t like, and anything I can think of. I don’t have a system or a checklist. But, sometimes I wish I did. I find myself, being the forgetful person that I am, going back and editing reviews because I forgot to add something that I wanted to add while I was reading and then my brain let go of the thought.
This post!!!!! Thank you for the great advice, Ashley! I’ve always been a feeler, I write in capslock and write omg a lot sometimes letting my sentences run crazy like thisssss and yes adding unnecessary letters! As I’ve started blogging though, I’ve learned to become more of a calculator. While it is a great thing and it has helped me to be more coherent and write more respectable, thorough reviews that I’m proud of, it also holds me back sometimes. I sometimes omit my feels just to write a better-looking review. And me without ‘the feels’ doesn’t feel like me at all. So I guess what I’m saying is thank you for this post, and bringing back my spontaneous review-writing self. 🙂 xoxo
I love this post!! It’s so perfect because I pretty much write my reviews the same way as you do. I don’t think about it and it normally only takes me about 15 minutes. I rarely second-guess myself when I write a review. I just write it, read through once, and schedule. I also have to write my reviews right after finishing a book. I can’t start a new one until I write my review for the last one I read.
I tend to focus a lot on characters in my reviews because that’s my favorite part of reading: getting to know the characters. And of course, I fangirl over hot boys and steamy romances!
Great post, Ashley!
Ahh. I clicked through to this post from Twitter because I thought, “Do we really need to tell people how to write reviews?”
But everything about this post is absolutely, 100% true. (So yes, I guess we do.) Just do what you feel is right. Don’t worry about it too much. I’m with you—I’m an “explain how I feel” reviewer. Rock on. 🙂
I’m kind of in the middle somewhere between organized and messy. I guess I TRY to touch upon all those aspects (characters, plot, writing, etc.), but sometimes I leave one or more out. I find that if I push too hard, then it sucks. So, if I don’t have anything interesting to say about a certain topic, I’ll usually leave it out.
I’m like you in that I write my reviews very quickly. I spend more time making the post look good and checking it for spelling/grammatical errors than I actually spend writing it.
Oh, and I take notes while I’m reading, but that’s just so I don’t forget a certain thought I had while reading. I have a bad memory, so if I didn’t take notes my reviews would never have anything very interesting to say!
I do lots of bookmarks while I read with little notes of my responses and if I’m stuck writing my review I go back to them. Most the time though it just flows. I do separate my reviews into 4 sections – my initial response, characters, story, and concluding sentiments. It just allows me to be organized and I figure that it makes the review a little easier to skim for what you want to know. But I don’t spend a lot of time writing my reviews – maybe 20-30 minutes tops. The hardest ones for me to write are the books I didn’t like, because I want to make sure that I don’t start book bashing and actually give good explanations for my response. Great post!
When writing reviews I always feel like I should be sticking to some kind of structure; you know, talking about the story and the development of the characters and whatnot. Then I figure, there will be plenty of those reviews around already and I should talk about the things that /I/ liked, and the things /I/ disliked. So thank you for this post, I am definitely a ‘feel’ reviewer.
Ohmygosh, Ashley. YES to this entire post. I really admire bloggers who can be so organized and objective in their reviews, because I just can’t all the time. So often I focus on how the book made me feel / if it moved me because my ratings depend on that, so my reviews are ranty sometimes, fangirlish others. And then sometimes I AM able to step back and be a little more objective but I generally like my reviews the way they are. BUT that doesn’t mean my way or your way or any one persons’ way is the *right* way for anyone other than them. A great review is one you put your whole heart into, IMO.
Great Discussion and yes I think everyone has their own style. I know I love my headings, I couldn’t write a review without paragraphs and sub-headlines, but this is my style. Also I think I ramble a lot and only focus on things that stand out for me good or bad. I am a Feeler and I know that this makes me reviews sometimes a little weird and without real structure. But hey, that is what works for me.
Sometimes I’m not happy but, what can I do – I’m just a girl after all…
I know that I write my reviews best when I just finished a book, but I do not have time for this so I do take notes and highlights on my Kindle which then helps me write my review later when I have time to sit down and write.
Yes I totally agree, every review style is different and it takes such a long time to find what works best for you, but eventually it happens. For me, I just point out noticeable pros or cons, what worked and what didn’t, and if I don’t mention the romance or anything, I thought it was okay and not worth mentioning. I know some people who hit every aspect of the book really thoroughly, and I also LOVE book reviews like that. I like book reviews PERIOD and if someone writes one that correctly conveys their thoughts towards it, then I’m good to go 🙂
Fantastic post, Ashley! <33
I wish you had written this post ages ago, I had the same insecurities within me when writing a book review for the first few times (I may even have them now too). I always admired (and still do) how other book bloggers write this magnificent reviews, analizing every single aspect that I would never have thought to write about. Yet, I’ve found that I only have to write what I think about the book not “what would this other person think about it?”. I stick close to my thoughts and it works for me, just like it works differently to other bloggers and readers out there. 🙂
Another great post, Ashley!
My style’s more of what you could expect from a student. Usually, I take weeks to write a review, because I usually wouldn’t have the time to finish it. And I only include the cover and all the other Goodreads info the week before I post it.
As for writing reviews, the only thing I aspire for is to be able to write reviews well. By that, I mean my readers would be satisfied, they’ll understand what I’m talking about, and it would actually be informative.
I’m a formula/checklist kind of person by nature but I don’t do that with my book reviews. I agree with you on discussing how the book made me feel. It tends to be the only reviews where I go a little more formulaic is the ones set in different countries for my Around the World in 80 books reading challenge. Mostly because I like to share what I learned about the culture/history, places I’d want to visit and the food I’d want to try besides just feelings.
Great post and glad I am not the only one who is inconsistent in what reviews look like or say.
Love this post! I’ve been a blogger for almost four years now and I go back and forth with how I review ~ at times when I’m feeling unsure of my blog and my reviews I will become very analytical. . .but it is when I let go and write like I would tell my bookclub about a book, that’s when I’m really feeling my review and just go with it ~ you’re absolutely right, there is no magical formula and each of us write in a unique manner ~ that’s what makes our blogs our own. Great discussion!
I agree with you. I used to try to go by a certain outline, but I realised that constricted the way I wanted to write my review! I just wanted to write how I felt about it, but following the specific guidelines was killing me! That’s why now I just write what I feel!
I write my reviews the same way you do. What did I like best or worse about the book. Basically if it really got my attention, then it’s in my review. I am all about the feels!
Thank god I’m not the only one who writes reviews that fast! I was afraid I was being a lazy writer since I don’t take as long on reviews as so many bloggers. Of course I’m a bit more structured with my pros and cons list, but I purposefully only write reviews when I’m in a “punchy” mood since that’s when I feel like I express the true craziness going on in my head, haha
Hi Ashley! I think you said it all. There isn’t a formula for great reviews, you got to do what works for you. I can’t write reviews with checklists. My reviews are a bit messy and I really just talk about what I felt while reading, what the book made me think about, wether I liked this or that and why not… It’s really random. Each book provokes a different reaction! So, some of my reviews are more “sober” than others. Great post!
I take notes when reading, and refer to them when I’m writing my review – but I don’t have any sort of template. I just write things as they come, and maybe I’ll go back and forth, move sentences or paragraphs around so it all flows better, but generally I just write what feels right.
Often I find when I convey something that I jotted in my notes, I’ll instantly think of something else to add – which is great when I haven’t taken too many notes for a particular book!
Hahaha, I am TOTALLY a hybrid of check list and feels sort of reviewer. Like, when I write a review, I do an out line first and I always, always talk about why I was interested in the book in the first place beyond – IT SHOWED UP ON MY DOOR STEP, then I talk about the plot/provide a quick summary of what the book is about, then I go into things like the main character – if I was into them, how steamy the romance was, if the world building did it for me. And like if something really gave me feels, then I write about it.
Also, my audio reviews were getting stale so like, I started a new question answer format for that, and I love doing it that way. OH and sometimes I like to do bullet point reviews – but with paragraph bullet points. IDK, I just keep on changing it up, because I get so bored so easily these days. Super post though!