How do you write your book reviews?

[[deleted user]]

I've been meaning to ask. How do you write your book review for this particular genre. Do you have a different criteria when you review a Beyond Reality type of book, as opposed to say a mystery/suspense or a young adult contemporary novel? How do you approach your book review? Please feel free to share your comments here.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I am not really a "reviewer" in any true sense of the word. I generally just write what I liked and disliked about a book, or what I thought was well done and what could have been done better. I do not generally write a plot synopsis and I try to avoid spoilers. And that's what I do regardless of the genre.

[Shel, Moderator]

It depends how much I have to say about a book. I don't review every book I've read - I don't have the time for that! When I do write a review, I generally list things I liked and things I didn't. There's no big difference to how I'll write based on genre.

[Beth]

No difference in approach with different genres here either. I don't always do a synopsis because on Goodreads that info's right at the top of the page, and skip others' synopses for the same reason.

My reviews are typically two or three things I found striking about the book, whether plus or minus. Though a character-centric reader, and a feminist, I get bored if I only focus on those aspects of a book.

A few times I've come up with a really cool sentence that became the linchpin of an entire review. Fun when it happens, if rare. I always recognize those sentences when I go back to re-read, too.

[Antonis]

I try to write reviews for everything I read lately. Short stories & comics only get very short reviews. Full novels usually get full reviews. I've been trying to improve my reviews for the last few months and I'm quite happy with that I write nowadays. My review structure consists of the following parts/paragraphs.

(No synopsis or summary, they can be found easily)
Characters/characterization
Plot & Story
Pacing& Writing
When applicable: World building & Magic for fantasy or Science for SF
Conclusion

I also sometimes use quotes from the book when I feel like it. Such a review will usually take me about 1 hour to write. Oh and I NEVER used gifs... don't get me started about that one... please!

[Mpauli]

I agree with everyone on the issue of synopsis on GR. I don't think it is really necessary.
And under normal cicumstances I'm not the very first and only person, who writes a review for this book and there are many reviewers, who do a remarkable job.

So I always try to do something else with my reviews. I try to take one aspect, structure or one defining atmospheric part of the novel and try to recreate this in my review.
May it be that I do a review written in poetry, a review addressed at literature students in the year 2113, a con job review or a murder mystery, where the review reader can read the review and chase four murderers at the same time.
For a book about stories within stories within stories, of course I did a review within a review within a review.

I often use dialogue between made-up persons, celebrities or movie characters, who relate to the feeling of the book.
I always try to challenge myself to transcend the review format. Sometimes that works out pretty well, at other times it's more of a meh for trying.^^

[Marty]

My "reviews" are usually just a sentence or two, personal notes to help me remember to buy or not buy certain authors. My least favorite experience so far was having an author argue with my review, by sending me a message.

[Sandra]

Marty wrote: "My "reviews" are usually just a sentence or two, personal notes to help me remember to buy or not buy certain authors. My least favorite experience so far was having an author argue with my review..."

Ewww. Tacky behavior from an author.

[Dawn]

I write all my reviews the same...my reviews are really for me so it is my view of what the book was about what I thought was good and what I thought sucked with one line about if I will continue with the series or not.

[Dawn]

Marty wrote: "My "reviews" are usually just a sentence or two, personal notes to help me remember to buy or not buy certain authors. My least favorite experience so far was having an author argue with my review..."

I have had that happen to me a few times. I really do not care for it and have gotten to the point where I don't review self published books.

[Ken]

For me, a quick line saying if I like the book or not. A quick synopsis and then a few comments, negative and positive.

[Nerdsfeather]

I usually start with some introductory statement that situates the book within broader conversations, then summarize the plot, then talk about the good, then the bad and finish by tying things back to the theme of the introduction.

[Van]

I don't change my way of writing reviews for any fiction work. I want to give what I feel the good points of the book, what I particularly liked about the book/story, and only rarely if I really disliked a book or what I didn't like about it in great detail.

I don't usually write a review for a book if I didn't like it, because I feel that is just my personal opinion. Someone else might like it, and I don't want to write something that might discourage others from giving it a try. In doing so, I feel that's disrespecting the author.

I only write a negative review if it is something I feel seriously denigrates a topic, group, etc. but in Beyond Reality type books, I'm glad that it is extremely rare I ever come across one like that. I think that's a way this "category" differs from other types of fiction, and why I like them so much.

I don't agree with authors arguing about a review because that serves no true purpose except perhaps their ego. When a reader/reviewer posts something extremely subjective or some thing that is actually wrong (regarding a fact, topic, or something like that) or tells others not to buy or read a certain author, I completely don't agree with such behavior. In doing so, that is asking for a boycott of an author just on their opinion, affecting their livelihood. Just the same, again, I don't agree with an author confronting them over it. I think it just shows something self-important about that reader/reviewer and their personality.

[Laz]

I write a 2-3 paragraph review of everything I read - reviews are what drive Goodreads. I rarely post a review on Amazon. My goal is to help others decide whether they will enjoy this book, without giving away the story.

My approach is to focus on the quality of the writing, the characters, and the plot. For scifi, is it unique or derivative? Are the worlds/politics/aliens well described and different than human equivalents? For military books, am I drawn in to the battles, can I feel the tension?

I compare the book to others that are similar in plot or style. Most of my reviews are 4-stars, as I try to select books that I'm confident that I will like - based on other reviews here on GR. I give out 5-stars for outstanding creativity and/or writing. I occasionally write negative reviews, usually for poor writing or editing. I mark a book as DNF, but this is rare.

[Lindsey]

I try to review based on the qualities of the book but also add a personal touch of what I liked/disliked. I would like to think that I keep in mind the type of review I find useful. Namely, one that tells me if it has good characters, a clever plot, if it's an original take or entirely unique, is it absorbing, etc. I try not to summarize too much of the plot because I find that useless.

While I comment on elements common to the genre, I don't differentiate how I review by fiction genre. For non-fiction, I do include a note about how accurate or up-to-date it is to the best of my knowledge.

[[deleted user]]

There's a lot of interesting criteria for individual book reviewing here. Thanks for the time sharing your thoughts everyone.