Tips and Tricks: Writing Reviews

Wow, its been a while since my last tips and tricks post! When you first start reviewing, it can be so difficult to find your own style, and to know what makes a good review. While the latter is very subjective, there are certain elements of a review that you can’t go wrong in using. So today, I’;m going to share with you my steps for writing a good review.

1. The hook: I always think its a good idea to start with one sentence that sums up your experience reading a book. It can be witty, frustrated, or a glowing endorsement; as long as it pulls readers in! Some people put stats about a books at the beginning of their review (star rating, author, pages, etc), but I put them at the end. That way, people are puled in to reading my review, but can always skip to the end if they want an overview.

2. Summarize: Remember that not everyone has read, or even heard of the book you’re reviewing. I write my summary so that people know what the book is generally about, but not so much that it becomes tedious to read.

3. The basics: Characters, plot, and writing are always a good place to start when talking about your reading experience. Think about what stuck out to you about them. Was there one character you really loved or hated? Where they just “eh”? What was your impression of the story as a whole? What is the author’s writing itself like?

4. Anything else? After the basics are covered, you may be done. But think if there was anything else that stuck out to you. Maybe you really loved/hated the scenic descriptions. Maybe there was a word that was used over and over again. Or maybe you think this book would be good for fans of another series. If it made an impression on you, write about it!

5. Book Stats: At the end, I always include some more general bullets that I think could be helpful for quickly deciding how to read a book. Choose whatever you think is right for you, but mine are rating (out of 5), pacing, intended audience, and content warnings. That last one I would recommend including no matter what, because its always nice to be considerate of everyone’s experiences!

6. Find your style: Think about what kinds of reviews you like to read. Are they long or short? Are they more structured and professional, or conversational and stream of consciousness? The reviews that I write are the reviews that I would want to read from someone else. I break them up with images so that they don’t look too intimidating, and try to be as concise as possible. Whatever your method is, chances are there’s someone out there it caters to.

There you have it! Once again, these are just my preferences: feel free to take any of them, or none at all. There really is no wrong way to blog, as long as you are being kind and considerate. I hope this helped some of you, feel free to ask any questions, or suggest what you would like to see tips and tricks for next (:

Happy reading!

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