How to Write a Book Review Like a True Expert: Expert Hints
Reading books and reviewing them is one of the most common activities students are engaged in college or university. In a book review, a student shares his/her evaluation of the text, which helps teachers not only ensure that the student has actually read the assigned text but also assess their critical thinking skills. For this reason, knowing how to write a book review is a crucial skill. Whether you have to read a scholarly article, fiction / non-fiction book, or any other type of publication, the main goal of the review is to describe the publication to the target audience. As a result, your readers should be able to understand whether this publication is worth reading. There are numerous elements of a book review and if you wish to receive high grades for your paper, be sure to familiarize yourself with each of them.
Book reviews are important not only for students but also for book authors because appealing feedback from readers and book critics contribute to the success of the work.
It does not matter if you are working on a book review as a part of your school project or with an intention to publish it on a website such as Amazon or Goodreads because you should demonstrate a strong understanding of the writing rules anyways. If you want to know how to write a good book review, check out the information below.
What Is a Book Review and What Are Its Main Components
Similar to other papers, books reviews should include the following components:
- Introduction
- Brief summary
- Evaluation of the book
- Conclusion
How to write a book review? The first paragraph should present the basic information, such as the book title and its author, book genre, publication date, etc. Additionally, include a brief overview of the theme, relevant background information, and your personal evaluation. In the summary section, highlight the key ideas of the book or summarize the main events of the storyline.
Since a book review is first of all an essay, do not forget to support your claims with evidence. This can be short quotes from the book or brief summary of the plot. In such a way, you will establish credibility and will prove to your reader that you have carefully analyzed the text before forming your opinion rather than simply jumped to conclusions. Remember that a book review essay has to be persuasive.
Book Review Checklist
The following check list will help you use your time with maximum efficiency and produce decent results with minimal effort investment.
Do this prior to reading:
- Read about the author: who are they? What is their writing style? Which historical and cultural context did they live and work in?
- Book genre: is this a work of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc.? What is the purpose of the book?
- Analyze the title: do you think it is interesting? What information about the content of the book does it seem to convey?
- Read the preface and table of content: does the writer include any background information? Maybe there is an editors’ note?
Experienced writers recommend taking down notes as you read. A book review assignment requires extensive use of evidence, so it is better to gather it in advance. Try to answer the following questions while reading the book:
- Provide a short description of the book.
- What do you think was the writer’s main objective and idea? For example, did they wat to describe their life experience, educate the readers, raise awareness, or something else?
- Succinctly summarize the main ideas. Which tools does the author use to prove their point of view? Are these tools effective?
- Evaluate the style of writing. Do you think it is suitable for this publication? Why?
- Who do you think is the target reader of this book? Are the tools and language the author used suitable for this target audience?
Practical Book Review Guidelines
- Think whether the book fits into your personal worldview
- Did the text challenge your personal views and beliefs?
- Think about the social, cultural, political, etc. issues that the author was trying to confront with their text.
- Analyze the style of writing paying attention to such elements as cohesion, flow, and precision of words.
- Was the author’s narration successful?
- Use quotes but do this sparingly.
- When describing characters, focus on their development and try to go beyond mere retelling of what the author said about them. Think about the ways in which characters influence the events in the book.
Avoid the Following in Your Book Review
Check out the most common mistakes students make when writing their academic papers and avoid them in your own assignment. Forewarned is forearmed!
- Try not to get carried away when writing a summary. A review is first of all analysis that serves as a basis for an objective evaluation.
- Base your judgment on what the author is saying and not on your own intentions. You should not criticize the text just because you had different expectations about it. Instead, try to understand the author’s intentions and evaluate the book based on how well they managed to convey them.
- Write papers in your own words. Students might be tempted to use a free online template or copy and paste content found elsewhere on the internet, which is called plagiarism and has serious consequences.
- Focus on both merits and demerits of the book and try not to criticize it heavily even if you did not like it. If you are disappointed, do not let your emotions get in. Remember that you are writing an academic paper, so try to remain objective and impartial and support your claims with strong evidence from the text.
Request a Book Review from Experts
If you are not confident in your skills or do not know how to write a book review, you can seek help from professional book review companies. Whenever you need help with a challenging (or simply boring) academic assignment, do not hesitate to contact Original-essays.org.
Our writers will read the assigned text, do research, and then create a fully original review for you. Our quality department employees will check the paper and scan it on plagiarism checkers. You will receive your impeccable paper according to the deadline. There are several communication systems you can use to reach us, namely email, live chat, phone, and system messages, but all of them are anonymous and designed to keep sensitive data safe. Our writers work shifts, so you can contact us any time of day and night.
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