When I was back in school, we were given the task of writing a review for a TV programme we liked. My review then was pretty poor, and got some bad feedback from the teacher. Sadly I doubt my review writing skills have improved much since then.As there so many great book bloggers and book reviewers, I thought it would be good to get some advice on what to cover in a review. I would look at some of the following areas as a starting point:
* General Information: Title, author, copyright date, publisher, and genre.
* Plot summary
* Themes/issues explored
* Characters
* Style
* Star rating, and my reasoning behind the decision.
Are there other things you like to read in a review, or areas I have missed out?
2 comments:
Writing reviews are bloody hard, and there's no one way of doing a good one. When it comes to fantasy fiction (that's all I know :P) I like to know if the reader was completely ensnared by the story and the characters, and atmosphere plays an important part for me. Pacing is also an important issue that I tend to focus on; whether or not the book is a frantic page turner with conflict after conflict, or if it tends to drag after the major plot points.
Reviewing any fantasy/sci-fi, including world building is always a plus. A review that takes a look at how well crafted the author's universe is makes for a good review to me :)
There's not a set format for it though (though I sometimes wish there were). If characters are a more important aspect of a novel to you than the pacing or the conflict, then focus on the characters in your review. Hope any of this helps :)
thanks!! I definitely need to read more fantasy books...and yeah i think you're totally right about the world building. i will pester you sometime for a list of recommended reading!
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