As a reader, I've read hundreds of book reviews. Most good, some bad. Many I agree with, several I don't. Though as a new book blogger, I haven't written many reviews. So, in your opinion, what makes a good book review? Long, medium or very brief? Do you like summaries in the reviewer's own words, or would you rather see the back cover blurb in quotes? How much "emotion" do you like to see (gushing with praise/distaste or just the facts)?
There's a (famous) reviewer I've seen on Amazon that has written 1000s of book reviews, and each one typically follows the same formula: Three brief paragraphs. The first two are a summary of the story. The third paragraph is usually a positive summary of the first two paragraphs. Though that's somewhat helpful, I feel that those reviews lack depth. I'm looking for a bit more. I ask this question because I've already been dinged a couple times on Amazon for posting an "unhelpful" review.
What do you think?
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I don't have an answer but I'm excited to read what others think about it.
ReplyDeleteI want more from a review than what Harriet Klausner writes but still people seem to like her reviews.
I think it depends, the 3 paragraph formula does make things concise and "professional" looking and I agree with you about them lacking emotional depth.
ReplyDeletePersonally, my review structure varies... every book is like an individual and should be treated like one. The nature of my relationship with one book might be different then my relationship with another. So the level of expression will reflect that.
Now one of my readers might have a different relationship with that same book and they might express themselves differently than I would.
I've even had odd experiences where I had read a book and have had very little to say about it. It is a rare occurrence that is similar to pulling teeth when you know that you must write something.
It is hard for me to look at reviews and say this is a good review, this is a bad review because so much of it depends on the readers personal taste and their personality types.
I am also interested in hearing what everyone else has to say. Very interesting question!
I should also mention, it is hard to be a critic if you are a poet because a poet is going to find all expression and creation beautiful in some way. :)
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Medium reviews, with the reviewer's own words. If there is a quote you think its interesting, thats fine, as long as you don't copy too many....it feels like I'm reading the book instead of a review.
ReplyDeleteI like emotion, but also facts. Sometimes I don't like a book, but that is just my opinion. There are other people that might like it and want to read it...I hate it when people destroy books just because they didn't like it.
I don't think there is a formula....just be yourself. :D
I find I enjoy reviews that are a little longer and focus mostly on the reviewer's feelings and experiences with the book. I feel like if you've given a summary from amazon or goodreads or wherever, you don't need to spend half the review summarizing the plot. I care about what the reviewer thought.
ReplyDeleteI also like to see a balance of likes and dislikes. Sometimes a book is so awesome that all I can do is gush about it, but usually there are some things that worked for me and some things that didn't and I try to highlight both in my reviews.
I think there's a tendency in book reviewing to try to gloss over negative things about a title in order to not hurt people's feelings, but I think that that's not doing anybody any favors, whether they be readers, authors, or just someone who stumbled on a blog accidentally.
I definitely wouldn't put much stock in getting the unhelpful rating on reviews on Amazon. I think some people give that rating if they simply don't agree with what the reviewer says about the book. I have one review that has been marked unhelpful a lot and I think it is because I didn't particularly care for the book and gave specific reasons as to why but most everyone else who reviewed the book enjoyed it a lot. I tend to do a short summary in my own words and then just give my overall thoughts on the book. Some of my reviews probably do get a little long. Sometimes I really get into specifics about exactly what worked and what didn't for me in a book but other times it is more of a general reaction. I wish that people would comment on more of my reviews so that I could have a better idea of how I could improve my reviews to be more helpful. But since I get very few comments on my reviews I just kind of muddle through and hope that someone is actually reading them!
ReplyDeleteExcellent question. One that I am curious about too because I never really asked if the reviews I write are "good" or not. Now I am wondering.
ReplyDeleteI find that a back blurb synopsis is usually adequate for plot summary. This has exceptions however. I recently did a review for Mackenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard and the synopsis was all of two lines and didn't really say anything about the book. In that case I added additional information and hope that someone else reviewing it (if I were new to the book) would also. I am with Emily that if you have copied the synopsis already spending any more time writing a plot summary is redundant.
What I want to know is "How did this book make you feel?" Did it bore you to tears? Did it make you laugh (a good quote inserted here is always an added bonus...one which I am trying to impliment myself)? Did it make your romantic heart melt (another quote wouldn't be amiss here either)? Did you want to throw the book against the wall and then use it level out your TV stand?
In addition to knowing what emotions the book evoked in you I am one of those ButWhy people. So, you wanted to use it as kindling? ButWhy??? So, Mr. John Jacob Jinglehymer was the best romantic male character you have read about in years...um...ButWhy???? Us ButWhys are everywhere and usually annoy others to the point that the "I'm the mother. That's Why!" statement was trademarked. Ok, maybe it wasn't...but it should have been. But inquiring minds want to know why a certain book is so fab (or nauseating) that we have to read it (or avoid it).
Ok, one more thing and then I'll stop. I am extremely character driven when it comes to my ability to enjoy a book or not. So to me, sentence structure, proper grammer, and MENSA worthy vocabulary are bottom of the barrel when it comes to what is important to me. I recognize that this is me. Not everyone. So, when it comes to reviewers who focus on writing ability vs. story telling I generally won't go back to them for reviews. I do have to say though, that as a horribly atrocious speller and someone who would rather end a sentence with a dash then actual punctuation if a book contains enough typos, misspelling or other things that proof readers should have found that it makes me feel like a super smart genius, I will give it a little mention in my review.
I think that might be about it...maybe there is more in my brain on the subject. I will have to think about it and comment more later.
Thank you all for the helpful comments. I think I'm on the right track with my reviews. I prefer medium length, summary in the reviewers own words, and then the reviewers opinion. I don't like a lot of "gushing" either good or bad. It ends up sounding forced. So far I've had a great time writing my reviews, and I'm sure I will learn as I go.
ReplyDeleteI love reading other people's thoughts on the books they read. Why they loved/hated it. I am not to much a fan of the spoilery type of reviews (though sometimes you just can't avoid it)! I think that medium length usually hold enough info for me to make an informed decision on whether the book is going on my TBR list.
ReplyDeleteHonestly though I would rather read a review by someone who is not to professional about it. I feel like those are written for publishers to read and not another reader. I think the more honest you can be about your opinion the more I am going to get out of the review!
For my reviews, I express how the book made me feel. You can always summarize a book with a synopsis blurb from Amazon or such, but I like reading and writing about the emotions I felt when reading it. Did it make me cry? Did I get the true feeling of romance? Was there the suspense it was claiming to have? Stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to book-blogging!
ReplyDeleteI am new to it too, and even before, I only wrote B&N reviews for a few months!
The best thing about starting your own review blog is that you can do it in a way that is comfortable and learn from what you didn't like from others.
for me, I usually start with an introduction on my opinion of the novel (whether it was great or sucky) then I give a summary. Its medium length and at the end I (now) give it a rating and tell what my favorite part of the book was. I also add suggestions of books by the author in case the reader enjoyed that persons work.
Its a style that works for me, and I even got a comment about my review's helpfulness (which made me happy).(Although I prefer shorter length reviews)
I use other people's reviews to help me pick out the books I want to read! I think they should really be focused 2 parts on the actual content and 1 part on the reviews' opinion. Write reviews that make the reader want to read the book! I am sure you'll find your rhythm! GoodLuck!
As I've read more reviews, I find I prefer them to be of medium length and in the reviewers' own words. A preview of the story and the reader's own thoughts & feelings on the book.
ReplyDeleteYou can usually find the back cover blurb yourself from sites selling books and they can be pretty misleading sometimes.