Not this year! This year, I put on my creativity hat and decided to do "book review" for my "B."
Whether they come from a friend ("OMG you have to read this!" or "This was the most boring thing ever.") or the New York Times, they can affect whether or not you want to read a book. Because of the very nature of a review, they're not objective, but a reviewer can and should do their best to provide a well-rounded idea of how they thought the book was.
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| Because more energy is just what he needs... |
What should be discussed in a review? If I'm browsing through Amazon for something to read, I always appreciate it when reviewers mention several things.
Plot: Was it fleshed out and detailed? Was the story slower than molasses, or did it move so quickly and jump around so much it could be mistaken for a toddler given an espresso shot and a free puppy?
Characterization: Could the reader identify with the characters at all, even if they had nothing in common with them? Were they stereotyped? Were they boring, flat templates?
Personal taste: Yeah, even though I appreciate an objective review, I want to know whether the reviewer personally liked the story. Sometimes hearing that something just turned the reader off, or that they liked the story up until a certain point is helpful in making the decision to read something. On the other hand, it's unhelpful when reviewers are too vague about this. Just saying that you didn't like how the book ended isn't helpful; say in your review how you wished you'd heard more about how Character A's life turned out, or what happened to Character B.
Also, balance the positive and negative. Even if a review is mostly negative, make sure to add whether there was anything redeeming about the book, even if you just liked the cover art.
Reviews can also help a book get more promotion. I'm not positive, but I've heard from several authors that once a book gets 50 Amazon reviews, Amazon promotes it more. But don't quote me on that. Either way, 50 Amazon reviews is pretty awesome, and authors love knowing that readers enjoyed their work.
Let me also say that I don't have anything published (yet) for anyone to review, but I certainly hope that people will take the time to do so when I do. It's hugely helpful for the author, whether the review was positive or not.
I'm sure I've forgotten some things, but these are some points I look for in a good book review. What do you look for?
xoxo Sarah
As both a writer and an avid reader I take book reviews very seriously. I review books often and certainly appreciate thoughtful reviews for my books.
ReplyDeleteI know I'll feel the same way when I have something published.
DeleteGood points. I like to leave positive reviews. Even if I am not 100% keen on the book. My taste is different to another's so I cannot justify leaving negative ones.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. Even if I didn't like a book, it may be right up someone else's alley. I'll try to find that one thing I liked and concentrate on that.
DeleteFiction reviews are tough--you want to say enough about the plot so that the reader will know if it's interesting, but you don't want to give too much away! I find nonfiction easier to review.
ReplyDeleteThat makes complete sense. Fiction is very subjective, and what one person may love, another may hate.
DeleteGreat topic! It is hard to judge a book by it's review. Word of mouth (suggestions from you and Jen are a must buy ;0). It's a gamble, but I do like the detailed feedback you see on sites like Goodreads. :0)
ReplyDeleteYep, Goodreads is pretty helpful! Word of mouth is the best because you can grill that person on whether they liked it or not. In written reviews, you're stuck with what they chose to write. :-)
DeleteI agree with your ingredient list for book reviews, and I'll add one more. I like to know whether or not a book reads like it's been well edited. An unending stream of grammatical and punctuation errors can throw me out of a book pretty thoroughly; if I know in advance that a book is sloppily written, I can either gird my loins and risk it if the description sounds compelling enough, or just move slowly away. :)
ReplyDeleteAh! Great point. Being an editor myself, errors take me right out of the story and make me want to call up the author and publisher and complain.
DeleteAll I know about reviews is that they are essential. That and they are hard to get. I mean without paying for them.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sure the ratio is far lower than authors would like...probably something like between 1-5% of readers review. I'm making the percentages up, but they seem like they'd be accurate.
DeleteHI Sarah, thanks for stopping by and following. I like reading a review from a reliable source. If I have agreed with their opinion in the past, I tend to take the review more seriously. I have also started writing my own reviews. There are a few on my blog.
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice! It's the same way I think about movie reviews. If a critic I like and usually agree with gives an opinion, it means more than just some random person's.
DeleteWhat a great B post! I do some book reviews over at my blog - using the old Batman TV series villain as my avatar and calling that department Bookworm's Book Club! Book reviews can put me over on a book I'm iffy about - but negative reviews seldom stop me reading something I'm already interested in.
ReplyDeleteThanks! That's true...even a bad movie review won't stop me from seeing a movie I really want to see. :-)
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