Book review

[thomas1965]

I am planning to write a book review for the Kindle store and I am not sure what all to include.
What would you find useful when considering buying a book ?

 

[LilyWaters]

The basics - an idea of the main character(s) and the incident that kicks off the action of the book, or possibly central conflict. The kind of back cover blurb stuff that gets a reader interested but doesn't give anything major away.

Some idea of the pacing would be helpful - is it action packed, or a slow burn? An idea of the genre (or blend of genres.) Maybe a comparison - if a person liked book A, then they might like this book.

Your opinion on not only the plot, but the writing style. Did it engage you? To whom would you recommend this book?

You don't mention whether or not it is erotica. If it is, I would give a general indication of potential squicks.

That's just some very basic ideas - the best advice IMHO is to let the book, and your opinion of it, guide what you are going to write.

 

[SamScribble]

I am planning to write a book review for the Kindle store and I am not sure what all to include.
What would you find useful when considering buying a book ?

What do you mean by 'what all to include'? I am confused.

 

[SimonDoom]

The basic idea of a review of the type you find on Kindle or Amazon is to help others decide if they want to buy the book. It's not meant to be an in-depth analysis of the story.

So, a few guidelines:

Don't give opinions that aren't helpful. If the book is a western, for example, it's totally unhelpful to say "I hate westerns." Just say it's a western, and that lets people decide for themselves.

Don't be a spoiler. Say enough about the idea, the setting, the characters, and the plot idea to let potential readers know if they'll be interested, but don't give away what they won't know before they read it.

Be honest and personal. What are the three things you liked the most, and the three things you liked the least? Again, try to be helpful to a prospective reader. Give your opinion, but do so in a way that it's helpful, as opposed to just being "This is what I felt."

Say something about the basic setup of the story. If you liked it, say it in a way that makes it interesting. If you didn't, say it in a way that lets the prospective reader know what you didn't like.

Say something specific, to let the reader know you read the story carefully. A short passage. A turn of phrase. Something specific you liked or didn't like.

If you have read the author's other books, let readers know how it compares to those books.

If you have read other books that are similar and well-known, compare the book to those books, and let potential readers know how it stacks up. This will be helpful to them.

Let the reader know if your overall view is positive or negative, and to what degree.

Don't make it too long.

 

[thomas1965]

Thanks for your replies. Now I know what to write.

 

[groundagefielding]

The basics - an idea of the main character(s) and the incident that kicks off the action of the book, or possibly central conflict. The kind of back cover blurb stuff that gets a reader interested but doesn't give anything major away.

Some idea of the pacing would be helpful - is it action packed, or a slow burn? An idea of the genre (or blend of genres.) Maybe a comparison - if a person liked book A, then they might like this book.

Your opinion on not only the plot, but the writing style. Did it engage you? To whom would you recommend this book?

You don't mention whether or not it is erotica. If it is, I would give a general indication of potential squicks.

That's just some very basic ideas - the best advice IMHO is to let the book, and your opinion of it, guide what you are going to write.

I disagree. It is necessary to write such a review that one would understand whether the book is good or not, or who it would suit. I did that when I was at the university of pennsylvania, you can read about it https://studymoose.com/university/university-of-pennsylvania here. It's not an easy task. Not everyone can properly explain what the book is about. Every word you write is very important, you have to analyze everything 100 times.

A little not. Need to explain what the book is about