There are many ways to write a book review, but personally, it depends on the book for me. Also taking into consideration what type of book review you are writing. Will it be positive? Negative? Informative? Spoiler-free? A few things to consider and I’m happy to share my entire process of writing a book review.
First, I don’t review every book I read straightaway. Most likely I review books that will be released soon, popular books or the occasional book that I have read and think it’s worthy of having an entire blog post. Some books I’ll post a brief review on social media or Goodreads, but if I have a lot to say, then it will most likely end up on here. So, that’s the first thing you need to consider. If the book you’re currently reading or want to review is sufficient for a blog post, social media post or another website (Goodreads, Amazon, Booksprout, NetGalley, etc) where book reviews are posted.
After you’ve decided where you want to post it, now it’s time to think about what type of book review it will be. A positive review might include quotes, favourite scenes/characters or themes touched on in the story you like—whatever it is, it should convince the reader to want to pick up that book and read it.
If it’s a negative review, try to be specific why you didn’t like it. A simple ‘I didn’t like it’ won’t work as readers who might’ve loved that book would want to know how on earth someone might’ve hated it. Maybe add it wasn’t what you thought it would be, blurb might mislead, not your favourite genre, a character, or an event happened that didn’t sit right with you, felt too cliched, etc.
Or you might want to keep your review spoiler-free. If so here’s a list of things you can write about:
- setting
- writing style
- characters (ones that aren’t spoilers)
- themes (overall themes to avoid spoilers)
- world-building
- book cover
- Overall how the book made you feel
Another method I haven’t tried but want to someday, works better if the author wrote the book in the first person. The entire review can be a response to a character and what you think about their actions, character development, world, relationships, etc.
If you’re more of a visual person and don’t enjoy writing a lot, another way is to create graphics about your book review. I always use Canva for everything, as they have a variety of templates. A book review can be in the form of a story on Instagram / Facebook, social media graphic, infographic, Pinterest Pin and so many more templates to choose from!
Now that your review is complete, you want to share it with the entire world, right? Canva comes in handy again to create basic templates for each of your social networking sites. You can either choose to send them all out at once or at separate times. If you have business accounts, see when your followers are most active. A simple way to share your review is to copy and send the link to someone who you know might be interested in what you have to say about the book. Also, don’t forget to mention/tag the author or book publisher, you never know they might see your review!
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