student written book reviews

How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide

WHAT IS A BOOK REVIEW?

Traditionally, book reviews are written evaluations of a recently published book in any genre. Usually, around the 500 to 700-word mark, they offer a brief description of a text’s main elements while appraising the work’s strengths and weaknesses. Published book reviews can appear in newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. They provide the reader with an overview of the book itself and indicate whether or not the reviewer would recommend the book to the reader.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A BOOK REVIEW?

There was a time when book reviews were a regular appearance in every quality newspaper and many periodicals. They were essential elements in whether or not a book would sell well. A review from a heavyweight critic could often be the deciding factor in whether a book became a bestseller or a damp squib. In the last few decades, however, the book review’s influence has waned considerably, with many potential book buyers preferring to consult customer reviews on Amazon, or sites like Goodreads, before buying. As a result, book review’s appearance in newspapers, journals, and digital media has become less frequent.

WHY BOTHER TEACHING STUDENTS TO WRITE BOOK REVIEWS AT ALL?

Even in the heyday of the book review’s influence, few students who learned the craft of writing a book review became literary critics! The real value of crafting a well-written book review for a student does not lie in their ability to impact book sales. Understanding how to produce a well-written book review helps students to:

●     Engage critically with a text

●     Critically evaluate a text

●     Respond personally to a range of different writing genres

●     Improve their own reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Not to Be Confused with a Book Report!

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BOOK REVIEW AND A BOOK REPORT?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are clear differences in both the purpose and the format of the two genres. Generally speaking, book reports aim to give a more detailed outline of what occurs in a book. A book report on a work of fiction will tend to give a comprehensive account of the characters, major plot lines, and themes in the book. Book reports are usually written around the K-12 age range, while book reviews tend not to be undertaken by those at the younger end of this age range due to the need for the higher-level critical skills required in writing them. At their highest expression, book reviews are written at the college level and by professional critics.

Learn how to write a book review step by step with our complete guide for students and teachers by familiarizing yourself with the structure and features.

BOOK REVIEW STRUCTURE

ANALYZE Evaluate the book with a critical mind.

THOROUGHNESS The whole is greater than the sum of all its parts. Review the book as a WHOLE.

COMPARE Where appropriate compare to similar texts and genres.

THUMBS UP OR DOWN? You are going to have to inevitably recommend or reject this book to potential readers.

BE CONSISTENT Take a stance and stick with it throughout your review.

FEATURES OF A BOOK REVIEW

PAST TENSE You are writing about a book you have already read.

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE Whatever your stance or opinion be passionate about it. Your audience will thank you for it.

VOICE Both active and passive voice are used in recounts.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF TEXTS

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ELEMENTS OF A BOOK REVIEW

As with any of the writing genres we teach our students, a book review can be helpfully explained in terms of criteria. While there is much to the ‘art’ of writing, there is also, thankfully, a lot of the nuts and bolts that can be listed too. Have students consider the following elements before writing:

●     Title: Often, the title of the book review will correspond to the title of the text itself, but there may also be some examination of the title’s relevance. How does it fit into the purpose of the work as a whole? Does it convey a message or reveal larger themes explored within the work?

●     Author: Within the book review, there may be some discussion of who the author is and what they have written before, especially if it relates to the current work being reviewed. There may be some mention of the author’s style and what they are best known for. If the author has received any awards or prizes, this may also be mentioned within the body of the review.

●     Genre: A book review will identify the genre that the book belongs to, whether fiction or nonfiction, poetry, romance, science-fiction, history etc. The genre will likely tie in, too with who the intended audience for the book is and what the overall purpose of the work is.

●     Book Jacket / Cover: Often, a book’s cover will contain artwork that is worthy of comment. It may contain interesting details related to the text that contribute to, or detract from, the work as a whole.

●     Structure: The book’s structure will often be heavily informed by its genre. Have students examine how the book is organized before writing their review. Does it contain a preface from a guest editor, for example? Is it written in sections or chapters? Does it have a table of contents, index, glossary etc.? While all these details may not make it into the review itself, looking at how the book is structured may reveal some interesting aspects.

●     Publisher and Price: A book review will usually contain details of who publishes the book and its cost. A review will often provide details of where the book is available too.

BOOK REVIEW KEY ELEMENTS

As students read and engage with the work they will review, they will develop a sense of the shape their review will take. This will begin with the summary. Encourage students to take notes during the reading of the work that will help them in writing the summary that will form an essential part of their review. Aspects of the book they may wish to take notes on in a work of fiction may include:

●     Characters: Who are the main characters? What are their motivations? Are they convincingly drawn? Or are they empathetic characters?

●     Themes: What are the main themes of the work? Are there recurring motifs in the work? Is the exploration of the themes deep or surface only?

●     Style: What are the key aspects of the writer’s style? How does it fit into the wider literary world?

●     Plot: What is the story’s main catalyst? What happens in the rising action? What are the story’s subplots? 

A book review will generally begin with a short summary of the work itself. However, it is important not to give too much away, remind students – no spoilers, please! For nonfiction works, this may be a summary of the main arguments of the work, again, without giving too much detail away. In a work of fiction, a book review will often summarise up to the rising action of the piece without going beyond to reveal too much!

The summary should also provide some orientation for the reader. Given the nature of the purpose of a review, it is important that students’ consider their intended audience in the writing of their review. Readers will most likely not have read the book in question and will require some orientation. This is often achieved through introductions to the main characters, themes, primary arguments etc. This will help the reader to gauge whether or not the book is of interest to them.

Once your student has summarized the work, it is time to ‘review’ in earnest. At this point, the student should begin to detail their own opinion of the book. To do this well they should:

i. Make It Personal

Often when teaching essay writing we will talk to our students about the importance of climbing up and down the ladder of abstraction. Just as it is helpful to explore large, more abstract concepts in an essay by bringing it down to Earth, in a book review, it is important that students can relate the characters, themes, ideas etc to their own lives.

Book reviews are meant to be subjective. They are opinion pieces, and opinions grow out of our experiences of life. Encourage students to link the work they are writing about to their own personal life within the body of the review. By making this personal connection to the work, students contextualize their opinions for the readers and help them to understand whether the book will be of interest to them or not in the process.

ii. Make It Universal

Just as it is important to climb down the ladder of abstraction to show how the work relates to individual life, it is important to climb upwards on the ladder too. Students should endeavor to show how the ideas explored in the book relate to the wider world. The may be in the form of the universality of the underlying themes in a work of fiction or, for example, the international implications for arguments expressed in a work of nonfiction.

iii. Support Opinions with Evidence

A book review is a subjective piece of writing by its very nature. However, just because it is subjective does not mean that opinions do not need to be justified. Make sure students understand how to back up their opinions with various forms of evidence, for example, quotations, statistics, and the use of primary and secondary sources.

EDIT AND REVISE YOUR BOOK REVIEW

As with any writing genre, encourage students to polish things up with review and revision at the end. Encourage them to proofread and check for accurate spelling throughout, with particular attention to the author’s name, character names, publisher etc. 

It is good practice too for students to double-check their use of evidence. Are statements supported? Are the statistics used correctly? Are the quotations from the text accurate? Mistakes such as these uncorrected can do great damage to the value of a book review as they can undermine the reader’s confidence in the writer’s judgement.

The discipline of writing book reviews offers students opportunities to develop their writing skills and exercise their critical faculties. Book reviews can be valuable standalone activities or serve as a part of a series of activities engaging with a central text. They can also serve as an effective springboard into later discussion work based on the ideas and issues explored in a particular book. Though the book review does not hold the sway it once did in the mind’s of the reading public, it still serves as an effective teaching tool in our classrooms today.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BOOK REVIEW GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (TEMPLATE)

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Book and Movie review writing examples (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of book reviews.  Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail.  Please take a moment to both read the movie or book review in detail but also the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the key elements of writing a text review

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of book review writing.

We would recommend reading the example either a year above and below, as well as the grade you are currently working with to gain a broader appreciation of this text type .

BOOK REVIEW VIDEO TUTORIALS

OTHER GREAT ARTICLES RELATED TO BOOK REVIEWS

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Useful Links

How to Write a Book Review: A Comprehensive Tutorial With Examples

You don’t need to be a literary expert to craft captivating book reviews. With one in every three readers selecting books based on insightful reviews, your opinions can guide fellow bibliophiles toward their next literary adventure.

Learning how to write a book review will not only help you excel at your assigned tasks, but you’ll also contribute valuable insights to the book-loving community and turn your passion into a professional pursuit.

In this comprehensive guide,  PaperPerk  will walk you through a few simple steps to master the art of writing book reviews so you can confidently embark on this rewarding journey.

What is a Book Review?

A book review is a critical evaluation of a book, offering insights into its content, quality, and impact. It helps readers make informed decisions about whether to read the book.

Writing a book review as an assignment benefits students in multiple ways. Firstly, it teaches them how to write a book review by developing their analytical skills as they evaluate the content, themes, and writing style .

Secondly, it enhances their ability to express opinions and provide constructive criticism. Additionally, book review assignments expose students to various publications and genres, broadening their knowledge.

Furthermore, these tasks foster essential skills for academic success, like critical thinking and the ability to synthesize information. By now, we’re sure you want to learn how to write a book review, so let’s look at the book review template first.

Table of Contents

Book Review Template

How to write a book review- a step by step guide.

Check out these 5 straightforward steps for composing the best book review.

Step 1: Planning Your Book Review – The Art of Getting Started

You’ve decided to take the plunge and share your thoughts on a book that has captivated (or perhaps disappointed) you. Before you start book reviewing, let’s take a step back and plan your approach. Since knowing how to write a book review that’s both informative and engaging is an art in itself.

Choosing Your Literature

First things first, pick the book you want to review. This might seem like a no-brainer, but selecting a book that genuinely interests you will make the review process more enjoyable and your insights more authentic.

Crafting the Master Plan

Next, create an  outline  that covers all the essential points you want to discuss in your review. This will serve as the roadmap for your writing journey.

The Devil is in the Details

As you read, note any information that stands out, whether it overwhelms, underwhelms, or simply intrigues you. Pay attention to:

• The characters and their development
• The plot and its intricacies
• Any themes, symbols, or motifs you find noteworthy

Remember to reserve a body paragraph for each point you want to discuss.

The Key Questions to Ponder

When planning your book review, consider the following questions:

• What’s the plot (if any)? Understanding the driving force behind the book will help you craft a more effective review.
• Is the plot interesting? Did the book hold your attention and keep you turning the pages?
• Are the writing techniques effective? Does the author’s style captivate you, making you want to read (or reread) the text?
• Are the characters or the information believable? Do the characters/plot/information feel real, and can you relate to them?
• Would you recommend the book to anyone? Consider if the book is worthy of being recommended, whether to impress someone or to support a point in a literature class.
• What could improve? Always keep an eye out for areas that could be improved. Providing constructive criticism can enhance the quality of literature.

Step 2 – Crafting the Perfect Introduction to Write a Book Review

In this second step of “how to write a book review,” we’re focusing on the art of creating a powerful opening that will hook your audience and set the stage for your analysis.

Identify Your Book and Author

Begin by mentioning the book you’ve chosen, including its  title  and the author’s name. This informs your readers and establishes the subject of your review.

Ponder the Title

Next, discuss the mental images or emotions the book’s title evokes in your mind . This helps your readers understand your initial feelings and expectations before diving into the book.

Judge the Book by Its Cover (Just a Little)

Take a moment to talk about the book’s cover. Did it intrigue you? Did it hint at what to expect from the story or the author’s writing style? Sharing your thoughts on the cover can offer a unique perspective on how the book presents itself to potential readers.

Present Your Thesis

Now it’s time to introduce your thesis. This statement should be a concise and insightful summary of your opinion of the book. For example:

“Normal People” by Sally Rooney is a captivating portrayal of the complexities of human relationships, exploring themes of love, class, and self-discovery with exceptional depth and authenticity.

Ensure that your thesis is relevant to the points or quotes you plan to discuss throughout your review.

Incorporating these elements into your introduction will create a strong foundation for your book review. Your readers will be eager to learn more about your thoughts and insights on the book, setting the stage for a compelling and thought-provoking analysis.

How to Write a Book Review: Step 3 – Building Brilliant Body Paragraphs

You’ve planned your review and written an attention-grabbing introduction. Now it’s time for the main event: crafting the body paragraphs of your book review. In this step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of constructing engaging and insightful body paragraphs that will keep your readers hooked.

Summarize Without Spoilers

Begin by summarizing a specific section of the book, not revealing any major plot twists or spoilers. Your goal is to give your readers a taste of the story without ruining surprises.

Support Your Viewpoint with Quotes

Next, choose three quotes from the book that support your viewpoint or opinion. These quotes should be relevant to the section you’re summarizing and help illustrate your thoughts on the book.

Analyze the Quotes

Write a summary of each quote in your own words, explaining how it made you feel or what it led you to think about the book or the author’s writing. This analysis should provide insight into your perspective and demonstrate your understanding of the text.

Structure Your Body Paragraphs

Dedicate one body paragraph to each quote, ensuring your writing is well-connected, coherent, and easy to understand.

For example:

• In  Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë writes, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.” This powerful statement highlights Jane’s fierce independence and refusal to be trapped by societal expectations.
• In  Normal People , Sally Rooney explores the complexities of love and friendship when she writes, “It was culture as class performance, literature fetishized for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys.” This quote reveals the author’s astute observations on the role of culture and class in shaping personal relationships.
• In  Wuthering Heights , Emily Brontë captures the tumultuous nature of love with the quote, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” This poignant line emphasizes the deep, unbreakable bond between the story’s central characters.

By following these guidelines, you’ll create body paragraphs that are both captivating and insightful, enhancing your book review and providing your readers with a deeper understanding of the literary work. 

How to Write a Book Review: Step 4 – Crafting a Captivating Conclusion

You’ve navigated through planning, introductions, and body paragraphs with finesse. Now it’s time to wrap up your book review with a  conclusion that leaves a lasting impression . In this final step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of writing a memorable and persuasive conclusion.

Summarize Your Analysis

Begin by summarizing the key points you’ve presented in the body paragraphs. This helps to remind your readers of the insights and arguments you’ve shared throughout your review.

Offer Your Final Conclusion

Next, provide a conclusion that reflects your overall feelings about the book. This is your chance to leave a lasting impression and persuade your readers to consider your perspective.

Address the Book’s Appeal

Now, answer the question: Is this book worth reading? Be clear about who would enjoy the book and who might not. Discuss the taste preferences and circumstances that make the book more appealing to some readers than others.

For example:  The Alchemist is a book that can enchant a young teen, but those who are already well-versed in classic literature might find it less engaging.

Be Subtle and Balanced

Avoid simply stating whether you “liked” or “disliked” the book. Instead, use nuanced language to convey your message. Highlight the pros and cons of reading the type of literature you’ve reviewed, offering a balanced perspective.

Bringing It All Together

By following these guidelines, you’ll craft a conclusion that leaves your readers with a clear understanding of your thoughts and opinions on the book. Your review will be a valuable resource for those considering whether to pick up the book, and your witty and insightful analysis will make your review a pleasure to read. So conquer the world of book reviews, one captivating conclusion at a time!

How to Write a Book Review: Step 5 – Rating the Book (Optional)

You’ve masterfully crafted your book review, from the introduction to the conclusion. But wait, there’s one more step you might consider before calling it a day: rating the book. In this optional step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the benefits and methods of assigning a rating to the book you’ve reviewed.

Why Rate the Book?

Sometimes, when writing a professional book review, it may not be appropriate to state whether you liked or disliked the book. In such cases, assigning a rating can be an effective way to get your message across without explicitly sharing your personal opinion.

How to Rate the Book

There are various rating systems you can use to evaluate the book, such as:

• A star rating (e.g., 1 to 5 stars)
• A numerical score (e.g., 1 to 10)
• A letter grade (e.g., A+ to F)

Choose a rating system that best suits your style and the format of your review. Be consistent in your rating criteria, considering writing quality, character development, plot, and overall enjoyment.

Tips for Rating the Book

Here are some tips for rating the book effectively:

• Be honest: Your rating should reflect your true feelings about the book. Don’t inflate or deflate your rating based on external factors, such as the book’s popularity or the author’s reputation.
• Be fair:Consider the book’s merits and shortcomings when rating. Even if you didn’t enjoy the book, recognize its strengths and acknowledge them in your rating.
• Be clear: Explain the rationale behind your rating so your readers understand the factors that influenced your evaluation.

Wrapping Up

By including a rating in your book review, you provide your readers with an additional insight into your thoughts on the book. While this step is optional, it can be a valuable tool for conveying your message subtly yet effectively. So, rate those books confidently, adding a touch of wit and wisdom to your book reviews.

Additional Tips on How to Write a Book Review: A Guide

In this segment, we’ll explore additional tips on how to write a book review. Get ready to captivate your readers and make your review a memorable one!

Hook ’em with an Intriguing Introduction

Keep your introduction precise and to the point. Readers have the attention span of a goldfish these days, so don’t let them swim away in boredom. Start with a bang and keep them hooked!

Embrace the World of Fiction

When learning how to write a book review, remember that reviewing fiction is often more engaging and effective. If your professor hasn’t assigned you a specific book, dive into the realm of fiction and select a novel that piques your interest.

Opinionated with Gusto

Don’t shy away from adding your own opinion to your review. A good book review always features the writer’s viewpoint and constructive criticism. After all, your readers want to know what  you  think!

Express Your Love (or Lack Thereof)

If you adored the book, let your readers know! Use phrases like “I’ll definitely return to this book again” to convey your enthusiasm. Conversely, be honest but respectful even if the book wasn’t your cup of tea.

Templates and Examples and Expert Help: Your Trusty Sidekicks

Feeling lost? You can always get help from formats, book review examples or online  college paper writing service  platforms. These trusty sidekicks will help you navigate the world of book reviews with ease. 

Be a Champion for New Writers and Literature

Remember to uplift new writers and pieces of literature. If you want to suggest improvements, do so kindly and constructively. There’s no need to be mean about anyone’s books – we’re all in this literary adventure together!

Criticize with Clarity, Not Cruelty

When adding criticism to your review, be clear but not mean. Remember, there’s a fine line between constructive criticism and cruelty. Tread lightly and keep your reader’s feelings in mind.

Avoid the Comparison Trap

Resist the urge to compare one writer’s book with another. Every book holds its worth, and comparing them will only confuse your reader. Stick to discussing the book at hand, and let it shine in its own light.

Top 7 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Writing a book review can be a delightful and rewarding experience, especially when you balance analysis, wit, and personal insights. However, some common mistakes can kill the brilliance of your review. 

In this section of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the top 7 blunders writers commit and how to steer clear of them, with a dash of  modernist literature  examples and tips for students writing book reviews as assignments.

Succumbing to the Lure of Plot Summaries

Mistake: Diving headfirst into a plot summary instead of dissecting the book’s themes, characters, and writing style.

Example: “The Bell Jar chronicles the life of a young woman who experiences a mental breakdown.”

How to Avoid: Delve into the book’s deeper aspects, such as its portrayal of mental health, societal expectations, and the author’s distinctive narrative voice. Offer thoughtful insights and reflections, making your review a treasure trove of analysis.

Unleashing the Spoiler Kraken

Mistake: Spilling major plot twists or the ending without providing a spoiler warning, effectively ruining the reading experience for potential readers.

Example: “In Metamorphosis, the protagonist’s transformation into a monstrous insect leads to…”

How to Avoid: Tread carefully when discussing significant plot developments, and consider using spoiler warnings. Focus on the impact of these plot points on the overall narrative, character growth, or thematic resonance.

Riding the Personal Bias Express

Mistake: Allowing personal bias to hijack the review without providing sufficient evidence or reasoning to support opinions.

Example: “I detest books about existential crises, so The Sun Also Rises was a snoozefest.”

How to Avoid: While personal opinions are valid, it’s crucial to back them up with specific examples from the book. Discuss aspects like writing style, character development, or pacing to support your evaluation and provide a more balanced perspective.

Wielding the Vague Language Saber

Mistake: Resorting to generic, vague language that fails to capture the nuances of the book and can come across as clichéd.

Example: “This book was mind-blowing. It’s a must-read for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Use precise and descriptive language to express your thoughts. Employ specific examples and quotations to highlight memorable scenes, the author’s unique writing style, or the impact of the book’s themes on readers.

Ignoring the Contextualization Compass

Mistake: Neglecting to provide context about the author, genre, or cultural relevance of the book, leaving readers without a proper frame of reference.

Example: “This book is dull and unoriginal.”

How to Avoid: Offer readers a broader understanding by discussing the author’s background, the genre conventions the book adheres to or subverts, and any societal or historical contexts that inform the narrative. This helps readers appreciate the book’s uniqueness and relevance.

Overindulging in Personal Preferences

Mistake: Letting personal preferences overshadow an objective assessment of the book’s merits.

Example: “I don’t like stream-of-consciousness writing, so this book is automatically bad.”

How to Avoid: Acknowledge personal preferences but strive to evaluate the book objectively. Focus on the book’s strengths and weaknesses, considering how well it achieves its goals within its genre or intended audience.

Forgetting the Target Audience Telescope

Mistake: Failing to mention the book’s target audience or who might enjoy it, leading to confusion for potential readers.

Example: “This book is great for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Contemplate the book’s intended audience, genre, and themes. Mention who might particularly enjoy the book based on these factors, whether it’s fans of a specific genre, readers interested in character-driven stories, or those seeking thought-provoking narratives.

By dodging these common pitfalls, writers can craft insightful, balanced, and engaging book reviews that help readers make informed decisions about their reading choices.

These tips are particularly beneficial for students writing book reviews as assignments, as they ensure a well-rounded and thoughtful analysis.!

Many students requested us to cover how to write a book review. This thorough guide is sure to help you. At Paperperk, professionals are dedicated to helping students find their balance. We understand the importance of good grades, so we offer the finest writing service , ensuring students stay ahead of the curve. So seek expert help because only Paperperk is your perfect solution!

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Book Review

Book Review Examples

Last updated on: Nov 20, 2023

Good Book Review Examples to Help you Write a Great Review

By: Nova A.

Reviewed By: Chris H.

Published on: Mar 30, 2021

A book review is a common assignment that allows the students to demonstrate the author’s intentions in the book. It also provides them with the chance not only to criticize but also to give constructive criticism on how they can make improvements.

The purpose of writing a book review is to come up with your opinion about the author’s ideas presented in the book. On the other hand, a book analysis is completely based on opinions that are relevant to the book.

Writing a review is something that can be done with any book that you read. However, some genres are harder to write. But with a proper plan, you can easily write a great review on any book.

Read some short book review examples in this guide. They will help you understand the key elements of writing a great review in no time.

On this Page

Academic Book Review Examples

If you are assigned to write a book review, referring to some examples will be of great help. In addition, reading examples before starting the writing process will help you understand what elements are needed for a great book review. There are also many review sites online you can get help from.

Academic book reviews follow a fairly simple structure. It usually includes an introduction, middle paragraphs, and a conclusion that sums up all the ideas.

For a great book review, here are the things you need to focus on during the writing process.

• The main argument presented by the author
• Author’s methodologyAppropriateness for the audience
• Relationship to the real world

Have a look at the following book review examples for kids before beginning the writing process.

Book Review Examples for Middle School Students

Book Review Example For Kids

Book Review Examples for High School Students

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

Book Review Examples for College Students

Book Review Examples for University Students

How to Write a Book Review - Examples

If you don’t know how to write a book review, look at the following steps.

The first step is to plan and create an outline that includes all the points that you will have to cover in the review. Don’t forget to include all the information about the characters, plot information, and some other parts of the chosen book.

The three parts of a book review are:

1. Provide a Summary

What is the book about? Write about the main characters and what is the conflict that is discussed in the book.

2. Provide Your Evaluation

Share your thoughts about the book and what elements work best.

3. Rate the Book

Rate and recommend the book to others who will enjoy reading this book.

If you need to submit a book review soon, we suggest you start reading some book reviews online. Here you can also find some good book review writing examples to understand how to craft each section of a book review.

Book Review Introduction Examples

Thesis Statement Book Review Examples

Tough Essay Due? Hire Tough Writers!

Book Review Conclusion Examples

Critical Book Review Examples

A book review is a critical evaluation of the book, movie, or any other literary work. It has two goals: the first is to inform the readers about the content of the book, and the second is to evaluate your judgment about the book.

A book review is more than a book report. A review is basically a critical essay that evaluates the merits of a literary work. The purpose of writing a book review is not to prove that you have read a book but to show that you think critically about the chosen book.

When you are asked to write a critical book review, you need to identify, summarize and evaluate the ideas of the author. In simpler words, you will be examining and evaluating another person’s work from your point of view.

Science Book Review Examples

A scientific book review will contain the same elements as writing a review for a fiction book; some elements might vary. When you are reviewing a scientific text, you need to pay attention to the writing style and the validity of the content.

Most students turn to non-fictional sources of information. It is important to make sure the information you provide in your review is factual and scientific.

Book review writing can be difficult if you don’t know how to follow the standard protocols. That’s where our reliable book review writing service aims to provide the necessary help.

No matter what your academic level is, we can provide you with the best book review writing help. This type of writing assignment can be tricky and time-consuming. So, if you don’t know how to crack this task, better get professional help.

We at 5StarEssays.com provide exceptional book review writing help. Not only book reviews, but we also provide the best ‘ write an essay for me ’ help to students. Moreover, we also have an AI essay writer to help you with tight deadlines, give it a try now!

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How do you write a book review example.

Here are some steps that will help you to write a book review example.

• Start writing with few sentences and describe what the book is all about
• Focus on your thoughts
• Mention things that you dont like about the book.
• Summarize your thoughts.
• Give rating to the book.

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As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.

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Blog – Posted on Friday, Mar 29

17 book review examples to help you write the perfect review.

It’s an exciting time to be a book reviewer. Once confined to print newspapers and journals, reviews now dot many corridors of the Internet — forever helping others discover their next great read. That said, every book reviewer will face a familiar panic: how can you do justice to a great book in just a thousand words?

As you know, the best way to learn how to do something is by immersing yourself in it. Luckily, the Internet (i.e. Goodreads and other review sites , in particular) has made book reviews more accessible than ever — which means that there are a lot of book reviews examples out there for you to view!

In this post, we compiled 17 prototypical book review examples in multiple genres to help you figure out how to write the perfect review . If you want to jump straight to the examples, you can skip the next section. Otherwise, let’s first check out what makes up a good review.

Are you interested in becoming a book reviewer? We recommend you check out Reedsy Discovery , where you can earn money for writing reviews — and are guaranteed people will read your reviews! To register as a book reviewer, sign up here.

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

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What must a book review contain?

Like all works of art, no two book reviews will be identical. But fear not: there are a few guidelines for any aspiring book reviewer to follow. Most book reviews, for instance, are less than 1,500 words long, with the sweet spot hitting somewhere around the 1,000-word mark. (However, this may vary depending on the platform on which you’re writing, as we’ll see later.)

In addition, all reviews share some universal elements, as shown in our book review templates . These include:

• A review will offer a concise plot summary of the book. 
• A book review will offer an evaluation of the work. 
• A book review will offer a recommendation for the audience. 

If these are the basic ingredients that make up a book review, it’s the tone and style with which the book reviewer writes that brings the extra panache. This will differ from platform to platform, of course. A book review on Goodreads, for instance, will be much more informal and personal than a book review on Kirkus Reviews, as it is catering to a different audience. However, at the end of the day, the goal of all book reviews is to give the audience the tools to determine whether or not they’d like to read the book themselves.

Keeping that in mind, let’s proceed to some book review examples to put all of this in action.

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Book review examples for fiction books

Since story is king in the world of fiction, it probably won’t come as any surprise to learn that a book review for a novel will concentrate on how well the story was told .

That said, book reviews in all genres follow the same basic formula that we discussed earlier. In these examples, you’ll be able to see how book reviewers on different platforms expertly intertwine the plot summary and their personal opinions of the book to produce a clear, informative, and concise review.

Note: Some of the book review examples run very long. If a book review is truncated in this post, we’ve indicated by including a […] at the end, but you can always read the entire review if you click on the link provided.

Examples of literary fiction book reviews

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man :

An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.

His early training prepared him for a life of humility before white men, but through injustices- large and small, he came to realize that he was an "invisible man". People saw in him only a reflection of their preconceived ideas of what he was, denied his individuality, and ultimately did not see him at all. This theme, which has implications far beyond the obvious racial parallel, is skillfully handled. The incidents of the story are wholly absorbing. The boy's dismissal from college because of an innocent mistake, his shocked reaction to the anonymity of the North and to Harlem, his nightmare experiences on a one-day job in a paint factory and in the hospital, his lightning success as the Harlem leader of a communistic organization known as the Brotherhood, his involvement in black versus white and black versus black clashes and his disillusion and understanding of his invisibility- all climax naturally in scenes of violence and riot, followed by a retreat which is both literal and figurative. Parts of this experience may have been told before, but never with such freshness, intensity and power.

This is Ellison's first novel, but he has complete control of his story and his style. Watch it.

Lyndsey reviews George Orwell’s 1984 on Goodreads:

YOU. ARE. THE. DEAD. Oh my God. I got the chills so many times toward the end of this book. It completely blew my mind. It managed to surpass my high expectations AND be nothing at all like I expected. Or in Newspeak "Double Plus Good." Let me preface this with an apology. If I sound stunningly inarticulate at times in this review, I can't help it. My mind is completely fried.

This book is like the dystopian Lord of the Rings, with its richly developed culture and economics, not to mention a fully developed language called Newspeak, or rather more of the anti-language, whose purpose is to limit speech and understanding instead of to enhance and expand it. The world-building is so fully fleshed out and spine-tinglingly terrifying that it's almost as if George travelled to such a place, escaped from it, and then just wrote it all down.

I read Fahrenheit 451 over ten years ago in my early teens. At the time, I remember really wanting to read 1984, although I never managed to get my hands on it. I'm almost glad I didn't. Though I would not have admitted it at the time, it would have gone over my head. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate it fully. […]

The New York Times reviews Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry :

Three-quarters of the way through Lisa Halliday’s debut novel, “Asymmetry,” a British foreign correspondent named Alistair is spending Christmas on a compound outside of Baghdad. His fellow revelers include cameramen, defense contractors, United Nations employees and aid workers. Someone’s mother has FedExed a HoneyBaked ham from Maine; people are smoking by the swimming pool. It is 2003, just days after Saddam Hussein’s capture, and though the mood is optimistic, Alistair is worrying aloud about the ethics of his chosen profession, wondering if reporting on violence doesn’t indirectly abet violence and questioning why he’d rather be in a combat zone than reading a picture book to his son. But every time he returns to London, he begins to “spin out.” He can’t go home. “You observe what people do with their freedom — what they don’t do — and it’s impossible not to judge them for it,” he says.

The line, embedded unceremoniously in the middle of a page-long paragraph, doubles, like so many others in “Asymmetry,” as literary criticism. Halliday’s novel is so strange and startlingly smart that its mere existence seems like commentary on the state of fiction. One finishes “Asymmetry” for the first or second (or like this reader, third) time and is left wondering what other writers are not doing with their freedom — and, like Alistair, judging them for it.

Despite its title, “Asymmetry” comprises two seemingly unrelated sections of equal length, appended by a slim and quietly shocking coda. Halliday’s prose is clean and lean, almost reportorial in the style of W. G. Sebald, and like the murmurings of a shy person at a cocktail party, often comic only in single clauses. It’s a first novel that reads like the work of an author who has published many books over many years. […]

Emily W. Thompson reviews Michael Doane's The Crossing on Reedsy Discovery :

In Doane’s debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results.

An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon. But he’s a small-town boy who hasn’t traveled much. So, the Narrator mourns her loss and hides from life, throwing himself into rehabbing an old motorcycle. Until one day, he takes a leap; he packs his bike and a few belongings and heads out to find the Girl.

Following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat-Moon, Doane offers a coming of age story about a man finding himself on the backroads of America. Doane’s a gifted writer with fluid prose and insightful observations, using The Narrator’s personal interactions to illuminate the diversity of the United States.

The Narrator initially sticks to the highways, trying to make it to the West Coast as quickly as possible. But a hitchhiker named Duke convinces him to get off the beaten path and enjoy the ride. “There’s not a place that’s like any other,” [39] Dukes contends, and The Narrator realizes he’s right. Suddenly, the trip is about the journey, not just the destination. The Narrator ditches his truck and traverses the deserts and mountains on his bike. He destroys his phone, cutting off ties with his past and living only in the moment.

As he crosses the country, The Narrator connects with several unique personalities whose experiences and views deeply impact his own. Duke, the complicated cowboy and drifter, who opens The Narrator’s eyes to a larger world. Zooey, the waitress in Colorado who opens his heart and reminds him that love can be found in this big world. And Rosie, The Narrator’s sweet landlady in Portland, who helps piece him back together both physically and emotionally.

This supporting cast of characters is excellent. Duke, in particular, is wonderfully nuanced and complicated. He’s a throwback to another time, a man without a cell phone who reads Sartre and sleeps under the stars. Yet he’s also a grifter with a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” attitude that harms those around him. It’s fascinating to watch The Narrator wrestle with Duke’s behavior, trying to determine which to model and which to discard.

Doane creates a relatable protagonist in The Narrator, whose personal growth doesn’t erase his faults. His willingness to hit the road with few resources is admirable, and he’s prescient enough to recognize the jealousy of those who cannot or will not take the leap. His encounters with new foods, places, and people broaden his horizons. Yet his immaturity and selfishness persist. He tells Rosie she’s been a good mother to him but chooses to ignore the continuing concern from his own parents as he effectively disappears from his old life.

Despite his flaws, it’s a pleasure to accompany The Narrator on his physical and emotional journey. The unexpected ending is a fitting denouement to an epic and memorable road trip.

The Book Smugglers review Anissa Gray’s The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls :

I am still dipping my toes into the literally fiction pool, finding what works for me and what doesn’t. Books like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray are definitely my cup of tea.

Althea and Proctor Cochran had been pillars of their economically disadvantaged community for years – with their local restaurant/small market and their charity drives. Until they are found guilty of fraud for stealing and keeping most of the money they raised and sent to jail. Now disgraced, their entire family is suffering the consequences, specially their twin teenage daughters Baby Vi and Kim.  To complicate matters even more: Kim was actually the one to call the police on her parents after yet another fight with her mother. […]

Examples of children’s and YA fiction book reviews

The Book Hookup reviews Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give :

♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to tackle the voice of a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I do know that Thomas did it with a finesse only a talented author like herself possibly could. With an unapologetically realistic delivery packed with emotion, The Hate U Give is a crucially important portrayal of the difficulties minorities face in our country every single day. I have no doubt that this book will be met with resistance by some (possibly many) and slapped with a “controversial” label, but if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk in a POC’s shoes, then I feel like this is an unflinchingly honest place to start.

In Angie Thomas’s debut novel, Starr Carter bursts on to the YA scene with both heart-wrecking and heartwarming sincerity. This author is definitely one to watch.

♥ Review: The hype around this book has been unquestionable and, admittedly, that made me both eager to get my hands on it and terrified to read it. I mean, what if I was to be the one person that didn’t love it as much as others? (That seems silly now because of how truly mesmerizing THUG was in the most heartbreakingly realistic way.) However, with the relevancy of its summary in regards to the unjust predicaments POC currently face in the US, I knew this one was a must-read, so I was ready to set my fears aside and dive in. That said, I had an altogether more personal, ulterior motive for wanting to read this book. […]

The New York Times reviews Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood :

Alice Crewe (a last name she’s chosen for herself) is a fairy tale legacy: the granddaughter of Althea Proserpine, author of a collection of dark-as-night fairy tales called “Tales From the Hinterland.” The book has a cult following, and though Alice has never met her grandmother, she’s learned a little about her through internet research. She hasn’t read the stories, because her mother, Ella Proserpine, forbids it.

Alice and Ella have moved from place to place in an attempt to avoid the “bad luck” that seems to follow them. Weird things have happened. As a child, Alice was kidnapped by a man who took her on a road trip to find her grandmother; he was stopped by the police before they did so. When at 17 she sees that man again, unchanged despite the years, Alice panics. Then Ella goes missing, and Alice turns to Ellery Finch, a schoolmate who’s an Althea Proserpine superfan, for help in tracking down her mother. Not only has Finch read every fairy tale in the collection, but handily, he remembers them, sharing them with Alice as they journey to the mysterious Hazel Wood, the estate of her now-dead grandmother, where they hope to find Ella.

“The Hazel Wood” starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. (The fairy stories Finch relays, which Albert includes as their own chapters, are as creepy and evocative as you’d hope.) Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a very good book. It’s a captivating debut. […]

James reviews Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon on Goodreads:

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of the books that followers of my blog voted as a must-read for our Children's Book August 2018 Readathon. Come check it out and join the next few weeks!

This picture book was such a delight. I hadn't remembered reading it when I was a child, but it might have been read to me... either way, it was like a whole new experience! It's always so difficult to convince a child to fall asleep at night. I don't have kids, but I do have a 5-month-old puppy who whines for 5 minutes every night when he goes in his cage/crate (hopefully he'll be fully housebroken soon so he can roam around when he wants). I can only imagine! I babysat a lot as a teenager and I have tons of younger cousins, nieces, and nephews, so I've been through it before, too. This was a believable experience, and it really helps show kids how to relax and just let go when it's time to sleep.

The bunny's are adorable. The rhymes are exquisite. I found it pretty fun, but possibly a little dated given many of those things aren't normal routines anymore. But the lessons to take from it are still powerful. Loved it! I want to sample some more books by this fine author and her illustrators.

Publishers Weekly reviews Elizabeth Lilly’s Geraldine :

This funny, thoroughly accomplished debut opens with two words: “I’m moving.” They’re spoken by the title character while she swoons across her family’s ottoman, and because Geraldine is a giraffe, her full-on melancholy mode is quite a spectacle. But while Geraldine may be a drama queen (even her mother says so), it won’t take readers long to warm up to her. The move takes Geraldine from Giraffe City, where everyone is like her, to a new school, where everyone else is human. Suddenly, the former extrovert becomes “That Giraffe Girl,” and all she wants to do is hide, which is pretty much impossible. “Even my voice tries to hide,” she says, in the book’s most poignant moment. “It’s gotten quiet and whispery.” Then she meets Cassie, who, though human, is also an outlier (“I’m that girl who wears glasses and likes MATH and always organizes her food”), and things begin to look up.

Lilly’s watercolor-and-ink drawings are as vividly comic and emotionally astute as her writing; just when readers think there are no more ways for Geraldine to contort her long neck, this highly promising talent comes up with something new.

Examples of genre fiction book reviews

Karlyn P reviews Nora Roberts’ Dark Witch , a paranormal romance novel , on Goodreads:

4 stars. Great world-building, weak romance, but still worth the read.

I hesitate to describe this book as a 'romance' novel simply because the book spent little time actually exploring the romance between Iona and Boyle. Sure, there IS a romance in this novel. Sprinkled throughout the book are a few scenes where Iona and Boyle meet, chat, wink at each, flirt some more, sleep together, have a misunderstanding, make up, and then profess their undying love. Very formulaic stuff, and all woven around the more important parts of this book.

The meat of this book is far more focused on the story of the Dark witch and her magically-gifted descendants living in Ireland. Despite being weak on the romance, I really enjoyed it. I think the book is probably better for it, because the romance itself was pretty lackluster stuff.

I absolutely plan to stick with this series as I enjoyed the world building, loved the Ireland setting, and was intrigued by all of the secondary characters. However, If you read Nora Roberts strictly for the romance scenes, this one might disappoint. But if you enjoy a solid background story with some dark magic and prophesies, you might enjoy it as much as I did.

I listened to this one on audio, and felt the narration was excellent.

Emily May reviews R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy Wars , an epic fantasy novel , on Goodreads:

“But I warn you, little warrior. The price of power is pain.”

Holy hell, what did I just read??

➽ A fantasy military school

➽ A rich world based on modern Chinese history

➽ Shamans and gods

➽ Detailed characterization leading to unforgettable characters

➽ Adorable, opium-smoking mentors

That's a basic list, but this book is all of that and SO MUCH MORE. I know 100% that The Poppy War will be one of my best reads of 2018.

Isn't it just so great when you find one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every horrific, nail-biting moment of it? This is one of those books for me. And I must issue a serious content warning: this book explores some very dark themes. Proceed with caution (or not at all) if you are particularly sensitive to scenes of war, drug use and addiction, genocide, racism, sexism, ableism, self-harm, torture, and rape (off-page but extremely horrific).

Because, despite the fairly innocuous first 200 pages, the title speaks the truth: this is a book about war. All of its horrors and atrocities. It is not sugar-coated, and it is often graphic. The "poppy" aspect refers to opium, which is a big part of this book. It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking.

Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry’s Freefall , a crime novel:

In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it’s a more subtle process, and that’s OK too. So where does Freefall fit into the sliding scale?

In truth, it’s not clear. This is a novel with a thrilling concept at its core. A woman survives plane crash, then runs for her life. However, it is the subtleties at play that will draw you in like a spider beckoning to an unwitting fly.

Like the heroine in Sharon Bolton’s Dead Woman Walking, Allison is lucky to be alive. She was the only passenger in a private plane, belonging to her fiancé, Ben, who was piloting the expensive aircraft, when it came down in woodlands in the Colorado Rockies. Ally is also the only survivor, but rather than sitting back and waiting for rescue, she is soon pulling together items that may help her survive a little longer – first aid kit, energy bars, warm clothes, trainers – before fleeing the scene. If you’re hearing the faint sound of alarm bells ringing, get used to it. There’s much, much more to learn about Ally before this tale is over.

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One , a science-fiction novel :

Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.

The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three.

Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.

Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.

Book review examples for non-fiction books

Nonfiction books are generally written to inform readers about a certain topic. As such, the focus of a nonfiction book review will be on the clarity and effectiveness of this communication . In carrying this out, a book review may analyze the author’s source materials and assess the thesis in order to determine whether or not the book meets expectations.

Again, we’ve included abbreviated versions of long reviews here, so feel free to click on the link to read the entire piece!

The Washington Post reviews David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon :

The arc of David Grann’s career reminds one of a software whiz-kid or a latest-thing talk-show host — certainly not an investigative reporter, even if he is one of the best in the business. The newly released movie of his first book, “The Lost City of Z,” is generating all kinds of Oscar talk, and now comes the release of his second book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” the film rights to which have already been sold for $5 million in what one industry journal called the “biggest and wildest book rights auction in memory.”

Grann deserves the attention. He’s canny about the stories he chases, he’s willing to go anywhere to chase them, and he’s a maestro in his ability to parcel out information at just the right clip: a hint here, a shading of meaning there, a smartly paced buildup of multiple possibilities followed by an inevitable reversal of readerly expectations or, in some cases, by a thrilling and dislocating pull of the entire narrative rug.

All of these strengths are on display in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Around the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered underneath Osage lands in the Oklahoma Territory, lands that were soon to become part of the state of Oklahoma. Through foresight and legal maneuvering, the Osage found a way to permanently attach that oil to themselves and shield it from the prying hands of white interlopers; this mechanism was known as “headrights,” which forbade the outright sale of oil rights and granted each full member of the tribe — and, supposedly, no one else — a share in the proceeds from any lease arrangement. For a while, the fail-safes did their job, and the Osage got rich — diamond-ring and chauffeured-car and imported-French-fashion rich — following which quite a large group of white men started to work like devils to separate the Osage from their money. And soon enough, and predictably enough, this work involved murder. Here in Jazz Age America’s most isolated of locales, dozens or even hundreds of Osage in possession of great fortunes — and of the potential for even greater fortunes in the future — were dispatched by poison, by gunshot and by dynamite. […]

Stacked Books reviews Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers :

I’ve heard a lot of great things about Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Friends and co-workers tell me that his subjects are interesting and his writing style is easy to follow without talking down to the reader. I wasn’t disappointed with Outliers. In it, Gladwell tackles the subject of success – how people obtain it and what contributes to extraordinary success as opposed to everyday success.

The thesis – that our success depends much more on circumstances out of our control than any effort we put forth – isn’t exactly revolutionary. Most of us know it to be true. However, I don’t think I’m lying when I say that most of us also believe that we if we just try that much harder and develop our talent that much further, it will be enough to become wildly successful, despite bad or just mediocre beginnings. Not so, says Gladwell.

Most of the evidence Gladwell gives us is anecdotal, which is my favorite kind to read. I can’t really speak to how scientifically valid it is, but it sure makes for engrossing listening. For example, did you know that successful hockey players are almost all born in January, February, or March? Kids born during these months are older than the others kids when they start playing in the youth leagues, which means they’re already better at the game (because they’re bigger). Thus, they get more play time, which means their skill increases at a faster rate, and it compounds as time goes by. Within a few years, they’re much, much better than the kids born just a few months later in the year. Basically, these kids’ birthdates are a huge factor in their success as adults – and it’s nothing they can do anything about. If anyone could make hockey interesting to a Texan who only grudgingly admits the sport even exists, it’s Gladwell. […]

Quill and Quire reviews Rick Prashaw’s Soar, Adam, Soar :

Ten years ago, I read a book called Almost Perfect. The young-adult novel by Brian Katcher won some awards and was held up as a powerful, nuanced portrayal of a young trans person. But the reality did not live up to the book’s billing. Instead, it turned out to be a one-dimensional and highly fetishized portrait of a trans person’s life, one that was nevertheless repeatedly dubbed “realistic” and “affecting” by non-transgender readers possessing only a vague, mass-market understanding of trans experiences.

In the intervening decade, trans narratives have emerged further into the literary spotlight, but those authored by trans people ourselves – and by trans men in particular – have seemed to fall under the shadow of cisgender sensationalized imaginings. Two current Canadian releases – Soar, Adam, Soar and This One Looks Like a Boy – provide a pointed object lesson into why trans-authored work about transgender experiences remains critical.

To be fair, Soar, Adam, Soar isn’t just a story about a trans man. It’s also a story about epilepsy, the medical establishment, and coming of age as seen through a grieving father’s eyes. Adam, Prashaw’s trans son, died unexpectedly at age 22. Woven through the elder Prashaw’s narrative are excerpts from Adam’s social media posts, giving us glimpses into the young man’s interior life as he traverses his late teens and early 20s. […]

Book Geeks reviews Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love :

WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5

SUBJECT: 4/5

CANDIDNESS: 4.5/5

RELEVANCE: 3.5/5

ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

“Eat Pray Love” is so popular that it is almost impossible to not read it. Having felt ashamed many times on my not having read this book, I quietly ordered the book (before I saw the movie) from amazon.in and sat down to read it. I don’t remember what I expected it to be – maybe more like a chick lit thing but it turned out quite different. The book is a real story and is a short journal from the time when its writer went travelling to three different countries in pursuit of three different things – Italy (Pleasure), India (Spirituality), Bali (Balance) and this is what corresponds to the book’s name – EAT (in Italy), PRAY (in India) and LOVE (in Bali, Indonesia). These are also the three Is – ITALY, INDIA, INDONESIA.

Though she had everything a middle-aged American woman can aspire for – MONEY, CAREER, FRIENDS, HUSBAND; Elizabeth was not happy in her life, she wasn’t happy in her marriage. Having suffered a terrible divorce and terrible breakup soon after, Elizabeth was shattered. She didn’t know where to go and what to do – all she knew was that she wanted to run away. So she set out on a weird adventure – she will go to three countries in a year and see if she can find out what she was looking for in life. This book is about that life changing journey that she takes for one whole year. […]

Emily May reviews Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Goodreads:

Look, I'm not a happy crier. I might cry at songs about leaving and missing someone; I might cry at books where things don't work out; I might cry at movies where someone dies. I've just never really understood why people get all choked up over happy, inspirational things. But Michelle Obama's kindness and empathy changed that. This book had me in tears for all the right reasons.

This is not really a book about politics, though political experiences obviously do come into it. It's a shame that some will dismiss this book because of a difference in political opinion, when it is really about a woman's life. About growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about getting married and struggling to maintain that marriage; about motherhood; about being thrown into an amazing and terrifying position.

I hate words like "inspirational" because they've become so overdone and cheesy, but I just have to say it-- Michelle Obama is an inspiration. I had the privilege of seeing her speak at The Forum in Inglewood, and she is one of the warmest, funniest, smartest, down-to-earth people I have ever seen in this world.

And yes, I know we present what we want the world to see, but I truly do think it's genuine. I think she is someone who really cares about people - especially kids - and wants to give them better lives and opportunities.

She's obviously intelligent, but she also doesn't gussy up her words. She talks straight, with an openness and honesty rarely seen. She's been one of the most powerful women in the world, she's been a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she's had her own successful career, and yet she has remained throughout that same girl - Michelle Robinson - from a working class family in Chicago.

I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

Hopefully, this post has given you a better idea of how to write a book review. You might be wondering how to put all of this knowledge into action now! Many book reviewers start out by setting up a book blog. If you don’t have time to research the intricacies of HTML, check out Reedsy Discovery — where you can read indie books for free and review them without going through the hassle of creating a blog. To register as a book reviewer , go here .

And if you’d like to see even more book review examples, simply go to this directory of book review blogs and click on any one of them to see a wealth of good book reviews. Beyond that, it's up to you to pick up a book and pen — and start reviewing!

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Book Reviews

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you write a book review, a report or essay that offers a critical perspective on a text. It offers a process and suggests some strategies for writing book reviews.

What is a review?

A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon. Reviews can consider books, articles, entire genres or fields of literature, architecture, art, fashion, restaurants, policies, exhibitions, performances, and many other forms. This handout will focus on book reviews. For a similar assignment, see our handout on literature reviews .

Above all, a review makes an argument. The most important element of a review is that it is a commentary, not merely a summary. It allows you to enter into dialogue and discussion with the work’s creator and with other audiences. You can offer agreement or disagreement and identify where you find the work exemplary or deficient in its knowledge, judgments, or organization. You should clearly state your opinion of the work in question, and that statement will probably resemble other types of academic writing, with a thesis statement, supporting body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Typically, reviews are brief. In newspapers and academic journals, they rarely exceed 1000 words, although you may encounter lengthier assignments and extended commentaries. In either case, reviews need to be succinct. While they vary in tone, subject, and style, they share some common features:

• First, a review gives the reader a concise summary of the content. This includes a relevant description of the topic as well as its overall perspective, argument, or purpose.
• Second, and more importantly, a review offers a critical assessment of the content. This involves your reactions to the work under review: what strikes you as noteworthy, whether or not it was effective or persuasive, and how it enhanced your understanding of the issues at hand.
• Finally, in addition to analyzing the work, a review often suggests whether or not the audience would appreciate it.

Becoming an expert reviewer: three short examples

Reviewing can be a daunting task. Someone has asked for your opinion about something that you may feel unqualified to evaluate. Who are you to criticize Toni Morrison’s new book if you’ve never written a novel yourself, much less won a Nobel Prize? The point is that someone—a professor, a journal editor, peers in a study group—wants to know what you think about a particular work. You may not be (or feel like) an expert, but you need to pretend to be one for your particular audience. Nobody expects you to be the intellectual equal of the work’s creator, but your careful observations can provide you with the raw material to make reasoned judgments. Tactfully voicing agreement and disagreement, praise and criticism, is a valuable, challenging skill, and like many forms of writing, reviews require you to provide concrete evidence for your assertions.

Consider the following brief book review written for a history course on medieval Europe by a student who is fascinated with beer:

Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600, investigates how women used to brew and sell the majority of ale drunk in England. Historically, ale and beer (not milk, wine, or water) were important elements of the English diet. Ale brewing was low-skill and low status labor that was complimentary to women’s domestic responsibilities. In the early fifteenth century, brewers began to make ale with hops, and they called this new drink “beer.” This technique allowed brewers to produce their beverages at a lower cost and to sell it more easily, although women generally stopped brewing once the business became more profitable.

The student describes the subject of the book and provides an accurate summary of its contents. But the reader does not learn some key information expected from a review: the author’s argument, the student’s appraisal of the book and its argument, and whether or not the student would recommend the book. As a critical assessment, a book review should focus on opinions, not facts and details. Summary should be kept to a minimum, and specific details should serve to illustrate arguments.

Now consider a review of the same book written by a slightly more opinionated student:

Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 was a colossal disappointment. I wanted to know about the rituals surrounding drinking in medieval England: the songs, the games, the parties. Bennett provided none of that information. I liked how the book showed ale and beer brewing as an economic activity, but the reader gets lost in the details of prices and wages. I was more interested in the private lives of the women brewsters. The book was divided into eight long chapters, and I can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to read it.

There’s no shortage of judgments in this review! But the student does not display a working knowledge of the book’s argument. The reader has a sense of what the student expected of the book, but no sense of what the author herself set out to prove. Although the student gives several reasons for the negative review, those examples do not clearly relate to each other as part of an overall evaluation—in other words, in support of a specific thesis. This review is indeed an assessment, but not a critical one.

Here is one final review of the same book:

One of feminism’s paradoxes—one that challenges many of its optimistic histories—is how patriarchy remains persistent over time. While Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 recognizes medieval women as historical actors through their ale brewing, it also shows that female agency had its limits with the advent of beer. I had assumed that those limits were religious and political, but Bennett shows how a “patriarchal equilibrium” shut women out of economic life as well. Her analysis of women’s wages in ale and beer production proves that a change in women’s work does not equate to a change in working women’s status. Contemporary feminists and historians alike should read Bennett’s book and think twice when they crack open their next brewsky.

This student’s review avoids the problems of the previous two examples. It combines balanced opinion and concrete example, a critical assessment based on an explicitly stated rationale, and a recommendation to a potential audience. The reader gets a sense of what the book’s author intended to demonstrate. Moreover, the student refers to an argument about feminist history in general that places the book in a specific genre and that reaches out to a general audience. The example of analyzing wages illustrates an argument, the analysis engages significant intellectual debates, and the reasons for the overall positive review are plainly visible. The review offers criteria, opinions, and support with which the reader can agree or disagree.

Developing an assessment: before you write

There is no definitive method to writing a review, although some critical thinking about the work at hand is necessary before you actually begin writing. Thus, writing a review is a two-step process: developing an argument about the work under consideration, and making that argument as you write an organized and well-supported draft. See our handout on argument .

What follows is a series of questions to focus your thinking as you dig into the work at hand. While the questions specifically consider book reviews, you can easily transpose them to an analysis of performances, exhibitions, and other review subjects. Don’t feel obligated to address each of the questions; some will be more relevant than others to the book in question.

• What is the thesis—or main argument—of the book? If the author wanted you to get one idea from the book, what would it be? How does it compare or contrast to the world you know? What has the book accomplished?
• What exactly is the subject or topic of the book? Does the author cover the subject adequately? Does the author cover all aspects of the subject in a balanced fashion? What is the approach to the subject (topical, analytical, chronological, descriptive)?
• How does the author support their argument? What evidence do they use to prove their point? Do you find that evidence convincing? Why or why not? Does any of the author’s information (or conclusions) conflict with other books you’ve read, courses you’ve taken or just previous assumptions you had of the subject?
• How does the author structure their argument? What are the parts that make up the whole? Does the argument make sense? Does it persuade you? Why or why not?
• How has this book helped you understand the subject? Would you recommend the book to your reader?

Beyond the internal workings of the book, you may also consider some information about the author and the circumstances of the text’s production:

• Who is the author? Nationality, political persuasion, training, intellectual interests, personal history, and historical context may provide crucial details about how a work takes shape. Does it matter, for example, that the biographer was the subject’s best friend? What difference would it make if the author participated in the events they write about?
• What is the book’s genre? Out of what field does it emerge? Does it conform to or depart from the conventions of its genre? These questions can provide a historical or literary standard on which to base your evaluations. If you are reviewing the first book ever written on the subject, it will be important for your readers to know. Keep in mind, though, that naming “firsts”—alongside naming “bests” and “onlys”—can be a risky business unless you’re absolutely certain.

Writing the review

Once you have made your observations and assessments of the work under review, carefully survey your notes and attempt to unify your impressions into a statement that will describe the purpose or thesis of your review. Check out our handout on thesis statements . Then, outline the arguments that support your thesis.

Your arguments should develop the thesis in a logical manner. That logic, unlike more standard academic writing, may initially emphasize the author’s argument while you develop your own in the course of the review. The relative emphasis depends on the nature of the review: if readers may be more interested in the work itself, you may want to make the work and the author more prominent; if you want the review to be about your perspective and opinions, then you may structure the review to privilege your observations over (but never separate from) those of the work under review. What follows is just one of many ways to organize a review.

Introduction

Since most reviews are brief, many writers begin with a catchy quip or anecdote that succinctly delivers their argument. But you can introduce your review differently depending on the argument and audience. The Writing Center’s handout on introductions can help you find an approach that works. In general, you should include:

• The name of the author and the book title and the main theme.
• Relevant details about who the author is and where they stand in the genre or field of inquiry. You could also link the title to the subject to show how the title explains the subject matter.
• The context of the book and/or your review. Placing your review in a framework that makes sense to your audience alerts readers to your “take” on the book. Perhaps you want to situate a book about the Cuban revolution in the context of Cold War rivalries between the United States and the Soviet Union. Another reviewer might want to consider the book in the framework of Latin American social movements. Your choice of context informs your argument.
• The thesis of the book. If you are reviewing fiction, this may be difficult since novels, plays, and short stories rarely have explicit arguments. But identifying the book’s particular novelty, angle, or originality allows you to show what specific contribution the piece is trying to make.
• Your thesis about the book.

Summary of content

This should be brief, as analysis takes priority. In the course of making your assessment, you’ll hopefully be backing up your assertions with concrete evidence from the book, so some summary will be dispersed throughout other parts of the review.

The necessary amount of summary also depends on your audience. Graduate students, beware! If you are writing book reviews for colleagues—to prepare for comprehensive exams, for example—you may want to devote more attention to summarizing the book’s contents. If, on the other hand, your audience has already read the book—such as a class assignment on the same work—you may have more liberty to explore more subtle points and to emphasize your own argument. See our handout on summary for more tips.

Analysis and evaluation of the book

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into paragraphs that deal with single aspects of your argument. This arrangement can be challenging when your purpose is to consider the book as a whole, but it can help you differentiate elements of your criticism and pair assertions with evidence more clearly. You do not necessarily need to work chronologically through the book as you discuss it. Given the argument you want to make, you can organize your paragraphs more usefully by themes, methods, or other elements of the book. If you find it useful to include comparisons to other books, keep them brief so that the book under review remains in the spotlight. Avoid excessive quotation and give a specific page reference in parentheses when you do quote. Remember that you can state many of the author’s points in your own words.

Sum up or restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book. You should not introduce new evidence for your argument in the conclusion. You can, however, introduce new ideas that go beyond the book if they extend the logic of your own thesis. This paragraph needs to balance the book’s strengths and weaknesses in order to unify your evaluation. Did the body of your review have three negative paragraphs and one favorable one? What do they all add up to? The Writing Center’s handout on conclusions can help you make a final assessment.

Finally, a few general considerations:

• Review the book in front of you, not the book you wish the author had written. You can and should point out shortcomings or failures, but don’t criticize the book for not being something it was never intended to be.
• With any luck, the author of the book worked hard to find the right words to express her ideas. You should attempt to do the same. Precise language allows you to control the tone of your review.
• Never hesitate to challenge an assumption, approach, or argument. Be sure, however, to cite specific examples to back up your assertions carefully.
• Try to present a balanced argument about the value of the book for its audience. You’re entitled—and sometimes obligated—to voice strong agreement or disagreement. But keep in mind that a bad book takes as long to write as a good one, and every author deserves fair treatment. Harsh judgments are difficult to prove and can give readers the sense that you were unfair in your assessment.
• A great place to learn about book reviews is to look at examples. The New York Times Sunday Book Review and The New York Review of Books can show you how professional writers review books.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Drewry, John. 1974. Writing Book Reviews. Boston: Greenwood Press.

Hoge, James. 1987. Literary Reviewing. Charlottesville: University Virginia of Press.

Sova, Dawn, and Harry Teitelbaum. 2002. How to Write Book Reports , 4th ed. Lawrenceville, NY: Thomson/Arco.

Walford, A.J. 1986. Reviews and Reviewing: A Guide. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How To Write A Book Review: A Student Guide

• What Is A Book Review?
• How To Write A Book Review
• Helpful Tips

If you’ve ever taken an English course or studied literature in any capacity, chances are you’re already very familiar with the idea of a book review. Maybe you’ve even written a book review or two throughout your academic career—hopefully after taking the time to actually read the book in question. 

But even with their ubiquity within classrooms around the world, the task of writing a book review can still be daunting. After all, you’re attempting to boil down an entire book into a few short paragraphs! That’s no easy feat. Before you get started on your review, you might be wondering: How much of the book’s plot do I actually need to summarize? Do I need to mention every character in the order that they appear in the story? And what does one talk about in a book review, anyway? 

Whether you’re writing a book review for school or just want some helpful tips to level up your Goodreads game, we’ll break down the different sections of a standard book review in this ultimate how-to guide.

What is a book review ?

A book review is a written evaluation of a book in any genre. Often around 500 to 1,000 words in length, book reviews provide a brief summary of the text, analyze its overall merit, and describe the reviewer’s personal opinions and reading experience. Think of it as a more nuanced way of recommending a favorite book— your review serves as your own individual stamp of approval.

If you’ve ever been assigned a book review in an academic setting, you already know that they’re meant to help students retain and further engage with their required reading. But book reviews can also appear outside of the classroom, too. Professional book critics, avid readers, and even bookish content creators may review a book for a major publication, for a personal blog, or on popular book reviewing websites like Goodreads and StoryGraph.

What is the difference between a book review and a book report ?

In casual conversation, one might use the terms “book review” and “book report” interchangeably. And while book reviews and book reports certainly share a few key similarities, there are some important differences that distinguish the two from an academic standpoint.

Often assigned to students in the K-12 age range, book reports give a strictly objective account of what happened in a book. Think major plot points, main characters, and big-picture ideas. They don’t often include the added elements of critical analysis and a subjective review, which is why they’re typically reserved for younger students with less experience with writing and literature.

Book reviews, on the other hand, are more than just a play-by-play of what happened; they require a higher level of critical thinking and engagement with the text. After providing a brief summary of the text, book reviews typically move into a deeper analysis of literary elements, which could include plot, characters, themes, or even the writing style itself. A book review also usually concludes with the reviewer’s personal thoughts, experience, rating, and recommendation (or non-recommendation) of the book. 

Get a better grasp on the nuances that set book reports apart from book reviews with this helpful article.

How to write a book review

Section 1: introduction.

To begin your book review, it’s a good idea to start with a compelling hook that captures your audience’s attention and encourages them to continue reading. Don’t give anything major away in these first few sentences—just focus on setting the tone, creating some intrigue, or presenting an interesting question. 

Example: With more than 300 million records sold worldwide and a career in music spanning over six decades, Elton John is easily one of the most prolific artists of all time. The singer’s official autobiography, aptly titled Me , gives readers an up-close-and-personal look at the man behind the music.

Section 2: Summary

Next, briefly recap the book you read with a high-level synopsis. Not only does this help clue your audience in on what the book is even about, but it also sets up your thoughts and opinions regarding the book with some important context.

For fiction book summaries, focus on plot points, primary and secondary characters, and overall themes—just be sure to leave out any big reveals and avoid discussing spoilers that could ruin someone’s reading experience. If you’re reviewing a nonfiction book, you can discuss the author’s main ideas, arguments, or thesis statements by section. Don’t forget to mention any essential information about the book in this section, which can include basics like the title, author, publication year, and whether or not it’s part of a series, for example. 

Example: Published in 2019 by Henry Holt & Co., Elton John’s personal memoir aims to capture as much of the British singer, pianist, and composer’s fascinating life as possible. The book begins by recounting John’s early childhood experiences growing up in the suburbs of London then moves into his rise to fame and continued success as a musician and producer today. 

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Section 3: Critical analysis

Once you’ve recapped the book and provided your audience with all of the need-to-know details, it’s time to dive a little deeper. The critical analysis section of your book review is where you can start to sprinkle in your own thoughts, feelings, and opinions about the text.

If you’re writing a book review in an academic setting or as an assignment for school, you may be required to write about specific literary elements within the text. (Be sure to refer back to your assignment’s instructions for more information!) But if you’ve got free range to write about anything and aren’t sure where to start, here are a few prompts to get your creative juices flowing: 

• Characterization: Who are the primary characters, and how do they affect the story? Are they particularly likable or relatable? What do you think their individual arcs represent? 
• Structure/form: How does structure play a role in storytelling? Does the author write in long, stream-of-consciousness paragraphs or short, quippy vignettes? Do you think the book would have benefited from a different structure? 
• Writing style: How would you describe this author’s writing style? Is it accessible and conversational or rigid and academic? Does this writing style lend itself well to this specific story or genre? 
• Themes & ideas: Can you easily identify the story’s main ideas or motifs? What do you think they represent? Are they effective? Why or why not?

Example: I found Elton John’s honesty, vulnerability, and conversational writing style incredibly refreshing as I read this book. It felt less like reading a nonfiction book and more like catching up with a friend. The singer doesn’t pull any punches as he shares everything from delightful anecdotes of his experience as a father to the heart-wrenching details of his struggle with drug addiction. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to live such a public life; I commend and admire John’s continued openness.

Section 4: Conclusion, personal recommendation, and rating (if applicable)

Finally, wrap up your book review by stating whether or not you personally recommend the book to your intended audience. Don’t throw your audience for a loop by bringing up anything new in this section. Your conclusion should be a natural progression from the previous sections—it’s the cherry on top, if you will.

Note: if you’re writing a book review for a school assignment, you may be able to skip this section based on your assignment’s directions. On the other hand, if you’re writing your review for your personal blog or on a popular bookish site like Goodreads or StoryGraph, it may be helpful to include a star rating, too.

Example: I highly recommend this book to longtime fans of Elton John and casual listeners alike. I grew up listening to Elton John’s greatest hits on the radio, and it was so interesting to learn more about his upbringing, creative inspiration, and life experiences in this book. 

Like book reviews and reports, the five-paragraph essay is a classic part of any student’s academic arsenal. Learn how to master it here!

Helpful tips for writing a book review

Read (and re-read) your assignment’s directions. Following your teacher or professor’s instructions is key to nailing a book review assignment in an academic setting. You may be required to follow a certain structure, hit a specified word count, or discuss certain literary devices in your review.

Take notes while you read. Especially when it comes to writing the summary portion of the book review, it can be helpful to actively take notes while you’re reading. Note-taking can help you focus on the main ideas and trace narrative through-lines while they’re fresh in your mind, rather than trying to remember every last detail after you’ve already finished the book. Plus, your notes will serve as a helpful cheat sheet to look back on in case you do end up forgetting something.

Remember to proofread! As with any piece of writing, it’s important to check your work for grammar errors, misspellings, and typos. You don’t want to lose credibility (or points on your grade) for silly mistakes. 

Don’t be too harsh. Even if you truly despised the book you read, it’s a good idea to write as if the author of the book might read your review one day. Jumping at the chance to tear down someone’s writing is unnecessary; keep your criticism constructive and remember that authors have feelings, too!

Roused by reading and want to write a book of your own? Check out some tips to get started.

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How To Write A Book Review: 6 Steps To Take

Adiba Jaigirdar

Adiba Jaigirdar is an Irish-Bangladeshi writer, poet, and teacher. She resides in Dublin, Ireland and has an MA in postcolonial studies. She is currently working on her own postcolonial novel and hopes that someday it will see the light of day outside of her computer screen. Twitter:  @adiba_j

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Whether you’re a student, a novice blogger, or just someone looking to become a more active user of Goodreads, writing a book review is an important skill to have! Here are six steps for how to write a book review for school and beyond. 

1. Begin with a brief summary of the book

This is probably the best way to introduce any review because it gives context. But make sure to not go into too much detail. Keep it short and sweet since an official summary can be found through a quick google search!

2. Pick out the most important aspects of the book

I usually break this down with character, world-building, themes, and plot. But this might vary between books, genres, and your tastes!

Dedicate a paragraph to each of these important aspects, discussing how well the author dealt with it, along with what you enjoyed and what you didn’t enjoy.

3. Include brief quotes as examples

Including quotes is always a great idea, because it gives examples for everything that you’re saying! If your review talks about a character being particularly witty, a witty line from the character lets your readers see exactly what kind of witty character you’re dealing with here.

But be careful: lengthy quotes can take up big chunks of space and overpower your review. Short quotes will usually get your points across while letting your work shine through.

4. Write a conclusion that summarises everything

Like your introduction, keep your conclusion short and sweet! It should bring up the main points of your review, along with your overall opinion of the book.

5. Find similar books

A great way to wrap up a review is to find similar books to the one you’re reviewing. So you can say, “if you were a fan of X book, I think you’ll definitely like this one!”

You can also be more specific, looking at the exact things that might make two books similar. So you can suggest something like…“if you liked that the main character in X book was a kick-ass superhero, then you’ll love the main character of this book!”

6. Give it a star rating

A star rating is obviously encouraged in a lot of review sites, but they’re not necessary! If you do want to give a star rating, you can go the conventional “out of five/ten” route. You could also try something slightly less conventional, and break down your star-rating into different categories for character/plot/world-building, etc.

Now go forth and review! And share any tips you have for how to write a book review in the comments.

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How to Write a Book Review: Awesome Guide

A book review allows students to illustrate the author's intentions of writing the piece, as well as create a criticism of the book — as a whole. In other words, form an opinion of the author's presented ideas. Check out this guide from EssayPro — book review writing service to learn how to write a book review successfully.

What Is a Book Review?

You may prosper, “what is a book review?”. Book reviews are commonly assigned students to allow them to show a clear understanding of the novel. And to check if the students have actually read the book. The essay format is highly important for your consideration, take a look at the book review format below.

Book reviews are assigned to allow students to present their own opinion regarding the author’s ideas included in the book or passage. They are a form of literary criticism that analyzes the author’s ideas, writing techniques, and quality. A book analysis is entirely opinion-based, in relevance to the book. They are good practice for those who wish to become editors, due to the fact, editing requires a lot of criticism.

Book Review Template

The book review format includes an introduction, body, and conclusion.

• Introduction
• Describe the book cover and title.
• Include any subtitles at this stage.
• Include the Author’s Name.
• Write a brief description of the novel.
• Briefly introduce the main points of the body in your book review.
• Avoid mentioning any opinions at this time.
• Use about 3 quotations from the author’s novel.
• Summarize the quotations in your own words.
• Mention your own point-of-view of the quotation.
• Remember to keep every point included in its own paragraph.
• In brief, summarize the quotations.
• In brief, summarize the explanations.
• Finish with a concluding sentence.
• This can include your final opinion of the book.
• Star-Rating (Optional).

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How to Write a Book Review: Step-By-Step

Writing a book review is something that can be done with every novel. Book reviews can apply to all novels, no matter the genre. Some genres may be harder than others. On the other hand, the book review format remains the same. Take a look at these step-by-step instructions from our professional writers to learn how to write a book review in-depth.

Step 1: Planning

Create an essay outline which includes all of the main points you wish to summarise in your book analysis. Include information about the characters, details of the plot, and some other important parts of your chosen novel. Reserve a body paragraph for each point you wish to talk about.

Consider these points before writing:

• What is the plot of the book? Understanding the plot enables you to write an effective review.
• Is the plot gripping? Does the plot make you want to continue reading the novel? Did you enjoy the plot? Does it manage to grab a reader’s attention?
• Are the writing techniques used by the author effective? Does the writer imply factors in-between the lines? What are they?
• Are the characters believable? Are the characters logical? Does the book make the characters are real while reading?
• Would you recommend the book to anyone? The most important thing: would you tell others to read this book? Is it good enough? Is it bad?
• What could be better? Keep in mind the quotes that could have been presented better. Criticize the writer.

Step 2: Introduction

Presumably, you have chosen your book. To begin, mention the book title and author’s name. Talk about the cover of the book. Write a thesis statement regarding the fictitious story or non-fictional novel. Which briefly describes the quoted material in the book review.

Step 3: Body

Choose a specific chapter or scenario to summarise. Include about 3 quotes in the body. Create summaries of each quote in your own words. It is also encouraged to include your own point-of-view and the way you interpret the quote. It is highly important to have one quote per paragraph.

Step 4: Conclusion

Write a summary of the summarised quotations and explanations, included in the body paragraphs. After doing so, finish book analysis with a concluding sentence to show the bigger picture of the book. Think to yourself, “Is it worth reading?”, and answer the question in black and white. However, write in-between the lines. Avoid stating “I like/dislike this book.”

Step 5: Rate the Book (Optional)

After writing a book review, you may want to include a rating. Including a star-rating provides further insight into the quality of the book, to your readers. Book reviews with star-ratings can be more effective, compared to those which don’t. Though, this is entirely optional.

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Writing Tips

Here is the list of tips for the book review:

• A long introduction can certainly lower one’s grade: keep the beginning short. Readers don’t like to read the long introduction for any essay style.
• It is advisable to write book reviews about fiction: it is not a must. Though, reviewing fiction can be far more effective than writing about a piece of nonfiction
• Avoid Comparing: avoid comparing your chosen novel with other books you have previously read. Doing so can be confusing for the reader.
• Opinion Matters: including your own point-of-view is something that is often encouraged when writing book reviews.
• Refer to Templates: a book review template can help a student get a clearer understanding of the required writing style.
• Don’t be Afraid to Criticize: usually, your own opinion isn’t required for academic papers below Ph.D. level. On the other hand, for book reviews, there’s an exception.
• Use Positivity: include a fair amount of positive comments and criticism.
• Review The Chosen Novel: avoid making things up. Review only what is presented in the chosen book.
• Enjoyed the book? If you loved reading the book, state it. Doing so makes your book analysis more personalized.

Writing a book review is something worth thinking about. Professors commonly assign this form of an assignment to students to enable them to express a grasp of a novel. Following the book review format is highly useful for beginners, as well as reading step-by-step instructions. Writing tips is also useful for people who are new to this essay type. If you need a book review or essay, ask our book report writing services ' write paper for me ' and we'll give you a hand asap!

We also recommend that everyone read the article about essay topics . It will help broaden your horizons in writing a book review as well as other papers.

Book Review Examples

Referring to a book review example is highly useful to those who wish to get a clearer understanding of how to review a book. Take a look at our examples written by our professional writers. Click on the button to open the book review examples and feel free to use them as a reference.

Book review

Kenneth Grahame’s ‘The Wind in the Willows’

Kenneth Grahame’s ‘The Wind in the Willows’ is a novel aimed at youngsters. The plot, itself, is not American humor, but that of Great Britain. In terms of sarcasm, and British-related jokes. The novel illustrates a fair mix of the relationships between the human-like animals, and wildlife. The narrative acts as an important milestone in post-Victorian children’s literature.

Book Review

Dr. John’s ‘Pollution’

Dr. John’s ‘Pollution’ consists of 3 major parts. The first part is all about the polluted ocean. The second being about the pollution of the sky. The third part is an in-depth study of how humans can resolve these issues. The book is a piece of non-fiction that focuses on modern-day pollution ordeals faced by both animals and humans on Planet Earth. It also focuses on climate change, being the result of the global pollution ordeal.

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How to Write a Book Review: Writing Guide, Structure & Examples

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A book review is a critical evaluation of a book that provides a brief summary and  discusses its strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of a book review is to help readers decide whether or not to read the book. You should provide insight into the book's content and assess its significance.

Writing a book review is an essential skill that every student must possess. In particular, your teacher may require you to prepare a book review to widen your knowledge of a subject matter or let you practice evaluating ideas critically. Follow this article to discover how to review a book and complete such projects easily. Even if you have never written reviews before, with our step-by-step guidelines, you will understand the basics. Book reviews examples are also offered to bolster your grasp of key points. As a book review writer , you might use our recommendations to express your opinion and make your writing shine. Let’s get started!

What Is a Book Review: Definition

A book review is a detailed assessment of text based on content, plot and writing style. It involves thoroughly describing, analyzing, and evaluating what a text means. Reviews often assess writing quality, topic importance and coverage. Most book reviews are brief and generally include 500-1000 words. However, factors such as your assignment length, manuscript complexity, and overall purpose of an evaluation may lead to longer or shorter papers. Students are mainly asked to write a book review as practice in carefully reading, examining, and forming an informed opinion on a volume’s context and author’s views. Unlike a book critique , reviews are more focused on plot summary and recommendations rather than providing critical analysis . The real value of crafting good book review essays for students is that they enhance critical thinking, writing, and interpretation skills. Commentary is a vital aspect of this task as this enables you to enter into discussion and dialogue with a novelist and other readers.

Features of Book Reviews

Formulating book reviews is an important task, as it requires appraising another person’s work. This may have a significant influence on readers because it guides their verdict on whether to consider the text. Thus, knowing how to write a good book review is essential. These components are what makes a good book review:

• Provide a summary of a manuscript. Offer an overview of its purpose, argument, and perspective. Also, describe your topic and scope. This is an excellent way to introduce your review, as it offers context. Nonetheless, avoid giving too much information by keeping it nice and short.
• Offer critical evaluation. Assess the key elements such as themes, plot, character, and overall development, depending on the genre. Identify strong points, weaknesses, and how effective an author is in building their work.
• Give a rating. Recommend whether or not people should value it for its overall quality and authenticity. You can offer your general score using conventional techniques such as “seven out of ten”.

Book Review Outline

It is a good idea to start your paper by writing an outline of a book review. A decent layout usually begins with a heading or bibliographic data specifying the full title, publication place and date, author, and publisher. The second part of the structure of a book review is an introduction, consisting of a brief overview of the text, its purpose or audience, and your thesis statement or key observation.  The next section of your book review template is the body in which you describe the analysis and assessment of the manuscript. Here, describe its contents, argument, presentation, and evidence before offering your evaluation. A conclusion section follows where you tie together all raised points and offer your comments about the work. Finally, include a citation page for what you reviewed and any other sources used.  Here is a book review outline example:

• Discuss the cover and title
• Mention the author and date of publication
• Present a thesis statement focusing on the central points
• Provide a brief plot summary
• Present your main point
• Include supporting quotations
• Discuss the quotes and symbolism
• Wrap up your key points
• Share your final opinion
• Give recommendations

Things to Consider Before Writing a Book Review

As with all other essay genres that students complete, writing a book review requires considering several components. Therefore, if you are interested in knowing how to write a book review , make sure you attend to these aspects before beginning:

• Author Within your book review essay, you must discuss who the novelist is and their previous works concerning your analysis. For example, you can identify the author’s style, prizes or rewards, and what they are popular for.
• Genre Book reviews also include a genre. Examples are history, romance, fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and science fiction, among others. This helps you recognize the work’s audience and overall purpose.
• Title In most cases, your heading corresponds to a text’s label. However, you can go further by examining how relevant a headline is to the work’s purpose. Maybe it conveys a specific message or reveals important themes.
• Main theme and ideas Your book review must highlight its central points. Evaluate how they are explored. Are they examined deeply or trivially? Besides, assess if it includes any repetitive motifs.
• Argument What is the author’s main argument or assumptions and conclusions? What evidence is used to support these claims? Also, identify if they are valid.
• Writing style Here, explore the major aspects of an author’s style, such as word choice and dialogue setup. Explain or assess how it fits into the broader literary domain.
• Plot Writing an academic book review also requires that you locate the main catalyst of the work’s contents or story. Describe any subplots and explain what happens as the action rises.
• Characters You should also recognize the main characters and their motivations. Additionally, explain if they are empathetic or convincingly drawn.
• Literary devices What techniques of analysis are used? Examples include allusions, sense appeal, quotations, imagery, metaphor, personification, characterization, dialogue, symbolism, etc.
• Quotations You can include short quotes as examples to get your points across when writing book reviews. This allows your reader to see exactly what you are talking about. Practice carefulness and avoid long quotes as they suppress your analysis and take up large spaces. Check our guide on how to cite a quote if you have questions.

Questions to Ask While Reading a Book

An initial step before starting to write your book review is engaging in the active reading of what will be evaluated. Do it once or a couple of times to understand what it is about. Composing an academic book review without going through this phase is unwise because it is like going to an exam without studying a course or unit. Ask yourself these questions as you dig into the manuscript:

• What is its genre?
• Do you know anything about who wrote it?
• Can you identify the main themes? Are they conveyed well?
• What is the main argument?
• What is the exact topic or subject?
• How are the arguments supported and structured?
• Can you identify how the events and characters relate to the subject matter?
• Does it contain a major conflict? How does this develop throughout the work?
• The author was trying to accomplish what?
• How has it helped you understand the topic? How do you feel about the text?

How to Write a Book Review Step-By-Step

Once you have answered the aforementioned questions and made assessments and observations, it is time to start writing analysis. To do this, you must be familiar with how to write a book review. Specifically, you should understand what to do, beginning from assessing the report to composing your review up to writing a conclusion. Below is a step-by-step description of how to do a book review:

1. Read a Book and Take Notes

The first phase of composing a book review involves reading it and taking notes on key points. Start by attending closely to the preface and introduction sections because most authors describe the reasons for writing, their views, and the perspectives of any contributors here. Consider the structure and table of contents to get a quick overview of what is inside. In addition, look at any graphics to gain insights into what strategies are used to enhance meanings and which kinds of readers are targeted. Go through the summaries and abstracts to understand an author’s viewpoint. Note down your observations, including the logic of what is presented, organization, and structure.

Additionally, identify if the information is new or developed based on previous works and existing ideas. Assessment should also include your view about how simple or hard it is to get a novelist’s standpoint and why. These transcripts will enable you to review a book effectively by revealing how distinctive it is and to what extent the author conveyed its motive. Learn more about how to write an academic book review in the sections below.

2. Develop an Outline of a Book Review

Writing an outline for a book review before constructing the actual piece helps ensure your work fulfills its goals. This is the basis of your entire task as it includes the major points you will address and gives you a reference point as you complete your schoolwork. A professional book review structure consists of at least five paragraphs. The main elements are the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Your academic book review template must cover all the primary arguments to be discussed, such as plot details, characters, themes, and other essential parts. Below you can see an example of how a book review can be outlined. Check best practices on how to outline an essay or review to organize your work properly. 

3. Write a Book Review Introduction

Start your book review with an anecdote or hook that conveys your argument succinctly. However, you can begin differently based on your audience and argument. Generally, you must include the author’s name, manuscript title, and primary theme. Besides, identify the work’s context in your book review introduction as this informs your claim. Also, offer relevant information about who the writer is and their stand in their field. Moreover, if you are not conversant with how to write a review of a book, remember that your thesis and that of the text are stated here.

How to Write a Book Review Introduction Example

Below is an introduction of a book review example. Examine it carefully and critically to deepen your understanding of composing this section.

John Boyne’s novel, The Boy in The Striped Pajamas, is based on real events during the Second World War. Published in 2006, it offers excellent information to teenagers who want to expand their historical knowledge. The novel follows a nine-year-old youngster, Bruno, whose father works as a Nazi soldier at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The story’s unfolding reveals what a curious boy lived during this desperate period in Germany.

4. Include a Brief Plot Summary

Next, write a book review summary to provide your audience with some background. Focus on pertinent events that occur throughout it, as this gives context. Be cautious here by not revealing the climax or ending because this does not form a major part of your analysis as you write your book review. Thus, keep this section short and brief, probably not more than two paragraphs, unless you are preparing an extended piece. Remember to prioritize your evaluation part. Your audience can also influence the necessary amount of synopsis. For example, if they have not read the work, you may need to offer a good summary. Nonetheless, if they have already gone through it, you can make a book review by examining more subtle arguments and highlighting your claim.

Example of Book Review Summary

Have a look at this example of a good book review summary:

Bruno, a nine-year-old boy, lives in a large house with his parents, sister, and maid during WW2 in Berlin. One day they all move to rural Poland occupied by Nazis after his father is promoted. Bruno identifies a concentration camp close to where they live but thinks it is a farm. A private tutor is allowed to teach him and his sister antisemitism and Nazi propaganda, but he struggles to understand lessons. He later befriends another young boy who lives on another side of a barbed wire fence.

5. Make an Assessment and Critique a Book

This is the main portion of a book review and includes your judgment and appraisal of what you read. You formulated a thesis at the beginning of the book review paper, which represents your view. Now, explain your reasoning. This is also a time for considering your notes and adding details from the manuscript, such as key themes, characters, and the author’s point of view. Here is how to write a book review essay for this segment:

• Which writing style is used? Emphasize precise usage of words and sentences, text flow, clarity, and cohesion.
• Describe how it affected you and if it changed any of your feelings or opinions.
• Explain whether the author met their purpose, if others should read the work, and why.
• Did the author describe facts or attempt to persuade the audience regarding the validity of a specific issue?
• Was it suitable for the intended readers? How interesting was it?

Book Evaluation Example

This example gives you an idea of how to write a book evaluation:

The novel is an excellent revelation for all as it describes the Holocaust events and terrors objectively. Its narration from two perspectives simultaneously was very entertaining. For example, initially, it involved a story from Bruno’s view in the course of the war, including which hardships were endured. Then, the same character was also used in telling a story from the view of being held in a Nazi camp. Here, the examination focuses on how prisoners were treated and the horrible conditions they lived in.

6. Make a Book Recommendation

After evaluating and critiquing the text, it is now time to reveal your thoughts about it. Writing a good book review requires that you identify or explain in this section how suitable it is to your audience. In other words, who will be interested in reading this work? Also, explain in your book review assignment whether you liked or disliked it and why. Ascertain which type of people would love it because not every text is right for everyone. Even if you disliked it, this does not mean that the manuscript is not appealing to others. Therefore, make your review of a book useful by helping people discover it. Besides, identify any surprises you encountered.

Book Recommendation Example

The following sample demonstrates how to write a book recommendation:

Being majorly fictional, this text contains numerous factual elements and describes a lot of ideas and themes requiring mature individuals to deduce and understand properly. Therefore, I do not recommend it to youngsters under 12 years old. However, if you want to gain better insights into the dark events of the Second World War, then this is a perfect copy for you. Its only downside is that the novel does not offer adequate details about events and themes.

7. Write a Conclusion of a Book Review

Your knowledge of how to write book reviews will be incomplete without understanding this section. In particular, you need a strong ending, just like any other writing task you have done previously. So, you have a basic idea about how to write a conclusion for a book review. Specifically, make your final appraisal without introducing new evidence. Nonetheless, you can include new thoughts that go beyond the manuscript if they extend your argument’s logic. In this part, you need to balance what you wrote and found into a single assessment. Ask yourself, what do all summaries and analyses add up to? Also, identify if additional research is required on the topic now that the text is written. Remember to highlight the work’s contribution to its field. Ensure to leave your audience with a well-justified and articulated final evaluation.

Book Review Conclusion Example

Still stuck or need a sample to jog your memory? Look at this example of a book review conclusion:

While the author’s style is plain and natural, there are some weaknesses and errors in how he develops his work. However, this does not stop the author from answering many questions and offering valuable views into the horrors of WWII for young people. His argument is vitally crucial when understanding and coming to terms with the Holocaust. No teenager in the world should go without being exposed to these disastrous events.

Book Review Format

When professors assign tasks, they often require you to comply with a specified design. You may also be left to select an appropriate layout from major styles such as Chicago, APA, or MLA. If you are not asked to use any one particular citation, keep in mind that the format of book reviews depends on your discipline. Therefore, find out how to format a book review from your school department.  Do not forget to format your citations accordingly. We advise reading more articles on how to cite a book in APA or MLA, should you need any help.

Book Review Examples

Examples of book reviews are provided below. Click on each one and explore sample templates in more detail. Please, take your time to read all samples since they highlight some key components of writing this type of work. Also, understand that a particular academic book review example is intended to help you practice your analysis skills, enhance your writing skills, and develop your knowledge of reviewing books. Example of book review essay 1

Sample book review 2

Book review essay example 3

Tips on How to Write Book Review

Your approach to composing a book review will vary and depend on what type of work and genre you are analyzing. However, when assessing a text, focus on how an author treats dialogue, setting, plot, and characters. In addition to viewing a book review sample for extra ideas, keep these tips in mind:

• Characters Are they believable, different, or similar during dialogue? Can you tell one from another?
• Plot Is it interesting enough? Does it emerge as original or has numerous dull parts? Identify if it has unresolved issues or is confusing. Remember that you do not know how to write a great book review if you cannot understand the plot.
• Comparison Think about other works in the same genre. How does this volume compare to theirs?
• Setting Can you visualize or imagine the described action? How is the setting used to create a mood?
• Writing style What style is used in developing the text? Is there a consistent style throughout?

Book Review Writing Checklist

Here is a checklist about how to write a book review for school or college. Use it to examine your book review or get another student or peer to assist you:

• checkbox Essential biographical details are provided.
• checkbox My introduction is interesting.
• checkbox I have identified the author and text title/type in my introduction.
• checkbox I stated what the work is about and offered adequate background information.
• checkbox I mentioned the book’s thesis and stated my claim.
• checkbox I described key points in the body, such as summary, purpose, arguments, intended audience, layout, organization, and sources.
• checkbox I backed up my description with evidence or quotations.
• checkbox I critically evaluated key areas.
• checkbox I discussed all strengths and weaknesses and summarized them.
• checkbox I included my rating and recommendations.
• checkbox I restated my thesis and offered a memorable ending.

Final Thoughts on How to Write a Book Review

This article described the whole process of reviewing a book. Completing these types of tasks should not be complicated or demanding if you follow the discussed guidelines and tips comprehensively. Cement your understanding by checking out how to write a book review example from a list of samples provided previously. Pay attention to how key ideas from this guide are implemented. Also, don’t forget to explore all the examples of good book reviews for a complete overview. There is no need for you to seek more information outside once you have read all the segments. Just start writing your assignment.

If you feel that it is difficult for you to handle your work, you can ask to ‘do my assignment for me’ at StudyCrumb . Our academic writing service will provide you with high-quality and timely paperwork that will help you get the highest grade.

FAQ About Book Reviews

1. what is the purpose of a book review.

Book reviews usually inform readers about a specific volume’s purpose, argument, and quality. They also explain how it fits into the existing literature. This can be helpful to others who have not read the work so that they can choose whether to go through it or if it’s worth their time and effort.

2. What to include in a book review?

The elements of a book review include a citation, introduction, relevance and intended audience, a brief plot summary or main arguments, critique, evaluation and importance, recommendation, and conclusion. The review offers a critical analysis, assessment, and connection to other relevant works. A reviewer also provides personal views and recommendations.

3. How to start a book review?

Start a book review by reading the work to understand elements such as writing style, plot, characters, literary devices, and the main argument. Then, summarize the major claims made throughout the manuscript by explicitly stating them in your introduction. Also, offer relevant context for your analysis and declare your thesis.

4. How to end a book review?

Finish your book review by giving your overall impression of the work. Conclude and summarize the strengths and weaknesses you found, demonstrate how useful the text is, identify its contribution to the wider field, and offer your recommendations. In addition, mention the type of audience who will benefit from reading it.

5. How long should a book review be?

Traditionally, a book review is usually about 500-1000 words long. However, be sure to have a clear idea regarding your assignment expectations since specific tasks mostly have guidelines. In general, however, most evaluations will not exceed 1000 words.

6. What to avoid when writing a book review?

These are what to avoid when writing your book review:

• Retelling a story without an in-depth analysis.
• Summarizing the text only without critical evaluation.
• Using imprecise language.
• Providing harsh evaluations rather than constructive assessments.
• Not using evidence to back up your views.

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How to Write a Book Review

Nayreth garcia.

• Writing Tips

Content Writer At Gradehacker

Updated on April, 2023

Learning how to write a book review is important for when you need to summarize one for your college task or for simply expressing your thoughts about a book that left a mark on you!

It’s one of the most common assignments required in English classes, but if you have never written one before or struggled with it, there are many douts you must have; especially because there are many ways you can approach a book review!

At Gradehacker, the non-traditional adult student  #1 resource, we have years of helping students with this type of essay (and every other type too); so we know what tips you need to follow.

Here is how to write a book review that will get you an A!

What is a Book Review?

The main purpose of writing book reviews is to tell a reader what you think about it. Here you’ll share what the novel is about, if it’s worth reading, and why.

Critical book reviews help readers understand a book’s plot, characters, and writing style for a more enjoyable reading experience . They come in various forms, just like any other type of writing.

Your major arguments should:

• Summarize the content and its purpose
• Provide your critical assessment of the work, including notable aspects, effectiveness, and how it informed you
• Suggest whether the audience would enjoy the book

In order to make a successful and compelling essay review is important to follow the necessary steps. This includes doing an analytical reading of the material and taking notes on key points and relevant details that will be useful.

After understanding the basics of the book, you should then craft your opinion and provide readers with an overall evaluation of what you thought about it. 

You should consider that other readers might interpret the book and provide a balanced review with valid arguments too.

Examples Of Book Reviews

But before we get deeper into how to write a book review, let’s see a couple of examples of the different types you can find.

Literary Fiction Book Review:

A literary fiction review evaluates the quality of the writing, the story’s authenticity, and the characters’ growth.

Rather than focusing only on its entertainment value, literary reviews emphasize the book’s style, themes, and language.

These reviews aim to provide readers with a t houghtful and in-depth understanding of the work that extends beyond a summary or recommendation, prompting them to explore the novel on a deeper level.

Non-fiction Book Review:

This review will assess the book’s accuracy, research, and the author’s ability to explain complex ideas clearly.

Unlike fiction reviews, non-fiction reviews may be subjective because the reviewer’s agreement with the author’s perspective becomes the spotlight.

The author’s credibility and qualifications may also be taken into account . 

Generally, the reason for a non-fiction review is to provide readers with a clear understanding of the book’s content and help them decide whether the book is worth reading.

Essential Steps For Writing The Review

When writing a book review, it’s hard to know what to include. 

Although there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, here are some tips that can help guide you on that process and know what to take into account:

Add a Catchy Introduction

Your review’s opening line sets the tone for your piece. 

It doesn’t matter if your review starts with a person’s story, struggle, or path to getting better. It’s also important to name your genre and type of book. Without this, your review will likely get overlooked.

Still, make your hook concise and simple. Your potential reader needs to understand what the problem is and why you want to share it with them

Give Your Opinion And Mention Important Parts

This is perhaps the most important part of the review, as it lets people know what you liked and disliked about the book. 

Give your honest opinion and try not to offer comments based on expectations.

The only way to get readers’ attention is to write an opinion of the story they will actually read and engage with . 

Balanced opinions are key! See it as an opportunity to introduce an analytical discussion of the book so the readers can get a clear idea of what to expect.

Also, compare your chosen novel to other well-known books or authors and describe the type of audience that may like or dislike it.

Analyse Literary Elements

While summarizing the plot and sharing your thoughts is a critical part of a book review, the best way to support your opinions is by analyzing the literary elements used by the author.

You don’t need to go too in-depth and list all the devices used, you can focus only on one or two and explain why they made you like or dislike the work.

You can analyze the:

• Point of view
• Character development

Don’t Forget to Talk About The Writer!

Reviewing the books is the number one priority, but there is no reason why you should not write about its author; especially if it’s an autobiography or their context makes the novel be more interesting.

Giving some insight into the author’s background is always appealing and informative and gets the reader thinking. 

If they already know they, it will help them decide whether or not they’d like to read another book from the same author.

Leave An Open-ended Conclusion

In the conclusion, you need to restate your main opinions , but let it be intriguing enough so the reader wants to -at least- find more information about the book.

Another way to finish your book review is to find similar books and recommend them to fellow readers. For example, if you are reviewing a fantasy romance book, you can say: “If you were a fan of Twilight and Hush-Hush, then you will definitely be enchanted with this one!”

Tips to Take Away:

Before you actually start reading or writing your review, here are some tips you should consider:

• Take notes while reading the book
• Formulate an opinion
• Organize your thoughts in chronological order
• Support your opinions with evidence from the book
• Be honest and provide an objective assessment of the book

When writing a book review, it’s important to avoid some common pitfalls that can detract from the overall quality of your work. 

Here are some things to avoid when writing a book review:

• Being repetitive or redundant
• Over-explaining the plot
• Writing without clarity
• Making limiting assumptions

Why Writing Book Reviews Is Beneficial for Readers and Writers

Now, in case you have asked yourself “ why is writing a book review important for my college journey? ”, we have news for you. There are actually many reasons!

Based on academics, your professor can analyze your level of interpretation and how you communicate your ideas.

But if we need to define this craft, it is technically an exchange of opinions and ideas that forms a community with the same interests and passion.

It can truly become a benefit for those who want to read specific authors or genres but don’t have the time or ability to read everything as it becomes published.

Some people do it for fun, and others write book reviews as a way to earn money. So, the better reviews you write, the more you’ll improve your writing skills.

Do You Feel Ready To Start Your Book Review?

Writing a book review is a great way to start developing your writing skills and amplify your vocabulary, so don’t be afraid if you don’t do it perfectly the first time. 

With practice, you’ll be able to improve and get a high star rating on your assignments!

We hope this article helped you clear your doubts and guided you through the process of writing your book review. If you feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable when writing, remember that we are here to help you!

Whether it’s a book review from a novel you still haven’t read, another type of essay, or even your entire classes , be sure to reach out to us and you’ll receive the best assistance you’ll find.

If you want to make your college life easier, here are a few articles you may be interested in:

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Book Review Writing

Book Review Examples

Book Review Examples to Help You Get Started

Published on: May 25, 2019

Last updated on: Nov 16, 2023

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Are you in desperate need of some assistance to up your book review writing game? 

We know that penning down a review can come off as a tricky challenge, but do not worry!

To help you write book reviews that carry the essence of the book and engage readers, we have collected a handful of book review examples in this blog. 

The included examples will enable you to understand different writing styles and approaches taken toward book review writing . So, you can use your words effectively to craft the perfect book review.

Let’s kickstart things off!

• 1. Good Book Review Examples for Students
• 2. Short Book Review Examples for Fiction Books
• 3. Non-Fiction Book Review Examples

Good Book Review Examples for Students

You might be a professional writer, or you may not have any experience in writing book reviews. Rest assured, we’ll show you how to write perfect book reviews with the help of a sample template and great examples.

See this template to know what you should include in your book review: 

Book Review Template

Here is a good book review example for 4th-grade students:

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Book Review Examples for Middle School Students

Reading reviews written by others can help you get a feel and flavor of good book reviews. Learning how to write a perfect book review can help students to:

• Critically analyze a text
• Give a personal opinion on the text
• Improve analyzing and critical thinking skills 

Here are some interesting book review examples suitable for middle school students. 

Book Review Example for Middle School Students

Book Review Example for Kids

Book Review of Any Book in 300 Words

Science Book Review Example

Book Review Examples For High School Students

Below, you can also find some good book review examples for high school students. These real-life examples can help you get a clear understanding of the standard book review format that you should follow.

Book Review Example for High School Students

Book Review Examples for Class 9

Book Review Example for Grade 10

Book Review Examples for College Students

As a college student, you are required to demonstrate that you have examined the book from different angles. The points you raise in your book review need to be supported with clear facts and evidence.

The following are some interesting critical book review examples for college students to learn how to write a perfect review. 

Book Review Example for Class 12

Short Book Review for Students

Conclusion of Book Review Example

Short Book Review Examples for Fiction Books

Fiction book reviews follow the same basic formula as writing book reviews of any other genre. For your help, we have compiled exciting examples of fiction book reviews that you can get valuable assistance from. 

Short Book Review Example for Fiction Books

Book Review of Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

“The Hazel Wood” by Melissa Albert is a work of fiction and falls into fantasy and young adult fiction genres. The novel revolves around fantastical fairy tales, and magical realism, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

Here is an example of a comprehensive review of the book Hazel Wood:

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Non-Fiction Book Review Examples

For reviewing a non-fiction book, you are required to describe the book and summarize major points of interest. You should evaluate the author’s contribution to a subject that you may know very little about.

Here is a great non-fiction book review example to help you come up with a critical perspective on a text. 

Non-Fiction Book Review Example

Hopefully, with the help of the above examples, you get a better idea of how to write a perfect book review.

To wrap it up, Writing a great book review is a tricky task, no matter if you are a high school, college, or university student. Book review writing might seem like a simple task, but it requires excellent analyzing and critical thinking skills.

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A Complete Book Review Format Guide For Students

Two Thumbs Up! Get Students Writing and Publishing Book Reviews

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Designed for students in grades 2 and 3, this lesson demonstrates the process for writing book reviews and offers ideas for publishing student reviews. Students begin by evaluating book reviews written and read aloud by other children. Next, students discuss the effectiveness of, what components are included in, what they learned from, and what they might change about the book reviews. Once students have a foundation for book review components and structure, they choose a favorite book and write a review. Finally, students publish their reviews by videotaping them or posting them online.

Featured Resources

• Book Review Template : Use this template if your students need help drafting a book review.
• Scholastic: Share What You’re Reading : This site provides a place for students to read other students’ book reviews and publish their own online.

From Theory to Practice

• In this article, the author defines comprehension as the transaction between the reader and the text. Teachers can support readers' comprehension by teaching decoding skills, helping students build fluency, building and activating students' prior knowledge, motivating students, and engaging students in personal responses to text.
• Teachers can help motivate students by providing authentic learning experiences. An authentic "literacy event" is one that offers students an opportunity to experience reading and writing in a situation that they might encounter in society, such as reading or writing a book review.
• Teachers can also engage students in personal responses to text and teach students how to evaluate and critique texts so that students will grow to be critical readers and writers.
• Another important aspect in fostering comprehension is making a connection between reading and writing. When teachers make an effort to help students see the parallel processes in reading and writing, students may begin to understand that reading and writing are meaning-making activities.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Materials and Technology

• Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell (Penguin Putnam for Young Readers, 2001) or another short picture book
• Children’s books for students to review (see the Database of Award-Winning Children’s Literature or the Children’s Choices Booklist for ideas)
• Computers with Internet access
• General classroom supplies (e.g., paper, pencils, chart paper)
• Video camera and tripod (optional)
• Role-Play Book Reviews
• Homework Letter
• Book Review Rating Sheet
• Revision Questions
• Book Review Rubric
• Sample Book Reviews
• Role-Play Scenarios
• Book Review Template
• Story Map 3 graphic organizer

Preparation

Student objectives.

Students will

• Listen to and evaluate book reviews written by other children and critique them for their effectiveness
• Identify the features of a book review
• Engage in an authentic purpose for reading and writing by choosing a book based on their interest and reading level to read and write a book review for
• Apply their knowledge of book reviews by writing one that incorporates the features they have learned in this lesson
• Use the writing process to write their book reviews (prewriting, drafting, editing, revising, and publishing)
• Develop collaborative skills by engaging in whole-class discussions about book reviews and partnering with peers to revise their book reviews
• Evaluate their review and performance using a self-assessment sheet

To prepare for this session, copy the features of a book review that your students compiled in Session 1 (Step 3) onto sentence strips. You will also need a sample book review from Spaghetti Book Club or World of Reading written on chart paper or a transparency (see Preparation, Step 3).

Before this session, gather 20 to 30 books from your library for students to choose from for their book reviews. To get ideas for appropriate books, ask your local librarian or search for award-winning books on the Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature and the Children's Choices Booklist . When gathering books, make sure to choose ones that are age appropriate and meet the varying levels of readers in your class. Keep in mind also the date of publication and the topic. Not all award-winning books will be appropriate for your students.

Now that the revision and editing process is complete, students should be ready to publish their reviews. Publishing options include having students post their reviews online or record them on video. (See Extensions for other publishing ideas.) Publishing online There are a few websites on which students can submit their reviews for publication online. The Scholastic website has an area called "Share What You're Reading" where kids can Write a Review and also Read Book Reviews written by kids at their same grade level. The World of Reading website also offers publication of student reviews. (Note that you will need to e-mail this site in advance to arrange for the reviews to appear online.) Videotaping To prepare for videotaping, allow time for students to practice reading their book reviews aloud so that they can read them fluently and with expression. Students may also want to create a backdrop and choose illustrations from their book that they want you to zoom in on while they are reading the review. After recording students, provide time for them to watch themselves on tape. Give the option for students to share their video with the entire class or watch it on their own. For videos shown in class, remind students to politely listen to one another's reviews and offer positive comments only.

• Set up a display in the public or school library with the students' reviews along with the books.
• Have students share their book reviews during school announcements each week or read them to a live audience (e.g., to another class or to their parents).
• If book reviews were videotaped, create a take-home kit that includes the video, a note about the project, and a blank spiral notebook for students and family members to write responses and positive comments about the different reviews. Send the kit home with a different student each week.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Use the Book Review Rating Sheet for students to rate themselves on their reviews. You can also use this rating sheet for teacher assessment. Use the Book Review Rubric as an alternative way to assess students’ work.

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• Kindergarten K

How to Write a History Book Review

Writing a book review is one of the fundamental skills that every historian must learn. An undergraduate student’s book review should accomplish two main goals:

• Lay out an author’s argument, and
• Most importantly, critique the historical argument.

It is important to remember that a book review is not a book report. You need to do more than simply lay out the contents or plot-line of a book. You may briefly summarize the historical narrative or contents but must focus your review on the historical argument being made and how effectively the author has supported this argument with historical evidence. If you can, you may also fit that argument into the wider historiography about the subject.

The 'How to ... ' of Historical Book Reviews Writing a book review may seem very difficult, but in fact there are some simple rules you can follow to make the process much easier.

Before you read, find out about the author’s prior work What academic discipline was the author trained in? What other books, articles, or conference papers has s/he written? How does this book relate to or follow from the previous work of the author? Has the author or this book won any awards? This information helps you understand the author’s argument and critique the book.

As you read, write notes for each of the following topics.

• Write a few sentences about the author’s approach or genre of history. Is the focus on gender? Class? Race? Politics? Culture? Labor? Law? Something else? A combination? If you can identify the type of history the historian has written, it will be easier to determine the historical argument the author is making.
• Summarize the author’s subject and argument. In a few sentences, describe the time period, major events, geographical scope and group or groups of people who are being investigated in the book. Why has the author chosen the starting and ending dates of the book’s narrative? Next, discover the major thesis or theses of the book, the argument(s) that the author makes and attempts to support with evidence. These are usually, but not always, presented in a book’s introduction. It might help to look for the major question that the author is attempting to answer and then try to write his or her answer to that question in a sentence or two. Sometimes there is a broad argument supported by a series of supporting arguments. It is not always easy to discern the main argument but this is the most important part of your book review.
• What is the structure of the book? Are the chapters organized chronologically, thematically, by group of historical actors, from general to specific, or in some other way? How does the structure of the work enhance or detract from the argument?
• Look closely at the kinds of evidence the author has used to prove the argument. Is the argument based on data, narrative, or both? Are narrative anecdotes the basis of the argument or do they supplement other evidence? Are there other kinds of evidence that the author should have included? Is the evidence convincing? If so, find a particularly supportive example and explain how it supports the author’s thesis. If not, give an example and explain what part of the argument is not supported by evidence. You may find that some evidence works, while some does not. Explain both sides, give examples, and let your readers know what you think overall.
• Closely related to the kinds of evidence are the kinds of sources the author uses. What different kinds of primary sources are used? What type of source is most important in the argument? Do these sources allow the author to adequately explore the subject? Are there important issues that the author cannot address based on these sources? How about the secondary sources? Are there one or more secondary books that the author seems to lean heavily on in support of the argument? Are there works that the author disagrees with in the text? This will tell the reader how the work fits into the historiography of the subject and whether it is presenting a major new interpretation.
• Is the argument convincing as a whole? Is there a particular place where it breaks down? Why? Is there a particular element that works best? Why? Would you recommend this book to others, and if so, for whom is it appropriate? General readers? Undergraduates? Graduates and specialists in this historical subject? Why? Would you put any qualifications on that recommendation?

After having written up your analyses of each of these topics, you are ready to compose your review. There is no one way to format a book review but here is a common format that can be varied according to what you think needs to be highlighted and what length is required.

• Introduce the author, the historical period and topic of the book. Tell the reader what genre of history this work belongs to or what approach the author has used. Set out the main argument.
• Summarize the book’s organization and give a little more detail about the author’s sub-arguments. Here you would also work in your assessment of the evidence and sources used.
• Strengths and weaknesses or flaws in the book are usually discussed next. It is up to you to decide in what order these should come, but if you assess the book positively overall, do not spend inordinate space on the book’s faults and vice versa.
• In the conclusion, you may state your recommendations for readership unless that has been covered in your discussion of the book’s strengths and weaknesses. You might review how convincing the argument was, say something about the importance or uniqueness of the argument and topic, or describe how the author adds to our understanding of a particular historical question.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Writing a Book Review

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This resource discusses book reviews and how to write them.

Book reviews typically evaluate recently-written works. They offer a brief description of the text’s key points and often provide a short appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.

Readers sometimes confuse book reviews with book reports, but the two are not identical. Book reports commonly describe what happens in a work; their focus is primarily on giving an account of the major plot, characters, and/or main idea of the work. Most often, book reports are a K-12 assignment and range from 250 to 500 words. If you are looking to write a book report, please see the OWL resource, Writing a Book Report.

By contrast, book reviews are most often a college assignment, but they also appear in many professional works: magazines, newspapers, and academic journals. They typically range from 500-750 words, but may be longer or shorter. A book review gives readers a sneak peek at what a book is like, whether or not the reviewer enjoyed it, and details on purchasing the book.

Before You Read

Before you begin to read, consider the elements you will need to included in your review. The following items may help:

• Author: Who is the author? What else has s/he written? Has this author won any awards? What is the author’s typical style?
• Genre: What type of book is this: fiction, nonfiction, romance, poetry, youth fiction, etc.? Who is the intended audience for this work? What is the purpose of the work?
• Title: Where does the title fit in? How is it applied in the work? Does it adequately encapsulate the message of the text? Is it interesting? Uninteresting?
• Preface/Introduction/Table of Contents: Does the author provide any revealing information about the text in the preface/introduction? Does a “guest author” provide the introduction? What judgments or preconceptions do the author and/or “guest author” provide? How is the book arranged: sections, chapters?
• Book Jacket/Cover/Printing: Book jackets are like mini-reviews. Does the book jacket provide any interesting details or spark your interest in some way? Are there pictures, maps, or graphs? Do the binding, page cut, or typescript contribute or take away from the work?

As You Read

As you read, determine how you will structure the summary portion or background structure of your review. Be ready to take notes on the book’s key points, characters, and/or themes.

• Characters: Are there characters in the work? Who are the principal characters? How do they affect the story? Do you empathize with them?
• Themes/Motifs/Style: What themes or motifs stand out? How do they contribute to the work? Are they effective or not? How would you describe this author’s particular style? Is it accessible to all readers or just some?
• Argument: How is the work’s argument set up? What support does the author give for her/findings? Does the work fulfill its purpose/support its argument?
• Key Ideas: What is the main idea of the work? What makes it good, different, or groundbreaking?
• Quotes: What quotes stand out? How can you demonstrate the author’s talent or the feel of the book through a quote?

When You Are Ready to Write

Begin with a short summary or background of the work, but do not give too much away. Many reviews limit themselves only to the first couple of chapters or lead the reader up to the rising action of the work. Reviewers of nonfiction texts will provide the basic idea of the book’s argument without too much detailed.

The final portion of your review will detail your opinion of the work. When you are ready to begin your review, consider the following:

• Establish a Background, Remember your Audience: Remember that your audience has not read the work; with this in mind, be sure to introduce characters and principles carefully and deliberately. What kind of summary can you provide of the main points or main characters that will help your readers gauge their interest? Does the author’s text adequately reach the intended audience? Will some readers be lost or find the text too easy?
• Minor principles/characters: Deal only with the most pressing issues in the book. You will not be able to cover every character or idea. What principles/characters did you agree or disagree with? What other things might the author have researched or considered?
• Organize: The purpose of the review is to critically evaluate the text, not just inform the readers about it. Leave plenty room for your evaluation by ensuring that your summary is brief. Determine what kind of balance to strike between your summary information and your evaluation. If you are writing your review for a class, ask your instructor. Often the ratio is half and half.
• Your Evaluation: Choose one or a few points to discuss about the book. What worked well for you? How does this work compare with others by the same author or other books in the same genre? What major themes, motifs, or terms does the book introduce, and how effective are they? Did the book appeal to you on an emotional or logical way?
• Publisher/Price: Most book reviews include the publisher and price of the book at the end of the article. Some reviews also include the year published and ISBN.

When making the final touches to your review, carefully verify the following:

• Double-check the spelling of the author name(s), character names, special terms, and publisher.
• Try to read from the vantage point of your audience. Is there too much/enough summary? Does your argument about the text make sense?
• Should you include direct quotes from the reading? Do they help support your arguments? Double-check your quotes for accuracy.

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• Top 10 Book Reviews with Examples for College Students [A Much Needed Read]

Table of content

Part 1. What is A Book Review?

Part 2. what should a book review include, part 3. 10 book review examples for students, part 4. how to write a perfect book review as a college student.

Are you a college student wanting to learn how to write an effective and engaging book review? Learning the different elements of writing successful reviews can help you hone your critical analysis and communication skills while also giving your opinions on books that may be interesting to fellow students.

We’ve compiled the best book review examples for college students so that you can get an idea of what makes for compelling, impactful book reviews and how to write a book review as a college student. Also, we will introduce one awesome tool, UPDF , to help you write the book review you need. You can download UPDF by clicking the below button then, check with us about how it can help you write your book review.

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A book review is an objective and comprehensive evaluation of a particular book. It assesses the book's content, style, and relevance to the field it covers. Written by scholars, experts, or avid readers, book reviews provide potential readers with an insight into the quality, content, and significance of a given book. They are usually written in newspapers, magazines, online platforms, and academic journals.

Book reviews can be used as a valuable resource for readers who want to make an informed decision when choosing what to read. For college students especially, reading reviews can help them gain insight into books that may be interesting and helpful for their studies.

Here's an in-depth overview of the elements of a book review:

1. Basic Information

In a book review, the basic information section provides readers with information on the:

• Author's name
• Date of publication
• Other relevant details

In today's age where customer ratings and reviews play an important role in helping potential readers decide if a book may be worth their time and money, customer ratings from popular websites such as Amazon  or Goodreads  are also included in this section.

Providing readers a place to buy the book at the end of the review ensures they can easily locate it and make the purchase if they wish to do so.

As such, this section provides a helpful overview of what the book entails without risking spoilers or giving away plot points that may take away from the reading experience.

A thorough book review should provide an analysis of how a story is developed by the author. It should pay special attention to examining how the plot progresses from beginning to end, what characters are introduced and how they help move the story forward, and any underlying themes or messages that contribute meaningfully to the narrative.

A successful book review will look at each of these elements in depth, explaining the important events, relationships between characters and themes, and why they all matter.

By providing readers with an understanding and appreciation of this complex structure created by the author, a book review can bring added insight into why certain books work so well for certain readers.

Quotes from the book can be a great way to support your review and provide a vivid illustration of why certain portions of the book are so insightful or humorous. This also helps readers have an understanding of what to expect when reading the book, aiding them in deciding if this is something they would like to spend their time with.

Quotes should be chosen well and given in a way that they maintain the integrity of the book’s content while still providing an accurate representation of what to expect when reading it.

4. Your Thoughts After Reading

This is the most important and personal part of any book review. Here, you will be able to share your own opinion on the book and give it a rating. This section should not just focus on your feelings about the book, but also provide an in-depth analysis of how it made you feel, what stayed with you after reading it, and why. This is your opportunity to explain why you would or wouldn’t recommend this book to others, so use it well.

You may also provide some helpful advice on who would best enjoy this book, such as what age group it's most suitable for or if there are particular topics that it may be helpful to those who are more deeply interested in.

5. Your Rate

At the end of a book review, you should provide your own rating of the book (on a scale from 1 to 5 stars or whatever other rating systems you prefer).

Your rating should reflect your honest opinion and provide readers with an understanding of how much you enjoyed the book. It is also important to remember that ratings are subjective and should be based on your individual experience with the book.

Your rating should reflect your opinion of the quality of the writing, the characters, and the overall story that you experienced while reading. This rating should be your final opinion on the book and will help potential readers in deciding if it is something they would like to commit their time and money to.

6. Conclusion

A great book review should end with a concise summary of the work as a whole. Here you should include your overall opinion on the book and what elements you found most enjoyable. This can help readers gain a better understanding of why the book was so successful, and how it may have impacted your life in some way.

This is also a great place to provide readers with information on where they can find the book so that they can look into it further if they choose to do so.

Book review examples are a great way for students to get more out of the books they read. Not only do examples of book reviews provide readers with an in-depth evaluation of the book’s content and quality, but they also offer students an opportunity to practice their critical thinking and writing skills.

To help you get started, we have compiled 10 book review examples for students.

1. The List That Changed My Life By Olivia Beirne Book Review Example

This example of a book review offers an honest and detailed analysis of the book. It highlights both the positive aspects, such as the strong relationship between Georgia and her sister, as well as some of the more contrived elements of the plot.

Providing a thorough assessment, it allows readers to make an informed decision before deciding whether or not to pick up the book. Additionally, the review is written in a professional and accessible tone, making it enjoyable to read.

2. The People We Keep By Allison Larkin Book Review Example

This example of a book review does an excellent job of providing a comprehensive look at the novel, covering elements such as the characters, setting, plot, and themes. It provides a well-rounded overview that will give potential readers an accurate idea of what to expect from the book.

Additionally, it includes personal insights from the reviewer which adds a level of depth and enthusiasm that can help pique the interest of potential readers.

3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Book Review Example

This example of a book review provides an in-depth look at Brave New World and its themes. It clearly explains the book's content and offers a thoughtful analysis of the ideas presented.

The reviewer also provides some insight into their personal experience with the novel which makes it more relatable to other readers. Additionally, the reviewer offers advice on who they think the book is suitable for, making it easier to decide if the book is right for them.

4. Lord Of The Flies by William Golding Book Review Example

This example of a book review offers an honest and detailed evaluation of the book "Lord of the Flies" which makes it helpful for readers who are considering reading this book.

The review offers a thoughtful perspective on how young adult readers may appreciate the story, as well as provides information about where to buy the book.

Additionally, the review covers key plot points such as the Lord of the Flies and how the events escalated, as well as pointing out potential plot holes. This makes it an excellent resource for readers looking to gain a better understanding of this classic novel.

Finally, this review provides insight into how easily human nature can be manipulated which is an important point that is often overlooked.

All in all, this review is an excellent resource for readers interested in the book "Lord of the Flies" and offers an informed opinion on what to expect.

5. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Book Review Example

This example of a book review offers a comprehensive overview of Harper Lee's classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. It provides an analysis of the book's characters and themes, giving readers a clear understanding of why it is considered one of the greatest novels ever written.

Additionally, it touches on various topics such as racism and sexism that are still relevant today.

This review is a great resource for readers who are looking to gain a deeper understanding of the novel and its themes. It is also useful for readers who want to get a better idea of how Lee's writing style has stood the test of time.

Finally, it provides an insightful look into why To Kill A Mockingbird continues to be read and enjoyed worldwide. Therefore, it is a great review to check if you are considering picking up this classic book.

6. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald Book Review Example

This review example is a great resource for students to use as an introduction to book reviews. It provides them with a comprehensive overview of the content and structure of a typical book review, while also highlighting some of the unique features that make This Side of Paradise so special.

In addition, reading it gives readers an insight into the historical context in which Fitzgerald wrote, making it an invaluable tool for literary analysis and appreciation.

Finally, the review also contains insightful comments about Fitzgerald's writing style, which may provide valuable tips for aspiring authors.

7. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Book Review Example

This example of a book review provides a comprehensive overview of Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment', highlighting the pros and cons of the work. It also offers insight into the characters and their relationships, as well as an in-depth look at Dostoevsky's purpose for writing the novel - to defeat nihilism.

Students should read this review example to gain a better understanding of Dostoevsky's masterpiece and the impact it had on 19th-century literature.

Students can also learn valuable lessons from the novel, such as how to think critically about radical ideas and how not to fall into nihilism. Additionally, by studying this review example students can develop their own critical analysis skills. They can learn how to identify a work's strengths and weaknesses, as well as its overarching themes and purpose. This review example provides students with the perfect starting point for further research into 'Crime and Punishment' and Dostoevsky's other works.

8. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Book Review Example

This example of a book review shows how to analyze a text analytically and draw conclusions about the book's themes, characters, and motifs. It provides an in-depth look at how different elements of the book combine together to create a powerful story.

Additionally, this review provides insight into why certain aspects of the novel might be interpreted differently by different readers. By reading this review, students can gain a better understanding of the novel, its themes, and how they may relate to their own lives. This will help them form their own opinions on the book and connect with it more deeply.

9. Animal Farm by George Orwell Book Review Example

This review example of Animal Farm by George Orwell provides an in-depth analysis of the book that goes beyond a basic plot summary. It uses historical events to illustrate many of the themes present in the novel, and it also explores how religion can be used to control people's thoughts and actions.

By reading this example of a book review, students can get a better understanding of the book, its characters, and its broader messages. Furthermore, it provides a useful template for writing their own reviews of the book in preparation for exams or other assignments.

Overall, this review serves as an informative introduction to Animal Farm and is sure to help students better understand the themes present in the novel.

10. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Book Review Example

This example of a book review offers a great insight into the power of habits and how they can be changed. It includes an explanation of the principles behind habit formation and highlights some tips for creating new habits to replace old ones. The review also provides an engaging story that showcases how these principles worked in one person's life, which is helpful for readers who are looking for personal insight and motivation.

Additionally, this review includes an infographic that summarizes the key points from the book, making it easy for students to understand and remember the material. This example is a great reference point for anyone looking to apply the principles of habit formation in their own lives.

Writing an effective and meaningful book review can be tough, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right approach and some helpful tips, anyone can craft a great book review.

We will walk you through how to write a book review example, from taking notes while reading to writing your first draft and beyond.

So if you want to know what it takes for success in this endeavor, read on!

Step 1. Taking Notes When Reading

The first step in writing a book review is to take notes while you read the book. This will help you remember key points and details that you can reference when writing your review.

If you are reading a PDF format book, we recommend using the UPDF app to take notes. If you do not know which sites can download e-books in PDF formats, you can check these 10 e-book download websites .

UPDF gives users the ability to highlight text, add comments and annotations, and stickers to their PDF book – all within a single interface. You can download UPDF here and follow the below guide to take notes.

Here's how to use UPDF for note-taking:

1. Select the book you want to read and open it in the UPDF reader and editor.

2. Head to the left toolbar and click on the comment or pencil icon.

3. Now you can add comments in three ways:

• Text Comment (Typewriter)  – add comments in the form of text.
• Text Box – insert a box to write down your thoughts.
• Sticky Note – add a sticky note to mark important points.

4. Once you have added your comments, click save and you’re done!

By taking notes with UPDF, you can easily refer back to your notes when it's time to write your review. Moreover, you can explore the comments directly.

What I like most about UPDF is that it has AI features that can help me summarize the whole book in seconds, explain the difficult terms for me, and translate the language into the one you can understand.

Why not download UPDF via the below button to make your book review writing much easier?

And UPDF does not only have the features mentioned above. You can know all its features by reading this UPDF review article from Techadvisor or watching the below video tutorial.

Also Read: 5 Best Note-taking Apps for Students

Step 2. Outline the Book Review

Before you start writing your review, it is important to create an outline. This will help you organize your thoughts and identify the main points of your review.

A general outline for a book review should include:

Introduction: Provide an overview of the book and explain its main takeaways.

Summary:  Summarize the plot, characters, and themes of the book.

Analysis:  Analyze the author's writing style and technique, as well as the book's overall message.

Opinion: Share your personal opinion on the book and any ideas or insights you've gained by reading it.

Final Thoughts: Wrap up your review with a conclusion.

Step 3. Checking Book Reviews Examples

Before writing your own review, it can be helpful to check examples of book reviews. A good example of a book review provides an insightful analysis of what makes the book worth reading, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses.

As you go through examples, take note of the structure and tone used in each review. You can also take note of any key points in the book that may have been overlooked or not covered.

Reading reviews can help you get a better understanding of the book and gain valuable insights into its content, in preparation for exams or other assignments.

Step 4. Writing the First Draft

Now that you have taken notes and created an outline, it is time to start writing your first draft. As you write, remember to keep the tone of your review professional and unbiased.

Make sure to include in-text citations and a list of any sources you use when relevant, as this will add credibility to your review. Additionally, use language that is easy to understand, and don’t be afraid to inject some of your own thoughts and opinions.

Once you have written the first draft, take a break and come back to it with fresh eyes before revising and editing.

Step 5. Reread The Book Review and Update

Once you have written the first draft of your book review, it is important to reread it and make any necessary updates. Pay close attention to any grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Additionally, ensure that all the points you mentioned in your review are accurate and true to the book's content.

Finally, make sure you have written in an organized and coherent manner that is easy for the reader to follow.

Writing a book review for college students can seem challenging but with the right preparation and some helpful tips, anyone can craft a great book review. By taking notes when reading, creating an outline before you start writing, checking book review examples, and revising your work after writing the first draft - you can create a thoughtful and insightful review. And we are sure these 10 book review examples for college students will be very helpful to you.

So, the next time you are assigned to write a book review, keep these tips in mind and you will be sure to impress your teacher or professor.

If you're up for a challenge, try using UPDF to take notes and track your progress as you read – it might just give you the extra edge in writing a great book review. Download UPDF via the below button and make your book review easier with it.

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Book Reviews

'anita de monte laughs last' is a complex dissection of art, gender and marriage.

Carole V. Bell

Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a fantastic riff on a recurring theme in film and life: Anatomy of a Fall. A Star Is Born. Ben and Jen. And of course, the twice married and twice divorced Liz and Dick. The common theme: when one star rises, another falters. And, when it's the woman's star eclipsing her husband's, trouble naturally follows.

This dynamic is terrifically drawn by Xochitl Gonzalez in Anita de Monte Laughs Last, as it explores relationships doomed by power imbalances. In 1998, Raquel Toro is a Puerto Rican, working class, first generation college student at Brown University, famously the most bohemian and reputationally liberal of Ivies, at least in the abstract. At first, she plans to follow in her advisor's footsteps and focus her thesis on a minimalist sculptor, who, according to the lore, inspired brutalist architecture. But once Raquel discovers the brilliant but forgotten Cuban-American conceptual artist Anita de Monte a little over a decade after her suspicious death, those plans disintegrate. The research helps fuel Raquel's own awakening.

Nearly two decades before Raquel's arrival in Providence, Anita de Monte was a charismatic Latinx artist on the cusp of breaking through in a very white, Eurocentric, and male-oriented New York art scene. She had a Guggenheim fellowship, a Rome Prize, and several of her pieces had been purchased by the Met. But she was often treated as though there was an invisible asterisk next to her name, that she was a token woman and a token minority and hadn't earned those honors. De Monte was also the lover and wife of the esteemed minimalist Jack Martin, the older, white male artist who was chauvinistic, competitive, and chronically unfaithful. Early on, a solo exhibit is grotesquely accompanied by a debate between two white men about whether the show had any merit. Her future husband was one of those debaters.

Anita and Jack's relationship suffers under the weight of dueling careers and egos. Jack tended to act up in demeaning ways when the spotlight strayed. And Anita acts out when she feels diminished. It's impressive how well Gonzalez gets into both of their heads. When it's Jack's turn to tell the story, he is breathtakingly unabashed about the primacy of his needs and wants, to the extent that he "blamed her for the other women." On one hand he knows, "It was immature of him to do, of course." Yet in his defense, "he'd always been very up-front about what he needed: companionship, emotional support. He was unaccustomed to a woman so intimate to his life not championing him. He didn't feel that his affairs were transgressions as much as logical outcomes to her absences."

At the same time, when Anita attends to Jack's ego, her work suffers, and for her that's unacceptable. Interestingly, while most of the novel is written in third person, Anita tells her story directly, in a fierce and lyrical voice. Looking back, Anita realizes that a seed of their unraveling was present from the start, and though she was loath to admit it, her ego intertwined with his fame and power. "Endings, and even beginnings, are tricky things to pinpoint...," she reflects. They may have begun, "When the seed was planted in my mind that he was a person of importance – long buried and then suddenly sprouted up when he validated my existence with attention and time." And still, tragically, "I would also have to consider that, actually, the beginning of the end was the very first time I ever chose Jack Martin over myself."

How the glamorous marriage, Anita, and her artistic reputation died at almost exactly the same time – her story forgotten while Jack's legend lived on – is the novel's animating center. Gonzalez complicates the artist versus artist motif with thorny questions of culture and race — what determines who gets to be remembered and who is left behind — while grounding that debate in the riveting mystery surrounding de Monte's death, possibly at the hand of her mercurial husband.

The novel addresses these issues through multiple points of view and two timelines. Along with Anita and Jack's doomed romance, Raquel's growth and relationships with the wealthy white men (boyfriend Nick Fitzsimmons and academic advisor John Temple) and privileged young women in her orbit a decade after Anita's death are conduits for exploring how art, identity and privilege intersect. Gonzalez's depiction of the racial and economic dynamics of Raquel's boastfully liberal yet starkly socially stratified Ivy League college is scalpel sharp and painfully accurate. In one scene, Raquel is cornered by her sort of frenemies, the wealthy "Art History Girl" clique. Resentful of "nobody" Raquel's fast rise and her high-status boyfriend, they grow incensed when Raquel gets a coveted summer internship at the Rhode Island School of Design. I searched my mind to evaluate whether that strangely powerful confrontation was too much for the setting. But if I'm being brutally honest, it's just scratching the surface of this particular backlash.

The questions the text raises are abundant: How much has really changed between men and women when it comes to money and success? Are art and marriage necessarily a zero sum game when two artists come together? How do relationships of all kinds between people of different racial and economic backgrounds change these equations? Is Anitas's husband a bad art friend? Or is Anita? The questions get more thorny as the book goes on.

Anita de Monte Laughs Last is one of a group of new novels examining gender, race and intimacy in the world of art and commerce. In the women's relationships especially, there are echoes of Kiley Reid's Come and Get It , but here the clashes feel more real, possibly because they're inspired both by a true artworld tragedy and the author's experiences at Brown. And the novel works because Gonzalez approaches its questions through story and character, like a master portraitist, emphasizing granularity and precision. Recounting Anita's story in a nonlinear fashion, the mystery is constructed for maximum suspense, starting at the end of her life, dipping back through her marriage, and giving the narcissistic Jack a chance to speak for himself. The result is a story that moves around without ever losing focus.

Elegantly written and constructed, Gonzalez's second novel brilliantly surpasses the promise of her popular debut Olga Dies Dreaming . Where that novel sometimes strained under the weight of its ambitions , Anita de Monte Laughs Last is complex and cohesive, social criticism flowing organically from character and story. The novel is the best, most elusive combination: a thought-provoking and a brilliantly entertaining triumph.

A slow runner and fast reader, Carole V. Bell is a cultural critic and communication scholar focusing on media, politics and identity. You can find her on Twitter @BellCV .

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Obama, More Than Dickens, Looms Over This ‘Great Expectations’

Vinson Cunningham’s impressive debut novel finds a watchful campaign aide measuring his ambitions on the trail of a magnetic presidential candidate.

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By Damon Young

Damon Young is a writer in residence at the University of Pittsburgh and the author of “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays.”

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GREAT EXPECTATIONS, by Vinson Cunningham

As much as I pretend that I’m too conscientious, too emancipated, too Black and mostly just too lazy to succumb to a cult, the aesthetic choices I made in 2008 — when a distressed white tee featuring Shepard Fairey’s rendering of Barack Obama was an essential part of my wardrobe — remind me I ain’t that special. Still, I had company. “Great Expectations,” Vinson Cunningham’s brolic and dazzlingly written debut novel, transports us to that time, when America’s most valuable commodity was proximity — real or perceived; burgeoning or dimming — to the soon-to-be president.

Cunningham, a staff writer at The New Yorker who worked, in his 20s, on the Obama campaign and in his White House, ferries us through a year in the orbit of an Obama-like figure known to us only as the Senator and then the Candidate. (And let’s get this out of the way: “Obama-like” is a misnomer. This isn’t an interpretation, like Jeff Bridges’ Clintonesque Jackson Evans from “The Contender” or even the Clinton-adjacent Jed Bartlet on “The West Wing.” Dissimilarities between the fabricated Candidate and the flesh-and-blood Obama are nonexistent.)

And maybe “ferries” is the wrong word, too, because “Great Expectations” moves, in 249 quick pages, with propulsive energy, pausing the barnstorm to consume and deconstruct the sights along the way.

David Hammond is brilliant but rudderless, a college dropout and single dad thrust into the Candidate’s circle thanks to the elusive, shrewd and (increasingly, as the book continues) sexy Beverly Whitlock — a benefactor-slash-rabbi-slash-whoever-the-hell-she-wants-to-be, with one of those nebulous finance gigs where you’re never quite sure how they make all that money but always dead certain they wouldn’t hesitate to bury you with it. We’re quickly introduced to staffers and canvassers; to fund-raisers and their targets; to celebrity academics and scions of music moguls, all thirsty to be validated.

Cunningham captures the grind and the mundanity of the campaign with precision and humor, and via the incorporation of staff-specific shorthand. “Airplane rules,” David repeats to a crowd waiting in line to pass through the Apollo Theater’s metal detectors.

A supervisor later reminds him to look at the audience’s faces, and not the Candidate’s, at speaking engagements, to better know “which ones you could ask for a check.” Cunningham answers myriad questions I’ve always had, but never asked, such as “Where do young staffers sleep when stationed in new cities?” (Trailer parks, highway motels — anywhere with a cheap and friendly bed.) And: “How often do they hook up?” (Define “often.”)

The latter happens to David during a short but (non-saccharinely) sweet tryst with a fellow staffer in New Hampshire that generates a lucid exploration of the self-consciousness and messy neuroses some heterosexual men bring to sex. “The only real skill that’s portable from one person to the next is maybe openness,” David’s partner suggests to alleviate his anxiety about entering the bedroom without a rubric for guaranteed success.

The book especially floats when Cunningham — who, like David, is Black — explores the social lexicon of intra-racial hierarchy. Surrounding the Candidate — well, not quite always surrounding, but wishing to surround him — are the sort of Black people who use “summer” as a verb. The Martha’s Vineyard Blacks. The Hollywood-with-cocaine-connections Blacks. The big-money-Manhattan-Cobb-salad Blacks. All grasping (and paying) for the Candidate’s attention like a plover bird lurking around a crocodile’s mouth. And most of them the product of generations of passed brown paper bag tests.

It’s striking how none of these people even feign interest in the potential for America’s spiritual transformation that the Candidate’s messaging promises. No, that performance of interest in piety was for white people. (And, I guess, Black people with T-shirts.)

Embedded throughout the novel is David’s relationship to Christianity, and, just as frequent, Christianity’s relationship to him, often told through the Epistle-like back stories of his family and his church — a counterbalance to the messianic draw of the Candidate and the nakedly transactional soullessness of his wealthy flock.

While I appreciated the texture of these hermeneutics, each time Cunningham moved away from the urgent present of the campaign and David’s close but amorphous connection with Beverly, it lost momentum. Also, with autofiction that incorporates so many obvious allusions to famous people — and some actual real people are named here, too — why this instead of a memoir? It’s a curiosity I had, but a mid-novel change in a central relationship solved it for me.

Of course, a book entitled “Great Expectations” will draw comparisons between David Hammond and Dickens’s Pip . Yes, coming-of-age stories are familiar. From Malcolm Little to Forrest Gump, American literature is filled with common young men who find themselves, through chance and serendipity, immersed in the slippery world of choice and privilege.

Rarer is a debut that announces a talent like Cunningham’s. This is a writer who clearly loves Black people. But this affection is also a challenge. A charge to interrogate the social and spiritual cost of currency. And a reminder not to look at the Candidate’s face for answers.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS | By Vinson Cunningham | Hogarth | 249 pp. | $28

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A few years ago, Harvard acquired the archive of Candida Royalle, a porn star turned pioneering director. Now, the collection has inspired a new book  challenging the conventional history of the sexual revolution.

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Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

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The Loss of Things I Took for Granted

Ten years into my college teaching career, students stopped being able to read effectively..

Recent years have seen successive waves of book bans in Republican-controlled states, aimed at pulling any text with “woke” themes from classrooms and library shelves. Though the results sometimes seem farcical, as with the banning of Art Spiegelman’s Maus due to its inclusion of “cuss words” and explicit rodent nudity, the book-banning agenda is no laughing matter. Motivated by bigotry, it has already done demonstrable harm and promises to do more. But at the same time, the appropriate response is, in principle, simple. Named individuals have advanced explicit policies with clear goals and outcomes, and we can replace those individuals with people who want to reverse those policies. That is already beginning to happen in many places, and I hope those successes will continue until every banned book is restored.

If and when that happens, however, we will not be able to declare victory quite yet. Defeating the open conspiracy to deprive students of physical access to books will do little to counteract the more diffuse confluence of forces that are depriving students of the skills needed to meaningfully engage with those books in the first place. As a college educator, I am confronted daily with the results of that conspiracy-without-conspirators. I have been teaching in small liberal arts colleges for over 15 years now, and in the past five years, it’s as though someone flipped a switch. For most of my career, I assigned around 30 pages of reading per class meeting as a baseline expectation—sometimes scaling up for purely expository readings or pulling back for more difficult texts. (No human being can read 30 pages of Hegel in one sitting, for example.) Now students are intimidated by anything over 10 pages and seem to walk away from readings of as little as 20 pages with no real understanding. Even smart and motivated students struggle to do more with written texts than extract decontextualized take-aways. Considerable class time is taken up simply establishing what happened in a story or the basic steps of an argument—skills I used to be able to take for granted.

Since this development very directly affects my ability to do my job as I understand it, I talk about it a lot. And when I talk about it with nonacademics, certain predictable responses inevitably arise, all questioning the reality of the trend I describe. Hasn’t every generation felt that the younger cohort is going to hell in a handbasket? Haven’t professors always complained that educators at earlier levels are not adequately equipping their students? And haven’t students from time immemorial skipped the readings?

The response of my fellow academics, however, reassures me that I’m not simply indulging in intergenerational grousing. Anecdotally, I have literally never met a professor who did not share my experience. Professors are also discussing the issue in academic trade publications , from a variety of perspectives. What we almost all seem to agree on is that we are facing new obstacles in structuring and delivering our courses, requiring us to ratchet down expectations in the face of a ratcheting down of preparation. Yes, there were always students who skipped the readings, but we are in new territory when even highly motivated honors students struggle to grasp the basic argument of a 20-page article. Yes, professors never feel satisfied that high school teachers have done enough, but not every generation of professors has had to deal with the fallout of No Child Left Behind and Common Core. Finally, yes, every generation thinks the younger generation is failing to make the grade— except for the current cohort of professors, who are by and large more invested in their students’ success and mental health and more responsive to student needs than any group of educators in human history. We are not complaining about our students. We are complaining about what has been taken from them.

If we ask what has caused this change, there are some obvious culprits. The first is the same thing that has taken away almost everyone’s ability to focus—the ubiquitous smartphone. Even as a career academic who studies the Quran in Arabic for fun, I have noticed my reading endurance flagging. I once found myself boasting at a faculty meeting that I had read through my entire hourlong train ride without looking at my phone. My colleagues agreed this was a major feat, one they had not achieved recently. Even if I rarely attain that high level of focus, though, I am able to “turn it on” when demanded, for instance to plow through a big novel during a holiday break. That’s because I was able to develop and practice those skills of extended concentration and attentive reading before the intervention of the smartphone. For children who were raised with smartphones, by contrast, that foundation is missing. It is probably no coincidence that the iPhone itself, originally released in 2007, is approaching college age, meaning that professors are increasingly dealing with students who would have become addicted to the dopamine hit of the omnipresent screen long before they were introduced to the more subtle pleasures of the page.

The second go-to explanation is the massive disruption of school closures during COVID-19. There is still some debate about the necessity of those measures, but what is not up for debate any longer is the very real learning loss that students suffered at every level. The impact will inevitably continue to be felt for the next decade or more, until the last cohort affected by the mass “pivot to online” finally graduates. I doubt that the pandemic closures were the decisive factor in themselves, however. Not only did the marked decline in reading resilience start before the pandemic, but the students I am seeing would have already been in high school during the school closures. Hence they would be better equipped to get something out of the online format and, more importantly, their basic reading competence would have already been established.

Less discussed than these broader cultural trends over which educators have little control are the major changes in reading pedagogy that have occurred in recent decades—some motivated by the ever-increasing demand to “teach to the test” and some by fads coming out of schools of education. In the latter category is the widely discussed decline in phonics education in favor of the “balanced literacy” approach advocated by education expert Lucy Calkins (who has more recently come to accept the need for more phonics instruction). I started to see the results of this ill-advised change several years ago, when students abruptly stopped attempting to sound out unfamiliar words and instead paused until they recognized the whole word as a unit. (In a recent class session, a smart, capable student was caught short by the word circumstances when reading a text out loud.) The result of this vibes-based literacy is that students never attain genuine fluency in reading. Even aside from the impact of smartphones, their experience of reading is constantly interrupted by their intentionally cultivated inability to process unfamiliar words.

For all the flaws of the balanced literacy method, it was presumably implemented by people who thought it would help. It is hard to see a similar motivation in the growing trend toward assigning students only the kind of short passages that can be included in a standardized test. Due in part to changes driven by the infamous Common Core standards , teachers now have to fight to assign their students longer readings, much less entire books, because those activities won’t feed directly into students getting higher test scores, which leads to schools getting more funding. The emphasis on standardized tests was always a distraction at best, but we have reached the point where it is actively cannibalizing students’ educational experience—an outcome no one intended or planned, and for which there is no possible justification.

We can’t go back in time and do the pandemic differently at this point, nor is there any realistic path to putting the smartphone genie back in the bottle. (Though I will note that we as a society do at least attempt to keep other addictive products out of the hands of children.) But I have to think that we can, at the very least, stop actively preventing young people from developing the ability to follow extended narratives and arguments in the classroom. Regardless of their profession or ultimate educational level, they will need those skills. The world is a complicated place. People—their histories and identities, their institutions and work processes, their fears and desires—are simply too complex to be captured in a worksheet with a paragraph and some reading comprehension questions. Large-scale prose writing is the best medium we have for capturing that complexity, and the education system should not be in the business of keeping students from learning how to engage effectively with it.

This is a matter not of snobbery, but of basic justice. I recognize that not everyone centers their lives on books as much as a humanities professor does. I think they’re missing out, but they’re adults and they can choose how to spend their time. What’s happening with the current generation is not that they are simply choosing TikTok over Jane Austen. They are being deprived of the ability to choose—for no real reason or benefit. We can and must stop perpetrating this crime on our young people.

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Book Review: A coming-of-age story of a young Black man who works for an Obama-adjacent candidate

This cover image released by Hogarth shows “Great Expectations” by Vinson Cunningham. (Hogarth via AP)

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Vinson Cunningham, theater critic for the New Yorker, makes a cheeky move with his debut novel, “Great Expectations.” He borrows the title of Charles Dickens’ masterpiece to tell a different sort of coming-of-age story. His is about a young Black man, David, who goes to work for the first presidential campaign of an unnamed U.S. senator trying to become the nation’s first African American chief executive.

Loosely based on his own life — Cunningham worked on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and later, as a staff assistant in the White House — the novel lacks the twisty plot and unforgettable characters of its namesake. However, Cunningham-as-David is an astute observer of the role that money plays in U.S. politics and the seductive allure of access to powerful and charismatic political leaders like Obama.

In this novel he explores the racial and religious dimensions of both the candidate and his campaign, recognizing at the start “that Black-pulpit touch” when the senator announced his bid for the nation’s highest office in front of the Illinois statehouse on a frigid, sunny day in early 2007. I “felt almost flattered by the feeling — new to me — of being pandered to so directly by someone who so nakedly wanted something in return,” thinks David, who grew up in a Pentecostal church.

We meet him soon after he has flunked out of college and returned home to New York to live with his mother and help care for the child he fathered with a woman referred to only as “the dancer.” To make ends meet, he starts to tutor the son of a glamorous Black investment banker and early patron of the junior senator. Her role as a major fundraiser, and her improbable affair with David, allow Cunningham to explore the chicanery of campaign finance.

With cameos of real-life celebrities including Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the late André Leon Talley, as well as scenes set in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, the redoubt of the Black bourgeoisie, this book is sure to be catnip to those who believed in that hopey changey thing of long ago.

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews