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How to Write a Book Review: 5 Efficient Tips and Tricks

Art & Literature

July 03, 2024

Reading books is important because it boosts your creativity and imagination. We get transported to an entirely different world and end up immersing ourselves in the plot. You might sometimes find your similar behaviors in some of the characters. And, you might even get inspired by some of the traits of the characters.

We build emotional intelligence that makes us view the world differently. You develop communication and writing skills. Evaluating a book offers fresh insight and attracts potential readers into the bookish world.

Constructive evaluations are always helpful for an author to improve their collection. It offers a different audience perspective to the author. They get to add in various ideas, plots, and themes. Evaluation of a book helps an author to understand his audience.

When you write a book review, you get to store a part of the book to look back on. Book Reviews provide a genuine insight into the book. It gives readers a different perspective and creates a sense of community and engagement.

They help readers choose the right book and improve their book collection. There is certainly no perfect way to write one. This article gives you an overview of writing a book review.

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1. Annotate the Book

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Annotation in a book is about writing small snippets about what you feel and adding in color codes. While you read the book, take a highlighter in your hands to color code the texts. You might like to color-code the quotes, the new words you learned while reading, and the components you have enjoyed in the book.

You can use color-coded bookmarks to highlight your favorite parts. Add in small snippets of what you felt whilst reading that particular part. You can annotate the book while you read or after you have finished reading. Annotating helps you closely engage and actively read the book. You end up discovering different plots and remembering new words. It allows you to reflect on the text and makes it easier to find information quickly.

Take the Quiz: Which Literary Fiction Should You Read Next?

Jump into the world of literary fiction with the one of these novels based on your existing favourites.

2. Author and Theme

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Knowing about the author allows you to learn a lot about the conditions of society back then. It provides insight into the life of the author and their achievements. It helps you to understand their writing style and the life they had.

It alleviates your critical thinking aptitudes and exposes you to diverse literary styles and techniques. We learn about their beliefs and the values that he wanted to convey through the book. You comprehend the theme of the book. A theme is a fundamental component of the book. It gives you an overview of the story and where the plot might lead to. It allows readers to relate to the characters and their adventures. It makes the narrative more special and memorable. You learn about the lifestyle of the people, the circumstances, the availability of jobs, and the presence of freedom and human rights.

3. Character Sketch

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Make a list of all the characters in the book and ask yourself which is your favorite character. Write about their dialogues, dressing sense, and personal qualities that made them stand out. Describe their appearance and even their dressing style.

Learning about the characters allows you to immerse yourself inside them and helps you to internalize their emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and actions. We get to see how a character grows in the entire story. We relate to their actions and their words and might even end up finding similar qualities within ourselves. It can also make you incorporate and build certain traits such as creativity, courage, and resilience within yourself. Their personality leads you to the plot and the ending of the story.

4. Divide the Book Review

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The first part should be about the author where you give a concise description of the author and an honest rate. This part draws readers to explore other novels and novellas written by the author. A genuine and honest rate notifies readers about the books and their contents.

The second part is about giving a minimal gist of the plot. You do not reveal the ending. You do not want to spoil the book for others! The third part is adding in the character sketch of the characters and your favorite characters. It allows the reader to relate to the sentiments and activities of the characters. The fourth part is about describing the themes of the book and the general message of the book. It allows readers to plunge into the realms of the book. Write your takeaways from the book. The last part is suggesting the book to a particular age group who, according to you, might find the book more appealing and appropriate to read.

5. Finding Publishing Institutions

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If you want to store book reviews, you can create a blog to publish them regularly. You can find magazines or Instagram profiles that might publish your book reviews. You can also record the book review as audio files and store them.

There are platforms like Goodreads where you can track your book reading progress and write book reviews. If you wish, you can also write the book review on a copy that you must dedicate to storing book reviews there. Storing book reviews in handwritten copy or in a digital way, offers potential readers a gateway and a reflection of the bookish world.

There is no perfect way to pen a book review. This article provides the basic steps to write a book review. You can add in things of your choice and make it more creative.

You can write your personal opinions and add in other people’s thoughts. Your book review should sound raw, genuine, and honest. A good book review helps the author and the readers who might want to try something different. Writing book reviews gives a different perspective of the books. It provides an opportunity to assess your favorite books and discover about the author, the themes, and the writing style. It also allows you and other probable readers a direction to the literary world. I hope you give it a shot!

Fariha Zaman

Writer since Jun, 2024 · 3 published articles

Fariha Zaman is a student and an author and is currently in a gap year before she joins college. She loves to read, travel, and paint, and is very interested in marine biology!

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