CaptainD’s Guide to Writing A Very Helpful Book Review
Jul 29 '04 (Updated Jul 30 '04)
The Bottom Line Finding Book Reviewing a little tough?
Then step this way...
CaptainD’s Guide to Writing A Very Helpful Book Review
For some reason, Books is see as the toughest place to get good ratings on epinions, and possibly the most troublesome area for new members to write in. (It also has some of the most ruthless raters in epinions!) But book reviewing is no harder really than any other type of reviewing – though reading a book and then analysing it does take more effort than watching a film/ playing a computer game and then writing it up.
Another thing that should be noted is that completely different reviewing styles are needed for Fiction and Non Fiction reviews, and I’ll break each one down into its component parts. I have written many fiction reviews but only one non-fiction review – however I’ve seen enough of the latter (both good and bad) to know what I’m talking about here.
Reviewing Fiction Books
Read It…
First off (and I can’t believe I have to say this), if you’re going to review a work of fiction, you need to have read it all the way through. It’s unbelievable how many reviews I’ve seen that say “I didn’t like it so I didn’t finish it”, or something along those lines. You’re reviewing the whole book, not jut the first 50 pages! Even if what there is of the review is good, an admission that you haven’t actually read all of it (or a review that leaves the distinct impression that you haven’t) is quite likely to get you more “Not Helpful” ratings than “Very Helpful” ones.
Plot
The prickliest subject in reviewing books here at epinions is how much plot to reveal. Many reviewers, including some Advisors, feel that revealing more than the tiniest details about the plot is tantamount to treason. Obviously you don’t want to reveal the entire story line, but you do want to give the reader a basic idea of what’s going to be in the book. So what’s the solution?
While even I have once or twice been accused of revealing “Spoilers”, most of the time people seem to like the method I’ve adopted and feel that I let them know an appropriate amount of the plot. Basically I adopt the same principle as I do when writing movies – give a relatively detailed description of the opening situation, and trail off with a few vague sentences about what happens / what might happen as the story progresses. Try not to reveal any major plot events unless they’re alluded to in the blurb on the back of the book – you can hardly be accused of giving away too much if you could read the same on the back cover of the book. (Then again I’ve seen reviews that don’t tell you anything more than is on the back cover / in the forward, and has basically no analysis of the book – which is “Somewhat Helpful” at best…
Another thing to consider when analysing the plot is the pacing. It might be an interesting plot, but does it move fast enough to stay interesting? Or slowly enough for you to keep up with what’s going on? Is it so complex and has so many characters that you frequently find yourself turning back to remind yourself who’s who and what’s going on? These are the sorts of thing a potential reader will want to know.
Characters
I tend to show how the characters develop in the book, how they interact with each other, etc – without giving away key plot elements, obviously. A brief description of the main characters in the book is always a good idea. (Again, if that’s more or less all your review is, you’re not going to get very good ratings. Don’t look at me like that, I’ve seen quite a few reviews that tell you who the characters are in detail and then give you about two sentences or even nothing at all about how good the book is!)
If you have difficulty writing about characterisation, try using the following questions as a rough guide:
Can I identify with this character?
Did I actually care about the character and what happened to them?
Did the character react to situations in believable ways?
Is the character consistent throughout the book?
Production Values
Usually this won’t be worth mentioning, but occasionally it merits consideration – usually when it is so bad that it detracts from your enjoyment of reading the book (as far as I remember, the only time this happened to me was with The End of Eternity). If of course the production values particularly impress you, feel free to include that in your review.
Artwork
If the book has a noticeable amount of artwork, what style is it? How good is it? Does it add to / detract from the text?
Quotes
Using quotes is a good way to help your reader get a feel for the writing style, but be careful not to make a quote too long (or not include enough detail apart from the quote – a classic example of this mistake is one of my very early reviews - Mort. (I will get round to updating it one day… probably! But for now, it’s a good example of what not to do!) Another thing it to make sure it’s relevant and can stand alone – if your quote would be completely obscure without reading the book it will be of no benefit to your reader. Of course, actually remembering where the good quotes are is a problem – so if I’m reading a book that I’ll be reviewing, I keep a marker in the pages of quotes I want to use. (Clever, huh? Or at least, not dumb…)
Children’s Books
Reviewing the sub-genre of Children’s Books is also a bit tricky. As I’m not a parent, I’m reviewing them related to how much I enjoyed them, which is probably a little unfair as I’m not the target market. The best method in this case is, I find, to openly state how I’m reviewing the book, who I feel the target market are, and if I feel children would like it more than I did. As far as books for very young children go, try looking at Kamel622 reviews to see how you should do them. (There are a lot of other great children’s book reviewers out there, but I’m sure you’ll find them soon enough if that’s the sort of review you’re going to read regularly.) Obviously, with reviews of books for younger children, it would be good to include how much rough handling the books are likely to be able to take before falling apart…
Comparison
You can usefully make comparisons with other books in the same genre and / or by the same author, or possibly that deal with the same themes in different ways. If you’re reviewing an established classic, you might suggest other “must read” books in any genre. (Three Men in a Boat.
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Reviewing Non-Fiction Books
I’ll do my best with this part, but as I’ve only written one non-fiction review to date (Stedman’s Pocket Medical Dictionary, it’s more what I’ve observed from reading than realised while writing!
Audience
Who is the book aimed at, and who would it be useful, and who might it be of interest to? The first part of the question is more important for professional publications such as scientific / medical textbooks etc, while the latter gains importance for more general-interest reference works that are not aimed at a specific profession.
Style & Language
What style is the book? Does it give general or specific information on the subject? Is it biased – does it put across the author/s’ opinion rather than simply state the facts? Is the argumentation used convincing?
For professional reference works (particularly dictionaries and encyclopaedias), layout is extremely import. Is it clear? Can you find what you want quickly?
The kind of language used is also important – and also the reason why such language is used. Some scientific / philosophical works that use highly convoluted or sophisticated language give the distinct impression that the author is simply try to make himself / herself look clever. Others do so because that form of language is familiar and normal to them, and they’re not writing this book for a layman. It’s important to identify, not only who would be interested in reading a particular book about a subject, but who would be able to read it.
Contents
Going into extensive detail about every aspect the book covers is not necessary, but at least an overview of what the book sets out to achieve should be included in your review. Listing the chapter headings is also a good way of providing information about what subjects the book covers without delving into unnecessary detail.
Assuming there is an index and / or glossary, how comprehensive and easy to use is it? Is there anything that could be better?
Comparison
You should only make comparisons with other books that are directly comparable – there’s no point comparing a medical dictionary to an English language dictionary, for instance. You have much less freedom in what you link to than with fiction.
Illustrations / Diagrams / Photography
How much time you spend describing the artwork of the book and your opinion of it really depends on how integral to the whole book it is. If there are a couple of drawings in a few hundred pages of text you wouldn’t need to mention them at all, but if you’re reviewing a pictorial encyclopaedia, you may want to write as much about the artwork as the text.
Reviewing Mentality
This is for both fiction and non-fiction reviews – in fact, for every review you ever write.
Lastability
This is in terms of both physical durability and content - will it last a few years constant use? Will the information contained still be relevant in a couple of years' time?
Recommended Reviewers
There are many terrific reviewers on epinions who practically live in the Books category, but I’m going to restrict myself to three of my favourites here – I’m sure you’ll find your own favourite book reviewers after a while.
]]- Hist - my favourite book reviewer on epinions (and , let’s face it, on earth), Dave is as much of a Discworld fan as myself and churns out a regular supply of reviews of all that is new and wonderful in the sci-fi world.
]]- GraceF - she may be a self-confessed book grump, but Grace can sure write! She tends to review books that I’m unlikely to ever read myself, but I enjoy reading her reviews. (And no, I’m not just sucking up to her because she’s a Category Lead – she’ll probably never read this anyway! :-P)
]]- Knothedusc - apart from having an intriguing user name, Jane’s your woman if you’re interested in non-fiction books about all manner of medical subjects. How she gets through all these books is almost as baffling as how she manages to write such good, knowledgeable, and detailed reviews.
My Best Book Review
Hmmm… I think the one I’m proudest of is The Silmarillion.
My Worst Book Review
It would either be Mort (mentioned earlier) or Hitchhikers Guide of the Galaxy.
That’s It
I hope this has helped someone!
CaptainD
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