How to Write a Book Review - An Ultimate Guide for Beginners

Being a school and college student, you get a lot of assignments. But, unfortunately, all these assignments given for your academics carry a heavy weightage, so they usually give students a really tough time.

Such assignments include writing a book review, research paper, and much other time taking and tricky tasks.

Admit it; even if you have professional writing skills, you cannot just write everything perfectly. The same is the case with writing a book review. There are certain limits and formats in which you work. Knowing and understanding those patterns is essential.

Read the blog to know how an effective and flawless review is written.

What is a Book Review?

A book review is a piece of writing in which a writer analyzes and evaluates the message and other elements of the book. It highlights the moments and the writer’s weaknesses and strengths in knowledge and describes and analyzes other things.

A review is basically written with the aim of judging something. People are judgmental; they judge everything around them. From a character on television to a random person in a supermarket, you judge everyone and everything.

When written down with the reasons and evidence that support your point of view, this judgment becomes a review. So, for example, if you review a character’s efforts to find love in a movie, you think these efforts were justified. Therefore, you will discuss the actions taken by the character and the reasons that show its righteousness.

In a book review, you basically form an argument. The review is often confused with a summary, although they are poles apart. Writing a review of the book is similar to doing commentary. You begin with a dialogue and act as a middle man between the author and the reader.

While reviewing a book, unlike a book report, a writer has the freedom to draft it with his own opinion. Also, it is his choice to stand on the author’s side or not. This can only be done by attentively reading the book.

In a book review, a writer’s opinion is mandatory, so it should be clearly stated. Book reviewing is done like all other academic essays, where you form an argument and gather evidence and supporting material to prove that argument.

When you write a book review, you give an in-depth and detailed analysis of the content in the book. This is done by discussing with the audience about your feelings that what you find interesting and significant. Also, whether the description provided by the author persuaded the audience or not.

Keep in mind that only stating the title, author, and concept of the book will not make your review winning; you have to add your opinion as well.

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How to Write a Book Review

It is important to know that there are no universal or fixed rules when it comes to reviewing a book. The methods and ways in which a book review is written are not definite. The only thing that is required to write a book review is having the ability to critically think and evaluate the content.

Following are the steps involved in writing a good book review:

1. Planning

Start the process by making a plan for your review writing. Thoroughly read the book that you are to draft a review for. Highlight important information and take frequent notes. Make sure to have the following information regarding the book:

1. Author’s message and the main argument
2. Techniques used to deliver the message and persuade the audience
3. Does the book contribute to the field?
4. The targeted audience of the book
5. The effectiveness of the book or the writer’s message

Once you have understood the book completely, form your stance over it. The writer’s stance will be the main argument or thesis statement of the boom review. All of the information will be supporting this thesis statement.

A general book review is usually 600 to 2000 words in length. If you are drafting a book review for your academics, understand the guidelines provided, and draft accordingly.

2. Introduction

Once you have created a plan for your book review, get into the writing process. The first section to draft for your review is the introduction.

Just as all academic writings require an introduction to the topic, a book review also needs an introduction. Therefore, the introductory paragraph of a book review is started by a catchy and interesting hook.

Create a hook statement keeping in mind the theme of the book. The introductory paragraph has the following information in it:

1. Title of the book
2. Name of the author
3. The main theme of the book
4. Some general information about the author
5. Book’s concept in which it is written
6. A thesis statement or the main argument of the book

The thesis statement is only for the nonfictional content. For an introduction to a fictional book review, identify the originality and novelty.

3. Main Body

The body is an important part of a book review. It consists of the content’s summary and your assessment and analysis. Also, the body paragraphs contain the evidence and supporting information that backs and proves your analysis of the book.

All of the information in the body of a book review should be organized and divided into paragraphs, with each paragraph having a topic sentence. These paragraphs can be arranged according to their themes or methods. Chronologically organizing your paragraphs is not mandatory in reviewing a book.

If you are quoting things from the book, make sure to put that information in inverted commas. Although, professionals suggest not to quote a lot while reviewing.

4. Conclusion

All of the paragraphs in the body should be going towards an end. Abrupt endings are the content spoiler. When concluding your book review, make sure to not use new ideas or information in it.

Restate the thesis statement, if any, in conclusion, and simply provide a summary of the main point and give away your final judgment.

An important thing to keep in mind while reviewing a book is that when you are writing a review, analyze and evaluate it as it is written, not as you wanted the book to be. Mention its failures about try no to do literary criticism that it was not written the way you wanted it to be.

5. Proofread and Edit

After writing your book review, revise it a few times. Check if the content is drafted perfectly and is free from mistakes and errors. Make editings if required and make sure that your review is properly structured.

All the spellings, punctuations, and citations should be checked when revising the content.

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Book Review Format

Every piece of information that a writer gathers while writing a book review needs to be formatted. This is to make the content readable and understandable for the audience.

Like all other formal writings, a book review should be structured to ensure its clarity and meaning. A general structure that a book review has the following sections:

• Introduction
• Main Body
• Conclusion

The first section is the introduction, where the writer introduces the book title, the author, and his thesis statement. This allows the audience to know what to expect from the content in the document.

Following the introduction comes the body section, where all the details and supporting evidence are provided to back the writer’s thesis statement about the book.

According to the format, the last section is the conclusion where the closure is given about the evaluation. Keep in mind to give a structure to your content to make sure it is sensible and understandable.

Book Review Examples

Before writing a book review, look at how some of the students have written brilliant book reviews to get an idea.

It is always important to look for a sample template if you are not sure of the structure of a book review. Below is provided a template that will help you draft your book review easily.

Book Review for Fictional Books

Writing a book review of a nonfiction book is relatively easy as you can get a lot of facts to support your point. You can write a review of a fictional book following these tips:

• State the main concept or idea.
• Present significant characters and how real they were
• Purpose of the main character
• Conflict or problems among the characters
• Your favorite character and its reasons.
• The relatability of the characters
• What would have been your stance and action if you were in their place
• Did you find the book interesting?
• Least favorite thing about the book
• Recommending the book to the readers
• Who is the perfect audience for the book?

Professional Writing Tips to Draft a Book Review

The writing process of a book review becomes simpler if you know the basic tips. The expert writers of EssayWriter.college have provided some easy tips and tricks that will let you draft an effective book review.

• Avoid exaggerating claims and ensure clarity and defensiveness of your arguments.
• Use clear and appropriate words to describe ideas
• Avoid repeating points
• Present the plot and theme of the book
• The content should not exceed the length. Keep it short and interesting.
• Your arguments should be sensible
• Avoid making assumptions about the original text
• Support your ideas using facts and logical reasoning

A student can write an exceptionally amazing book review if all these tips and tricks are followed correctly to draft a book review.

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