How to write book reviews – a guide

You have just finished reading a book. Now what? Why not write a book review on your own blog or other sites, so that the author and the other readers might benefit from it? Here is a quick guide on how to write book reviews to help other readers decide whether they should read the book or not. 

Also if you are already a book blogger, you might have heard that the book review posts do not get much engagement from other bloggers, and that might be putting you off from writing more book reviews. If it is so, this guide can help you on creating a format so that you wont have to spend too much time on writing book reviews. 

How to write book reviews

So here is how you can write book reviews in a way that it will be useful for your readers and yet you can write them fast.

Again, writing them quickly doesn’t mean you can do a half baked job. Having a template ensures that you will not miss out on any important detail from your review post.

Write a short introduction to the book

You might start with all the relevant details like 

• Author name and link to their website
• Their other books
• the name of the publisher
• the year of publication
• ISBN or ASIN of the book
• Genre of the book
• Target age group 

Do not forget to include the book cover and link to the purchase page. 

Keep the plot short and spoiler free

Instead of copying the plot summary from the blurb or Goodreads, summarize the plot in your words. And keep it short and to the point. 

Most importantly keep it spoiler free, because you are trying to get the reader pick the book (or not, depending on the review) and giving away the plot is not the right way to do it.

Add the relevant disclosure

If you have added any affiliate links like Amazon, B&N in the post, please mention that to avoid the legal issues. 

This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Mention if you received the book received the copy from author or publisher for reviewing. 

Any books, products, or compensation received in exchange for review or promotion will be clearly stated in individual posts. This does not affect my opinion; opinions expressed are honest and entirely my own.

Also mark as spoiler if your review has anything that might be considered spoiler to the book you are reviewing. We do not want to spoil others

Add your rating and explain your scale

After the disclosure and before starting your detailed review, add your rating for the book. It can either be a number scale (say, 3/5) or a pictorial representation showing the rating, like many other bloggers do. 

Either way ensure it is visible distinctly as soon as the readers open the page. Insert a sidebar text box explaining what your rating scale means, say 

• 5/5 – Wow, favorite book 
• 4/5 – great, would recommend!
• 3/5 – good but can be better
• 2/5 – It was ok, wouldn’t miss it if I had not read
• 1/5 – it was so bad that want my time back

Also, rating a book on your blog is not absolutely important. Here is my stand on why I do not rate books on my blog.

Pen down your personal thoughts

Here comes the main part of your review – writing down your thoughts on the book. 

Make the review personal and tell your readers about how did the book make you feel. Or be objective and talk only about the positives and negatives of the book. Your choice. 

Here are somethings that you can talk about in your review 

• Character development of the protagonists
• Character development of the side characters
• Main plot and the sub plots
• Did you see the twists coming?
• Author’s writing in terms of the style, pace etc
• Representation, if any
• Triggers, if any

Conclude with a strong summary of whether you recommend the book or not. You can mention the specific set of people who may enjoy the book or should avoid the book. 

Other sections that you can include in your review

• Pointers on what you liked or disliked in the book
• Quotes from the book 
• Relevant GIFs and images to convey your emotions
• You can mention other books that might be similar to the book you are reviewing.
• Add links to Goodreads book page, if you are not adding purchase links.

I hope this guide helped you in knowing how to write book reviews. If you are looking for some inspirations, take a look at some of my newer reviews.

This is the format I use to write book reviews

• About the book
• The plot
• My initial thoughts
• Things that worked for me
• Things that didn’t work for me
• Bottom-line

Here are some more pointers to improve the engagement in your book review posts. 

Previously on blogging tips for book bloggers

• Why Book Blogging Is Different From Other Niches?
• SEO For A Book Blogger – Things You Can Do Today!
• Blogging Terms You Have To Know As A Book Blogger
• Getting More Comments On Your Blog – Things You Can Do Today!
• Commenting On Other Blogs – Commenting Etiquette
• Does your blog have these? A checklist for new bloggers

Pin me!

Let us talk

Do you like writing book reviews? Or do you feel it is not worth the time spend on writing the book reviews? Do you prefer emotional or analytical book reviews when it comes to deciding whether to read a book or not? Let us talk.