Most people think that writing book reviews is easy; after all, if you read the book then you should be able to simply sit down and write a review instantly without any difficulty. This assumption might be true of a quick two-sentence review on Goodreads, but there is a lot more to producing a well-written book review that could be used as an editorial review, published as an article, or published in the media.

Formatting and Layout

Depending on where the review is being displayed and who the review is being written for, the formatting and layout of the review could be different. If there is not a required format or layout for the review, then the best way to format it is with Times New Roman, size 12 font, and MLA format for any quotes or paraphrasing. The basic layout for most reviews is to have the first paragraph focus on the facts of what the book is about, the second paragraph on the reader’s reactions to the book and how well the book was written, and if the book is an audiobook, then the third paragraph would be a review of the narration of the book.

Content

The content of the review needs to be carefully chosen to give readers a peek into the book without providing any spoilers. In this, the reviewer needs to be very careful because he or she needs to share his or her own feelings, thoughts, and critiques of the book without giving anything important away. One of the best ways to do this is for reviewers to ask themselves if knowing this piece of information would have ruined the book for them or given too much away. If the answer is yes, then that part of the review needs to be restated to be vaguer. For instance, if the reviewer wanted to say: “I wish the author had decided to go into more detail about how Sara Thomson got murdered by her brother during her morning run,” it could be changed to: “I really wish the author had decided to provide more details on what happened to Sara Thomson.” By rewording it, the review does not lose the criticism, but it does not tell readers too much about Sara’s fate.

Spelling and Grammar

Spelling and grammar are some of the most important parts of a well-written book review. After all, who would trust a writer to be able to tell them about the book if the review cannot be understood or has numerous issues with spelling. The best way for a reviewer to deal with this hurdle is to type all reviews into Microsoft Word or another program that has a spelling and grammar check. After fixing any problems that are caught by the spell check, the reviewer should read their entire review aloud, word for word, to make sure it reads aloud the same way it did in their head. Lastly, it never hurts to get an extra set of eyes on the review to read it from a fresh perspective.