Let’s Talk About: How I write my book reviews

Once upon a time, Gerry wrote about writing book reviews. I left a little summary of how I write my reviews, Bibi commented on it saying she’d like me to expand, and I thought… hey, why not. So here I am today, telling you all about how I write my book reviews.

This is not a post about what you should or shouldn’t do in your own book reviews. I always get a little annoyed when I see a post talking about what you should always or never do in a book review. However you personally want to get your thoughts and opinions out is fine, whether it’s one sentence, five thousand words, or anything in between. You can choose not to review books you didn’t like or you can rant forever about why you hated a book. Your blog is your own.

I’m going to talk about my three main types of reviews in this post:

• my standard review
• my “number of thoughts” review
• my mini-review

the standard review

I’d guess that at least 90% of my reviews fall into this category. In this kind of review, I give my general thoughts without going into (too many) spoilers. I’ve tried a bunch of methods for writing this kind of review over the years, from taking meticulous notes while reading (too time-consuming) to typing my thoughts in a draft of the review every night before bed (I kept forgetting) to just winging it when I finished (the usual). What I’ve found the most helpful is talking about the book while I’m reading it.

You see, I have a pretty great boyfriend and he almost always asks me what I’m thinking of the books that I’m reading. He’ll ask me how many stars the book has so far, what’s keeping it from being a five-star read, or what I’m loving about it. This helps me start a review in my mind while I’m reading because I know I’ll more than likely be answering those questions. When I sit down to write my review, I already have a pretty basic idea of what I’m going to say. Then it’s just expanding on those thoughts (or, sometimes, cutting them down to a more reasonable length).

In my standard review, I try to include, at the very least, what I liked and disliked about the book. I don’t have any set formula for my reviews, but I do try to talk about anything that I think could be controversial or surprising (without giving away too many spoilers, that is). Aside from that, sometimes I include quotes and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I do bullet points and sometimes I don’t. Most of the time, I really just do whatever I feel like and hope for the best.

Examples of this type of review:

• Distrust by T.L. Smith (this is a classic rant review)
• Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (probably one of my gushiest reviews)
• Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett (a shorter example)

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the “number of thoughts” review

This is, by far, the most time-consuming type of review to write. It usually takes at least a couple hours, so if you see one of these reviews, you know that I either really loved or really hated the book. (Really hated is more common.) That said, it’s actually my favorite type of review since I feel so much better after ranting about a book for so long. These reviews are all FULL OF SPOILERS.

So, how do I write this kind of review? If it’s an ebook, I make a lot of notes and highlights on my Kindle. If it’s a physical book, I fill it up with sticky notes so that I’ll remember quotes I want to use. I’ll usually write at least a word or two on the sticky note to remind myself of my thoughts. That’s time-consuming on its own, but then I have to transcribe all of those thoughts into my review! 😅

These “number of thoughts” reviews usually get a ton of interaction, which I love! If it wasn’t so time-consuming, I’d do it for every book I read.

Examples of this type of review:

• All of This Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor
• Troll by Emma Clark (one of my favorite reviews I’ve ever written)
• Smart Tass by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

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the mini-reviews

When I don’t have a lot to say about a book, or when it doesn’t really fit into my usual reading tastes, I tend to do a mini-review. These are usually just a couple of sentences touching on what I liked or disliked about the book. I did these a lot more when I first moved to WordPress than I do now, but they’re nice because they’re quick and easy.

Examples of this type of review:

• Mini-politics reviews: The Audacity of Hope, Fantasyland, & How Democracies Die
• Mini-reviews: The Billionaire’s Secret Duology by Ivy Layne
• Mini-erotica reviews: Lip Service & First Night

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So, there you have it — three ways that I write my reviews. I hope that this was at least a little bit helpful. If you want me to expand on anything, please feel free to leave a comment! ❤

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What style of review do you usually write? What’s your favorite to read? Let’s talk in the comments!

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