Things I Appreciate in Book Reviews

June 23, 2009 at 10:51 am | In Books, Reviews | 4 Comments

Recently, Bill the Sci-Fi Guy asked whether it would be helpful to include a ratings system of some kind in his book reviews. That got me thinking about what I would appreciate seeing in book reviews from my fellow bloggers (and where I could perhaps do a little better). So here is a list of elements of a book review I would love to see:

A one-line synopsis right at the beginning of the review. Often I don’t have time to read everything in my feed reader, so if there is a synopsis right up front, I will know right away whether the book is something I might be interested in. That would prompt me to read further. If I can’t tell what the book is about from the first couple of lines of the review, I usually skip reading it.
Some clue as to genre. I would like to see this at the beginning of the review as well. I particularly want to know if the book is meant for kids, young adults or adult readers and if it is identified as belonging to a specific genre such as horror, science fiction or fantasy.
If the book is part of a series. Please tell me right away what series it belongs to and what number it is in the series. I have often bought books just to find out they are the second or third in a series I haven’t read. There’s nothing more annoying than that.
The cover of the book. So I’ll recognize it when I see it in the bookstore, even if I don’t remember the title or author.
A relevant quote from the book. This gives me an idea of the author’s writing style. I love reading quotes anyway. I usually just put the first paragraph to keep from inadvertently posting spoilers.
No spoilers! Or at least a spoiler warning. I try very hard in my reviews not to give away important plot points. I sometimes avoid reading reviews out of fear that the book will be spoiled for me.
Links to further information or the Amazon page are helpful but not necessary. I particularly appreciate links to author pages.

For me, ratings aren’t as important as these other elements. Ratings are by necessity subjective, and I find them only helpful when several people’s ratings are aggregated, as on Amazon, and you can get a feel for general overall reaction to the book.

What do you find most helpful in a book review?

4 Comments »

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These are very good, thanks!

Comment by rhapsodyinbooks — June 23, 2009 #
I think what’s most important for me in a review is that the pros and cons are clearly displayed, no matter how much the reviewer liked the book or not. And I always like to see who the target audience is. For instance, I might think a book is wonderful for certain types of people but otherwise bad. I might appreciate a book but not enjoy it myself. I like to know both the personal opinion and the objective view.

Comment by Biblibio — June 24, 2009 #
These are great pointers. I definitely will adopt some of these.

Comment by Laura Baker — June 28, 2009 #
Thanks, I will try to adopt some of them myself.

Comment by Shannon — June 28, 2009 #