I intend to do one or two book reviews a week here. But I don’t seem to be keeping up with myself at all at the moment. I’ve read lots – list on my Read52 page (you can also get the badge for the challenge if you feel like joining in 😉 ) So obviously, instead of writing up a review, I thought I’d talk about what makes a good one.
First of all, I don’t like spoilers. It can be really difficult to discuss some books without them though. I tend to assume that anything that’s in the blurb on the back or online bookshops is fair game, though sometimes even those go too far for me. And let’s not even talk about the ones that get things wrong. (Unless you’ve got any really funny examples.)
But how do you do a good detailed review without spoilers? Is it possible? It’s particularly difficult when what you’re reviewing hinges on a plot twist – I guess there aren’t actually that many books without any plot twists at all, but some of them are so big and central to your enjoyment of the ending that blowing them is downright irresponsible and unpleasant.
I’m now striving to think of an example that is from far enough ago that most people will either know about it or just not care. Um. And failing.
Moving on. I’d love to hear what people look for in a review. Personally, I want to know about the voice, the characters, the development. A little about the setting or the genre of the book. I’m not so worried about the story – that’s why I’m going to read it. I want to hear opinions, but I don’t want to be told what to think. And I’ve now discovered that I’d like lovely pictures, like the ones on My type of thing. I shall be improving my book photography 😉
So what do you reckon? What do you look for in a book/film review? Got any to share? How are you getting on with your reading challenge reading? (I’ve read 20 books, I’m quite pleased with that so far.)
Feel free to stick your reading challenge/ book review posts in the linky.
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