The following are some interesting critical book review examples for college students to learn how to write a perfect review.
Traditionally, book reviews are the evaluation of books. Usually, in between the 500-700 words limit, book reviews offer a brief description of the overall text.
Writing a book review is an easy process if you plan ahead and follow a clear guide throughout. With complete instructions, you will be able to write a perfect book review on any genre even if you are writing for the first time.
For your help, we have also compiled interesting examples of fiction book reviews that you can go through.
Book Review Examples For High School Students
- Critically analyze a text
- Give a personal opinion on the text
- Improve analyzing and critical thinking skills
A great book review writing requires both subject area and genre knowledge. As a college student, you are required to demonstrate that you have examined the book from different angles.
Below you can also find some good book review examples for kids. These real life examples can help you get a clear understanding of the standard book review format that you can follow.
Book reviews are also written by experts, journalists, academics, and students to develop an understanding of a book within a broader context of its subject and genre.
Writing a book review is something that can be done with every novel. Book reviews can apply to all novels, no matter the genre. Some genres may be harder than others. On the other hand, the book review format remains the same. Take a look at these step-by-step instructions from our professional writers to learn how to write a book review in-depth.
Create an essay outline which includes all of the main points you wish to summarise in your book analysis. Include information about the characters, details of the plot, and some other important parts of your chosen novel. Reserve a body paragraph for each point you wish to talk about.
The book review format includes an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Book reviews are assigned to allow students to present their own opinion regarding the author’s ideas included in the book or passage. They are a form of literary criticism that analyzes the author’s ideas, writing techniques, and quality. A book analysis is entirely opinion-based, in relevance to the book. They are good practice for those who wish to become editors, due to the fact, editing requires a lot of criticism.
How to Write a Book Review: Step-By-Step
You may prosper, “what is a book review?”. Book reviews are commonly assigned students to allow them to show a clear understanding of the novel. And to check if the students have actually read the book. The essay format is highly important for your consideration, take a look at the book review format below.
- Introduction
- Describe the book cover and title.
- Include any subtitles at this stage.
- Include the Author’s Name.
- Thesis
- Write a brief description of the novel.
- Briefly introduce the main points of the body in your book review.
- Avoid mentioning any opinions at this time.
- Body
- Use about 3 quotations from the author’s novel.
- Summarise the quotations in your own words.
- Mention your own point-of-view of the quotation.
- Remember to keep every point included in its own paragraph.
- Conclusion
- In brief, summarize the quotations.
- In brief, summarize the explanations.
- Finish with a concluding sentence.
- This can include your final opinion of the book.
- Star-Rating (Optional).
- What is the plot of the book? Understanding the plot enables you to write an effective review.
- Is the plot gripping? Does the plot make you want to continue reading the novel? Did you enjoy the plot? Does it manage to grab a reader’s attention?
- Are the writing techniques used by the author effective? Does the writer imply factors in-between the lines? What are they?
- Are the characters believable? Are the characters logical? Does the book make the characters are real while reading?
- Would you recommend the book to anyone? The most important thing: would you tell others to read this book? Is it good enough? Is it bad?
- What could be better? Keep in mind the quotes that could have been presented better. Criticize the writer.
A book review allows students to illustrate the author's intentions of writing the piece, as well as create a criticism of the book — as a whole. In other words, form an opinion of the author's presented ideas. Check out this guide from EssayPro — top essay writing service to learn how to write a book review successfully.
Writing a book review is something that can be done with every novel. Book reviews can apply to all novels, no matter the genre. Some genres may be harder than others. On the other hand, the book review format remains the same. Take a look at these step-by-step instructions from our professional writers to learn how to write a book review in-depth.
Create an essay outline which includes all of the main points you wish to summarise in your book analysis. Include information about the characters, details of the plot, and some other important parts of your chosen novel. Reserve a body paragraph for each point you wish to talk about.
The book review format includes an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Book reviews are assigned to allow students to present their own opinion regarding the author’s ideas included in the book or passage. They are a form of literary criticism that analyzes the author’s ideas, writing techniques, and quality. A book analysis is entirely opinion-based, in relevance to the book. They are good practice for those who wish to become editors, due to the fact, editing requires a lot of criticism.
How to Write a Book Review: Step-By-Step
You may prosper, “what is a book review?”. Book reviews are commonly assigned students to allow them to show a clear understanding of the novel. And to check if the students have actually read the book. The essay format is highly important for your consideration, take a look at the book review format below.
- Introduction
- Describe the book cover and title.
- Include any subtitles at this stage.
- Include the Author’s Name.
- Thesis
- Write a brief description of the novel.
- Briefly introduce the main points of the body in your book review.
- Avoid mentioning any opinions at this time.
- Body
- Use about 3 quotations from the author’s novel.
- Summarise the quotations in your own words.
- Mention your own point-of-view of the quotation.
- Remember to keep every point included in its own paragraph.
- Conclusion
- In brief, summarize the quotations.
- In brief, summarize the explanations.
- Finish with a concluding sentence.
- This can include your final opinion of the book.
- Star-Rating (Optional).
- What is the plot of the book? Understanding the plot enables you to write an effective review.
- Is the plot gripping? Does the plot make you want to continue reading the novel? Did you enjoy the plot? Does it manage to grab a reader’s attention?
- Are the writing techniques used by the author effective? Does the writer imply factors in-between the lines? What are they?
- Are the characters believable? Are the characters logical? Does the book make the characters are real while reading?
- Would you recommend the book to anyone? The most important thing: would you tell others to read this book? Is it good enough? Is it bad?
- What could be better? Keep in mind the quotes that could have been presented better. Criticize the writer.
A book review allows students to illustrate the author's intentions of writing the piece, as well as create a criticism of the book — as a whole. In other words, form an opinion of the author's presented ideas. Check out this guide from EssayPro — top essay writing service to learn how to write a book review successfully.
When it comes to more facts and science-related books, you can talk about how the book is more suitable for readers who are doing or have done an M.Phil. in any science-related subject.
If your teacher has asked you to write a book review, you need to analyze a book and provide your opinion on it. However, this is not the only information you need for a good book review. You will also have to include a brief summary of the book and address the book’s main points and explain why they matter.
This is an optional part, you can give the book a rating out of 10. At times there is an audience who are in a rush and all they want is to know the ratings, this is perfect for your peers or the layman who just want to know if the book is worth it or not.
You might also ask to cover the information about the author to help the reader understand the text especially if it is a non-fiction book.
Book Review Format
It is essential that you talk about what you liked in the book, you can talk about a certain chapter or quote. Some other things include
- Start with the main characteristics of the book such as the name of the book, the author’s name, etc.
- Definition of the book and bibliographical information
- Discuss the main theme of the book
- Introduce the main characters
- Discuss the plot of the story
- Message the author tried to convey
- Your point of view on the text
“An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.
If you have access to a university library, you can access book reviews through many of the more popular databases (e.g., JSTOR or MLA Database). Just type in the book title and author and your search results should include reviews. If you want to consult open access review sites, we suggest you start with the following two websites. They should give you plenty of examples to emulate (or avoid):
In other words, most introductions begin by explaining how the book fits in with current scholarship in the field. Why is this study important? Why should we care about it? Then the reviewer will explain the author’s main argument and give some general assessment of the quality of the book.
Notice that the page count includes roman numerals to refer to the number of pages that precede the start of official pagination. For the price, consult a major retailer such as Amazon or give the publisher’s RRP (recommended retail price).
To avoid nitpicking, make sure that you focus primarily on the major details.
Going Above and Beyond
- Read some other important studies in the field and see how the book you’re reviewing fits in.
- Follow up quotations and references and determine if the author’s interpretation is fair.
- Reread the book and look for inconsistencies in the argument.
- Determine if there are gaps in the argument. What could have been said, but was omitted? Be careful, though, not to put too much weight on this in your review. Some reviewers constantly blame the author for not saying what they wanted to hear.
As you analyze the specific arguments made in the book, relate what you think of them and whether they adequately prove the book’s main thesis. Some reviewers like to save their own opinion for the end of the book review, but it’s best to let the reader know what you think all the way through. Often you can split these middle paragraphs into two parts: a careful summation of the argument, followed by your opinion.
Most book reviews follow a fairly simple structure, with each section being any number of paragraphs long:
Reviews are also a matter of tactfulness. Here is an example of how you might phrase the same point in two different ways: