Q&A for How to Write a Book Review

You should not specifically include the ending of a book in a book review. You can give general impressions about the ending, but actually writing the ending itself is considered a huge spoiler, and will likely turn a lot of people away from your reviews.

The introduction, as if you have a catchy one, readers will be more interested in reading the review.

All parts are important. Which is the 'most' important depends on the perspective you look at it from. The introduction is important in that it draws in the reader's attention and interest, and makes clear what you're going to be discussing in your paper. The body is important in that it's where most of the real discussion takes place.

No. You do not use quotation marks for your own comments. If you include any sentences from the book, you should put quotation marks around those with a proper citation.

Find similarities between yourself and the character: struggles you both may have faced (or are currently facing), coincidental events in both of your lives, common threads and parallels. Try to discover ways in which you and the character react in the same way in situations. Look for shared traits.

Books with sexual content are generally not meant for children, even if they are enjoyable. It would be best to recommend it for teenagers/adults.

Watch the movie first of all and write your thoughts on it. It is quite similar to writing a book review and you'll find more help in How to Write a Movie Review .

To elicit answers and to get to a deeper level of understanding.

It is alright to use contractions but it is better to avoid using them too much in formal writing.

You don't really need anything else, but you might want to include the author's name as well. You can also title your piece something else entirely, as long as it refers in some way to the book so your audience knows what they will be reading about.

It's best to include a little bit of both. You should summarize the events of the book while discussing whether or not you thought the author did a good job with their story, whether or not their message was clear, etc.

The word count doesn't matter unless you've been given a minimum or maximum word count for your review.

No, not unless you were instructed to include illustrations.

Yes. You need to credit the author for their work, and also make it easier for your readers to find the book should they want to read it after reading your review.

It determines on how you're reviewing the book. It's not a necessity, but it might help support your facts or opinions.

It usually depends on the teacher (or boss, or publication, depending on who you're writing for). The average would probably be between 1-10 pages, but you should ask the person who assigned it if you're not sure! If what you're asking about is the length of the book, it shouldn't matter how long the book is unless you received specific instructions on that. As long as it is a book and doesn't go against any instructions you've been given, it should be fine.

No, you should avoid editorial comment. If you do need to do so, you would address yourself in the third person as "the reader."

You can include details about a character in the book, but when writing a book review, try to focus on the main idea of the book, or what the author is trying to say. The characters are usually less essential than the themes, symbols, moral, etc.

An analysis is always in first person viewpoint, so it's absolutely fine.

Sub questions aren't necessary. Sub questions are for testing your knowledge on a book. People who have only read the review and not the book itself aren't going to have an understanding of the book and won't be able to answer the questions. Not only may it lead to confusion, but some questions may give out the ending or other parts that may be considered a spoiler.

Explain what was wrong with it. Was it dull? Were the characters unrealistic? Was it too long? Use words like "weak" or "ineffective" instead of "bad."

Use the present tense when writing a book review unless the book is a non-fiction historical book and you are describing things that happened in the past.

After reading the book you know what type of book it is. For example, detectives, thriller, fiction, non-fiction, etc.This is the method of determining the a book's style.

Technically you can if you want to but most people, when reading reviews, will like to know if it is their type of book or appropriate for them.

Reading each chapter slowly again, taking notes where necessary and appropriate.

Yes. You could use subheadings or just change paragraphs to talk about every step above individually.

I wouldn't; your book review should be in your own words.

Write about the chapter, incorporating your opinion on plot development, characterization, language, social commentary, etc. Try not to give away any spoilers.

You could start by giving the book an evaluation score that ranges from 1-5 stars. If the book is a work of fiction, critique it by evaluating its language, writing style, plot, characters, and themes.

The name of the book, for example; The Scarlet Letter. The author, for example; Nathaniel Hawthorn and your name, for example; John Smith.