How to Write a Killer Book Review in 5 Easy Steps | YaashaMoriah.com

Summary

Discover a straightforward guide to crafting compelling book reviews. The video script outlines five essential steps, including an optional book summary with key points like main character, conflict, and a central question. It advises starting with an overview of your opinion, followed by cons and pros to avoid deterring potential readers. Tips on discussing offensive content objectively and highlighting the book's merits without spoilers are provided. The script also encourages including an excerpt to make reviews stand out. Finally, it invites viewers to apply these tips and share their reviews.

Takeaways

• 📚 **Optional Summary**: Start with a summary of the book if there isn't one, including the main character, conflict, and a question or statement that arouses curiosity.
• 💭 **Reader's Overview**: Provide an initial impression of the book to set the stage for the detailed pros and cons that follow.
• 🔍 **Cons First**: List the negative aspects of the book first to balance the review and not deter potential readers immediately.
• 👍 **Pros After**: Discuss the positive aspects of the book after the cons to end on a positive note and highlight the book's merits.
• 🚫 **Avoid Spoilers**: When discussing the book's content, avoid revealing spoilers to preserve the experience for future readers.
• 🎯 **Be Objective**: Keep the review as objective as possible when discussing the book's weaknesses and strengths.
• 🌟 **Highlight Merits**: Discuss what the book did well, focusing on aspects like character development or plot without giving away too much.
• ✂️ **Include Excerpts**: Add a short excerpt from the book to give readers a taste of the writing style and story, preferably with dialogue or action.
• 🔗 **Link to Resources**: Provide a link in the description for a one-page summary of the review steps to help others write their own reviews.
• 📖 **Encourage Engagement**: Invite viewers to share their own book reviews in the comments, fostering a community of readers and reviewers.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video script?

The main purpose of the video script is to provide a guide on how to write an effective book review.

What is the first step mentioned in the script for writing a book review?

The first step mentioned is writing an optional summary of the book, which includes introducing the main character, the main conflict, and a question or statement that arouses curiosity.

Why is the summary considered optional in the script?

The summary is considered optional because many platforms like Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble already provide a description of the book.

What is the example given for a book summary in the script?

The example given is for 'The Lord of the Rings', where it introduces Frodo Baggins, the conflict with the dark lord Sauron, and the question of whether Frodo can destroy the ring without succumbing to its power.

What is the significance of providing an overview of the book before listing pros and cons?

The overview is provided to give potential readers an initial impression of the reviewer's overall opinion, which helps them understand the context behind the listed pros and cons.

Why does the script suggest starting the review with cons (negative points) before pros (positive points)?

Starting with cons is suggested to avoid potential readers being immediately deterred by a long list of negative points, allowing them to understand the reviewer's overall positive opinion after considering the cons.

What are some opening sentences suggested for discussing the cons in a book review?

Some suggested opening sentences include 'The book would have been more enjoyable for me if...', 'I would have enjoyed the book more if...', and 'I feel like this book was particularly weak in the area of...'

What aspects of a book's content should be considered when discussing its merits?

When discussing the merits of a book, aspects such as the quality of writing, strength of characters, and content should be considered.

Why is it important to include an excerpt in a book review according to the script?

Including an excerpt is important because it gives readers a flavor of the book without spoilers and can make the review stand out, as it provides a direct sample of the book's style and content.

What type of excerpt is recommended in the script?

The script recommends taking a portion with dialogue or an action sequence for the excerpt, as it shows interaction and excitement, respectively.

How can viewers access a one-page summary of the steps for writing a book review as mentioned in the script?

Viewers can access the one-page summary by clicking on the link provided in the video's description.

What is the final call-to-action for viewers after watching the video?

The final call-to-action is for viewers to write their own book review, share a link to it in the comment section, and potentially introduce the video creator to a new book to read.

Outlines

00:00

📚 How to Write a Book Review

This paragraph introduces a five-step method for writing an effective book review. It also suggests an optional initial step of summarizing the book, which should include the main character, conflict, and a central question or statement that arouses curiosity. The importance of the summary is emphasized as it sets the stage for the rest of the review, ensuring that potential readers understand the reviewer's overall opinion before diving into specific pros and cons.

05:03

🔍 Discussing the Book's Merits

The second paragraph focuses on discussing the positive aspects of a book, or its merits. It advises starting sentences with phrases like 'I enjoyed this book because...' or 'I felt this book was particularly strong in the area of...'. The paragraph also encourages including an excerpt from the book to give readers a taste of the story without spoiling it. The goal is to highlight what was appreciated about the book, such as character development or content, in a way that is memorable and engaging.

Keywords

💡Book Review

A book review is a critical assessment of a book, often including an evaluation of its content, style, and merit. In the video's context, it's the central theme as the speaker provides a formula for writing an effective book review. The script mentions that many people struggle with writing book reviews, indicating the importance of this skill in engaging with literature.

💡Summary

A summary is a brief statement or account of the main points of a piece of content. In relation to the video, the speaker suggests starting a book review with an optional summary of the book, which should introduce the main character, conflict, and a central question or statement that arouses curiosity, as exemplified by the 'Lord of the Rings' summary provided.

💡Main Character

The main character is the primary person or entity in a narrative. The video script emphasizes the importance of introducing the main character in a book summary for context. For instance, in the 'Lord of the Rings' example, Frodo Baggin is introduced as the main character with a pivotal role in the story.

💡Main Conflict

The main conflict is the central problem or struggle in a narrative that drives the plot. The script advises including this in a book summary to give a sense of the challenges the main character faces, such as Frodo's struggle with the temptation of the ring in the 'Lord of the Rings'.

💡Pros and Cons

Pros and cons refer to the positive and negative aspects of something, respectively. The video script outlines a strategy for writing a book review where the cons (negative aspects) are discussed before the pros (positive aspects) to provide a balanced view and to end on a positive note, which is more memorable.

💡Content

Content refers to the subject matter of a book or any narrative. The speaker mentions that some content might be offensive to readers, which is a consideration when writing a review. The term is used to discuss aspects of the book that the reviewer found problematic or not well-executed.

💡Spoilers

Spoilers are pieces of information about a narrative that, if disclosed, would reveal crucial plot elements. The video script advises against including spoilers in a book review to prevent ruining the experience for potential readers, emphasizing the need for reviewers to be considerate.

💡Excerpt

An excerpt is a short passage or portion taken from a larger work. The video encourages including an excerpt in a book review to give readers a taste of the book's style and content. The speaker suggests choosing a dialogue or action sequence to make the review more engaging.

💡Merits

Merits are positive qualities or deserving aspects of something. In the context of the video, the speaker discusses the merits of a book as the positive elements that should be highlighted in the review, such as strong character development or engaging plotlines.

💡Objective

Being objective means presenting information fairly and without personal bias. The script advises reviewers to be as objective as possible when discussing the cons of a book to ensure a fair assessment, which is crucial for the credibility of the review.

💡Teaser

A teaser is a brief preview designed to stimulate interest or appetite. The video uses the term 'teaser' to describe the function of an excerpt in a review, suggesting that it should entice readers by showcasing exciting parts of the book without giving too much away.

Highlights

Five simple steps for writing a killer book review

Optional step: Writing a summary of the book

A good summary includes the main character, main conflict, and a question

Example summary for 'The Lord of the Rings'

The summary can be phrased as a statement to arouse curiosity

Overview of how you felt about the book before listing pros and cons

Reasoning behind discussing cons before pros

Cons discuss things you didn't like or felt were weak

Opening sentences for discussing cons

Being objective when discussing cons

Pros highlight the book's merits or strengths

Ways to start sentences when discussing pros

Avoid spoilers when discussing pros and cons

Including an excerpt from the book in the review

Recommendation to use dialogue or action sequences in excerpts

Link to download a one-page summary of the five steps

Invitation to share written reviews in the comment section

Transcripts

so a lot of people have told me recently

that they don't know how to write a good

book review they don't know what to put

in it they don't know what would be

valuable to other readers they don't

know where to start so here are my five

simple steps for writing a killer book

review and after this you will no longer

have an excuse for not writing a book

review because you will have this

formula to help you so let's get

started before we get started with the

five simple steps I just want want to

add in an optional step that would be at

the beginning if you choose to use it um

and that is the summary of the book now

most things like Goodreads and

amazon.com and Barnes & Noble they'll

have a description already on the page

where the book is um shown but if you

choose to write a summary um or if

there's a place where your review will

be shown where there isn't already a

summary then here's how you would do it

basically a good summary has three key

points in it introduce the main

character introduce the main conflict

and introduce a question so for example

if you were to summarize the Lord of the

Rings say you would say something along

the lines of when froto baggin inherits

his uncle's magic ring he little knows

that it is the most deadly weapon in

Middle Earth nor that the mysterious

dark lord Sauron has sent his nine Black

Riders to recover the ring which was

lost many years ago will Frodo be able

to destroy the ring without succumbing

to the temptation of its power so as you

can see that has all three elements it

has the main character it has the main

conflict and it has the main question

that the story answers now the question

doesn't necessarily have to be a

question it could be phrased like a

statement but in such a way that it kind

of AR arouses a question in the reader's

mind for example you could substitute

the last sentence of the summary that I

just gave with this statement as froto

Journeys to destroy the ring he

struggles not to succumb to the tempt

ation of its power so there's your

optional summary if you choose to use

it so this overview is important because

um in the way that I set up these five

steps the cons come before the pros and

I'll explain why later but basically I

you don't want a potential reader um

reading your review and saying oh wow

they have so many cons well I'm not even

going to bother reading this book

because maybe you really liked the book

and there are a lot of Pros afterward so

you want to give the overview to explain

yeah I really did like this book um here

are my cons first and now here are the

pros and that way they'll be able to um

realize you know the entirety of your

opinion and not just be thrown off by

the specifics of the cons and the pros

that you give later just give an

overview of how you felt about the book

um it could be something along the lines

of I really enjoyed the story because it

was very well written had strong

characters unfortunately some of the um

content was a little bit of offensive to

me and that will at least give people an

overview of your general feelings why

you gave it so many stars or whatever in

the rating and um then the pros and cons

will be discussed more specifically

later in your review so people will be

able to understand what it is that you

picked out specifically that was good or

not so good about the story

why do I do this first well because I

like leaving the more positive things

for the the end because that's what

people tend to remember most is the

thing that they read last so just to be

fair to the author and to kind of be

able to elevate the book's merits above

its faults I just feel like it's most

fair to be able to discuss its faults

first and then its merits second

so that um that so that the merits are

what's going to stick in the reader's

mind so the cons discuss things anything

that you didn't like or that you didn't

feel was particularly well done and here

are some opening sentences that you can

finish um to do that you could do the

book would have been more enjoyable for

me if or I would have enjoyed the book

more if I feel like this book was

particularly weak in the area of I was

concerned or disappointed

bu generally the three that you want to

go for are the violent sex and bad

language because that's what most people

look for um when they're concerned about

offensive content and when you do this

it's best to be as objective as

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possible

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these are its merits or the things that

it did particularly well some ways that

you can start your sentences might be I

enjoyed this book because or I felt this

book was particularly strong in the area

of or I especially

appreciated so basically just talk about

the things that you enjoyed and the

aspects that you most appreciated about

the story whether that's characters or

or um content whatever that might

be now make sure that it doesn't have

any spoilers you don't want to spoil

anything for anybody but you do kind of

want to give the flavor of the book and

people love excerpts it can even it

shouldn't be very long it can only it

should only be like maybe a couple

paragraphs maybe even a couple sentences

and it's also a way to make your review

stand out because not a lot of people do

that but people really like seeing an

excerpt of the book and and getting a

feel for the the story itself straight

from the book's pages and not just from

a reviewer I recommend that you'd take a

portion with dialogue because dialogue

shows a lot of interaction um but if you

don't take dialogue then do some other

action type sequence um because that is

kind of like a teaser trailer for the

book it just shows all the most exciting

parts so when you're done watching this

video go down to the video's description

there's a link that I put there and when

you click on that link it'll take you to

a page where you can download a onepage

summary of all of these um five steps

and so that'll just help you write your

next book review and when you write that

book review please put a link in um the

comment section below and show me what

you wrote and maybe it's a book that

I've never read before and I'd love to

read it so thanks for watching have fun

reading and have fun writing your

review

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