How to Write the Perfect Book Review
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Dave Chesson from Kindlepreneur explains how to write an effective book review. He covers two types of reviews: online reviews for blogs or reports, and market reviews for platforms like Amazon. The review structure includes four key components: summary, results, strengths and weaknesses, and final recommendation. Chesson provides tips on how to structure each section without spoilers, emphasizing the importance of balanced critiques, personal reflections, and constructive feedback. His advice helps ensure reviews are insightful, fair, and helpful to readers and authors alike.
Takeaways
- 📚 There are two types of book reviews: one for blogs or academic purposes and one for market reviews, like those on Amazon.
- 🎯 The first step in writing a review is understanding why you're doing it, which will help shape the structure.
- 📝 A review should include four key components: summary, results, strengths and weaknesses, and a final recommendation.
- 🔑 The summary should be concise and broad, avoiding spoilers and too many details. Focus on major events or strategic points.
- 😊 In fiction reviews, describe the emotional journey the story takes you on. In non-fiction, focus on what you learned and how it impacts you.
- ⚖️ A balanced review includes both strengths and weaknesses, showing you're a fair and legitimate reviewer.
- 📌 Don't mix strengths and weaknesses in the same paragraph—keep them separate for clarity.
- 📖 Use direct quotes to back up your analysis, but avoid overloading the review with them.
- 🤔 In your recommendation, suggest alternative books if you didn’t like the one you're reviewing. Be constructive, not critical.
- 👍 Keep your final thoughts short, give readers suggestions for next steps, and avoid attacking the author.
Q & A
What are the two types of book reviews mentioned in the script?
-The two types of book reviews mentioned are online reviews, which could be for a blog or website, or for a book review report for a teacher or professor, and market reviews, which are written for platforms like Amazon to help potential readers decide whether to read the book.
What is the first thing one should do before writing a book review according to Dave Chesson?
-Before writing a book review, one should always think about why they are writing it, as this will help influence how the review is structured.
What are the four components that should be included in an effective book review?
-The four components that should be included in an effective book review are the summary, the results, the strengths and weaknesses, and the final recommendation.
How should the summary section of a book review be written?
-The summary section should be brief, not giving away any key information or spoilers. It should provide a broad sense of the book's content without going into too much detail.
What should be included in the results section of a book review for fiction?
-For fiction, the results section should discuss the emotions the story evoked, such as excitement or fear, and whether the reader cared about the characters.
How is the results section different for non-fiction book reviews?
-For non-fiction, the results section should focus on what the reader learned from the book and how it might affect their life moving forward, possibly leading to changes or personal growth.
Why is it important to mention both strengths and weaknesses in a book review?
-Mentioning both strengths and weaknesses shows that the reviewer has an even perspective and is legitimate, without an ulterior motive. It also acknowledges that no book is perfect.
What advice does Dave Chesson give about the writing style when discussing strengths and weaknesses?
-Dave Chesson advises to write about strengths and weaknesses in the first person, use direct quotes to back up points, and to separate strengths from weaknesses to avoid confusing the reader.
What should a reviewer do if they did not enjoy the book and are not recommending it?
-If a reviewer did not enjoy the book, they should still be constructive and considerate, listing other books that might be a good fit instead of attacking the author or the book.
How should the final recommendation in a book review be structured?
-The final recommendation should wrap up all thoughts and suggestions, provide the reader with something to do or read next, and keep the final thoughts short and to the point without criticizing the author or the book.
What does Dave Chesson suggest doing if you have written a book review following his advice?
-Dave Chesson encourages sharing the link to the review in the comments so others can check it out and see how the review is structured.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Writing Book Reviews
Dave Chesson from Kindlepreneur introduces the concept of writing book reviews, distinguishing between online reviews for blogs or websites and market reviews for platforms like Amazon. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the purpose of the review to structure it effectively. The video aims to teach four key components essential for a compelling review: summary, results, strengths and weaknesses, and a final recommendation. Chesson also encourages viewers to subscribe for more content on writing and book marketing.
🔍 Components of an Effective Book Review
Dave Chesson outlines the four components of an effective book review: summary, results, strengths and weaknesses, and recommendation. For the summary, he advises keeping it brief without revealing key details or spoilers. The results section should reflect the emotional impact for fiction or the practical takeaways for non-fiction. In discussing strengths and weaknesses, reviewers should maintain balance and clarity. Finally, the recommendation should be personal and, if the book is not recommended, suggest alternative reads without attacking the author. Chesson concludes by inviting viewers to share their reviews in the comments.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Book Review
💡Online Review
💡Market Review
💡Summary
💡Results
💡Strengths and Weaknesses
💡Final Recommendation
💡Spoilers
💡Constructive Criticism
💡Engagement
Highlights
There are two types of reviews: online reviews for blogs or reports, and market reviews for platforms like Amazon.
The first step in writing any review is to understand why you're writing it, as this will influence its structure.
A good review includes four components: summary, results, strengths and weaknesses, and final recommendation.
The summary should be brief and provide a broad overview of the book without giving away spoilers.
For non-fiction, include the main strategic points or benefits, but avoid lengthy details or spoilers.
Results differ for fiction and non-fiction: fiction focuses on emotions and journey, while non-fiction discusses what was learned and how it applies.
When discussing strengths and weaknesses, keep them separated to avoid confusing the reader.
For a balanced review, always mention both the strengths and weaknesses to establish credibility.
Use first-person perspective when discussing strengths and weaknesses and avoid overusing quotes.
The final recommendation should wrap up thoughts and suggest actions, such as whether to read the book or alternatives to consider.
If you didn’t enjoy the book, refrain from attacking the author or the book. Instead, offer constructive feedback.
When recommending other books in your review, it can build credibility if the reader is familiar with those books.
Your final thoughts should be concise and constructive, focusing on helping readers or improving the book market.
Providing a final recommendation is critical to helping readers decide whether the book is worth reading or not.
Structure your review in a way that benefits both the author and the reader, while maintaining objectivity and a helpful tone.
Transcripts
hey guys i'm dave chesson of
kindlepreneur and today we're going to
be talking about how to write the
perfect book review now if you don't
know there are actually two types of
reviews we're going to cover the first
is if you're writing an online review
like say for example for your blog or
for your website or if you're even
writing a book review report for a
teacher or professor
the second is what i'm going to call a
market review and that's if you decide
that you want to write a review of a
book on say amazon and you want to get
the most effective review out there so
as to help people either a decide to
write the read the book or b
maybe stay off of it now whatever your
reason is for writing a review the first
thing you should always do is think
about why you're doing it and that
should help influence exactly how you
structure this but in this video i'm
going to show you the four components
that you should absolutely include in
your review so that your words mean even
more to the market this could either
help out the author you're writing the
review for or get people more engaged in
your writing
or even get a better grade
but before i get into those four
important sections if you'd like to
learn more about writing or book
marketing be sure to hit that subscribe
button as well as the little bell icon
to the right so you get notified when my
next video comes out and with that let's
begin
okay so when it comes to writing an
effective book review there's four
components that you need to cover
the summary
the results
the strengths and weaknesses and finally
your final recommendation let's go ahead
and cover those four the summary should
be a brief discussion about what the
book is you do not want to give away any
key information
most of the time you want to speak very
broad as you're covering it you don't
want to get into details
you need to give the reader a sense that
you have actually read through the book
and that you understand what it's doing
when it comes to writing a summary for
review you don't want to go on and on
and write paragraph after paragraph you
want to keep it short and to the point
it should include like major events
characters or if it's non-fiction some
strong strategic points as well as
benefits but do remember if you're
either writing an online review or a
market review that the person who's come
to read your review probably already
knows a lot of the details and has read
the book description one last point on
the summary as well is do not include
any spoilers or give away anything
that's going to ruin the reader's
experience and you're probably going to
get a lot of negative feedback for that
okay so to recap do write about the main
characters and write what makes them
unique as well as major plot points
include the main conflict as well
do ask the main question that the story
answers or the benefits that it provides
if it's non-fiction do not include
spoilers like plot twists or major
events do not give a full summary and go
into too many details all right let's
move to the next section which is
results for this section it's going to
be very different between fiction and
non-fiction for fiction you're talking
about what kind of emotions or what kind
of path did the story bring you were you
excited scared did you care about the
characters these are all about your
mental state as well as emotional state
as you went through this journey in the
book be sure to cover those things and
what drew that out of you what made you
feel for the characters what made you
worried about the main conflict for
non-fiction you're going to talk about
more of the results for example what did
you learn from the book and how will
this affect you and your life moving
forward are you going to make any
changes because of this or has this
changed you in any way
basically you're going to take the
information that the book provided and
apply it to how it benefits you so in
recap
express the emotions the story made you
feel in the first person or express what
you learned and how this book changed
you next is the strengths and weaknesses
imagine somebody who's reviewing book
and they say nothing but the greatest
things about it or on the other side the
person says nothing but the worst things
about it do you trust that reviewer or
do you think maybe they're jaded that's
why it's really important for a reviewer
to bring up both the strengths and the
weaknesses or the pros and the cons it
therefore shows that you have an even
keel and that you're a legitimate
reviewer who doesn't have some ulterior
motive for writing this review
furthermore in truth there really isn't
such a thing as a perfect book i know
some of you guys are probably gonna say
something in the comments about which
books are perfect but all in all there
really isn't such a thing so try to
analyze and see what could have been
done better one thing to note in your
writing style though is don't mix the
strengths and weaknesses don't go
strength weakness weakness strength
weakness no group them start off with
strengths or start off with weaknesses
but when you're finished with that then
move to the other otherwise you'll
confuse your reader and it will be hard
to follow the pros and cons to the book
here's some other tips to strengthen
weaknesses you should write about
strengths and weaknesses in the first
person also use direct quotes to back up
your research do not confuse the reader
about what is a strength and what is a
weakness separate them in your review do
not use too many quotes to the point
that it's no longer your own words all
right and the final and most important
part is give your actual recommendation
in the previous sections you've defined
what the book is what it did for you and
finally the pros and cons this is where
you group it together and you finally
give your personal take if however you
weren't actually a fan of this book and
you're not going to recommend it one way
to really help the reader is to list
other books that you think would be good
fits this can help in two ways first off
is you're providing an outlet for people
who came to read your review on where
else they can go the second thing is is
that if that reader has read those books
before and they like them too then that
really brings in even more credit on
your review as well but one thing that
i'm going to say as one writer to
another writer is
if you really don't like the book do not
attack the author or the book itself i
would say be constructive and care about
the market but remember there's a human
on the other side the author so think
constructively so to recap and some
extra tips do wrap up all your thoughts
and suggestions give the reader
something to do or read next keep your
final thoughts short and to the point
and do not criticize the author or the
book only suggest alright guys so with
that using these four general areas as
well as the tips we talked about you can
create a much stronger book review
whether that's for your blog for a
report you're writing or even for an
amazon review i hope you've enjoyed this
lesson i can't wait to see some of your
reviews and by the way if you do have
some put a link to it in the comments
below so other people can check out your
review and see how you structured it and
with that i'm dave chesson of
kindlepreneur signing off cheers
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