how to write a book review

As discussed on the newest page, A Quiet Taste, this year is the year of the review. Part of my 2025 bookish bingo is to write a (tiny) review for each book I read this year as well as one larger, proper book review. But how can one write a book review, with all the parts that make a review fun to read, without knowing where to start?

This page is a hub of little nudges in the right direction for writing the kind of review I'd be happy to read — funny, sincere, no spoilers, and that balance just right between being informative before someone reads the book, and valuable after someone reads the book. Something that doesn't spoil the plot, but definitely addresses the themes and my thoughts. These nudges can hopefully become a template or little writing recipe for the all-important bingo book review.

During my degrees I studied books and literature and could write essays (and two entire theses—check them out in the portfolio tab) about them, and really, truly loved it. But these days, reading (fairly) a lot without so much as a review… it feels unfulfilling and honestly a little out of character. At the Blookcub and Top Shelf book club meetings, I feel like I always have something to say and maybe a little too much sometimes, but how about I direct that energy somewhere without a time or word limit? Besides that, I get paid to write now and enjoy most of that, but really feel the need to express my written self in new ways; challenge myself to do the things I want to.

It's been a few months, and while this page did not materialise as a how-to or template, I did manage to develop my own frame for reviewing books. I forget, sometimes, that I can just do something — it doesn't always need to be planned or even consistent, and it can also just be what makes me happy. This is ideal for me because it lowers the bar to entry: just starting is MUCH easier than both planning how to start and feeling obligated or struggling to stick to that plan. So here's what's come out of my Storygraph (@aloure) reviews over the last four months and eight books, in no particular order except for the bookend quotes:

• Quotes
  • The nice little habit of writing up the quotes I like from each book as I read it has proven rather delightful. Whether it's a piece that I feel sums up something about the book (theme, conflict, takeaway, or something else), or writing that showcases the author's artistry, or both, I use my favourite quote to open my review each time. Then, the 'other quotes I liked' act as a bookend to close out the review, too.
• Personal reflection
  • Sometimes the context in which I'm reading influences how I feel about it once it ends. I like to include a bit of this now and then, and if applicable, the questions that the book made me ask of myself.
• Themes
  • In a (or eventually the) longer book review, I'll explore the themes of a book in greater detail, but for now, it's more a case of evaluating how those themes are engaged with throughout the book. The mentioned themes are either ones that have been 'promised' on the cover or other reviews, or ones I've noticed or would like to address.
• Contribution
  • At its most subjective, this element of the review is about what I learnt from the book, what it made me question, what it opened my eyes about, or something else. It's ultimately about what will stick with me; what I'll be thinking about after the book is put down.
• Recommendation
  • Would I recommend this book? Might seem like an easy question, but no, I contain complicated multitudes and dissociate each time I think someone might have an opinion about me or my thoughts. It's mostly about whether I think its value is in entertainment, exploration, experience, and what that might be worth to someone else. So even if I liked a book, that doesn't mean I would recommend it, and vice versa. This is factor is assessed on a case-by-case basis, is sometimes contradictory or dependent on the next person, and I will be providing no further explanation.

Most important to the review-writing process, for me, is avoiding the opinions of others. I know of myself that I'm too easily influenced on these matters (see 'recommendation') so my best course of action is to avoid reviews pages, videos, or even really chatting with people about the book before I've formed my own thoughts on the matter. I've found that the antidote to overinfluence is time: if enough time goes by, I can come to better terms with my feelings around a book and my experience of reading it. This goes for previous reviews too, in the sense that I feel like I rate most books rather high right after reading (to make the experience seem worthwhile?? Empathy for the author of a mid book??), and end up dropping that rating as time goes on. With this in mind, I think it's fine if a book's rating drops, or even raises, after some time because feelings and 'takeaways' may rightfully influence thoughts after-the-fact. And sometimes all these things add together to indicate that maybe a book should be read once more to reestablish what's really going on. Any excuse to keep reading, of course.