I took some time off from Weekly Geeks, but I’m back in the saddle again and this week we’re talking about how we come up with our reviews.
- Explain your review format – if you have one. Or maybe your rating system?
- Highlight another book-blogger’s review format by linking to a favorite example – don’t forget to tell us why they are a fave!
- Do a review in another book-blogger’s format of your latest read.
- Highlight a past review that you are particularly proud of and why the format or structure may have had something to do with it. – I’m going to include examples instead of focusing on one.
Honestly, I really don’t have a review format. I have a general idea of what I want to make sure I mention, but I don’t always stick to it. Mainly I give my impressions on the book, making sure I highlight the characters and the story line. A lot of times, I use my reviews as a way of getting my thoughts in order. For instance, when I did my review of For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison, there were aspects of that book that really got to me. I could have talked about them with my husband, but he would have zoned off within 5 seconds and I would have ended up talking to empty air. While he’s a reader like I am, we don’t share the same taste in novels, so he could really care less why Harrison pushed my buttons with For a Few Demons More. So I use Literary Escapism as a sounding board because I know someone out there does share my taste and will rant or rave along with me.
Then there are books that are sent to me for review that I end up disliking. One example is the review I did for Cheryl Brook’s Warrior. While it had a lot of promise and sounded intriguing, the execution didn’t stand up to the blurb. In my review, I stated that. There was missing character developments, the plot was unbalanced; yet I still made sure that I talked about something I liked. I did like the concept of the book and it didn’t put me off from trying the next one in the series, which I ended up liking.
So I guess you could say my review format is whatever is flying around in my head at the time I write it. It could be from the perspective of a giddy fangirl (a good example of that one will be the one I’m going to write for Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost), someone who just needs to rant about a particular point or from someone who is being forced to write something. I will say, that I rarely, if ever, feel forced to write a review. If I don’t like something, I’ll write something. If I can’t get into a novel, again, I’ll write something. This is proven by the reviews I did for both The 12th Demon by Bruce Hennigan (review) and Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert (review). In both cases, I didn’t finish the novels, but I still plan on finishing them at some point, so I wanted to put something down.
As for other reviewers formats, I really don’t analyze their reviews that closely. For the sites I regularly check, I skim their reviews until I find what they thought about it. The one thing I’m not a fan of in other sites is the long drawn out explanation of the plot. Give me the bullet points or the blurb and then tell me what you thought. I’m more interested in what their impressions where than what the book is about – afterall, I can check the back of the book for that information. I can’t for their impressions.
As for reviewing a book in someone else’s format, I don’t think so. My system works for me and I really don’t see why I need to change it or explore other options. But I will ask, for other reviews who check me out, do you have a format you use?
I’m enjoying this topic.
I’m with you on not liking too much detail about the plot and wanting to know whether the reviewer liked the book or not and why. Some books are good, but don’t inspire me to go into a lot of depth about why I liked or didn’t like it, beyond “was good” or “sucked.” Some books, like Acheron, really get me going to dissect what bothered me about the book.
I guess that all leads to having a flexible format, hmm? :)
I found myself nodding throughout. Great post.
Happy Weekly Geeks :)
I’m so glad you chose to participate this week! I’m really not one for sticking to any format but I always think I *should*. I’m actually intrigued by your statement –> “but I still plan on finishing them at some point, so I wanted to put something down.”
HOW DO YOU DO that? I never seem to get back to books that I put away for ‘later’. TOo many new books keep crowding in on my tbr.
You did notice the “at some point” portion of the comment, right? :) I have yet to go back to either novels, because there have been so many new and exciting books that have come out.
After I stop a novel halfway through and write down my thoughts, I’ll put the book back in my TBR stack, so when I go to reach for a book, it’s one of the options. Right now, my TBR stack is kind of large, so these two have a little competition, but since I have my thoughts down, when I do get back to them, I can go back and read my initial review and get a feel for where I was. Plus, it also tells me if it was my mood at the time as to why I put it down. I highly suspect that was the problem with Natasha Mostert’s Keeper of Light and Dust.
I should mention, if I do put down a book and spend the time to write the “mini review”, it’s not because I dislike the book, but generally because I keep getting distracted away from it. The two books I’ve done that with so far have great concepts, but they were started during times I wanted something different. For example, when I was reading Keeper of Light and Dust (I keep referring to this one since it was the last one I did), I wasn’t in the mood for dark and twisty, but was looking for more of a romantic element.