#FangirlThursday ~ How To Write a Review

From chatting with readers on my weekly show, I've found that a lot of people struggle writing reviews after they finish reading a book. I don't claim to be an expert but here's my two cents on it. 

You've read the book. Now What?

Reviewing a book doesn't have to be hard. Ask yourself these three questions and you'll be on the road to writing a book review.

Let's build on your answers.

You answered the 3 questions and written a solid review. Let's add a few more details.  *You could stop here and any author would be proud.

But What If I Didn't Like The Book?

You aren't going to love every book you pick up. Shocking, I know, but it happens. It is okay if you didn't like the book.  But before you leave a one star review, ask yourself why you didn't like the story. Was it the genre? Was it poorly edited? Did you just not like the author's style? Was the MC so unlikable that it ruined the story for you? 

Also, you make give a book one star but still write a positive review. Here's an example of both. 

I've Got This! How do I Write a Fancy Review?

You've written a few great reviews and now you want to boost up your wow factor.  My advice if you want to write a professional sounding review like you find in book magazines or in the forward of a books, go to the source.  Read and study how those are written and incorporate into your style.

I find that most of those types of reviews follow a similar format. 
1. The rehash the book blurb.
2. They compare it to other tropes.
3. They include their thoughts on the story.

I don't write my reviews in that format because, well, I'm not writing a review to be published in a magazine. Those reviews include the blurb and as much info about the book because usually the blurb is not included in the article. The article will consist of  the book cover and review. Therefore, it is necessary to include a synopsis of what the book is about in the prepared review so that the reader gets as much info as possible to make an informed decision on whether or not to buy the book. Now don't get me wrong. Those reviews are beautiful and I would be honored to write for magazine but since most people reading my review have just read the blurb, it isn't necessary. 

If you aspire to write reviews as seen in The Nerd Daily, I recommend you check out Seven Jane. She is an author and reviewer who does pieces for The Nerd  Daily.  Her reviews are in depth and professional. I really enjoy reading them.

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix Review by Seven Jane  for
The Nerd Daily.

“Let me tell you something…there is nothing nice about Southern ladies.”
Pitched as “Steel Magnolias” meets Dracula, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is everything a reader like me—who grew up simultaneously reading The Babysitter’s Club and Goosebumps—has been waiting for. Thank you, Grady Hendrix, thank you.
Set in the 1990s, former-nurse-turned-disaffected-housewife Patricia Campbell is bored. Life as a stay-at-home mother to two children and a husband that works too much is unfulfilling, to say the least. If it weren’t for her book club and her troupe of mismatched girlfriends, Patricia might simply fade into the wallpaper of her well-cared-for home. Luckily—or, more aptly, unluckily—things are about to get a lot more interesting (and bloody) in Charleston’s quaint, and usually very safe, Old Village District.
Even though Patricia and the other ladies of her book club—wacky Kitty, uptight Grace, religious Slick, and somewhat ambiguous Maryellen—can’t get enough of the very-murdery true crime they read about, none are prepared when a handsome young stranger moves in with an elderly neighbour. Nor are they ready for the series of spiralling, odd events that begin when the seemingly mad old woman attacks Patricia—chomping off one of her earlobes in the process.
After an ominous warning about “the man in the ice cream suit” from her mother-in-law, Miss Mary, who suffers from dementia, and a series of odd occurrences that start to slip from strange to surreal, Patricia (slowly) begins to realise that her new neighbour isn’t at all what he seems. And, there’s danger afoot: children are missing, being preyed upon by some Big Bad that inhabits the woods outside Six Mile. Unfortunately, not only is no one listening to Patricia’s warnings as she begins to connect the pieces to something not only sinister but otherworldly; they think she’s caught up in her gory book club reads and maybe a bit loose in the head to boot, making the horror of this story not just atmospheric but personal. Which is worse: the monster Patricia sees in James Harris or the suspicions that lurk in her own head, eating her away from within? The only trouble, Patricia’s already invited the darkness in, and there’s no getting it out—not without a fuss and a good bit of scrubbing, anyway.
From cryptic warnings to the lurid romanticism associated with blood drinkers, plus ghosts, rats (dear gods, the rats!), and the special kind of nightmarish terror that waits for mothers in the dark when their children and families are threatened, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires does not disappoint, offering an entirely unique approach to established vampire lore in a tale as warm as it is chilling. A master of nostalgia, Hendrix slays in his latest—and so does a very unlikely group of heroines.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of April 7th 2020.

Disclaimer: The information expressed in this blog is the opinion of the writer. There is no right or wrong way to write a book review. 
Permission was obtained from Seven Jane for the use of her review of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires.