What is a book review?

A book review describes, analyzes, and evaluates a book by examining its purpose and substance.

A book review should address the following:

• Purpose: What was the aim of the book? In other words, what are the authors trying to accomplish? What is their argument?

• Audience: Who was this book written for? Who is the author trying to convince?

• Strategy/Approach: How does the book attempt to achieve its aim? What strategies and evidence did you see in the book?

• Evaluation: Is the book successful in accomplishing its aim? To what extent are you convinced by the book? To whom (if anyone) would you recommend this book?

Writing a book review is a lot of fun and a form of writing that lets you express your thoughts and feelings about a book as long as you explain why you feel the way you do. You can’t just say that the book is bad. You have to tell why the book is bad using examples to prove your point. Don’t say it’s boring. Find specific parts in the book that you think are boring and explain what exactly is boring about them. If the characters are flat, never-changing, uninteresting dolts, give examples as to their moronic natures and express why they make the book less interesting as a whole. Basically, if you can find examples and explain how they relate to the book being boring, you can say whatever you want AND you’ve got yourself an essay.