Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly series created by Rukky at Eternity Books and hosted by Aria at Book Nook Bits. The full list of September topics can be found here.
This week’s topic is Choose Your Own Adventure, so I’m throwing it back to a topic from June 2020 before I participated in this tag: What Do You Look For in a Book Review?
What do you look for in a book review?
When I read a book review it’s because I want to know if the reader liked the book, or not, and why. At a bare minimum this is what I hope a book review will reveal.
While I personally like to include a synopsis of the book in my posts, I don’t expect others to do the same. I would hope that if there were any significant trigger warnings in the book that the reviewer will mention them or at least give the reader a heads up that uncomfortable topics may come up.
I don’t place too much value on star ratings anymore, but if a reviewer does include a star rating I would hope they would also offer an explanation, such as if three stars are good or bad in their opinion – Got to love the big three-star debate!
Do you prefer short or long reviews? Humorous or serious?
I prefer shorter reviews that are straightforward. They don’t have to read like an academic paper but unless I know you in real life, using inside jokes or any humor might overshadow the review as a whole.
I think a good review can be under 500 words. If I see a review longer than that I will probably not read the whole thing. With that being said, if I follow your blog or social media, it’s because I do want to read your reviews even if they are long 🙂
Do you like writing them?
I enjoy writing book reviews! I feel like I approach each one differently because each book is so different. Some have beautiful prose and I feel obligated to include passages from the book in my review; others may be part of an ongoing series I don’t want to spoil and require less specific examples of things I liked and didn’t like. Each book is different so I don’t think there is one way to write a review.
Hannah's Library 
I like shorter straightforward reviews as well. I don’t like to know too much about a book before starting it. So usually, I just want to know that it’s a good read.
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I typically don’t want a full recap either, sometimes it’s better to know less going into the story.
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I’m with you regarding content/trigger warnings. So much so, I’m asking authors who request me to write a review for their book to include content warnings.
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That is really smart! I wish more books included them somewhere in the beginning so readers know what to expect.
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