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Thursday, May 21, 2015

Feature Follow Friday: Book Reviews


Every Friday Parajunkee and Alison Can Read hosts Feature Follow Friday. It's a great way to get to know the blogging community and they ask fun questions!

This week's Question is:

How do you write your reviews? - Suggested by Blue Books and Butterflies.


Before I started this blog, I blogged with my awesome cousin over at Books Are Bread. She is a much more organized blogger and reviewer then I am and her reviews are epic. So one day we came up with a guide to how we would review books (e.g. sections we would always include). I still follow that one because I think it works. 

It goes pretty much like this:

Title of Awesome Book
By: Really Cool Author
Genre: YA/MG Probably-Sci-Fi-but-I-also-read-other-genres
Publisher: Some Book Publisher
POV: First Person/Third Person
Rating: ? out of 5
Synopsis of book that I pretty much just take from Goodreads or backcover summaries.
Main Character: Where I try to describe the main character, but always fail to fully put my thoughts on paper.

Love Connection: Because let's be honest, EVERY YA book has one.

Allies and Enemies: Where I get to talk about the awesome secondary characters. Sometimes a secondary character takes a book from good to great, from great to awesome, from awesome to OMFG.

Diversity (optional): To be fair, I don't do this section as much (even though I'm a huge proponent of #WNDB). I just don't review as many books as I used to, but once I do I assume I'll be reviewing diverse books (since those are the ones in my TBR queue). And because I think having some genuine diversity in a book makes it super rad.

Setting: Pretty self-explanatory section.

Random Thoughts: My wonderful review of the book in general, and where I talk about the good, the bad, and the interesting.

And if it's a series review:


Series Rating: ? out of 5

Insert random thoughts about the entire series, the entire world, and the characters' overarching development. Also, include some random pop-culture references, and try to sneak in a Totoro or Gundam Wing reference.


How do you guys review books? Any suggestions for stepping up my reviewing game?

19 comments:

  1. You really broke it down there, that is a good style, I wish I was that organized. Have a wonderful weekend. My FF

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    Replies
    1. I am definitely not usually this organized. But I try to be more organized for blogging. And I often fail at this task...

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  2. You're amazingly organized in how you review books! I never would've even thought of some of those things. I generally go in the order of the storyline, though if I'm reviewing a book I absolutely hated, I'll get into a point-by-point rundown of everything I loathed and that didn't work.

    My FFF

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  3. I break mine up into sections too, but mine are kinda boring: plot, characters, setting, overall reaction. lol
    New bloglovin' follower :)

    Joana @ The Boundless Book List

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    Replies
    1. Any sections that help write a review are super helpful. That's why I have to keep it like this.

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  4. Sorry, messed up on my link. Here's the right one: The Boundless Book List

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  5. I love the way you review your book, I should really consider that for series' rather than reviewing each book separately.

    My Follow Friday

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  6. OOh nice! I like the ones that break things up, yet I find I can never write like that! There's a bit of chaos in my reviews in my otherwise structured and ordered life! LOL! Kinda of funny in a way!

    Here's my Follow Friday

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  7. Excellent breakdown! Maybe I should try something like this, i'm never this organised: http://editingeverything.com/blog/2015/05/22/feature-and-follow-friday-3-how-do-i-write-my-reviews/

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  8. Hopping through. Wow, that is ridiculously and marvalously organized. What is the bottom GIF from?
    My FF

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  9. I'm such a perfectionist that it takes me a while to think of what to write and then I just hope that I can get it down the way I had it in my head.

    My FF: http://onceuntold.blogspot.com/2015/05/feature-follow-friday-writing-reviews.html

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  10. Great response! I try to keep notes while I read to help with the review process. New Bloglovin' follower:)

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  11. Oh I love that style I break my down by story, characters and overall impression but I really like your style. Definitely taking notes.

    New Follower!
    Tina, The Bookworm

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  12. I love your use of gifs lol !! That seems like a pretty solid and good way to review books. Nice response :D New GFC follower :D

    Maura @ monsterofbooks.blogspot.com

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  13. You've got such a great method of reviewing! It helps to have a really great structure to follow. :)

    New follower on Bloglovin'!

    -- Nicola Reads YA

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  14. So organized! I really like your review format. I tend to include some of those things but as for the actual review I just go with my gut and spill out all of my thoughts. Making sure to include a discussion on crucial plot elements, of course.

    New GFC, Twitter, and Bloglovin' follower! :)

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  15. I love how you break down the categories you're writing about! I'm a fledgling reviewer, so you have given me some wonderful ideas! :)

    New Bloglovin' follower! :)

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