Book reviews
How to write a review...
You should write your review, giving your opinion on specific aspects of the book.
Check out these thinking points:
What point of view does the author hold on an idea or theme raised in text? What is your opinion on the author's view?
What links could you make between ideas in this text and either other texts you have read, or your own experience?
What did you learn from the text?
How did you react to an aspect of the text? (eg to an incident, or a scene, or setting, or narrative technique, or issue)
What aspects of a particular character interested you and why?
Your opinion must be supported by specific details from the text - a plot summary is not suitable.
You could give two opinions focusing on different aspects of one text, and then support each opinion with one relevant specific detail.
The details used to support your opinions might include quotations, but that isn't a requirement.
Ø What challenges have the characters had to deal with?
Ø Did the characters change over time. How did it affect you?
Ø Have you learned anything new as a result of reading this book?
Ø Will you look at things in life differently after reading this book?
Ø How would you have coped with the character’s situation.
Ø Is there someone that you know that has been in this situation?
Ø How would you feel if this happened to a member of your family?
Ø Is there anything particularly different or noticeable about the way this is written?
Useful starters
I disagree so strongly because
I felt a strong sense of admiration
I think the theme was
This made me feel
The conclusion I came to
The character changed
Teenagers go through this
Basically what appealed
I really liked how
I think the author
I had never thought about
What I found interesting
The most infuriating section of the book
I felt very uneasy
Why doesn’t society
At first I felt
I felt very sad
I thought that
I realised that
I understood from the text that
This changed my opinion
I came to admire
Examples of student podcast reviews:
