Review the work of others…

With honesty and kindness.

During this past year, I have privately and publicly reviewed more books than in all the years of my life combined. (And readers/writers have privately reviewed my books!) I’m not an expert, but here is my philosophy/approach to positive and honest reviewing based on my experiences.

Early/Beta feedback for a writer:

The most important thing to remember is this author is looking for helpful feedback to improve their next draft. Be honest, but consider your words/tone carefully to ensure kind delivery.

• Grammar/copy-editing: Ask the author ahead of time if they want this type of feedback (assuming you are comfortable doing it). Another set of eyes can catch that pesky typo that made it through multiple rounds of editing.
• Pace: What felt too slow or too fast in a section or chapter? Don’t just say “I’m bored here.” Explain why. Maybe the writing style is too heavy on setting the scene and they need to move on sooner to dialogue or action. Maybe there is so much world-building in one place that it’s dense and the backstory details need to be spread out. Don’t just say “This part feels rushed.” Explain what you think is missing or was a big leap (character or plot development, setting the scene, etc).
• Writing stye: What language drew you into the scene? What felt jarring? What was confusing? Don’t forget to comment on the lines or paragraphs that made you feel good inside or laugh out loud. “LOL” or “Aww” or “Love this” are very quick annotations for you and it is rewarding to the author to see it. When critiquing, it’s easy to fall into the trap of only noting what’s “wrong” (and please remember that’s your opinion), but calling out exceptional positive reactions is just as important for writers so they don’t cut those bits later while making edits to the troublesome areas. We need balanced feedback.
• Plot: What didn’t feel natural/believable? Why? What is the author not considering as an optional solution to a problem? If there is an alternate to take, or a question the character could/should ask, mention it. The author won’t likely change the arc of their story, but they may decide to have that character say/think about why they won’t take that path. To help the author understand your perspective, write down what you expected to happen, citing any inconsistencies and/or clues from what you’ve read prior to that moment. The author may love getting creative ideas for changes from readers, but explaining the root problem is more critical than suggesting a “fix.”
• Character development: Who did you know deeply? Who felt one-dimensional/on the periphery? Who grew? Who didn’t? Was the growth too fast or too slow? What do you think/feel about their changes throughout the book? Who was likeable/unlikeable and why? Be specific here especially and remember the author may want you to hate someone. Think carefully about if your feelings about their beloved character(s) are tied to a personal preference, or if mass readers would likely feel the same. Clarify whether the character was so unlikeable that you wanted to stop reading or if you loved to hate them.
• Point of View: Keep an eye out for moments of head-jumping. If the POV is one that you don’t typically enjoy, consider gracefully declining the beta read request. For example, I struggled so much with a book written in 2^nd person that I quit reading it, so I will not agree to beta read for that POV in future. (Check out this article by Nathan Bransford about perspectives. His writing advice has really helped me. I encourage writers to search around his site and/or subscribe to his newsletter.)
• Call attention to anything else that strikes you—positive or negative (but be specific, kind, and constructive if it’s a negative).
• Flex your level of detail. Be a close reader if you can, making comments on certain lines/paragraphs to identify troublesome areas as well as highlighting the exceptionally well-written, engaging moments. Write one short note at the end of each chapter with a thought/feeling on that section. After you finish the book, write a few sentences of summary feedback about the end-to-end story.

Send your feedback to the author with a “thank you” (they gave you a free book) and some words of encouragement. Do this even if you didn’t like their book. It is incredibly brave of authors to share their work—especially semi-polished work during the beta reader stage.

Official ARC reviews:

Keep all of the above in mind, but know this book will not have major changes coming down the pipe so your feedback needs to be limited to a couple generalized paragraphs max. You are getting an early free copy so don’t just write a sentence or two. ARC reviews are basically about the author/publisher getting an early “pulse” on the book.

• Ignore grammar/copy-editing issues. ARCs have mistakes. Accept it and keep reading. General writing style is fair game though in my opinion. Major changes are not coming after this version so comment positively or negatively about the story-telling style itself.
• Avoid using quotes in your review because they can change. Most ARC letters/emails/tip lists have a warning about this. You need to check the final copy before you include a quote and that doesn’t work if you are trying to publicize early on social media or apps like Goodreads to create some buzz.
• Write your own brief synopsis or include the published one.
• Make personal notes somewhere as you read. I use the notes app in my phone to write down main character names, places, and any early reflections I have to help me with my final review. I highly recommend jotting down major things that affect your reading experience positively or negatively. Did you keep putting it down? Did you stay up late because you didn’t want to stop? Note it. Did your reading experience change along the way? If the second half of the book was amazing (or completely lost your interest), you may forget to include details of your early reading experience when you go to write your final review.
• Avoid spoilers unless it is critical to your feedback. At the top, write that your review contains spoilers or use the checkbox/radial button on the platform you’re using.
• If the book is part of a series: Note whether this book made you want to continue reading the series or not. If you liked this book but don’t want to read the entire series, be specific about why. Otherwise this feedback is not helpful; it’s confusing and disheartening to the author. If this isn’t book no1, read the backlist before this ARC or don’t let your lack of knowledge about previous events negatively affect your review. Some recapping occurs in later books in a series, but you are going to have some catching up to do to fully orient yourself and engage.
• Debut vs. established author comments: Feel free to wrap up your review with a note on whether it was a strong or ‘ok’ debut. If only ‘ok’ or if you didn’t enjoy the book, be specific about where the author needs to improve—though that should already be clear from the details of your review. If it’s an established author and you’ve read their other works, feel free to add a comparison. Was it the best one you’ve read? Was it not as great as prior works? Why? Was it something completely different and you want to make sure readers’ expectations are adjusted? Call attention to any change in genre or intended audience if this author has moved away from their ‘brand.’
• Before adding a trigger warning, think carefully if the content (sensitive topics) or writing style (graphic/explicit) is something that triggers you specifically or if you think it would impact mass readers. Be specific. If it’s a crime or fantasy novel, I’m not going to say trigger warning for violence, or if romance, trigger warning for intimate scenes. That is typical of the genre so it’s stating the obvious. If I included a trigger warning, I was attempting to articulate how the topic or writing style was unusual/unexpected or pushed the limits of the genre.
• Start or finish the review with a thank you to the author, publisher, publicist, bookish website, etc. that provided the ARC.
• Don’t forget to share your review on retail sites on or after pub day.

Reviewing published works:

Generally follow the ARC guidance above except:

• Length of review is really your choice, but if this was a gifted copy from an author, publisher, publicist, etc, a couple of paragraphs is a nice way to honor the gift.
• Start or end with a quote that you really loved if there was one. It’s fun to include a little teaser.

Tune in next time to learn how I determine the star rating of a book I’m reviewing.