What makes a good review? Guest post by Annabel Smith

Recently, a group of volunteer bookbloggers started discussing how to build on the momentum of the AWW challenge. The result is we now have a draft website up on WordPress which we're using to iron out a few issues that have beset this year's challenge. (Not so sadly, Mr Linky will have to go.) The plan is to hold another challenge next year, and to allow people to subscribe to posts which related to specific genres and interest areas, covering as broad a range of Australian women's writing as possible. The mission will be "to support and promote" writing by Australian women throughout 2013.

One issue that cropped up in our discussion is "What makes a good review?" Some bloggers have expressed concern about the quality of their reviews. Others have said they like to write "responses", rather than critiques. One asked if AWW could do a "How to" post. As a result, author and reviewer, Annabel Smith kindly agreed to give her tips on reviewing.

Over to Annabel:

Book reviews are personal; they reflect the reviewer as well as the book being reviewed, and for that reason there is no right way to write them. However, bearing in mind that their purpose is to guide other readers in their choices, there are a few guidelines to follow if you want your reviews to be useful to others, as well as interesting to read.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that a book review is an evaluation, not a summary. Essentially, it should examine whether the author has successfully achieved what they set out to achieve. The analysis may consider the quality and significance of the book in terms of its literary merits and/or its ideas. For example:

• Does the novel fit its genre or does it play with the conventions of its genre in fresh and stimulating ways?
• Does it convincingly depict a certain time and place?
• Were you persuaded by the narrative point of view?  
• Do the characters feel real and relatable?
• Does it stimulate you emotionally or intellectually?
• Is the plot compelling?
• How does it compare to other books in its genre, or other books which tackle the same themes/issues?

Would you recommend this book to others? Your readers will be interested in your personal response to the book. For example:

• How did it make you feel?
• Did you relate to the characters? Why/why not?
• Were the themes or issues relevant to your own life? In what ways?
• Did any of your views change as a result of the ideas explored?

Whether your review is positive or negative, your opinion should be supported by evidence and a balanced review will consider both the strengths and weaknesses of a book. In a thought-provoking article entitled ‘The Ethics of the Negative Review,’ Jan Zwicky asks us to

Look at the word itself: re-view…To look again. But to what purpose? … to further “appreciation.” The reviewer who understands their task in these terms, then, would be one who has taken the trouble to listen again, to listen with care, curiosity, and respect, in an attempt to give genuine attention to what is being said. And who can help the rest of us begin to listen attentively, too. (Read more here.)

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Note: Scribe has offered to give away a number of books for the best AWW reviews. Look out for details in an upcoming post. 

What do you think makes a great review?

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Annabel Smith’s latest novel, Whisky Charlie Foxtrot will be published by Fremantle Press on November 1st. Her first novel, A New Map of the Universe, was shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Prize for Fiction. She has had short fiction and reviews published in Westerly and Southerly, been a writer-in-residence at Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre and holds a PhD in writing from Edith Cowan University. Connect with her on Twitter @annabelsmithAUS and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnabelSmithAUS

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This post will be cross-posted to the test AWW site on Wordpress.