I blog and write reviews when I get advance copies or belong to an author's beta reading group or just in reading a book in genera, but I often struggle with how to format or structure the review.

I did struggle a bit at the beginning of How to Write a Simple Book Review when the author discusses reviews on Amazon and their rating system and book exposure on their site. I understand the principle behind the rating system, even though I may not agree with how Amazon can manipulate the data. I felt this information was too long, and I wanted to get into the nitty-gritty of actually writing reviews. It was almost halfway through the book that examples of how to craft reviews were introduced.

The book was much more interesting from that point forward and included several examples and templates to use both in terms of writing the review and rating the book. So that was helpful, and I learned a few new things.

How to Write a Simple Book Review was informative overall, and I'm glad I decided to read it. The information presented is easy to follow and a quick read. The templates are useful and provide suitable examples, both fiction and nonfiction.

I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to understand and learn how to write a simple book review. I will also check out other books by this author (both fiction and nonfiction).

#HowToWriteaSimpleBookReview #NetGalley

The author herself, in this book, has said that short, two word reviews are good, this review is already longer than that, obviously, but I haven't learnt anything new yet... the first 18 pages are just drivel and comparing an erotic novel (that's what 50 Shades is, isn't it??) to a children's novel (although I know that Harry Potter is enjoyed by adults too) instead of comparing them with other books for the same age range and genre... it's like comparing chocolate cake to vegetable lasagne for me - they are the same type (books/food) but that's where the similarities end!

Now the author is going on about comparisons between years... soooo dull and boring, considering I'm only 18 pages in!

After literally a couple of paragraphs about reviewing, the author is now talking to fellow authors about re-visiting parts of their published work and changing it as well as investing in a beta read - Jo Public on the street doesn't give two hoots about that... just get on with letting me know how to write a good review instead of padding your book out to meet the minimum word count!

Oops! A little spelling error on page 30 - nowhere near as bad as some I've seen in other books, but it still should have been picked up before it went to print ;-)

Totally agree about authors paying for 5 star reviews and/or writing the review themselves - if they think their book isn't ready to get honest, independent reviews, maybe they shouldn't have published their book yet?

I'm getting confuzzled about which country the author of this book is writing from 'cos they've used both pounds and cents so far - the UK uses pounds and pence but America and Canada use dollars and cents but they've never (AFAIK) been interchangable!

At last! We're almost half way through the book, but I'm finally gonna learn some tips on writing a review... hopefully!

Oh dear, now we're back to using dollars again... I reckon the author should use just one currency and stick with it... sorry! Right at the top of page 52 the author is now saying dollar or pound... use one or the other then stick with it fer flips sake!!

What started off promising, ended up being a huge disappointment and a lot of unnecessary padding. Sorry.

Oooh! Good shout about those two websites on page 86! Hold on while I put the URLs in my calendar to have a look at tomorrow...

OK, it's in my calendar now... taking bets on me forgetting all about it by the time I wake up tomorrow though! lol

The book ends with a lot of advertising for the authors other books which was a huuuuge disappointment unfortunately.

In summary, mainly padding and a waste of my time this afternoon unfortunately. If you're prepared for that and you've written absolutely no reviews in your adult life, then you might get more out of it than I did, but for me it was a total waste of my time. Sorry.

This book is a great tool for people that are considering writing reviews for the books they read. There is a lot of information on why and how to write a review in this book.

While I did not learn anything new from this book, it was very informative and I feel very useful. I began writing reviews after attending a book convention in 2014 and learned how valuable a review is to an author from that event. Since that time, I have written a review for every book I read. It helps me remember what I read, whether or not I enjoyed the book, and I also use it as a thank you to the author for the many hours they devoted to writing their book. In summary, that is what this book is saying. You gain much from writing reviews and also you help the authors.

I want to thank Allyson R Abbott and NetGalley for allowing me to read the advanced reader copy of this book. My opinion is my own, not influenced by receiving the ARC. #HowToWriteaSimpleBookReview #NetGalley

As a reader and a writer, I’ve always enjoyed sharing my opinion on various books I’ve read – and when I saw the title of this book ‘How to Write a Simple Book Review’ it was more relevant than usual as I have recently had my first book published and I’m now even more aware of how important a review is!

Long before the internet, if I’d enjoyed a book I would recommend it to friends, and it would often result in some great discussions and debate.

I think this is an excellent read for someone who especially wants to start reviewing books, it breaks things down into easy plan with tips and suggestions – giving the reviewer confidence and also brings the writer to the front – showing clearly why a review is so important to the writer, which I could certainly identify with!

Would definitely recommend this book if you’re just starting out reviewing or would like a bit of extra guidance and some great tips!

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to review a kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review/

Reading Method: Kindle eBook (ARC)
Reading Time: < 1 hour

ARC provided by NetGalley ARC Program in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't particularly have much hope for this but I was even more disappointed than I anticipated being.

I don't feel any more or less qualified to write a decent book review after reading this. All it did was explain different types of book reviews and rating systems. The only part 'explaining' how to write a simple review was a short 2 page section on how to create a 75 word review hardly worth reading, let alone writing.

This was a quick easy to read book about how to write book reviews.
I write reviews regularly and wanted to see if I was doing okay with mine and get some tips to make it easier - sometimes I find them hard!
I found the book helpful. I liked how it explained the purpose of reviews and why we should leave them but it was geared more towards those who haven’t reviewed before.
Some of the recommendations seemed a bit time consuming but the examples of reviews were great! I recommend the book for those new to writing reviews.