Book Blogger Hop April 18th - April 24th: Members of the Manhattan Project Referred to Plutonium as "49"

Jen at Crazy for Books restarted her weekly Book Blogger Hop to help book bloggers connect with one another, but then couldn't continue, so she handed the hosting responsibilities off to Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The only requirements to participate in the Hop are to write and link a post answering the weekly question and then visit other blogs that are also participating to see if you like their blog and would like to follow them.

This week Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews asks (via Billy): Are your reviews more of a rehash of the story or do you comment on writing style, characters, and reflection?

My primary goal when writing a review is always the same: To convey to the reader whether I thought the story was good or not, and why. To accomplish this, I often have to provide at least a partial summary of what was in the story in order to give my commentary the necessary context for the reader to understand what I am saying. There is no hard and fast rule regarding how much of a synopsis of a story that I include in a review, but I try to limit my discussion of the events in the story to only as much as is required to support my discussion of the other elements of the book. I suppose one could say that I try to touch on all of the elements of a book if it is needed for a review, including writing style, character, plot, and themes, as well as (for science fiction) how the science in the book is presented, and for all books, what I think the author is trying to say, whether it is a theme or message I think is worth reading about, and whether the author conveys that message effectively. My reviews are intended to tell the reader whether I think a book was worth picking up and devoting my reading time to, and more importantly why I think it is or not so the reader can make an evaluation as to whether the book will be worth their reading time. Everything I write in a review is in pursuit of that goal.

Go to previous Book Blogger Hop: '48 Is an Alternate History Novel by James Herbert

Go to subsequent Book Blogger Hop: Hawaii Was the Fiftieth State to Join the United States

Book Blogger Hop     Home