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Frida Fantastic · 06-17-2011, 12:40 PM

Yay! Another SF/F book blogger/reviewer! I've added you to the Indie SF Reviewers list since you're open to book submissions

http://indiesfreviewers.wordpress.com/

I'd say keep the synopsis to a minimum, like 1/4th of the review length. Everyone has a different review style, just think about the reviews that *you* find helpful and incorporate elements of that into your own. Don't give away spoilers, ever.

There are other bloggers who take a more ideas and topical-based approach to reviewing like Isabela Morales of The Scattering: http://thescattering.wordpress.com/ I really like her reviews and I think they're engaging and funny, but they're not the kind of reviews I write. My own indie speculative fiction blog is here: http://fridafantastic.wordpress.com/

In my reviews, I try to address:

(1) What type of book is this?
(2) What are its strengths?
(3) What are its weaknesses?
(4) With all that in mind, who do I recommend this book to?

I take a more analytical approach and analyze the components. Pacing/characters/world-building/etc. whatever I remembered the most. I tend to reference tropes from tvtropes a lot just because I'm a giant geek, and I like to also address the question "how does this compare to what's been done before?" I sometimes talk about the "big idea" if it connected with me (like my review of Lovers and Beloveds: http://fridafantastic.wordpress.com/...-miranda-2010/). If a big idea doesn't connect with me, I just stick to addressing those 4 questions.

I think reading for enjoyment/literary merit aren't mutually exclusive. There's books you want to read because you want a challenge, and there's books you want to read because you want something comfortable but with a little twist. What's important is giving information that's helpful to a person who hasn't read the book yet and don't care about a lot of the details.

My next 3 reviews are all of short stories. Now *that* I'm finding hard to review because you *can* give too much away very easily. I'm focusing on the strength of the stories as a collection, and writing a short review for a standalone... and have decided to no longer review standalones after this >_>

So I say just keep the audience in mind, and don't afraid to play around with a review style and see what ends up working for you. Some prefer to be more formal, some prefer to be more breezy, some prefer to be more topical, while others analyze the components. If you're getting compliments and requests for reviews, you're on the right track.

06-17-2011, 12:40 PM	#8
Frida Fantastic SF/F book blogger Posts: 270 Karma: 502030 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kindle 3	Yay! Another SF/F book blogger/reviewer! I've added you to the Indie SF Reviewers list since you're open to book submissions http://indiesfreviewers.wordpress.com/ I'd say keep the synopsis to a minimum, like 1/4th of the review length. Everyone has a different review style, just think about the reviews that you find helpful and incorporate elements of that into your own. Don't give away spoilers, ever. There are other bloggers who take a more ideas and topical-based approach to reviewing like Isabela Morales of The Scattering: http://thescattering.wordpress.com/ I really like her reviews and I think they're engaging and funny, but they're not the kind of reviews I write. My own indie speculative fiction blog is here: http://fridafantastic.wordpress.com/ In my reviews, I try to address: (1) What type of book is this? (2) What are its strengths? (3) What are its weaknesses? (4) With all that in mind, who do I recommend this book to? I take a more analytical approach and analyze the components. Pacing/characters/world-building/etc. whatever I remembered the most. I tend to reference tropes from tvtropes a lot just because I'm a giant geek, and I like to also address the question "how does this compare to what's been done before?" I sometimes talk about the "big idea" if it connected with me (like my review of Lovers and Beloveds: http://fridafantastic.wordpress.com/...-miranda-2010/). If a big idea doesn't connect with me, I just stick to addressing those 4 questions. I think reading for enjoyment/literary merit aren't mutually exclusive. There's books you want to read because you want a challenge, and there's books you want to read because you want something comfortable but with a little twist. What's important is giving information that's helpful to a person who hasn't read the book yet and don't care about a lot of the details. My next 3 reviews are all of short stories. Now that I'm finding hard to review because you can give too much away very easily. I'm focusing on the strength of the stories as a collection, and writing a short review for a standalone... and have decided to no longer review standalones after this >_> So I say just keep the audience in mind, and don't afraid to play around with a review style and see what ends up working for you. Some prefer to be more formal, some prefer to be more breezy, some prefer to be more topical, while others analyze the components. If you're getting compliments and requests for reviews, you're on the right track.