book review year 3

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Book review template – Free printable resources for KS1 & KS2

Think Fantastic Mr Fox is, well, fantastic? Wish Gangsta Granny could be retired? Help children express their views on fiction and non-fiction alike with these book review templates, worksheets and resources…

A book review is a great way for children to learn to communicate their thoughts and ideas about books they read. These book review template resources will help make students’ reviews the best they can possibly be.

You shouldn’t require children to write a book review every time they finish a book (this can be seen as punishing them for reading ). However, these templates will make it easy for children to write their review in a succinct and structured way.

Why not keep the book reviews in your classroom reading corner or library to help children choose a book based on their peers’ recommendations?

Free book review templates

How to write a book review, alternatives to writing book reviews.

Writing book reviews enables pupils to offer opinions based on first-hand experiences. This free download, most suitable for KS1, contains three separate book review templates to choose from.

Use these free ‘My Favourite Book’ review worksheets to encourage children to talk about and recommend their favourite book to others. At the same time they’ll be improving their language and writing skills.

With this adaptable resource you can choose how many worksheets you use. Use only the first page to create a brief overview of a book. Alternatively, extend the activity by looking at character descriptions and developing higher-order thinking.

Book review templates from Plazoom

Create a love of reading in your school by using this set of fantastic free book review templates from literacy resources website Plazoom.

There are three templates in all – suitable for KS1, LKS2 and UKS2. Use them to create a class or school collection of book reviews. This will encourage discussion about book choices and help pupils develop a love of reading.

Also included is a ‘Fantastic Reads!’ bookmark. Students can write on these and place them inside books on display in your classroom or school library. This will highlight books to pupils that are recommended by their peers and create a real buzz around reading in your school.

Reading comprehension worksheet pack

These reading comprehension worksheets from Oxford University Press help pupils to track the plot of whatever book they’re reading and take note of new vocabulary. They can also note down characters’ emotions, attributes and relationships.

Use the free worksheets to:

create a ‘fact file’ of a book’s characters
write a book review
chart conflict in a story
plus lots more

Five-word review

This five-word format is perfect for KS1 but you can also use it to encourage book cover creativity in KS2.

One-page template

One for younger students, this nifty one-page review template asks children to fill in the key information, recap the plot and talk about what they liked and disliked. They can tick whether the reading difficulty was too easy, hard or just right.

Plus, they can draw the main character and say whether they would recommend the book to others.

Book report framework

On the other end of the scale, this seven-page PDF framework helps children go into greater detail with their review. It asks about things like setting, tone, who the protagonist is, and personal things like why the child chose this book.

It also asks questions like ‘How did the story make you feel?’. Would children read other books by this author?

For a handy and concise list of things to consider when writing a book review, check out this BookTrust post . In it, author Luisa Plaja offers her top tips for how to write a brilliant review of the latest book you read – whether you liked it or not.

Offer more opportunities for peer-to-peer recommendations , including book talk sessions. These should be child-led and allow for spontaneous recommendations.
Help your class to create their own book trailers – these are short, animated adverts designed to encourage people to read a certain book.
Write book reviews but give them a purpose by publishing them in your school newsletter , or similar.
Try filming each other giving book reviews and share them with other classes in school.
Make a ‘Book Talk’ wall in your classroom and add pictures of authors, ‘wow’ words and reviews so that anyone who’s stuck for what to read next can easily find some ideas.

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Writing a book review

Part of English Comprehension Year 3 Year 4

Discussing a book

Year 3 recommended reading list for children aged 7-8

Books for Year 3 . The following list, compiled by highly experienced and qualified teachers and librarians with extensive understanding of children’s literature, includes over 40 short chapter books as well as more advanced picture book titles. The broad selection of books on our Year 3 reading list below has been tested by students and educators to ensure that they will appeal to children aged 7-8.

This diverse selection caters to different ability levels in this age group and includes books for both hesitant and independent readers. All of our hand-picked lists include books that will appeal to a wide range of interests and scenarios, such as classroom reading corners, school libraries, book clubs, learning at home, reading buddies and newly independent readers. This list of Year 3 books is reviewed termly and includes stories by Lara Hawthorne, John Steptoe, Liz Flanagan, Roald Dahl, Zanib Mian, Dick King-Smith, Derek Keilty, Jon Scieszka, Andy Shepherd, Helen Cresswell and many more.

Books for Year 3 – our recommendations

Wildsmith: into the dark forest by liz flanagan, illustrated by joe todd-stanton.

When war forces Rowan and her mother to escape their city home and seek refuge in the Dark Forest, little can she imagine the incredible new life with her Grandpa and his white wolf Arlo that will follow. Can she help to save baby dragons from dangerous poachers? With magic, excitement, adventure and a page-turning plot, this engrossing adventure will spark every child’s imagination.

Kate on the Case by Hannah Peck

Kate, a wannabe journalist, and her mouse companion Rupert set out to find out who is behind a sequence of bizarre happenings aboard a train. Can they find the thief before the train reaches the Arctic? This fast-paced, illustrated chapter book is suitable for independent readers or to group-read and discuss. It will also encourage children who are interested in writing and finding things out. Previously featured as a fiction book of the month.

Big Tree by Brian Selznick

Every page oozes awe and wonder in this illustrated hardback full of pictures and thought-provoking bursts of text. Louise and Merwin are two sycamore seeds searching for a new safe place. Their epic journey of adventure is a quest through Earth’s history, science and culture. This fast-paced, accessible and award-winning stunner is perfect for children interested in the natural world and how to change the world.

The Boy Who Grew Dragons by Andy Shepherd

A funny, heart-warming and captivating adventure about a boy whose dragon fruit from the tree in his garden begins hatching. He soon finds that caring for a small dragon is no easy task. And then more and more dragon fruits start to hatch… It’s perfect to read to your child or use as a Year 3 class reader.

Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian

Omar is a boy with a vivid imagination, but he also worries about school, bullies and what his parents think of him. With ingenious ideas and creative thinking, he manages to make the best of every situation. According to the publisher’s blurb, you will laugh so loud that ‘snot will come out of your nose’. Just saying that might be enough to ensure your year 3 children will want to read it.

The Nothing to See Here Hotel by Steven Butler

Young Frankie, and his family who run a hotel, are plunged into frantic action when they find out a particularly awkward guest is coming to stay. Nothing is quite good enough for the goblin prince Grogbah in this laugh-out-loud and magical page-turner that’s perfect for independent readers in year 3.

Angel on the Roof by Shirley Hughes

When a young boy called Lewis looks out of his window at Christmas, hoping someone will see him, he notices a strange feather floating from the sky. When he looks up he sees an angel on the roof who takes him on an incredible and heart-warming adventure. A timeless, magical and enchanting story that’s perfect to read at the end of the autumn term.

You’re a Bad Man, Mr Gum! by Andy Stanton

Mr Gum is a delightfully nasty character who hates children, lives with a cantankerous fairy and maintains a perfect garden. The madcap, unlikely and achingly funny adventures will grab young readers’ attention. With short chapters, colourful descriptions and memorable language, this text is ideal for reluctant readers. Perfect for group reading, this is an excellent text to help year three pupils develop reading confidence.

Football Crazy by Tony Bradman

When a football legend arrives to coach Danny’s team, he and his friends Jamil and Lewis imagine record scorelines, endless winning streaks and football heaven. But the new coach doesn’t turn out to be exactly what they hoped for…

The Accidental Prime Minister by Tom McLaughlin

When schoolboy Joe’s video about how he would make the world a better place goes viral, he becomes very popular and very famous and ends up being – Prime Minister! Follow Joe’s funny journey in which he makes buses banana-shaped, cats have hats and trains have swimming pools. A great chapter book for more confident 7-year-old readers.

Flyntlock Bones – The Eye of Mogdrod by Derek Keilty

In the second Flyntlock Bones pirate escapade, the Black Hound’s crew faces dangerous northern pirates and a cat monster called Mogdrod in a fast-paced dialogue-driven illustrated adventure. With Norse-sounding characters such as Grethel and Egfart, and evocative locations such as Bog Island, Mugger’s Marsh and Lake Squelch, this is bound to be a hit with pupils in lower KS2.

This Bee is not Afraid of Me edited by Fran Long and Isabel Galleymore

This anthology of more than 40 poems suitable for KS2 children explores a myriad of different insects and how and where they live. Ants, beetles, butterflies, moths and ladybirds are featured. Cafe Six is a highlight – a perfect impetus for teaching poetry in lower KS2 – if you can stomach the edible creepy crawlies. For schools teaching minibeasts, or classes with access to outside space or a Forest School, this collection of poems will be a useful resource for cross-curricular topic teaching.

Small Worlds: Earth by Lara Hawthorne and Camilla De La Bedoyere

This spectacularly realised illustrated non-fiction guide to the micro-world of undergrowth, meadows, foliage, forest floors, caves and more, features eye-catching graphics and precise natural history and ecological observations. The language is refreshingly not dumbed down and there are over 70 card flaps with information on the creatures displayed. Lifting them reveals what they get up to and how they interact with the ecosystem. This book would make a wonderful present for a KS2 child interested in the natural world. Also in the series is Small Worlds: Water .

King Kong by Anthony Browne

The classic tale of the giant ape who falls in love with the beautiful Ann Darrow but finds himself locked up and held in captivity. When he escapes, chaos ensues in New York. This large-format book for year 3 pupils includes lots of stunning illustrations and will appeal to both able and reluctant readers in year three. There are lots of opportunities to ask questions and check whether readers can predict what might happen next. It is also ideal to read with your child at home.

Beast Quest by Adam Blade

A fast-paced and exciting series of books that are ideal for 7-year-old readers in lower KS2. Set in a fantasy land with dragons, wizards, good vs evil and strong heroes and heroines, these stories feature lots of twists and turns and will appeal to reluctant readers and they are a good starting point for encouraging children to read classic myths and legends in year 3.

Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister and Grahame Baker-Smith

Perfect for group reading and ideas for creative writing, this lavishly illustrated picture book for older readers will stretch the creativity and language of year 3 readers. Leon finds out what happens to the rabbit which appears from a hat and where the magician’s assistant disappears – but can he find his way back from the ‘place between’?

The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson

A funny take on the abominable snowman legend. A boy and a girl hatch a plan to save a family of yetis from hunters, by hiding them in a bridal suite and a giant freezer lorry. A real page-turner with numerous twists, turns and cliffhangers, this is the perfect classroom year 3 book to read aloud.

Adventure | Funny

The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson. A great lower KS2 for reading around the class

Ice Palace by Robert Swindells

An extremely fast-paced adventure that won’t leave the reader bored for a second. When the evil King of Winter kidnaps his younger brother, Ivan sets out on an epic and dangerous quest to get him back. A useful story for modelling action in creative writing. Ice Palace is a popular year thee class reading book, and ideal to spark creative writing ideas and character hot seating discussion.

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe

A thoughtful picture book retelling of an African folk tale, set to dazzling illustrations. When the king decides to pick a new wife, Mufaro’s two daughters behave in very different ways – one unreasonable and aggressive, and the other with kindness and humility. A classic moral tale that is useful to discuss with year 3 pupils.

Folk tale | Diverse

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe - a diverse book for seven year olds

Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne

A clever book that looks at the same story from different perspectives, this picture book is ideal to provoke discussion and debate. There are few words and complex, vibrant illustrations with lots of talking points, making it ideal for less confident 7 and 8-year-old readers.

The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

The hilarious adventures of Humphrey the Hamster, told by Humphrey and including Og the Frog and the bully Mean Martin Bean. This is a fun and engaging class reader for seven-year-olds that is particularly well-suited to mixed-ability classes.

Harry the poisonous centipede by Lynne Reid Banks

Harry is a centipede who likes to eat things that wriggle and crackle. At the start of the story, he’s shy, but increasingly he becomes braver. Will his bravery get the better of him and lead him into danger? A good text for group reading to help challenge less able seven-year-olds, and one of a series of enjoyable year 3 books.

StoryWorlds: A Moment in Time: A Perpetual Picture Atlas by Thomas Hegbrook

A picture book with few words, this book will appeal to imaginative but reluctant readers. This book explores one single moment in time across many strikingly different locations and situations so the reader can compare what is happening in the world all at the same time. The book folds out to allow a child to read any part without having to start at the beginning or reach the end.

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

A clever picture book that will appeal to both reluctant and more able readers. Examining thought-provoking and complex themes of bullying and loneliness, this text is ideal for PSHE lessons and Y3 book group discussions.

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

When a pinboard falls on top of Stanley he is left completely flattened. Sent to America in an envelope will he be able to unflatten himself? A good story for dyslexic readers and an ideal book for year 3 pupils.

The Secret World of Polly Flint by Helen Cresswell

The imaginative story of Polly Flint who can see things other children cannot, including a village and its inhabitants which disappeared long ago. The rich language and ghostly atmospheric settings are ideal for teachers to model and help children develop and explore their own creative writing.

Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl

The timeless story of Mr Fox and how he cunningly outwits the nasty farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean. This is a fun, and engaging text for seven-year-olds that is well-suited for helping develop inference and prediction skills. It’s also a good choice to read with your year three-aged child or use for guided reading with small groups where greater depth children can discuss and ask questions about the vivid and unforgettable characters.

The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl

When Lucy gets upset she uses her “Magic Finger” and points it at the person who has upset her. Real magic turns her teacher into a cat and Lucy swears never to use her finger again. Until… An ideal book for class reading in year three.

Willa and Old Miss Annie by Berlie Doherty

When she moves with her parents to a new home, Willa thinks she’ll never have friends again. That is until she meets Old Miss Annie, a lonely goat, a forgotten pony, and an orphaned fox. This is an ideal text for seven-year-olds who are interested in animals.

My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards

A story about possibly the naughtiest little sister in the world. She digs up the garden, eats all of the trifle, doesn’t like Father Christmas and causes chaos all around her. This is an anarchic and fun book for year three children to read over the holiday period.

The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine

Ellie is shocked to find out her pet cat is a killer. Tuffy brings home a dead bird, then a mouse, and then more victims. Can Ellie stop him? A very funny story. A must-read chapter book for seven-year-olds and a great introduction to Anne Fine’s short chapter novels.

The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame

A boy finds a dragon in a cave and he believes it is harmless and friendly, but how can he convince the frightened villagers and, St. George, the famous dragon killer? A great fun storybook to read around the class in year 3.

The Charlie Moon Collection by Shirley Hughes

Charlie manages to get himself into all sorts of trouble. His seaside summer trip turns into a missing jewellery mystery with burglars. A ripping yarn for seven-year-olds, this is a perfect text for taking on holiday.

All Because of Jackson by Dick King-Smith

Jackson is an odd rabbit. He stands most days watching ships sail by and he longs to be on one of those ships. One day he boards one of the ships and sets out on an adventure. A modern classic, and a great introduction for seven-year-olds to the extensive canon of Dick King-Smith children’s books.

The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths by Saviour Pirotta

A perfect illustrated primer of Greek Myths. This book includes Theseus and the Minotaur, Odysseus, Pandora, King Midas and more. The year 3 book of myths is a perfect age-appropriate introduction to these classic stories, and also serves as a useful impetus for creative writing.

Winnie-the-Pooh Collection by A. A. Milne

Classic stories about perhaps the world’s most famous fictional bear. Including what happens when Pooh goes visiting and Piglet meets a Heffalump, the story of when Eeyore loses his tail and Pooh finds one, and many others.

Mrs Pepperpot Stories by Alf Proysen

Mrs Pepperpot has a secret – she can shrink to the size of a pepperpot – and when she does she can talk to animals. This imaginative text can provide a good starting point for creative writing, particularly when looking at settings and character descriptions with younger children.

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson

A young owl, called Plop, is afraid of the dark – something which makes his life more than a little difficult. An ideal text for less able and reluctant readers – and a good choice for focused year 3 book groups.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Fearless Pippi Longstocking is scared of nothing. She’ll wrestle a circus strongman, dance the polka with burglars, and tug a bull’s tail! A great story to help challenge stereotypes, this is a highly recommended book for year 3 children to read aloud.

Pippi Longstocking Gift Edition by Astrid Lindgren. Cracking yarns for younger children in KS2

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

If you thought you knew the story of the Three Little Pigs, think again! This is the real story, told by the Wolf himself. A great year 3 book option to encourage children’s thinking skills and help children to develop more interesting plots, twists and cliffhangers in their creative writing.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night by Janet Ahlberg

A young boy has been kidnapped by thieves. He stays alive by telling them incredible stories while planning his escape from a cave. An atmospheric book for reading at home with your year 3 child or for exploring fears and anxiety in PSHE lessons, this is a book to treasure.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

A clever and emotive story about a boy who takes too much from a tree that gives too much. With sparse language and clever wordplay, this is a good text to explore in lower KS2 literacy lessons. Very useful for discussing the concepts of giving and sharing, this is an ideal book to use in PSHE with Year 3.

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

A tale of love and belonging. Max – eight – decides to dress up as a wolf, and enters a world of wild things in which he becomes the ruler. A good year 3 book choice to inspire imaginative writing.

Oxford Primary Dictionary by Susan Rennie

Ideal for children new to Key Stage 2, this dictionary includes 608 pages packed with age-appropriate definitions. It also features children’s book settings and character quotes, cross-curricular words and plenty of practical help with learning dictionary skills. At the back of the book are links to internet-based and downloadable curriculum activities on the publisher’s website that teachers and parents will find useful.

Click the buttons below to purchase all of the books in this Year 3 book list, as well as class sets of any of these books and many more, from Bookshop.org UK. Or buy the 20 most popular titles from this list from Amazon – ideal for gifts or your classroom library.

Buy from UK.Bookshop.Org Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Disclosure: If you buy books using the buttons above: we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops; as an Amazon Associate schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.

Books for year 3 video

Below is a video featuring all our Year 3 book choices in a quick-to-view five-minute-long movie which can be used in CPD training, class assemblies, parent/teacher meetings, and shared for online learning or social and professional networks.

How many Year 3 books have you read?

Here’s a free background wallpaper of our recommended year 3 books list to use on your classroom computer.

Books for year 3 - our free background wallpaper

Schools & teachers: please respect copyright and don’t copy our Year 3 book list. If you find our book recommendations useful, please consider sharing on social media or linking to this page instead. Thanks .

Books for Year 3 – what titles to recommend to children

In year 3, most children begin the school year aged seven and turn eight before the beginning of the next school year the following September.

Year three is the start of Key Stage 2 , which might also be known as juniors in some primary schools, or ‘prep’ in some independent schools. This is the start of the final four years of primary education. In year 3 pupils will be introduced to more discrete academic subjects which might be taught by subject specialists, for example in music or PE.

What books should children be reading in year 3?

Most children will be reading a mixture of short chapter books, more detailed and thought-provoking picture books, and a range of non-fiction and reference. Teachers will often introduce poetry anthologies and playscripts in year three literacy lessons. By the end of year three, most pupils will have moved away from structured reading schemes, although some will still benefit from the support and repetition these books can provide.

How to pick books for year 3 children

Many children at this age are more likely to read a book if they have chosen it themselves. Exposing children to reading material and encouraging them to explore books is often a good strategy to maintain reading motivation. A well-curated Year 3 reading list will prove beneficial. Libraries, both at school and at home, bookshops, book tokens, children’s literature events, book signings, book fairs at school and talking about which books you liked to read as a child are all good places to start.

What level or reading age are children in year 3?

Most children should be looking at books banded by publishers for ‘7-9-year-olds’. While some children might be able to decode the text in stories written for older children, the subject matter and themes might not be appropriate for empathy or understanding. At the beginning of KS2, children should be exploring which books interest them, by choosing books independently and developing a love of literature. Helpful and encouraging reading suggestions, and exposing children to new material which they can pick from is often more effective than dictating which books must be read.

How can I help my 7-year-old child to improve their reading?

A daily routine of reading at home during term time and the holidays is essential for seven and eight-year-old children. 15-20 minutes spent reading with your child, or to your child, or listening to your child read will pay huge dividends in the long term. Some children respond well to a structure and timetable for reading, but for others, a set block of time might not be productive. Try to take advantage of reading opportunities as they arise. This might be reading a leaflet, letter or children’s magazine , it could be reading and explaining a sign or notice or a recipe, or it might be helping read a bedtime story to a younger sibling. When you listen to your child read, ask them questions about what has happened, how they feel about the story and characters, and what they think will happen next.

It’s best to encourage your child to read for pleasure and help them find books that interest them. Try to avoid logging the exact time spent reading, or how many pages have been read each day – reading logs and journals can be demoralizing for children, particularly if they find reading a challenge. Instead try to focus on finding new and exciting authors, and texts about subjects they find interesting or which can be explored further by visiting places, researching online, or engaging in hobbies or activities.

What do children learn about in Year 3?

Many pupils will study the Stone Age, the ancient worlds of the Romans , Ancient Greeks and Egyptians ; and in science, minibeasts, rocks, earthquakes & volcanoes , light, sound, healthy eating and the human body are often taught as topics in lessons. Children will begin to plan and build projects in design and create artwork using different techniques and media. In maths, they will be introduced to geometry and data, including different shapes, areas and perimeters, collecting data and creating simple graphs and charts. Developing personalised Year 3 booklists that explore these topics can help boost your child’s confidence and learning at school.

Can a 7-year-old read Harry Potter?

This is a very popular question! While some seven and eight-year-olds may well be able to read the words aloud, most children in year 3 will find comprehending the characters and storyline too challenging. We think Harry Potter is better suited for children aged 9+.

For less challenging year 3 books, see our books for Year 2 reading list , and for even more books for seven-year-olds see this list .

For more challenging reading material, try our books for Year 4 reading list .

Comics for Year 3 - Beano Children's Magazine Exclusive Offer

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Book Review Writing Examples

Examples: learn from the efforts of others.

Learning how to write strong reviews takes time and not a little effort. Reading the reviews others have done can help you get a feel for the flow and flavor of reviews.

If I Never Forever Endeavor Review by Hayden, age 4, Southeast Michigan Mensa

This book was about a bird who didn't yet know how to fly.

The bird has to decide if it will try to fly, but it was not sure if it wants to. The bird thought, "If I never forever endeavor" then I won't ever learn. On one wing, he worries he might fail and on the other wing he thinks of how he may succeed. He worries that if he tries, he may get lost in the world. That makes him want to stay in his nest where he's safe.

I think this book would help other children to learn that trying new things can be scary, but sometimes when we try, we can find things that make us happy too. And this book will help others know that mistakes are okay and part of learning.

My favorite part is that the bird tried and learned that she could fly. I also liked that I read this book because it gave me a chance to talk to mom about making mistakes and how I don't like making them. Then I learned they are good and part of learning.

Boys and girls who are 3 to 8 years old would like this book because it teaches about trying a new thing and how it's important to get past being scared so you can learn new things.

I give the book 5 stars since I think it's important for other children to learn about courage.

Flesh & Blood So Cheap Review by Umar B., age 8, Central New Jersy Mensa

I liked this book. People who are interested in national disasters and US history as well as immigration will most probably be interested in reading this book.

Readers can gain knowledge of what it was like to work in New York City in the early 1900s. One of the things that was especially interesting was that there were no safety laws at work. Also, there was a big contrast between the rich and the poor. Some people may not like this book because it is very depressing, but it is an important event in history to remember.

This book was very well written. It has black and white photos along with descriptions of the photos. These photos give us a better idea of what people's lives were like. This book is suitable for 9-20 year olds.

I give this book 5 stars.

Galaxy Zach: Journey to Juno Review by Young Mensan Connor C., age 6, Boston Mensa

Journey To Juno is the second book of the Galaxy Zack series. It is just as good as the first one. It's awesome!

Zack joins the Sprockets Academy Explorers Club at school. They fly on a special trip to Juno, a new planet no one has ever visited. Zack gets paired up with Seth, the class bully, and that's dreadful but Zack is excited when he finds a huge galaxy gemmite. A gemmite that large had not been found in 100 years! Kids will love this book!

Boys and girls will both like it. It's an easy chapter book with pictures on every page. I love the illustrations. I think ages 6-8 would like this but younger kids would like the story being read to them.

My favorite parts are the galactic blast game (it is similar to baseball except there are robots playing), recess at Zack's school where everything is 3-D holographic images, the rainbow river in a crystal cave on Juno, and the galaxy gemmite that Zack finds on Juno. I also loved when a life-size holographic image of his Earth friend appears in Zack's room because he calls him on a hyperphone. I give this book one hundred stars! There is a "to be continued" at the end so you have to read the next book see what's in store. I can't wait to find out what happens!!!

I Capture the Castle Review by Lauren W., age 17, Mensa in Georgia

Dodie Smith's novel I Capture the Castle is a journey through the mind of a young writer as she attempts to chronicle her daily life. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain has recently learned to speed-write, and she decides to work on her writing skills by describing the actions and conversations of those around her.

Cassandra lives in a fourteenth-century English castle with an interesting cast of characters: her beautiful older sister, Rose; her rather unsociable author father and his second wife, artist-model Topaz; Stephen, the garden boy; a cat and a bull terrier; and sometimes her brother Thomas when he is home from school. One fateful day they make the acquaintance of the Cotton family, including the two sons, and a web of tangled relationships ensues.

While I definitely recommend this book to other readers, I would recommend it to older teenagers, mainly because it will resonate better with them. The writing is tame enough that younger teens could also read it, but most of the characters are adults or on the verge of adulthood. Older readers would take the most from it since they can not only relate, but they may also better pick up on and appreciate Cassandra's sometimes subtle humor.

Over the course of the novel, Cassandra undergoes a definite transformation from child to mature young adult, even though it's only over the course of several months. I love that I could see into her mindset and read exactly what she was feeling when she thought out situations. Her thoughts flowed well and moved the book along very quickly.

Cassandra's narrative voice is wonderful. She is serious at times, but also very witty, which makes for an engaging read. It feels absolutely real, as though I'm reading someone's actual journal. Sometimes I forget that I am reading a story and not a real-life account. Her emotions and the dialogue are so genuine, and they are spot-on for a seventeen-year-old girl in her situation.

Cassandra has many wonderful insights on life, on topics ranging from writing to faith to matters of the heart. I personally have had some of the same thoughts as Cassandra, except Ms. Smith was able to put them into words.

Capture the Castle should be essential reading for aspiring writers, those looking for historical fiction or romance, or anyone who loves reading amazing classic books. Dodie Smith is an exceptional writer, and I Capture the Castle is a book that will never become obsolete.

Frankenstein's Cat Review by Zander H., age 12, Mid-America Mensa

I appreciated Frankenstein's Cat for its fascinating explanation about the often baffling subject of bioengineering and its sister sciences. Emily Anthes explains the many sides of today's modern technology, such as gene modification, cloning, pharmaceutical products (from the farm), prosthesis, animal tag and tracking and gene cryogenics. This book provides a well-rounded summary of these complicated sciences without being boring or simply factual. Her real world examples take us on a journey from the farm, to the pet store and then from the pharmacy to the frozen arc.

Have you ever wondered if the neighborhood cat is spying on you? Read about Operation Acoustic Kitty and find out if this feline fantasy fiction or fact. Do you think bugs are creepy? What about a zombified cyborg beetle? Is Fido so special that you want two of him? Money can buy you an almost exact copy of your pooch BUT don't expect the same personality. Emily Anthes makes you crave more information. She makes you want to know the future of Earth's flora and fauna, as well as humanity itself.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who desires a guide to the future of biological science and technology. Frankenstein's Cat is best read by the light of a glow-in-the-dark fish, while cuddling your favorite cloned dog and drinking a glass of genetically modified milk.

About Marsupials Review by Connor C., age 6, Boston Mensa

About Marsupials is the title so the book is about...marsupials, of course. It's non-fiction. I really think everyone would like the book. I think someone who likes animals would especially like to read it.

The glossary of facts in the back of About Marsupials is the most useful part. I thought the most interesting parts were that some marsupials have their pouch at their back legs and one marsupial, the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby, is very small but can jump 13 feet wide!

Kids in the 4-8 age range would like this book. Even though it's not a story book, 4 year olds would like the few words on each page and they would love the beautiful pictures. But older kids would like it because of all the facts in the back of the book. There's a lot of information for each animal. I think boys and girls (and parents) would enjoy reading it. This book is very interesting. I give it 4 stars.

Mapping the World Review by Umar A., age 10, Central New Jersey Mensa

Every day, people around the world use maps. Whether it is an airplane pilot or businessman, housewife or museum group, maps have always and will continue to provide useful information for all.

Mapping the World talks about the uses of maps, as well as how to differentiate between the type of map projection and type of map.

In this series, we travel to the past and learn about historical mapmakers, from Claudius Ptolemy (who stated the idea that the Earth is at the center of the universe) to Gerardus Mercator (who created one of the most widely used map projections) and more. This series goes into tremendous detail on the cartographer's life and maps. We then journey to the present era to learn about map projections and the diverse types of maps used today. You might ask, "What is the difference between the two? They sound the same to me." No map projection is perfect, because you cannot really flatten a sphere into a rectangle. An uncolored projection could be used in many ways. We could use it for population concentration, highways, land elevation, and so many other things!

For example, we could make a topographic map of the U.S., which shows land elevation. We could make it a colorful map that shows the amount of pollution in different areas, or it could be a population map, or it could even be a map that shows the 50 states, their capitals and borders! Our last step in this amazing excursion is the near future, where we see some hypothetical solutions as to what maps will be used for. Currently, we are working on better virtual map technology.

Now, scientists have been able to put maps on phones. Back in the early 1900s, people had to lug a lot of maps around to find your way from place to place, or just keep asking for directions. Now, all the information is on a phone or global positioning system (GPS). It is amazing how much maps have changed technology and the world in this century.

The Mapping the World 8-book set goes into amazing levels of detail. It is a long read, but it gives an immense range and amount of information that you would not find in any other book or series on maps. The flowing way the chapters and books are organized makes it easy to link passages from different books in this series together. Mapping the World is a treasure box, filled with the seeds of cartography. Collect and plant them, and you soon will have the fruits of cartography, beneficial to those who want to be cartographers. Use this series to the utmost, then the fruits of mapping will be sweet for all who endeavor to succeed in cartography.

This series of lessons was designed to meet the needs of gifted children for extension beyond the standard curriculum with the greatest ease of use for the educator. The lessons may be given to the students for individual self-guided work, or they may be taught in a classroom or a home-school setting. Assessment strategies and rubrics are included at the end of each section. The rubrics often include a column for "scholar points," which are invitations for students to extend their efforts beyond that which is required, incorporating creativity or higher level technical skills.

17 Book Review Examples to Help You Write the Perfect Review

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Blog – Posted on Friday, Mar 29

17 book review examples to help you write the perfect review.

It’s an exciting time to be a book reviewer. Once confined to print newspapers and journals, reviews now dot many corridors of the Internet — forever helping others discover their next great read. That said, every book reviewer will face a familiar panic: how can you do justice to a great book in just a thousand words?

As you know, the best way to learn how to do something is by immersing yourself in it. Luckily, the Internet (i.e. Goodreads and other review sites , in particular) has made book reviews more accessible than ever — which means that there are a lot of book reviews examples out there for you to view!

In this post, we compiled 17 prototypical book review examples in multiple genres to help you figure out how to write the perfect review . If you want to jump straight to the examples, you can skip the next section. Otherwise, let’s first check out what makes up a good review.

Are you interested in becoming a book reviewer? We recommend you check out Reedsy Discovery , where you can earn money for writing reviews — and are guaranteed people will read your reviews! To register as a book reviewer, sign up here.

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

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What must a book review contain?

Like all works of art, no two book reviews will be identical. But fear not: there are a few guidelines for any aspiring book reviewer to follow. Most book reviews, for instance, are less than 1,500 words long, with the sweet spot hitting somewhere around the 1,000-word mark. (However, this may vary depending on the platform on which you’re writing, as we’ll see later.)

In addition, all reviews share some universal elements, as shown in our book review templates . These include:

A review will offer a concise plot summary of the book.
A book review will offer an evaluation of the work.
A book review will offer a recommendation for the audience.

If these are the basic ingredients that make up a book review, it’s the tone and style with which the book reviewer writes that brings the extra panache. This will differ from platform to platform, of course. A book review on Goodreads, for instance, will be much more informal and personal than a book review on Kirkus Reviews, as it is catering to a different audience. However, at the end of the day, the goal of all book reviews is to give the audience the tools to determine whether or not they’d like to read the book themselves.

Keeping that in mind, let’s proceed to some book review examples to put all of this in action.

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Book review examples for fiction books

Since story is king in the world of fiction, it probably won’t come as any surprise to learn that a book review for a novel will concentrate on how well the story was told .

That said, book reviews in all genres follow the same basic formula that we discussed earlier. In these examples, you’ll be able to see how book reviewers on different platforms expertly intertwine the plot summary and their personal opinions of the book to produce a clear, informative, and concise review.

Note: Some of the book review examples run very long. If a book review is truncated in this post, we’ve indicated by including a […] at the end, but you can always read the entire review if you click on the link provided.

Examples of literary fiction book reviews

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man :

An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.

His early training prepared him for a life of humility before white men, but through injustices- large and small, he came to realize that he was an "invisible man". People saw in him only a reflection of their preconceived ideas of what he was, denied his individuality, and ultimately did not see him at all. This theme, which has implications far beyond the obvious racial parallel, is skillfully handled. The incidents of the story are wholly absorbing. The boy's dismissal from college because of an innocent mistake, his shocked reaction to the anonymity of the North and to Harlem, his nightmare experiences on a one-day job in a paint factory and in the hospital, his lightning success as the Harlem leader of a communistic organization known as the Brotherhood, his involvement in black versus white and black versus black clashes and his disillusion and understanding of his invisibility- all climax naturally in scenes of violence and riot, followed by a retreat which is both literal and figurative. Parts of this experience may have been told before, but never with such freshness, intensity and power.

This is Ellison's first novel, but he has complete control of his story and his style. Watch it.

Lyndsey reviews George Orwell’s 1984 on Goodreads:

YOU. ARE. THE. DEAD. Oh my God. I got the chills so many times toward the end of this book. It completely blew my mind. It managed to surpass my high expectations AND be nothing at all like I expected. Or in Newspeak "Double Plus Good." Let me preface this with an apology. If I sound stunningly inarticulate at times in this review, I can't help it. My mind is completely fried.

This book is like the dystopian Lord of the Rings, with its richly developed culture and economics, not to mention a fully developed language called Newspeak, or rather more of the anti-language, whose purpose is to limit speech and understanding instead of to enhance and expand it. The world-building is so fully fleshed out and spine-tinglingly terrifying that it's almost as if George travelled to such a place, escaped from it, and then just wrote it all down.

I read Fahrenheit 451 over ten years ago in my early teens. At the time, I remember really wanting to read 1984, although I never managed to get my hands on it. I'm almost glad I didn't. Though I would not have admitted it at the time, it would have gone over my head. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate it fully. […]

The New York Times reviews Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry :

Three-quarters of the way through Lisa Halliday’s debut novel, “Asymmetry,” a British foreign correspondent named Alistair is spending Christmas on a compound outside of Baghdad. His fellow revelers include cameramen, defense contractors, United Nations employees and aid workers. Someone’s mother has FedExed a HoneyBaked ham from Maine; people are smoking by the swimming pool. It is 2003, just days after Saddam Hussein’s capture, and though the mood is optimistic, Alistair is worrying aloud about the ethics of his chosen profession, wondering if reporting on violence doesn’t indirectly abet violence and questioning why he’d rather be in a combat zone than reading a picture book to his son. But every time he returns to London, he begins to “spin out.” He can’t go home. “You observe what people do with their freedom — what they don’t do — and it’s impossible not to judge them for it,” he says.

The line, embedded unceremoniously in the middle of a page-long paragraph, doubles, like so many others in “Asymmetry,” as literary criticism. Halliday’s novel is so strange and startlingly smart that its mere existence seems like commentary on the state of fiction. One finishes “Asymmetry” for the first or second (or like this reader, third) time and is left wondering what other writers are not doing with their freedom — and, like Alistair, judging them for it.

Despite its title, “Asymmetry” comprises two seemingly unrelated sections of equal length, appended by a slim and quietly shocking coda. Halliday’s prose is clean and lean, almost reportorial in the style of W. G. Sebald, and like the murmurings of a shy person at a cocktail party, often comic only in single clauses. It’s a first novel that reads like the work of an author who has published many books over many years. […]

Emily W. Thompson reviews Michael Doane's The Crossing on Reedsy Discovery :

In Doane’s debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results.

An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon. But he’s a small-town boy who hasn’t traveled much. So, the Narrator mourns her loss and hides from life, throwing himself into rehabbing an old motorcycle. Until one day, he takes a leap; he packs his bike and a few belongings and heads out to find the Girl.

Following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat-Moon, Doane offers a coming of age story about a man finding himself on the backroads of America. Doane’s a gifted writer with fluid prose and insightful observations, using The Narrator’s personal interactions to illuminate the diversity of the United States.

The Narrator initially sticks to the highways, trying to make it to the West Coast as quickly as possible. But a hitchhiker named Duke convinces him to get off the beaten path and enjoy the ride. “There’s not a place that’s like any other,” [39] Dukes contends, and The Narrator realizes he’s right. Suddenly, the trip is about the journey, not just the destination. The Narrator ditches his truck and traverses the deserts and mountains on his bike. He destroys his phone, cutting off ties with his past and living only in the moment.

As he crosses the country, The Narrator connects with several unique personalities whose experiences and views deeply impact his own. Duke, the complicated cowboy and drifter, who opens The Narrator’s eyes to a larger world. Zooey, the waitress in Colorado who opens his heart and reminds him that love can be found in this big world. And Rosie, The Narrator’s sweet landlady in Portland, who helps piece him back together both physically and emotionally.

This supporting cast of characters is excellent. Duke, in particular, is wonderfully nuanced and complicated. He’s a throwback to another time, a man without a cell phone who reads Sartre and sleeps under the stars. Yet he’s also a grifter with a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” attitude that harms those around him. It’s fascinating to watch The Narrator wrestle with Duke’s behavior, trying to determine which to model and which to discard.

Doane creates a relatable protagonist in The Narrator, whose personal growth doesn’t erase his faults. His willingness to hit the road with few resources is admirable, and he’s prescient enough to recognize the jealousy of those who cannot or will not take the leap. His encounters with new foods, places, and people broaden his horizons. Yet his immaturity and selfishness persist. He tells Rosie she’s been a good mother to him but chooses to ignore the continuing concern from his own parents as he effectively disappears from his old life.

Despite his flaws, it’s a pleasure to accompany The Narrator on his physical and emotional journey. The unexpected ending is a fitting denouement to an epic and memorable road trip.

The Book Smugglers review Anissa Gray’s The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls :

I am still dipping my toes into the literally fiction pool, finding what works for me and what doesn’t. Books like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray are definitely my cup of tea.

Althea and Proctor Cochran had been pillars of their economically disadvantaged community for years – with their local restaurant/small market and their charity drives. Until they are found guilty of fraud for stealing and keeping most of the money they raised and sent to jail. Now disgraced, their entire family is suffering the consequences, specially their twin teenage daughters Baby Vi and Kim. To complicate matters even more: Kim was actually the one to call the police on her parents after yet another fight with her mother. […]

Examples of children’s and YA fiction book reviews

The Book Hookup reviews Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give :

♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to tackle the voice of a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I do know that Thomas did it with a finesse only a talented author like herself possibly could. With an unapologetically realistic delivery packed with emotion, The Hate U Give is a crucially important portrayal of the difficulties minorities face in our country every single day. I have no doubt that this book will be met with resistance by some (possibly many) and slapped with a “controversial” label, but if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk in a POC’s shoes, then I feel like this is an unflinchingly honest place to start.

In Angie Thomas’s debut novel, Starr Carter bursts on to the YA scene with both heart-wrecking and heartwarming sincerity. This author is definitely one to watch.

♥ Review: The hype around this book has been unquestionable and, admittedly, that made me both eager to get my hands on it and terrified to read it. I mean, what if I was to be the one person that didn’t love it as much as others? (That seems silly now because of how truly mesmerizing THUG was in the most heartbreakingly realistic way.) However, with the relevancy of its summary in regards to the unjust predicaments POC currently face in the US, I knew this one was a must-read, so I was ready to set my fears aside and dive in. That said, I had an altogether more personal, ulterior motive for wanting to read this book. […]

The New York Times reviews Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood :

Alice Crewe (a last name she’s chosen for herself) is a fairy tale legacy: the granddaughter of Althea Proserpine, author of a collection of dark-as-night fairy tales called “Tales From the Hinterland.” The book has a cult following, and though Alice has never met her grandmother, she’s learned a little about her through internet research. She hasn’t read the stories, because her mother, Ella Proserpine, forbids it.

Alice and Ella have moved from place to place in an attempt to avoid the “bad luck” that seems to follow them. Weird things have happened. As a child, Alice was kidnapped by a man who took her on a road trip to find her grandmother; he was stopped by the police before they did so. When at 17 she sees that man again, unchanged despite the years, Alice panics. Then Ella goes missing, and Alice turns to Ellery Finch, a schoolmate who’s an Althea Proserpine superfan, for help in tracking down her mother. Not only has Finch read every fairy tale in the collection, but handily, he remembers them, sharing them with Alice as they journey to the mysterious Hazel Wood, the estate of her now-dead grandmother, where they hope to find Ella.

“The Hazel Wood” starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. (The fairy stories Finch relays, which Albert includes as their own chapters, are as creepy and evocative as you’d hope.) Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a very good book. It’s a captivating debut. […]

James reviews Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon on Goodreads:

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of the books that followers of my blog voted as a must-read for our Children's Book August 2018 Readathon. Come check it out and join the next few weeks!

This picture book was such a delight. I hadn't remembered reading it when I was a child, but it might have been read to me... either way, it was like a whole new experience! It's always so difficult to convince a child to fall asleep at night. I don't have kids, but I do have a 5-month-old puppy who whines for 5 minutes every night when he goes in his cage/crate (hopefully he'll be fully housebroken soon so he can roam around when he wants). I can only imagine! I babysat a lot as a teenager and I have tons of younger cousins, nieces, and nephews, so I've been through it before, too. This was a believable experience, and it really helps show kids how to relax and just let go when it's time to sleep.

The bunny's are adorable. The rhymes are exquisite. I found it pretty fun, but possibly a little dated given many of those things aren't normal routines anymore. But the lessons to take from it are still powerful. Loved it! I want to sample some more books by this fine author and her illustrators.

Publishers Weekly reviews Elizabeth Lilly’s Geraldine :

This funny, thoroughly accomplished debut opens with two words: “I’m moving.” They’re spoken by the title character while she swoons across her family’s ottoman, and because Geraldine is a giraffe, her full-on melancholy mode is quite a spectacle. But while Geraldine may be a drama queen (even her mother says so), it won’t take readers long to warm up to her. The move takes Geraldine from Giraffe City, where everyone is like her, to a new school, where everyone else is human. Suddenly, the former extrovert becomes “That Giraffe Girl,” and all she wants to do is hide, which is pretty much impossible. “Even my voice tries to hide,” she says, in the book’s most poignant moment. “It’s gotten quiet and whispery.” Then she meets Cassie, who, though human, is also an outlier (“I’m that girl who wears glasses and likes MATH and always organizes her food”), and things begin to look up.

Lilly’s watercolor-and-ink drawings are as vividly comic and emotionally astute as her writing; just when readers think there are no more ways for Geraldine to contort her long neck, this highly promising talent comes up with something new.

Examples of genre fiction book reviews

Karlyn P reviews Nora Roberts’ Dark Witch , a paranormal romance novel , on Goodreads:

4 stars. Great world-building, weak romance, but still worth the read.

I hesitate to describe this book as a 'romance' novel simply because the book spent little time actually exploring the romance between Iona and Boyle. Sure, there IS a romance in this novel. Sprinkled throughout the book are a few scenes where Iona and Boyle meet, chat, wink at each, flirt some more, sleep together, have a misunderstanding, make up, and then profess their undying love. Very formulaic stuff, and all woven around the more important parts of this book.

The meat of this book is far more focused on the story of the Dark witch and her magically-gifted descendants living in Ireland. Despite being weak on the romance, I really enjoyed it. I think the book is probably better for it, because the romance itself was pretty lackluster stuff.

I absolutely plan to stick with this series as I enjoyed the world building, loved the Ireland setting, and was intrigued by all of the secondary characters. However, If you read Nora Roberts strictly for the romance scenes, this one might disappoint. But if you enjoy a solid background story with some dark magic and prophesies, you might enjoy it as much as I did.

I listened to this one on audio, and felt the narration was excellent.

Emily May reviews R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy Wars , an epic fantasy novel , on Goodreads:

“But I warn you, little warrior. The price of power is pain.”

Holy hell, what did I just read??

➽ A fantasy military school

➽ A rich world based on modern Chinese history

➽ Shamans and gods

➽ Detailed characterization leading to unforgettable characters

➽ Adorable, opium-smoking mentors

That's a basic list, but this book is all of that and SO MUCH MORE. I know 100% that The Poppy War will be one of my best reads of 2018.

Isn't it just so great when you find one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every horrific, nail-biting moment of it? This is one of those books for me. And I must issue a serious content warning: this book explores some very dark themes. Proceed with caution (or not at all) if you are particularly sensitive to scenes of war, drug use and addiction, genocide, racism, sexism, ableism, self-harm, torture, and rape (off-page but extremely horrific).

Because, despite the fairly innocuous first 200 pages, the title speaks the truth: this is a book about war. All of its horrors and atrocities. It is not sugar-coated, and it is often graphic. The "poppy" aspect refers to opium, which is a big part of this book. It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking.

Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry’s Freefall , a crime novel:

In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it’s a more subtle process, and that’s OK too. So where does Freefall fit into the sliding scale?

In truth, it’s not clear. This is a novel with a thrilling concept at its core. A woman survives plane crash, then runs for her life. However, it is the subtleties at play that will draw you in like a spider beckoning to an unwitting fly.

Like the heroine in Sharon Bolton’s Dead Woman Walking, Allison is lucky to be alive. She was the only passenger in a private plane, belonging to her fiancé, Ben, who was piloting the expensive aircraft, when it came down in woodlands in the Colorado Rockies. Ally is also the only survivor, but rather than sitting back and waiting for rescue, she is soon pulling together items that may help her survive a little longer – first aid kit, energy bars, warm clothes, trainers – before fleeing the scene. If you’re hearing the faint sound of alarm bells ringing, get used to it. There’s much, much more to learn about Ally before this tale is over.

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One , a science-fiction novel :

Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.

The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three.

Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.

Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.

Book review examples for non-fiction books

Nonfiction books are generally written to inform readers about a certain topic. As such, the focus of a nonfiction book review will be on the clarity and effectiveness of this communication . In carrying this out, a book review may analyze the author’s source materials and assess the thesis in order to determine whether or not the book meets expectations.

Again, we’ve included abbreviated versions of long reviews here, so feel free to click on the link to read the entire piece!

The Washington Post reviews David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon :

The arc of David Grann’s career reminds one of a software whiz-kid or a latest-thing talk-show host — certainly not an investigative reporter, even if he is one of the best in the business. The newly released movie of his first book, “The Lost City of Z,” is generating all kinds of Oscar talk, and now comes the release of his second book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” the film rights to which have already been sold for $5 million in what one industry journal called the “biggest and wildest book rights auction in memory.”

Grann deserves the attention. He’s canny about the stories he chases, he’s willing to go anywhere to chase them, and he’s a maestro in his ability to parcel out information at just the right clip: a hint here, a shading of meaning there, a smartly paced buildup of multiple possibilities followed by an inevitable reversal of readerly expectations or, in some cases, by a thrilling and dislocating pull of the entire narrative rug.

All of these strengths are on display in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Around the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered underneath Osage lands in the Oklahoma Territory, lands that were soon to become part of the state of Oklahoma. Through foresight and legal maneuvering, the Osage found a way to permanently attach that oil to themselves and shield it from the prying hands of white interlopers; this mechanism was known as “headrights,” which forbade the outright sale of oil rights and granted each full member of the tribe — and, supposedly, no one else — a share in the proceeds from any lease arrangement. For a while, the fail-safes did their job, and the Osage got rich — diamond-ring and chauffeured-car and imported-French-fashion rich — following which quite a large group of white men started to work like devils to separate the Osage from their money. And soon enough, and predictably enough, this work involved murder. Here in Jazz Age America’s most isolated of locales, dozens or even hundreds of Osage in possession of great fortunes — and of the potential for even greater fortunes in the future — were dispatched by poison, by gunshot and by dynamite. […]

Stacked Books reviews Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers :

I’ve heard a lot of great things about Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Friends and co-workers tell me that his subjects are interesting and his writing style is easy to follow without talking down to the reader. I wasn’t disappointed with Outliers. In it, Gladwell tackles the subject of success – how people obtain it and what contributes to extraordinary success as opposed to everyday success.

The thesis – that our success depends much more on circumstances out of our control than any effort we put forth – isn’t exactly revolutionary. Most of us know it to be true. However, I don’t think I’m lying when I say that most of us also believe that we if we just try that much harder and develop our talent that much further, it will be enough to become wildly successful, despite bad or just mediocre beginnings. Not so, says Gladwell.

Most of the evidence Gladwell gives us is anecdotal, which is my favorite kind to read. I can’t really speak to how scientifically valid it is, but it sure makes for engrossing listening. For example, did you know that successful hockey players are almost all born in January, February, or March? Kids born during these months are older than the others kids when they start playing in the youth leagues, which means they’re already better at the game (because they’re bigger). Thus, they get more play time, which means their skill increases at a faster rate, and it compounds as time goes by. Within a few years, they’re much, much better than the kids born just a few months later in the year. Basically, these kids’ birthdates are a huge factor in their success as adults – and it’s nothing they can do anything about. If anyone could make hockey interesting to a Texan who only grudgingly admits the sport even exists, it’s Gladwell. […]

Quill and Quire reviews Rick Prashaw’s Soar, Adam, Soar :

Ten years ago, I read a book called Almost Perfect. The young-adult novel by Brian Katcher won some awards and was held up as a powerful, nuanced portrayal of a young trans person. But the reality did not live up to the book’s billing. Instead, it turned out to be a one-dimensional and highly fetishized portrait of a trans person’s life, one that was nevertheless repeatedly dubbed “realistic” and “affecting” by non-transgender readers possessing only a vague, mass-market understanding of trans experiences.

In the intervening decade, trans narratives have emerged further into the literary spotlight, but those authored by trans people ourselves – and by trans men in particular – have seemed to fall under the shadow of cisgender sensationalized imaginings. Two current Canadian releases – Soar, Adam, Soar and This One Looks Like a Boy – provide a pointed object lesson into why trans-authored work about transgender experiences remains critical.

To be fair, Soar, Adam, Soar isn’t just a story about a trans man. It’s also a story about epilepsy, the medical establishment, and coming of age as seen through a grieving father’s eyes. Adam, Prashaw’s trans son, died unexpectedly at age 22. Woven through the elder Prashaw’s narrative are excerpts from Adam’s social media posts, giving us glimpses into the young man’s interior life as he traverses his late teens and early 20s. […]

Book Geeks reviews Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love :

WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5

SUBJECT: 4/5

CANDIDNESS: 4.5/5

RELEVANCE: 3.5/5

ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

“Eat Pray Love” is so popular that it is almost impossible to not read it. Having felt ashamed many times on my not having read this book, I quietly ordered the book (before I saw the movie) from amazon.in and sat down to read it. I don’t remember what I expected it to be – maybe more like a chick lit thing but it turned out quite different. The book is a real story and is a short journal from the time when its writer went travelling to three different countries in pursuit of three different things – Italy (Pleasure), India (Spirituality), Bali (Balance) and this is what corresponds to the book’s name – EAT (in Italy), PRAY (in India) and LOVE (in Bali, Indonesia). These are also the three Is – ITALY, INDIA, INDONESIA.

Though she had everything a middle-aged American woman can aspire for – MONEY, CAREER, FRIENDS, HUSBAND; Elizabeth was not happy in her life, she wasn’t happy in her marriage. Having suffered a terrible divorce and terrible breakup soon after, Elizabeth was shattered. She didn’t know where to go and what to do – all she knew was that she wanted to run away. So she set out on a weird adventure – she will go to three countries in a year and see if she can find out what she was looking for in life. This book is about that life changing journey that she takes for one whole year. […]

Emily May reviews Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Goodreads:

Look, I'm not a happy crier. I might cry at songs about leaving and missing someone; I might cry at books where things don't work out; I might cry at movies where someone dies. I've just never really understood why people get all choked up over happy, inspirational things. But Michelle Obama's kindness and empathy changed that. This book had me in tears for all the right reasons.

This is not really a book about politics, though political experiences obviously do come into it. It's a shame that some will dismiss this book because of a difference in political opinion, when it is really about a woman's life. About growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about getting married and struggling to maintain that marriage; about motherhood; about being thrown into an amazing and terrifying position.

I hate words like "inspirational" because they've become so overdone and cheesy, but I just have to say it-- Michelle Obama is an inspiration. I had the privilege of seeing her speak at The Forum in Inglewood, and she is one of the warmest, funniest, smartest, down-to-earth people I have ever seen in this world.

And yes, I know we present what we want the world to see, but I truly do think it's genuine. I think she is someone who really cares about people - especially kids - and wants to give them better lives and opportunities.

She's obviously intelligent, but she also doesn't gussy up her words. She talks straight, with an openness and honesty rarely seen. She's been one of the most powerful women in the world, she's been a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she's had her own successful career, and yet she has remained throughout that same girl - Michelle Robinson - from a working class family in Chicago.

I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

Hopefully, this post has given you a better idea of how to write a book review. You might be wondering how to put all of this knowledge into action now! Many book reviewers start out by setting up a book blog. If you don’t have time to research the intricacies of HTML, check out Reedsy Discovery — where you can read indie books for free and review them without going through the hassle of creating a blog. To register as a book reviewer , go here .

And if you’d like to see even more book review examples, simply go to this directory of book review blogs and click on any one of them to see a wealth of good book reviews. Beyond that, it's up to you to pick up a book and pen — and start reviewing!

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Book review template

Subject: English

Age range: 5-7

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24 June 2016

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Book Reviews

'there's always this year' reflects on how we consider others — and ourselves.

Michael Schaub

It's a familiar phrase to any sports fan who realizes that a championship isn't in the cards this season: There's always next year . The statement, combining resignation with optimism, is sometimes said sincerely and sometimes ironically: Hope springs eternal, unless, of course, it doesn't.

Hanif Abdurraqib, who earned raves for his books Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest and A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance , puts a new spin on the saying in his latest, There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension . As in his previous books, Abdurraqib uses one subject as a lens through which he views the culture at large — it's about hoops, sure, but it's also about so much more. It's another remarkable book from one of the country's smartest cultural critics.

There's Always This Year is structured like a basketball game, with four sections each time-stamped to mimic the elapsing 12 minutes of a quarter. In the first quarter, Abdurraqib explores the sense of place, writing about his childhood in Columbus, Ohio, and a 2002 game between the city's Brookhaven Wildcats and Akron's St. Vincent–St. Mary Leprechauns. The Wildcats were state champions the previous season, but the Leprechauns had a star player up their sleeve: a towering forward named LeBron James. Brookhaven couldn't pull out the victory.

Abdurraqib's chronicle of the game is fascinating, but it's his analysis of James — as a person, a baller, a phenomenon — that shines: "I have sat at the feet of poets who told me that there is power in withholding. In not offering the parts of yourself that people are most eager to see. In the high school career of LeBron James, there was access to his dominance, but not always access to whatever struggles he might have been pushing through. And it proved hard for people to stay fascinated with dominance, especially if they were on the losing side of it, especially in consideration of who was doing the dominating."

Abdurraqib returns to James later in the book, writing about the star's decision to leave his near-hometown Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat, a move that devastated Cavs fans who loved having their local legend wearing the wine and gold. "And sometimes people leave because they have to survive," he writes. "Sometimes people leave because staying has run its course, a course littered with failures. I know what it is to leave in hopes that whatever has failed me isn't a part of my own internal makeup, that it is a place dragging me down, beckoning me toward all my worst impulses."

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But Abdurraqib isn't only interested in champions. He writes about the newly LeBron-less Cavaliers with sharp insight and an amused affection: "There was pleasure in watching this aimless disaster of a team. Veteran castoffs who had been given up on, young players who seemed, mostly, bewildered by the pace and intensity of the games, forced to play minutes because someone had to, after all. At a certain point, it seemed anyone who could run up and down the court would do." Abdurraqib knows well what Jim McKay memorably called "the agony of defeat," but he knows that the losses — and the Cavs had 63 that season — can tell us more about ourselves, and one another, than the wins.

There's no doubt that basketball fans will find much to love in There's Always This Year , but as great as Abdurraqib is at examining the sport, he's even better when he explores tangents. He writes, astutely, about the films He Got Game, Above the Rim , and White Men Can't Jump , blending analysis with memoir, and the result is vulnerable and genuinely moving.

In one remarkable section, inspired by James' departure from Cleveland, Abdurraqib — a lover of music — is moved to reflect on songs about people leaving, whether via car, train, or airplanes, touching on Gladys Knight's "Midnight Train to Georgia" and Jo Dee Messina's "Heads Carolina, Tails California." "But it's the planes you've got to worry about," Abdurraqib writes. "If someone in a song is leaving on a plane, they aren't coming back. You will ache until the ache becomes so familiar, you forget to feel it at all." He segues into another genre — what he calls "the Begging Song," citing Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, and James Brown as expert practitioners. It's a perfect example of what Abudrraqib can do so well: carom from subject to subject while never losing sight of what unites them.

There's Always This Year is another brilliant book from Abdurraqib, who has firmly established himself as one of the country's most original and talented authors. It's also a piercing look at how we consider others, as well as ourselves: "We will leave our enemies behind here and never turn to face them again. But this is not a story about heroes, either. Not everyone will die. No one will live forever."

COMMENTS

KS2 Book Review Template (teacher made)
Help KS2 learners to write a comprehensive book review using this template as a guide to help organise their ideas. Explore this template and more exciting English resources by creating your very own Twinkl account! The template enables them to reflect on the book in a number of ways, prompting them to: Illustrate their favourite scene. Write a synopsis. Write about who they would recommend ...
Book review template
For a more interactive approach, try our Pencil Shaped Interactive Book Review Writing Template and get them practising their motor skills with paper folding as well. Congratulate your children on their reading by using these reading certificate templates. Or to see our entire range of Year 5-6 resources for English Literacy, just visit our ...
Responding to Reading
Help teach your KS2 classes how to write book reviews (KS2) by using our extensive range of book review examples. Recently Viewed and Downloaded › Recently Viewed › Recently Downloaded . ... Year 3 . 8 - 9 years old . Year 4 . 9 - 10 years old . Year 5 . 10 - 11 years old . Year 6 ...
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588 Top "Book Review Year 3" Teaching Resources curated for you.
Superhero-Themed CfE First Level Book Review Template. Explore more than 588 "Book Review Year 3" resources for teachers, parents and pupils as well as related resources on "Year 3 Book Review". Instant access to inspirational lesson plans, schemes of work, assessment, interactive activities, resource packs, PowerPoints, teaching ideas at Twinkl!
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Age range: 7-11. Resource type: Worksheet/Activity. File previews. doc, 33.5 KB. These two Book review templates,will help your pupils to start to building great book reviews of their own in no time. The first form, guides them with questions to answer. Once confident they can progress to the second sheet which is blank. Sheets are graded for KS2.
Writing a book review
Writing a book review. Part of English Comprehension Year 3 Year 4. Save to My Bitesize Remove from My Bitesize. Jump to. Discussing a book; Activity 1; Activity 2; Discussing a book.
Book Review Writing Checklist (teacher made)
A handy checklist for the key features of a book review, teaching children how to write a book review KS2. ... Year 3 . 9 - 10 years old . Year 4 . 10 - 11 years old . Year 5 . 11 - 14 years old . Year 6 - Year 9 . 14+ years old ...
In-Depth (Book Review Writing Template) (Teacher-Made)
Help your children to write the best book review they can with this creative book review worksheet. This template enables them to reflect on the book by drawing a book cover for it, and by thinking about the different events in the book. If you liked this resource check out this non-fiction book review worksheet. Twinkl Australia 5 - 6 ...
Best Books for Year 3
Year Groups. Year 4 --->. Find the 100 best children's books for children in Year 3 (aged 7 to 8 years old) here.
Best Books for Year 3: Recommended Booklist for Ages 7-8
50 Best Books for Y3 (Ages 7-8) We've selected 50 top recommended books for Year 3 (children aged seven and eight). Find the best books to level up your Y3 reading collections with our carefully selected list of storytime chapter books, independent reads, funny stories, picturebooks, poetry collections, graphic novels, non-fiction texts and more. . There's something for all tastes, but ...
KS2 Book Review Template (teacher made)
Help KS2 learners to write a book review using this template as a guide to help organise their ideas. Used for World Book Day. This is an excellent starting sheet for KS2, those preparing for 11+ find it easy to progrss to the more advanced sheet. It also encourages younger children to review what they have read.
Book Review Worksheet for kids
Use this simple Book Review Worksheet to encourage your class to share opinions on their favourite books, whether they are read in class or at home. ... I'm using this in my reading corner book review folder. Year 3. Helpful. Thank you for your feedback. titiza - Verified member since 2020 . Reviewed on 21 February 2024 . Helpful.
How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide
The real value of crafting a well-written book review for a student does not lie in their ability to impact book sales. Understanding how to produce a well-written book review helps students to: Engage critically with a text. Critically evaluate a text. Respond personally to a range of different writing genres.
Books for Year 3 children aged 7-8
Year 3 recommended reading list for children aged 7-8. Books for Year 3. The following list, compiled by highly experienced and qualified teachers and librarians with extensive understanding of children's literature, includes over 40 short chapter books as well as more advanced picture book titles. The broad selection of books on our Year 3 ...
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Examples: Learn from the efforts of others. Learning how to write strong reviews takes time and not a little effort. Reading the reviews others have done can help you get a feel for the flow and flavor of reviews. If I Never Forever Endeavor. Review by Hayden, age 4, Southeast Michigan Mensa.
Book Review Writing Checklist (teacher made)
In general, you should include: The name of the author and the book title and the main theme. The context of the book and/or your review. Placing your review in a framework that makes sense to your audience and alerts readers to your "take" on the book. While book reviews vary in tone, subject, and style, they share some common features.
17 Book Review Examples to Help You Write the Perfect Review
It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking. Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry's Freefall, a crime novel: In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it's a more subtle process, and that's OK too.
579 Top "Book Review Year 3" Teaching Resources curated for you
Year 3 Book -Themed Maths Code Breaker Activity 1 review. Science: Light Year 3 Unit Book Cover 4 reviews. KS2 Stone Age Story 'How to Skin a Bear' Adult Guidance 1 review. Year 3 Animals Including Humans Reasoning and Reviewing Graphic Organiser 1 review.
Book review template
Book review template. Subject: English. Age range: 5-7. Resource type: Worksheet/Activity. File previews. doc, 34 KB. doc, 32 KB. doc, 25.5 KB. Here are 3 versions of a book template which I adapted to my year 2/3 class.
Level 3 Writing
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Hanif Abdurraqib's 'There's Always This Year' book review : NPR
It's another remarkable book from one of the country's smartest cultural critics. There's Always This Year is structured like a basketball game, with four sections each time-stamped to mimic the ...
Book Report: How To Write A Book Report/ Review
Using this Book Review Writing Checklist details the important information that should be included in their book review by posing questions that your students can check off as they write. Year 3 and 4 Examining and Responding to Any Fiction Novel: If you're looking to teach your students more about book reports and reviews in more depth in the ...

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