Now we’ve discovered the reasons book reviews are essential for both authors and readers, let’s explore how to structure a book review…
However, before we dive in to our Horseshoe Books review structure, it’s worth noting that there are no hard and fast rules as to what needs to go into a book review – let alone how it should be structured. So, please use this book review structure as a guideline as opposed to a fixed format.
REMEMBER: Don’t share spoilers, unless the platform on which you’re posting the review allows you to hide them! 🙂
Section 1 – Book details
A nice way to begin a review is to include information about the book in the form of its description or back cover blurb. This allows readers to assess whether the story interests them before leading into your review.
Additionally, it can be helpful to include the format through which you experienced the book, since readers might be interested in how a book is received in a specific medium, e.g. paperback, hardcover, or audiobook.
For instance, “I read the paperback version of Book Lovers by Emily Henry, and here is its back cover blurb…” or “I listened to an audiobook version of The Accidental Medium by Tracy Whitwell, and this is its description…”.
Section 2 – Disclaimers (if necessary)
If you received a free copy of the book through an ARC agreement or as a gift in exchange for an honest review, it is essential that you state this upfront.
Sometimes, it’s useful to let the potential readers know the approximate date you read the book, e.g. October 2025, in case they read it in an era that differs enough to have an impact on their perspective.
Section 3 – Your rating and overall impression
Creating your own rating system is a brilliant visual method of conveying your thoughts about a book at a glance. Whether you use an out-of-three, five-star, or ten-point rating system, the most important aspect of it is that it makes sense to illustrate your opinion.
Then, it’s often beneficial to include an overall impression of the book. In our hectic world, readers may not always have time to read in-depth reviews – so a combination of your rating and general opinion of the book could be enough to support their decision to read or not to read.
An example of this section in a review could be, “I give this book a rating of 4/5 because I enjoyed the relatable writing style, fast-paced plot, and winding story structure – which included a plot twist I didn’t see coming! But I’ve removed a point from my rating because I disliked the love interest; there were aspects of their behaviour I didn’t find believable.”
TOP TIP: To enhance this section of your review, you could also include a quote or two that inspired you while reading 🙂
Some reviewers end their review here. For many, an overall impression and rating offer enough insight into a book’s reception, when combined with a number of other reviews. However, there are many readers who love exploring book reviews that cover the various individual elements making up the structure of a story…
Section 4 – Your thoughts on character development
Including your opinions about the development of characters in a novel can enhance your review.
Aspects of character development you might want to explore could be considered as questions, for instance:
- How would you describe the main character’s likeability, personality, and/or relatability?
- What do you think about the character’s backstory, i.e. was it believable? (No spoilers, though!)
- Did you find their character arc(s) satisfying?
Here’s an example of how you could frame the ‘character development’ section of a review: “I found the FMC (female main character) relatable because of how much she loves her cat! And her backstory was woven cleverly through the story via short flashbacks. I also liked her character arc, which ended in a way I didn’t expect but thoroughly enjoyed.”
Section 5 – Your thoughts on plot
Plot is a vital aspect of most mainstream contemporary stories. It fuels the narrative through scenes that are often driven by the main character’s decisions as the story progresses.
Therefore, adding your thoughts on a book’s plot could help a potential reader determine whether that story is worth a read, e.g. “I loved the way the author used action scenes throughout the story; I also liked their use of dialogue and short sentences, which made the story super easy to read” or “I really wanted to like this story, though the pacing was so slow that I kept putting it down, and found it challenging to reach the end”.
Section 6 – Your thoughts on setting
Setting is more than just the place within which a story is set, since it encompasses aspects of how the story’s world functions, too. Another aspect of setting that needs to be considered is how immersed you felt while reading the book.
There are, of course, some genres that naturally focus on setting more than others – such as science-fiction and fantasy, where worldbuilding is carefully crafted as a major part of the narrative. For this reason, some book reviews may include paragraphs on setting, whereas others don’t mention setting at all.
Should you choose to include your opinion of a book’s setting in your review, this section could be as short or as long as you’d like! Here’s an example: “I found myself turning pages without realising, thanks to the incredible worldbuilding details that weren’t obvious but definitely made the characters’ surroundings feel real!”
Section 7 – Where to buy the book
In this section, you could also include the type of audience you believe would enjoy the book too. For example, “I think readers who liked The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley would enjoy reading this book as well”.
Have you written a novel that’d benefit from more reviews? If so, please visit our Services page and contact us for more information 🙂
Thanks for reading!
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