Review Formula and Criteria
Anyone can find a book review intended to inform a purchase decision. Just go to Amazon, find a book, and look for a consumer review, and you've got an opinion to help you decide whether or not you want to buy. Anybody can read a book and say whether or not they liked it, and a good many will
That's not what you will find here. I intend for these reviews to supplement and improve the reading experience with moderate analysis, to make composition techniques and critical questions obvious. These reviews are written from an editor's perspective.
In these reviews I will, of course, provide a blurb and comment on whether or not I enjoyed the reading experience, but I'll ask other questions as well, such as:
- How well written is the prose?
- What is the most thought-provoking aspect of the work?
- Where are the most glaring missed opportunities?
- Where did the author draw inspiration from?
The Review Formula
These book reviews have an introduction, sections for analysis I feel is relevant, and a conclusion which will discuss what audience will be most interested in it, as well as a final verdict on overall quality.
The final verdict has five levels.
- Platinum: As close to perfect as I can reasonably expect, and a must-read.
- Gold: Excellent, or at least Very Good. There are faults, but the experience is untarnished.
- Silver: Good to Average. If it isn't at least Silver, I don't recommend re-reading it.
- Bronze: Mediocre to poor. Perhaps a decent one-time read, and perhaps it has salvage value.
- Mud: Trash with no redeeming value and nothing salvageable.
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