A BOOK REVIEW

 USEFUL LANGUAGE TO WRITE A BOOK REVIEW

Introduction:

• The book/novel was written by…
• This well-written/informative/fascinating book…
• This original first novel…
• This novel is based on…
• “ __” is a powerful first novel by…

Main body

• The story is set in …. (rural Spain at the beginning of the XV century)
• The story takes place…
• The book tells the story of…
• The story begins/ is about…
• The story is told by…
• The plot focuses on….
• “___” is rich and detailed in plot.
• The plot has an unexpected twist…
• The plot is absolutely thrilling/ boring/clever/ exciting…
• A plot with well-developed believable characters.
• The character I like best is

General comments and opinion

• The characters are very well drawn and readers can identify with them easily.
• The story is totally convincing.
• It has a tragic/dramatic /surprising end.
• There was an unexpected twist to the story.
• What we don’t learn until the end is…
• What I liked best was (the way)…
• What I didn’t like was…
• My only reservation about this book…

Recommendations

• Don’t miss it.
• I would/wouldn’t recommend it because…
• It is at the top of my list.
• It’s a highly entertaining read.
• Don’t bother with this one.
• It’s well-worth reading.
• It will change the way you see…
• It’s a bore to read.
• I definitely recommend that you add this book to your collection.
• The book was so good that I couldn’t put it down..
• The book certainly lived up to my expectations.

Adjectives to describe a book

• Positive: gripping, best-selling, intriguing, thrilling, fascinating, enthralling, evocative, heart-warming, sensitive, memorable, powerful, beautifully written, engaging, fascinating.
• Negative: disturbing, unconvincing, preposterous, predictable, dull, unimaginative, poorly-written, confusing.
• Neutral: fast-paced (most of them collocate with the adjectives above).

Adverbs (most of them collocate with the adjectives above)

• Amazingly, considerably, exceedingly, extraordinarily, extremely, highly, immensely, noticeably, radically, remarkably, significantly, totally, truly, utterly.

Listen to the following booktuber (6,09) and answer the questions:

https://youtu.be/M0qL4zzIuC8

1. What genre is the book?
2. Who is the author?
3. Where is the setting?
4. Write two adjectives Hannah uses to describe the book?

Another example of a popular booktubers: https://youtu.be/XuXhqIsb2sk

Reading Comprehension: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/reading-zone/a2-graded-reading/wonder-book-review-a2