How to write a book review

By KKRKB founder Kate B. Gordon

Posting a review of a book that’s available from Kiwi Kids Read Kiwi Books that you and/or your children and teens have enjoyed is helpful for other book buyers to see if the book is likely to interest the young readers in their life.

If your child or teen would like to write the review themselves, fantastic!

Here are some tips on how to write a book review. Below we have listed how to post the review on the book page in the Kiwi Kids Read Kiwi Books online bookstore.

–       Start with sentence or two describing what the book is about but try not to give any spoilers or reveal the ending! You might like to mention if the book is part of a series.

–       Think about what you really liked about the book. Did you like the way it was told? Who was your favourite character and why? Did the story move at a good pace or keep you guessing? Which part of the book did you enjoy most and why? Where there any scenes – sad, exciting, scary or mysterious ones – that stayed with you after you finished the book? Did you laugh or cry? Was the book a page-turner?

–       Was there anything you disliked about the book? Not to necessarily be critical of the author, but maybe a scene was particularly scary or gritty and you think other parents/book buyers might like to be aware of that. Were there words or concepts you felt were too immature or mature for the intended audience?

–       Wrap up your review with a sentence or two summarising your thoughts and suggesting the type of reader you’d recommend the book to. Compare it to other books you think are similar if you think that might be helpful.

–       If you want, give the book a rating out of 5 or 10.

How to post your review on Kiwi Kids Read Kiwi Books

It doesn’t matter if you purchased the book you have reviewed from Kiwi Kids Read Kiwi Books or not. Everyone is welcome to leave a review of one of our Kiwi authors’ books if you choose. However, you will need to create a user account on the KKRKB website to leave a review.

–       You’re already on the website, https://kiwikidsreadkiwibooks.nz/

–       Scroll down to the bottom footer and click on ‘My account’.

–       If you’ve purchased from the site before you may already have a login. If you do, go ahead and log in with your username and password.

–       If you don’t have a login, enter your email address in the ‘register’ section. There is an option to subscribe to the KKRKB newsletter when you register. If you don’t want to subscribe, untick the box.

–       Once you’re logged in, you need to find the book you want to review. The fastest way is to type the book’s name in the search field.

–       Once you’ve found the book and opened its book page, scroll down to find ‘More Details’ and ‘Reviews’ on the left. Click on ‘Reviews’.

–       Type your review in the space provided. You can add a rating as well if you like.

–       Click ‘Submit’. Your review will be posted once okayed by the website admin team.

Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. It means a lot to every author to have readers’ feedback.