ORDER YOUR PAPER

15% off today

from a verified trusted writer

total: $11.23
Book Report and Book Review: Breaking It Down

Book Report Vs. Book Review (Differences and Similarities)

Many of us become accustomed to writing book reports at a very young age. Elementary classrooms are often decorated with templates for this paper: author, title, characters, setting, problem/conflict, main events, conclusion, etc. These common stepping stones are in place to prepare students for years of formal book reporting. The good news is that they actually do represent the necessary components. If this is what a book report entails, what sort of things the review will offer?

A book review is an analysis or critical review of a story that evaluates how well it achieves its purpose. Ultimately, did the author accomplish what they set out to do?

  • Did they efficiently convey their argument to the reader?
  • Were you convinced by their evidence and support statements?
  • Was their writing organized?
  • How well did they compare to similar pieces in the same category?

In this article, we will look at the key elements of and the difference between a book report and book review and how to avoid confusing the two. We will also provide a guide to writing a paper that will fit all the needed criteria.

Book Report: Main Characteristics

A book report is primarily a factual account of the contents of a story. Your main goal would be to accurately summarize the information in the piece. You would need to provide the reader with the author's name, title, the number of pages, publication date, author's thesis, main events or main ideas, the organization of the book, and setting and characters (if you can apply it).

The book report should also give the reader a full picture of the story by including an equal summary of each section. Lastly, you are allowed to, and should, insert some of your final thoughts and the opinions of the piece. Your opinion should be small in comparison to your summary but may highlight your recommendations or any particular things that you liked or disliked. You may want to indicate your preferences of a particular genre or writing style. Do you normally prefer fiction books over non-fiction ones? If this is a non-fiction piece, did that aspect influence your opinion about it at all?

Book reports are easy to prepare and straight to the point. Keeping your summary substantial and your final thoughts minimal should ensure you've prepared a suitable paper.

The Tricky Part: Book Review

A book review can be seen as a more sophisticated approach to understanding and relaying the same information presented in a report. It can be described as "sophisticated" in that the work requires a greater level of effort, thoughtfulness, and is an analysis as compared to a book report. As students grow, so does their ability to think critically. The graduation from a report to a review enables an individual to take the information obtained in a report and apply it to higher order thought processes: analyzing, criticizing, persuading, and evaluating.

At times, the greatest challenge for students is establishing solid points of analysis and identifying what aspects of the book are worth exploring. Before attempting to probe any area of the story, students should have:

  1. a precise understanding of the author's main argument (that requires you to read the book);
  2. a preliminary list of issues addressed with appropriate evidence;
  3. a clear position on whether to recommend the novel to others and why.

This is the information about the piece that your review will include. When explaining your position, you can argue about many issues in favor or disfavor of the plot. Examples include the author's voice and writing style. Was it clear? Did you enjoy the style of writing? What changes would you like to see and why?

After reading and identifying these key points, you will hopefully be more prepared to provide a critical assessment. Keep in mind that your end goal is to persuade the audience and provide clear arguments.

Evaluation Areas to Consider

Look for some key points found in an evaluation rubric for a writing assessment.

  • audience/purpose
  • organization
  • elaboration (support details)
  • use of language

Think of it as "checking" the author's work and reviewing it as you would be a peer or, in some respects, as a teacher would for a student. Though you should not be as much concerned about the technical setup as you should be about how well of a job the author did when writing a book conveying the message and achieving the purpose of their writing.

Additionally, note any significant flaws in the author's general writing ability and highlight their strengths. A strength would be an area in which the author did an exceptional job exhibiting their point to the reader.

Sample Book Review Setup

  1. Introduction/Background.
    This section of your review is self-explanatory and should contain the title, publication information, author's name and background, category of writing they present, a bit of history, the purpose of the writing, and your main thesis statement.
  2. Short Summary.
    In this brief section, you will replicate what is done by simply summarizing the piece. Keep it concise. Try to only highlight the main events and noteworthy aspects.
  3. Analysis/Assessment.
    This is the meat of your paper and the main reason for writing. As stated earlier, your purpose is to analyze and evaluate. Here, you should provide a critical assessment of the story's central argument, evidence to support it, organizational structure, and how well it fulfills its objective.
  4. Conclusion.
    Sum up what you have been suggesting throughout your review. Restate your opinion in a concise sentence or two and provide a final statement. Would you recommend it or not? How does it fit in on a larger scale as it relates to its impact and contribution to its genre and literature?

Avoiding Confusion

A lot of the confusion usually lies with the book review. It's not difficult for many people to write a report because it is primarily a summary. If asked to write a review, the student may extend the summary section a bit too far and include details that do not support their argument (to persuade the reader one way or the other). Likewise, when doing a report, the writer should be cautious of not inserting too much opinion and losing the focus which is to relay factual information.

Maintaining the needed balance between fact and opinion is one of the best ways to successfully write both book reports and reviews.

When you are faced with such an assignment, it can be hard to wrap your head around the concepts and the way you're supposed to proceed with preparing your paper. If the pressure is too much, there is an option you can use to ease your burden. Ask for custom writing help!

All of our writers are proficient in report and review writing and can guarantee you the highest grade imaginable. They will prepare a detailed analysis completed with appropriate critical comments. With our company, you get low prices, absolutely high quality, and total confidentiality.

Our TOP writers

TOP 10
Writer 103589
ID 103589

Master's in Project Management, PMP, Six Sigma

Rating 97.2%
(97.2%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (8) about writer 103589

3590 written pages

600 orders

576 a+ papers

My Master’s degree and comprehensive writing experience allow me to complete any order fast and hit the nail on the head every time.

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 85466
ID 85466

MBA, PMP, ITIL

Rating 97.6%
(97.6%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (7) about writer 85466

13721 written pages

2288 orders

2242 a+ papers

I am experienced writer with an MBA, PMP, ITIL, that consistently delivers unique, quality papers. I take pride in my experience and quickness.

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 47072
ID 47072

MS in Human Resource Management

Rating 99.2%
(99.2%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (9) about writer 47072

11738 written pages

3913 orders

3756 a+ papers

I hold a MS degree in Human Resource and my goal is to help students with flawless, unique papers, delivered on time.

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 158902
ID 158902

RN, MSN, PCN, PHN

Rating 97.9%
(97.9%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (6) about writer 158902

518 written pages

132 orders

124 a+ papers

As Registered Nurse (RN, PCN), I can quickly deal with any medical paper. My expertise and writing skills are perfect for this job.

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 106387
ID 106387

MPA, MHA

Rating 99%
(99%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (8) about writer 106387

5269 written pages

586 orders

557 a+ papers

I have MPA, MHA degrees but, most importantly, experience and skills to provide unique, well-written papers on time.

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 128170
ID 128170

DNP, BA, APN, PMHNP-BC

Rating 99.5%
(99.5%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (9) about writer 128170

2545 written pages

850 orders

791 a+ papers

I can write about multiple areas and countless topics, as I have a DNP and BA degrees. High-quality writing is my second name.

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 125292
ID 125292

PhD in American History

Rating 99.5%
(99.5%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (8) about writer 125292

4434 written pages

493 orders

429 a+ papers

A PhD in American history comes handy. Unique papers, any topics, swift delivery — helping with academic writing is my passion.

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 127980
ID 127980

MA, PsyD, LMFT

Rating 99.2%
(99.2%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (7) about writer 127980

2905 written pages

416 orders

404 a+ papers

Incredibly fast PsyD writer. Efficient paper writing for college. Hundreds of different tasks finished. Satisfaction guaranteed.

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 124685
ID 124685

MEd, NCC, LPC, LMFT

Rating 98.8%
(98.8%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (9) about writer 124685

2522 written pages

316 orders

278 a+ papers

Top-ranked writer with tons of experience. Ready to take on any task, and make it unique, as well as objectively good. Always ready!

hire writer
TOP 10
Writer 99423
ID 99423

MSW, LICSWA, DSW-C

Rating 98.5%
(98.5%)
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (8) about writer 99423

22748 written pages

2844 orders

2588 a+ papers

Experienced Social Work expert focused on good writing, total uniqueness, and customer satisfaction. My goal — to help YOU.

hire writer

Buy your papers from the best writing service

Have your tasks done by our professionals to get the best possible results.

total: $11.23
Confidentiality

NO Billing information is kept with us. You pay through secure and verified payment systems.

Quality

All papers we provide are of the highest quality with a well-researched material, proper format and citation style.

Communication

Our 24/7 Support team is available to assist you at any time. You also can communicate with your writer during the whole process.

Authorship

You are the single owner of the completed order. We DO NOT resell any papers written by our expert

Originality

All orders are done from scratch following your instructions. Also, papers are reviewed for plagiarism and grammar mistakes.

Samples

You can check the quality of our work by looking at various paper examples in the Samples section on our website.

Special price $11.23/page
Place an order
63,000
more than 63,000 times students trusted us to write their papers
9/10
9 out of 10 customers recommend us*
92%
92% of our customers have placed more than 7 orders
*data is based on 6,568 customers' feedback received from Jan 1, 2017 till Jan 1, 2018.
Special price $11.23/page
Place an order
Customer #5583

I hate writing any analysis-related papers. Your service is my salvation! Can relax without worries that my prof will be unsatisfied with my ideas. Also, one of the cheapest services I've used!

Customer #3835

Good! I hardly trust any online services and was kinda skeptic when ordered my coursework. Everything went ok though deadline extension was kinda unexpected. Quality was acceptable.

Estimated Deadline: Monday, Dec 23 12:55 PM in Your timezone
Total price: $11.23
Price starts from $11.23
Regular discounts and offers
Excellent results guaranteed
Professional 24/7 support

Free samples of our work

There are different types of essays: narrative, persuasive, compare\contrast, definition and many many others. They are written using a required citation style, where the most common are APA and MLA. We want to share some of the essays samples written on various topics using different citation styles.

services
Hey, you...Yes, you! Don’t you want to get your Discount?
binder1
binder2
Your discount will be
sent to the email!

I have read and agree to the Terms of Use, Money Back Guarantee, Privacy and Cookie Policy of BestCustomWriting.com

  • dmca_logo
  • safecharge
  • trustpilot

Use your opportunity to get a discount!

To get your special discount, write your email below

  • dmca_logo
  • safecharge
  • trustpilot

Best papers and best prices!

Want to get quality paper done on time cheaper?

  • dmca_logo
  • safecharge
  • trustpilot