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How to Write a Review on Google: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing a review on Google is a straightforward process. It allows you to share your experiences with a business, place, or service, providing valuable feedback for others. After reading this overview, you’ll know exactly how to leave a review on Google.

Step by Step Tutorial: How to Write a Review on Google

Before you start writing your review, it’s important to know why we do it. Reviews help others make informed decisions and can also give businesses insight into what they’re doing right or wrong.

Step 1: Sign in to your Google account

Make sure you’re logged into your Google account, as you’ll need to be signed in to leave a review.

When you’re signed in, Google knows that you’re a real person, and it lends credibility to your review. It also allows you to manage your reviews and keep track of where you’ve left feedback.

Step 2: Search for the business you want to review

Type the name of the business into the Google search bar or find it on Google Maps.

Google has made it easy to find businesses. If you recently visited the place, it might even show up in your search history or on your maps timeline, making it even easier to locate.

Step 3: Click on the ‘Write a Review’ button

On the business’s Google listing, you’ll see a button or link that says ‘Write a Review.’

The ‘Write a Review’ button is usually found at the bottom of the business’s Google listing or in the reviews section. It’s prominent and easy to find.

Step 4: Rate the business and write your review

Select the number of stars you want to give the business and type your review into the text box.

Be honest and specific in your review. The best reviews include both what you liked and what you think could be improved. Remember, your feedback can really help others.

Step 5: Publish your review

After you’ve written your review, click the ‘Post’ button to share it with the world.

Once you hit ‘Post,’ your review will be live for everyone to see. You can always go back and edit it if you need to make changes.

After you post your review, it will be publicly visible on the business’s Google listing. Other users will be able to read your feedback, and the business might even respond to your comments.

Tips for Writing a Review on Google

• Make your review detailed and specific.
• Be honest but also fair and respectful.
• Mention specific employees if they provided exceptional service.
• Avoid using offensive language or personal attacks.
• Check your spelling and grammar before posting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i edit my review after posting it.

Yes, you can edit your review after posting it by finding it in your Google account and selecting the ‘Edit’ option.

Editing your review is simple and can be done any time if you feel like you need to add or change something.

What should I do if a business responds to my review?

If a business responds to your review, you can read their message and choose whether to reply or not.

It’s always nice to see businesses interacting with their customers, and a response might give you new insights or resolve any issues you had.

Can I leave a review without a Google account?

No, you need a Google account to leave a review, as it helps verify that reviews are coming from real users.

Creating a Google account is easy and free, and it allows you to take full advantage of all Google services.

How many stars should I give in my review?

The number of stars you give should reflect your overall experience with the business, where 1 star is very poor, and 5 stars is excellent.

Be thoughtful when choosing your star rating, as it can significantly impact a business’s overall rating.

Can I leave a review for any business?

You can leave a review for any business that has a Google listing, which is most businesses these days.

If you can’t find the business you’re looking for, it might not have a Google listing yet, or it might be listed under a different name.

• Sign in to your Google account.
• Search for the business.
• Click ‘Write a Review.’
• Rate and write your review.
• Publish your review.

Writing a review on Google is a powerful way to voice your opinion about a business. Not only does it help other customers, but it also holds businesses accountable for their level of service. Whether you had a positive or negative experience, your review can lead to improvements and help the business to grow and adapt. In today’s digital age, where online presence is everything, your review has the potential to make a real impact. So, the next time you feel strongly about a service or place you’ve visited, take a few minutes to write a review on Google. It’s simple, it’s impactful, and it helps create a transparent and informed community.

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

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How To Write Reviews Like A Yelp Elite

Did you know: 92 percent of consumers who use consumer online review sites say they usually make a purchase after visiting Yelp — and most the time they do so within the same week.

The Yelp Elite Squad and their reviews are a huge part of that! The Elite community is the heart and soul of Yelp, and Yelp Elites typically write our best, most-read reviews, motivating consumers to book appointments, step into businesses and keep their money in the local economy.

With this in mind, we sought to pick the brains of our Yelp Elite Squad members about their writing process, and more than 850 Yelp Elites from across the United States and Canada responded to our survey.

Looking to up your review game, perhaps to get that “Elite” icon on your reviews? Check out what Yelp Elites had to say about how and why they write.

Remember the “why” behind reviews: helping others

By far, Yelp Elites’ biggest motivation is to give back to local businesses with honest feedback and to give back to the Yelp community by helping steer users in the right direction. Add in a desire to spread city pride, celebrate experiences and create a log of where they’ve been (similar to having a blog), and you have the makings of Yelp Elite reviews. Plus, it’s fun to write reviews!

I write reviews to share information that I’d want if I was looking and to help people find unexpected spots. There is so much to explore and enjoy within a short distance, and I want to help others find adventure right here. — Anita S , Orange Park, Fla.

Use details to show, not tell

What was true in your high school English class is still true today: Show, don’t tell. Don’t just say that a business was “good” or “bad” — use details to paint a picture of your experience.

Customer service tops the list of helpful descriptors, as well as ambiance, cleanliness, overall quality, cost, wait times, parking, location, names of helpful staff and any stand-out factors. Include all aspects of your experience, not just one thing, like only the food your ordered.

If you have a particular perspective to share — as a parent, vegetarian, LGBTQ, gluten-free eater, part of a large group, etc. — that can be helpful to include as well.

As a disabled Yelp Elite, I am first and foremost known as writing from a disability perspective. … I also give strong consideration to customer service, quality of service/product and who is most likely to appreciate the business. — Richard P , Indianapolis

Keep readers engaged by telling a story

To keep reviews creative and fun, write a review as if you’re talking about your experience with a friend. Make it conversational, honest and full of your personality. It also helps to envision your review as if you’re telling a story.

Some other tips for keeping eyeballs on your reviews: Re-read and edit before hitting “Post Review.” Use humor, but steer clear of sarcasm and inside jokes.

I try to keep it personal so it’s like them sitting down with me and saying, “Tell me what you thought?” …  I want to offer details so they know what to expect and how they can personalize the experience for themselves. — Etienne B , Louisville

Check emotions before writing negative reviews

Yelp Elites don’t relish writing negative reviews, so many said they ask themselves if the poor experience was due to one bad night or something bigger. To get to the heart of this, many try to visit a business multiple times and, most importantly, bring issues to management first and give them a chance to respond.

Be constructive with criticism, not mean. Don’t write a review out of anger; take some time to calm down. And stick to the facts, not emotions.

Did I give them an opportunity to make it right in person? … My mom always told me to make sure anything I said about anyone behind their back was something I’d be willing to repeat to their face. I think that holds true with reviews. — Anna B , Minneapolis

Check in to keep track of businesses to review

Want to make sure you don’t forget a review to write? Yelp Elites like to keep a running list by checking in on Yelp.  Yay to bonus  check-in offers as well! Some Yelp Elites also bookmark businesses to save them to a “To Review” Collection .

It helps to review a business within 24-48 hours of visiting. Take photos. A list of places you’ve checked out on Yelp is also available if you click on “Write A Review.”

Checking in on the Yelp app! I have a few friends that make fun of me for always wanting to “check-in,” but seriously, it is so helpful. This is especially true if I visited a place out of town and would otherwise forget it. — Juliet A , Washington, D.C.

Use downtime as a consistent time to write

Some Yelp Elites’ favorite times to review include before bed or when waking up, during the commute, on lunch breaks or — gasp! — while procrastinating at work.

Others set aside time to write reviews on their calendars. It can be a cathartic way to reflect on the week before the next week starts.

As a first time parent of a one-year-old, it is very challenging to consistently write reviews … but I try to find time when the baby is sleeping or if I have some downtime during a lunch break. Writing on Yelp is my “me time” that I value. — Danny K , Chicago

Photos can help you remember details

Photos are huge when it comes to keeping details fresh. Yelp Elites snap away by taking pics of food, interiors, exteriors, menus, items for sale, services done on their homes and more. They also use these to jog their memories when it comes time to write reviews, as well as posting them with their reviews with helpful captions.

Another pro tip: Open up a new review for a business on Yelp, and take some notes while you’re still at the business. Yelp will keep the unpublished reviews in Drafts , so you can go back and refine before hitting “post.”

When inspiration comes, jot it down. Often times, I’ll have a couple of unfinished reviews. There are bits and pieces of notes I place there to later elaborate when I have time. — Cindy W , Walnut, Calif.

Yelp is more than restaurants plus other tips

Some parting tips from the Yelp Elites: Review more than just restaurants. Review doctors, your plumber, shops, your hair stylist, dog groomer, contractor and more.

Keep in mind what a business is trying to achieve, and review against that. Update reviews if you’re a regular, and it’s been a bit since you last wrote about the business.

Lastly, “friend” other reviewers you like, and use their reviews as extra inspiration. Bonus points: Compliment and vote other reviews “useful,” “funny” and “cool” to help spread the love.

I recommend you get in the habit of reading a lot of reviews. There are great writers out there. Follow Yelpers who you enjoy reading reviews from. Write how you like reviews to read. — Christine C , Houston

Do you have what it takes to be Yelp Elite?

The Yelp Elite Squad is made up of the most active and influential yelpers and are a key part of our local Yelp communities — online and off. They are über-consumers and trendsetters who adventure with purpose, love supporting local businesses, strive to uncover hidden gems and are vocal about what they love about their cities.

They come together regularly for exclusive, behind-the-scenes events at local businesses. There are also giveaways that are just for Yelp Elites and other cool opportunities that pop up. Learn more and nominate yourself at yelp.com/elite .

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How to Write a Review on Google

Help others by sharing your experience

Leaving a restaurant or local business after having experienced exceptionally good or bad service may inspire you to write a review of your experience. Doing so helps other potential patrons know what to expect from that establishment. A popular place to leave reviews, due to its visibility, is Google.

When you look for a business on the search engine, the ratings are one of the first things to come up. So how can you add your voice and share your own experience?

Google reviews is a feature on Google Maps, and as long as you have your own Google account you can start writing online reviews for businesses you’ve visited. There is even a chance to become what’s called a Local Guide, and you can get points for each review you leave to increase your level and visibility on review pages. 

In this article, we’ll walk you through how to write reviews, and how the Local Guide program works.

Leaving a review for any place you’ve visited is easy. You just need a Gmail account. If the establishment you visited doesn’t have a page on Google Maps, you also have the ability to add it to leave your review.

Here’s how to leave a new review on Google:

• In the Google search engine, search for the business name that you visited. You can also use a mobile device to do this in a browser, or on the Google Maps app for Android or iPhone.
• If the establishment has a Google business profile, it will come up as the first result. If it is a chain store, make sure to double-check the address of the location you visited. Next to the star rating of the business, click on the number of reviews.

• The business’s reviews page will open in a pop-up. In the top-right corner, click on the Write a review button.

• Select the number of stars you want to rate the business, 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. You can’t leave empty stars, so you’ll need to select at least 1. Underneath that, you can expand on your rating and describe your experience. Under the text box, you can also add pictures if you have any. 

• When you’ve finished your rating and review, click on Post and it will be posted to the business’s review page.

Now that you’ve written your review, others will be able to see it by scrolling through the reviews section. Google may place your review higher or lower depending on how recent it is compared to others’ reviews, your influence as a Local Guide, or how a user chooses to have the reviews sorted. 

How to Become a Local Guide

If you frequent Google review pages, you may notice that some people have a Local Guide tag. This can place their review above other customer reviews, especially if they have reviewed many places. If you want to become a Local Guide yourself, the process is actually very simple. 

• Go to maps.google.com/localguides . 
• Click on the Get Started button.

• On the next page, enter your city. Then check the boxes below to agree to the terms. Then, click on the Become a Local Guide button.

• You will automatically be redirected to your contributions page on Google Maps. From here, you can see your Local Guide level.

Underneath your Local Guide level, you’ll see the amount of points you have. You earn points by contributing to Google Maps, which includes reviews. You can earn extra points for things like reviews with over 200 characters, adding a photo or video, and responding to others’ questions on a business review page.

You can earn a Local Guide badge once you hit level 4, or 250 points from contributions. With each level, you’ll get a new badge, all the way up to level 10. Points don’t expire, however, if a contribution you make is removed by Google for violating their content policy, your points for that contribution may be taken as well.

How to Find, Edit and Delete Reviews

If you decide you reviewed a business unfairly, or made a mistake in your review, deleting or editing it may be necessary. Thankfully, it’s easy to find your past reviews and delete or edit any of them.

• Go to Google Maps.
• Click on the three bars in the top-left corner.

• Click on Your contributions from the menu.

• Your profile will come up. From here, click on Reviews .

• Find the review you want to delete or edit from the list, and click on the three dots in the top-right corner of the review.

• Click on Edit Review or Delete Review . If you want to add a picture, you can also click on Add Photo .
• If you choose Delete Review, a confirmation will pop up and you can select Delete to confirm the deletion.

• If you choose Edit Review , your previous review will pop up and you can edit the star rating and the written review. You can also add photos here.

Help Others by Writing Google Reviews

Posting reviews on Google for businesses can help others looking for stores or restaurants find the best ones to suit their needs. So leaving honest reviews about places you visit can make it easy for potential customers to know what to expect. Customer feedback can also help small business owners out by leaving positive reviews to let them know what they’re doing well, and where they could improve.

Since she was a child, Kayla has had a fascination with technology, video games, and filmmaking. Growing up she wrote on multiple personal blogs about these topics, enjoying the process of breaking down technical concepts. Most recently her focus has shifted to writing, and Kayla now reviews and writes technology, video editing, and gaming related articles. Read Kayla's Full Bio

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How To Write a Great Online Review for a Small Business

Online reviews have added a new dimension to the “word of mouth” referral. A positive online review is  extremely powerful . In fact, a 2016 survey from Pew Research shows that  over 80% of U.S. adults  read reviews before they decide to make a purchase.

And the best part of all? It’s  free to give .

I am a huge proponent of writing online reviews. I believe in lifting up small businesses, and I know spending a few minutes writing a review can go a long way. In fact, I’ve written over 600 reviews on Yelp.

Components of a Great Online Review

If you really want to give back and compose a review that will make a difference, you need to put in a little effort.

A great online review has three components:

• Personal  – Information about you and your personal experience with the business.
• Specific  – How specifically did a business meet your needs? Give an example!
• Length  – The best reviews are at least 50 words. That’s about 4 sentences.

We have all scrolled through reviews that look like this:

“Great service!”

“So friendly!”

“The best!!!”

These reviews are good… but they are not very helpful, right?

Put yourself in the shoes of someone looking who to hire an HVAC company to fix their humidity problems. Sure, several short 5-star reviews give some credibility to the business. But imagine if that individual comes across a review from a customer with the exact same humidity problems – solved, by this company. They will give that review much more weight than all the short reviews with no real information.

It’s the reviews that are personal, specific, and offer more context that make the biggest difference for a small business.

How to Write Your Online Review: A Template

So many people get hung up on writing the review, as if someone has asked them to write a 10-page book report.

Writing a review is so easy! Try using this template:

Sentence 1: Your Best Words

The first sentence of your review is usually what will display fully on any review platform, while the rest will sometimes get hidden behind a “read more” link. So, make that first sentence count.

In fact, Sentence 1 might sound like a closing sentence. When I write reviews, the first sentence is the last thing I write. It’s the high-level summary of what I’m about to say. The TL;DR if you will.

Here are some ideas for how to start your review:

• “I like doing business with Company Name because they are ___________.”
• “What I enjoy most about working with Company Name is ___________.”
• “I have worked with many companies that do ___________, and Company Name is the best.”
• “If you’re looking for a business that is ___________, ___________, or ___________, look no further than Company.”
• “I value ___________, which is why I trust Company Name.”

Sentence 2: Background and Context

Time to add some personal experience into the review.

This second sentence should be about how you came to seek out the service. This gives your review credibility; you are not just a friend writing a fake review of the business.

Here are some examples:

• “I had a ____(problem)_______ that needed fixing.”
• “I was looking for a company that does ___________ because ___________.”
• “After many years of ___________ I decided I needed a change.”

Sentence 3: Decision-Maker

So, what made you choose this business to solve your problem? Think of the key criteria you use to make decisions. Some ideas are:

• Credible  – someone who is well-educated, experienced in the field, knowledgeable, or has certifications
• Trustworthy  – someone that is honest, comes highly-recommended from someone you trust, or perhaps you have even worked with the person before
• Detailed  – someone that is thorough and meticulous in their work
• Client-Focused  – someone that cares about the individual customer, where recommendations are personalized

Here are some ways you can describe

• “We hired Company because ___________.”
• “I was looking for someone who was ___________.”
• “I came across Company Name when I ___________.”
• “A friend recommended Company Name to me.”

Sentence 4: Example and Result

In the writing world, this is called the “ Show, don’t tell ” technique. The idea is to describe the experience like a story, using actions and and words to give context.

For example, if you value trustworthiness, share an example of when they demonstrated that quality. Instead of just saying “Business Owner is very trustworthy” you could say, “Business Owner offered a free solution when he could have billed me $600 for services.”

The more details and examples you can put into your online review, the better. Just remember to include both the example and the result.

• “I called Company with a broken air conditioner at 10pm, and it was fixed by 11:30pm.”
• “After Company Name implemented the new website, there was a noticeable uptick in sales.”
• “One time I called Kevin with a last-minute problem; three minutes later the fixed document was in my inbox.”
• “I can’t always meet during the day, and Company Name has always been flexible to meet at nights or on weekends.”
• “We wanted a more professional image, and the new website had modern elements and graphics that made us stand out.”

Sentence 5: Optional Conclusion

Don’t worry too much about making a powerful conclusion. I normally end my online reviews with a simple endorsement.

It looks like this:

• “I highly recommend this business.”
• “If you’re looking for ________, I would whole-heartedly recommend Company.”
• “I will definitely be back for more.”
• “I would recommend this business to any of my friends.”
• “We would not hesitate to recommend Company.”
• “Don’t think about this one too hard – Company is great!”

Bonus Points

A couple of sentences is all you need for a great review. But if you really want to go above and beyond, here are some ideas.

Make Your Online Review Longer

One of the best things you can do is lengthen your review by adding more examples. Consider all the ways that a business met and exceeded your expectations.

When I compose reviews of restaurant experiences, I think of all the things that shaped my experience. Was it easy to find? What was the parking situation like? Was the team at the host stand friendly? How did the server do? Was the bathroom clean? And so on. You can see how I can find hundreds of examples to share how a business was awesome (or not) in a simple 1.5 hour experience.

Similarly, think about your interaction with the business you are reviewing. Do they pick up your phone calls? Reply to emails in a timely manner? What about different projects you have worked on; how did each one of those go? How do they respond to questions or critical feedback?

Post Photos

Adding multimedia like photos or video can really help tell the story. And, a photo adds even more credibility to your review.

To go back to the example of a restaurant review, I could write a full paragraph about how my nachos were swimming in cheese. But a photo of the smothered nachos will take you right to the restaurant booth, as if you’re sitting next to me and chatting about the cheese-laden chips. As they say – a picture is worth a thousand words.

Are there any photos you can attach to your review that show a little bit about how you interacted with the business? Even a photo of the building exterior, the A/C truck, or of individuals that work for the company are helpful.

Where Should I Post My Online Review?

No matter where you post your online review, the business will be grateful. If there is a platform you feel most comfortable with, then absolutely post there.

Feel free to ask the business where they would be most grateful for your online review. They will be thinking about where their potential clients will be looking for reviews.

Here are some potential places for an online review:

• Facebook recommendations are helpful for any business with an active social media page
• Yelp is most used for restaurants as well as home services companies
• Next Door is valuable for home services companies that are targeting specific neighborhoods
• LinkedIn has a recommendation feature, so you are speaking to the individual rather than the business.
• Google is all-encompassing – and great for any industry

If you really have no preference on where to post the review, I suggest Google. A Google review will likely be seen by the most amount of people.

Take Five and Write That Online Review

Online reviews are a free way to support small businesses. It only takes a few minutes of your time, but is an enormous asset to the business.

If you have any questions on this post or something to add, feel free to  shoot me a note .

Have we done business together? I would greatly appreciate an online review from YOU! Here are links to review my business:

• Review on Google
• Review on Facebook
• Write a Recommendation on LinkedIn   (Desktop only; the LinkedIn mobile app and the mobile site do not have the recommendation function.)

Pam Duffy is a consultant based in Dallas, TX. She is a licensed professional engineer and has 10+ years of experience in the HVAC industry. Pam helps people through business consulting, one-on-one coaching, and speaking.

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Company info.

PamDuffy.com operates as a division of Spark One Solutions, LLC and is managed by Pam Duffy.

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Reviews are critical appraisals published either online or in a newspaper or magazine. Traditionally, a review was of a book, concert, film or perhaps television show.However, now they are increasingly used online for far more purposes, including rating and assessing purchases, tradespeople, restaurants, venues, and events.

This page describes how to write a good review: that is, one that other people find helpful in considering whether to purchase, view, read or visit. It explains what you should include, the tone you should aim to achieve, and also what you should leave out.

What is a Review?

The term ‘review’ can be used in several different ways.

For the purposes of this page, we mean a critical appraisal of something , whether a book, television programme, online purchase, or holiday.

Review vs. Literature Review

The term ‘review’ is also used in writing for a literature review. This is a scan through the existing literature on a topic, to identify the current state of knowledge, and find a gap to research.

There is more about that in our page Researching and Writing a Literature Review .

The purpose of a review is to advise others whether to visit/buy/watch/read/otherwise engage with the subject of your review. It can also be used by businesses to see how they can improve.

It follows that a good review is one that other people find helpful in making their decision, or that helps the business to improve.

In writing a review, you should therefore consider what information people need to make that decision.

There is more about this in our page on Know Your Audience .

Tips for Writing a Good Review

1. describe the experience.

Don’t be tempted to just say ‘This was fine’. Describe the experience.

More helpful reviews provide more information, so that readers know what they might experience—and can judge for themselves.

One-word reviews: don’t

A review that simply says ‘great’, ‘no problems’ or ‘avoid’ is not helpful, because it does not give any context. Was it busy? Was it quiet? How can readers judge whether their experience will be similar?

Take time to provide a bit of context and a bit more information, to help your readers.

2. Make your recommendation clear

Readers look at reviews to help them decide whether to visit, buy, read, watch, attend or even date! This is the main takeaway from any review.

A good review therefore makes the writer’s recommendation very clear.

Some review sites allow you to leave a star rating—but even with that, make sure that you sum up by giving a recommendation at the start or end of what you write.

3. Give the reasons for your recommendation

A recommendation is useful—but it is not enough on its own. People want to make their own decisions, drawing on other people’s experience.

Explain the thinking and reasons behind your recommendation to support that process.

For example:

I don’t recommend this top. I often buy from here, and the sizing usually works well for me, but this one was a very strange shape, and really didn’t fit well.

This tells readers that:

• You have experience of this shop, and you have bought from there before.
• That even if they have also shopped there before, and the fit is usually good, this may not be suitable.

4. Offer an alternative if possible

If you are not recommending something, it can be helpful to readers to offer an alternative that might work better.

I didn’t like this film for [reasons]. I wanted to see it because other reviewers said it was like [second film]. However, if you like [second film], I recommend watching [third film] or [fourth film] instead, as I think they are more [amusing/family-friendly/scary/other reason].

This gives readers somewhere else to look—and also tells them whether their taste is likely to chime with yours.

“Not his/her best”

Some of the most useful reviews are those from people who are very familiar with a particular writer/film-maker. They can offer a comparison with other books or films by the same person—and therefore point readers/viewers towards something they may prefer.

5. Don’t be relentlessly negative—aim for constructive feedback

Almost nothing is completely negative, or irredeemable.

If you are leaving a customer review, especially if it is mostly negative, try to be constructive in your feedback. Suggest what could have been better, and how things could have been improved.

If it just wasn’t to your taste, then make that clear—and recognise that this is not the fault of the venue/writer/anyone else.

This book is well-written, but it’s not really my taste. I have a bit of an on-off relationship with this genre, and this one was definitely ‘off’ for me. If you love the genre, you’ll probably love the book, because it’s fairly typical. However, if you’re looking for something a bit different, then maybe look elsewhere.

The approach you should be aiming towards is respectful , especially if you can’t be nice.

Even if you didn’t like it, other people might—and you are often talking about someone’s livelihood here. Assume they were doing their best, and give them the option to improve.

Should reviews be funny?

Is a good review funny?

Some of the best-known reviews—the ones that go viral—are wildly funny. Google sugar-free gummi bears review for some samples.

Many such reviews have been viewed thousands of times, and upvoted thousands of times. They get attention—which is good—and they are helpful to potential buyers—also good.

Can you write a good review that is also funny? Clearly the answer is yes.

Is funniness essential to a good review? No.

All that is necessary for a good review is that it provides the right information to help people make their decision.

6. Be specific and honest

Many reviews that go viral do so because of the response from the subject of the review. At this point, it becomes clear that the review writer was either lying, or feeling extremely entitled when they visited and/or wrote the review.

Always be specific about what you experienced—and always be truthful.

For example, it is unhelpful to say “ That was the worst customer service I have ever experienced! Don’t go!

Instead, you might say:

“ We were kept waiting for 30 minutes for a table, despite having made a reservation some days ago. The waiting staff then took ages to take our order. The restaurant was extremely busy, but I don’t think that’s an excuse – you shouldn’t have that many covers if you can’t serve them all, and you certainly shouldn’t allow people in if you don’t have a table free. ”

Being truthful also means not exaggerating. If you say you were waiting for 30 minutes, make sure that you really were waiting for that long!

7. Don’t include personal information—either yours or theirs

It is a very bad idea to include your own personal information in a review, or anything about individuals at the business—and you also shouldn’t include any information about any other business either.

This means no plugs for a neighbouring restaurant, or your own catering business, or anything like that. It also means not mentioning any employees by name—even if you say something very positive about them.

It is also a very bad idea to leave reviews about somewhere you have worked on any site except something like Glassdoor.

8. Proofread your review to check it makes sense

You should always proofread something that is intended for publication. This includes reviews.

Check your review over before you hit ‘post’ or ‘send’. Look for spelling and grammar errors, and make sure that the sentences are kept fairly short.

If you are leaving a review on a website, copy your text into a word processing package, and use the spellcheck and grammar check tools before posting.

Better still, write it in a word processing tool first, so you can read it over more easily.

There is more about this in our page on Proofreading and Editing .

Reviews are for two purposes: to help other people decide whether to read, visit, watch, attend or buy, based on your experience, and to provide businesses with feedback that will help them to improve.

If what you are saying will not achieve either of those, then DON’T SAY IT.

Continue to: Understanding and Interpreting Online Product Reviews Offering Constructive Criticism

See also: Writing for the Internet How to Complain, Effectively Clarity in Writing

Find a business to review

Review anything from your favorite patio spot to your local flower shop.

Visited one of these places recently?

We’re out of suggestions for you right now. Keep on using Yelp and we’ll have some more for you soon.

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• CAREER FEATURE
• 04 December 2020
• Correction 09 December 2020

How to write a superb literature review

Andy Tay is a freelance writer based in Singapore.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Literature reviews are important resources for scientists. They provide historical context for a field while offering opinions on its future trajectory. Creating them can provide inspiration for one’s own research, as well as some practice in writing. But few scientists are trained in how to write a review — or in what constitutes an excellent one. Even picking the appropriate software to use can be an involved decision (see ‘Tools and techniques’). So Nature asked editors and working scientists with well-cited reviews for their tips.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03422-x

Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Updates & Corrections

Correction 09 December 2020 : An earlier version of the tables in this article included some incorrect details about the programs Zotero, Endnote and Manubot. These have now been corrected.

Hsing, I.-M., Xu, Y. & Zhao, W. Electroanalysis 19 , 755–768 (2007).

Article   Google Scholar  

Ledesma, H. A. et al. Nature Nanotechnol. 14 , 645–657 (2019).

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Brahlek, M., Koirala, N., Bansal, N. & Oh, S. Solid State Commun. 215–216 , 54–62 (2015).

Choi, Y. & Lee, S. Y. Nature Rev. Chem . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-020-00221-w (2020).

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How to Write Reviews for Money: 9 Sites to Try Out this 2023

Brett Helling is the founder of Gigworker.com. He has been a rideshare driver since early 2012, having completed hundreds of trips for companies including Uber, Lyft, and Postmates.

Since that time, he has expanded his knowledge into the Gigworker site, as well as writing the book Gigworker: Independent Work and the State of the Gig Economy Paperback,  now available on Amazon .

Are you fond of writing online reviews and hope to get paid for them? You can!

Many companies worldwide value honest customer reviews to help them spot their product’s strengths and weaknesses.

Incentivizing writers and testers through cash bonuses and gifts is their way of attracting substantial feedback from reviewers like yourself.

Best of all, you get paid to write regardless of your educational background or location!

There are various apps and paid review sites to choose from. Today, we’ll focus on nine places to write reviews for money without prior experience.

But first, let’s get the basics covered.

• How Much Can You Make by Writing Reviews Online?
• What You’ll Need to Get Paid from Writing Online Reviews
• 1. InboxDollars
• 2. Slice the Pie
• 3. ListVerse
• 4. Capterra
• 5. American Consumer Opinion
• 6. Review Stream
• 7. Survey Junkie
• 8. Online Book Club
• 9. LifePoints
• Why You Should Consider Writing Reviews as a Side Gig
• Problems With Writing Reviews for Money
• Step 1: Decide on a Review Website or Platform
• Step 2: Choose a Product to Review or Surveys to Take
• Step 3: List Down Product or Service Pros and Cons
• Step 4: Identify Features and Pricing
• Step 5: Start Writing Reviews on Both the Technical and Personal Aspects
• Personal Expertise
• Time Availability
• Review Website
• What is the Best Niche to Review?
• How Long Does it Take to Write Reviews?
• Similar Ways to Get Paid
• Wrapping Up

Can You Get Paid to Write Reviews?

Yes, you can earn money writing reviews.

With the popularity of online shopping, businesses have acknowledged the validity of sponsored reviews or blog posts to elevate their brand’s likability to customers.

This is supported by a 2022 research published at Frontiers, revealing how online reviews affect 93% of consumers’ online shopping choices .

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how product or service reviews can bring a potential increase in sales when written by actual users.

You can earn $2 up to $40 per hour or a fixed $50 incentive per review. However, these figures constantly fluctuate and depend on the following:

• Review platforms
• Review quality
• Product or service industry
• Platform fee or commission (if applicable)
• Review type

Generally, you get higher pay if you write product reviews compared to taking online surveys, which often only give $1 to $3 earnings per entry.

Some sites also offer reviewers free products instead of actual cash as compensation.

Writing reviews don’t require any startup budget, which makes it an easy gig for anyone who enjoys sharing honest reviews.

Other than your thoughts, here are the essential items you’ll need to get started.

• Laptop or Mobile Device:  Whether you’re answering surveys or writing reviews online, you’ll need your gadgets to input and submit reviews. Some sites are compatible with both. Others may prefer one of the two.
• Stable Internet Connection:  You must at least have an internet speed of 25 Mbps to get things running. This is crucial, especially on survey sites requiring you to review several pages before completion. Having a solid data connection minimizes the risk of web pages crashing while you’re in the middle of answering.
• Payment Method:  Secure payment services like PayPal, Payoneer, and Stripe are used by many companies to send you cash payments. Identify what method your platform uses and open an account.
• Writing Skills:  While you don’t have to be a freelance writer to start this gig, you must be skilled at writing or communicating vital aspects of an item in a short, easy-to-understand, written format.
• Email Address or Login Details:  Platforms often require you to register using a valid email address, phone number, or social media account. Have all these ready when signing up.

Where to Write Reviews for Money

From answering a simple yes-no question to writing an extensive product review, you can choose from multiple online options. Here are our nine recommended websites this 2023:

• InboxDollars
• Slice the Pie
• American Consumer Opinion
• Review Stream
• Survey Junkie
• Online Book Club

InboxDollars  is a trusted platform that pays you for taking online surveys.

You must create an account and answer a four-part profile questionnaire to help the site match your interests with their partner brands.

Once approved, your dashboard will show you up to 10 surveys you’re qualified to join.

While individual survey payout doesn’t amount to much at first glance, InboxDollars is still one of the  high-paying surveys in the industry , claiming a running total of $56 million payout to users since its 2020 inception.

How Much You Can Make

Surveys with InboxDollars vary in price, but the platform claims to offer up to $5 per survey. Other users report getting survey requests for lesser value at $0.01 to $0.75 each.

The length of each survey also varies. The easiest ones can be completed within two minutes, while lengthier requests last up to 20. The minimum payout required is $30.

What Makes This Option Great

With an average 4.3 star rating online, InboxDollars is a reliable survey site with over two decades of experience.

Signing up also grants you an automatic $5 bonus. The platform’s accessible through your browser and Android and iOS app, making it a convenient choice even while on the go.

• Fees/Commission:  InboxDollars charges a $3 transaction fee automatically debited for every payout request.
• Payment Methods:  PayPal cash, gift cards, direct deposit

Slice the Pie  is a popular platform for anyone who wants to get paid to write reviews about muic.

The platform is free to use. You sign up with your email and other personal details, browse your preferred song categories, listen to any track for about 90 seconds, and write a review.

It’s a fine alternative for similar gigs like  earning money through movie reviews , which takes longer to complete.

The average review rate per song is $0.20 to $0.30. Once you join, you’ll be assigned a one-star rating which impacts the pricing of all items you review.

The more quality reviews you submit, the faster your star rating increases, translating to a higher review rate.

Slice the Pie’s required minimum payout is $10.

This platform’s excellent if you love music and aren’t looking for a fast payout.

It’s also an incredible way to discover budding musicians whose songs you might want to add to your playlist.

Besides music, Slice the Pie also showcases paid review opportunities for clothing, fashion, phone cases, and accessories.

• Fees/Commission:  Slice the Pie doesn’t charge you anything, though you must shoulder any transaction or admin fee from PayPal if applicable.
• Payment Methods:  PayPal

ListVerse  is one of the most exciting sites to try on if you’re a fan of writing list reviews.

The rule is simple. You list ten items minimum, provide one to two-paragraph content for each, and submit it to the platform.

You’re free to write about any topic, but you must make it interesting and fun for the platform’s readers.

If you’re looking for  companies who pay you for ideas , ListVerse is a great way to get started.

ListVerse pays a fixed rate of $100 per approved list.

Remember, however, that they don’t guarantee approval for every submitted entry.

Reading sample articles on their site is crucial to help you get a feel of the type of articles they publish regularly.

ListVerse is excellent if you prefer writing long-form articles. Discovering quirky and fascinating facts while researching is also a bonus.

The platform doesn’t require you to sign up, so providing all your details is unnecessary, thus saving time.

• Fees/Commission:  ListVerse doesn’t charge any commission or signup fee.

Tech-savvy individuals shouldn’t miss writing reviews for  Capterra .

Readers of this platform are looking for quality, first-hand reviews from software users, which is perfect if you’re actively using tools like accounting software, CRM and SEO software, and more.

Unlike creative side gigs like  writing short stories , this platform requires technical expertise and proof of use, as you’ll likely be required to send screenshots supporting your review.

Capterra pays you $5 for your first review and $10 each for the following ten reviews.

Each submission is subject to approval, so you must write a comprehensive, high-quality software review to make it count.

Capterra also limits you to up to 11 submissions. Once you’ve reached the threshold, they will no longer compensate you even if you submit more reviews. Users report total earnings between $5 to $150.

Captera’s an excellent short-term review website for tech-savvy individuals.

While your total earnings before maxing out your allowable reviews don’t amount to much, it’s still a great way to showcase your expertise to the platform’s millions of readers.

Impressed readers might even pay you to address their technical queries.

• Fees/Commission:  Capterra is free to use. No extra fees are charged.
• Payment Methods:  Capterra pays you using Gift Cards, which you can use to purchase goods from popular sites like Amazon. Redemption instructions will be sent through email upon request.

American Consumer Opinion  (ACO) is our list’s oldest paid survey provider, with over 40 years of experience.

Participants will get paid to test products, evaluate advertising strategies, and participate in focus groups to provide feedback on a company’s new product.

Like most  survey apps , ACO desires to empower any online retailer by providing quality customer input. If you like being a part of something big, this platform’s where you want to start.

ACO surveys can pay between $1 to $50. Product testing pays even higher, up to $200. The platform pays you using its point system. One point is equal to $0.01.

ACO is completely free to use with global reach. They have an extensive brand partnership worldwide, which opens more review opportunities.

They’re also among the ones with the best earning potential and flexible payment methods.

• Fees/Commission:  ACO is free to use, but you’ll shoulder any fees associated with your external payment method.
• Payment Methods:  Hyperwallet, PayPal, gift cards, check, charity donation, sweepstakes entries

Review Stream  is the most extensive platform on our list that pays you to write reviews about anything. Popular product categories include electronics, art, food, cosmetics, and fashion.

Much like  writing reviews on Amazon , Review Stream showcases actual user experiences but with the opportunity to earn from them.

Readers can also upvote your review, which adds to your cash incentives.

Every approved review can pay you between $5 to $18. If a reader loves your review, he can upvote your entry which adds $0.10 to your earnings.

Review Stream is great if you’re looking for a platform with unlimited allowable reviews.

Its broad category base also makes it easy to handpick items you’re already using and write your experience about them.

You also don’t need to worry about getting penalized for pointing out product cons since the platform focuses on publishing authentic user experiences.

• Fees/Commission:  Free to join

Survey Junkie  is a household name when it comes to online surveys. Its clutter-free platform interface and straightforward setup method make it a top favorite for first-time users.

The platform pays you to answer surveys of any product or company that matches your profile information.

It’s one of the fastest  survey sites that pay instant cash  as soon as you reach the required threshold of $5.

Survey Junkie has a point system. You’ll need 100 points to earn $1, and so on. Signing up automatically grants you 25 points and another 50 once you complete your profile.

The average survey payout on this platform runs between $0.50 to $3, or 50 to 300 points, respectively.

Survey Junkie is great for beginners who don’t want a lengthy signup process to get started.

Its over 20 million users are clear proof of its global popularity, which makes it more attractive for companies who wish to put out their surveys.

• Payment Methods:  PayPal and e-gift cards, which you can use to redeem items from Amazon, Sephora, Starbucks, Walmart, etc.

Do you love books?  Online Book Club  allows you to earn by reading newly-released titles and writing reviews about them.

Many budding writers  sell their short stories for money  online and seek opportunities to gather quality reviews from readers.

This platform is one of those avenues to get reviewers on board. If you enjoy reading and want to get paid, this avenue is a potential starting point.

Book reviews on this platform can pay between $5 to $60.

Online Book Club is ideal for booklovers with a genuine passion for reading and giving quality reviews to other readers.

All paid reviews will be published under your registered name, which can be an excellent means to market yourself and build a potential network.

LifePoints  is another excellent survey platform that covers a broad range of topics. You sign up and provide your user profile, which is then used to identify whether you qualify for available surveys.

Surveys update often, so checking the site to get the latest gigs is crucial.

One feature that sets it apart is its booster mode, which allows you to earn 20% more points when you enable the location services function in the app.

The more points you get, the higher the rewards you can redeem in cash or  Amazon gift cards .

Each survey has an equivalent life point depending on the length and complexity. This can equate to $0.83 to $0.90 per survey. The current minimum payout is $5, equivalent to 550 life points.

LifePoints is available in 26 languages, which makes it an easy choice for anyone around the globe.

Partner companies also have global reach, and survey options range from product-specific questions to general concepts.

While you can’t expect this platform to earn you a fortune, it can be a fun alternative to collect useful gift cards from top shops like Amazon, eBay, iTunes, and Google Play.

• Fees/Commission:  Free to use
• Payment Methods:  PayPal, charitable donations, gift cards

Getting paid to write reviews is a great way to capitalize on your opinion. When done right, it can even open you to long-term writing opportunities.

If you’re inkling to get started but not yet ready to commit, the following factors might help you decide faster:

• Various Reward Options:  Earning cash is one, but getting free products, gift cards, discounts, and vouchers are excellent perk alternatives you can enjoy as rewards.
• Free to Join:  Most, if not all, review websites are free. You only need to log in to get access to all review opportunities you can join.
• Improves Your Writing Skills:  The more you write reviews, the better you become at identifying and writing what elements should be included, what to drop, and what people are likely to be looking for.
• Fully Remote and Time-Flexible:  You get full control of your time. You decide when and who to write for. While sponsored blog posts often have deadlines, when to take one is your decision.

As with most side hustles, some elements might be a disadvantage, especially when trying to earn a target dollar payout.

Here are some issues you’d deal with when writing reviews as a side gig.

• High Competition:  Because the job is remote, anyone globally is welcome to participate. Brands with international reach attract more reviewers, which can mean intense competition.
• Can Take Time:  The tough competition makes projects hard to come by, so earning more money will take time. Unless you consistently land high-paying review requests, it can take weeks, even months, to make a few hundred.
• Minimal High-Paying Review Sites:  Companies who pay well treat sponsored reviews as ads, so they’re looking for reviewers who deliver a high-quality review with honest feedback on their product’s best features. You must prove to be above the fold to get their attention.
• May Prompt You to Write Fake Reviews:  Some paid review sites want you to write positive reviews and disregard the cons. This is an issue if you value writing honest reviews, including the disadvantage of using a product or service.

How To Write Reviews Online for Money: Step-By-Step Guide

Now that you know where to check paid review opportunities, it’s time to work on the steps to set you up.

You’re not limited to choosing a single platform, so trying several at once is an option. Try signing up for two or three options.

You can choose one survey platform and mix it up with a product review site. You don’t need to submit anything yet. Use this chance to familiarize how the portals work.

Once you feel comfortable navigating the website, start answering surveys or writing reviews.

Give your honest opinion or response, and don’t dwell on an item for so long. There’s no right or wrong answer, and you won’t be penalized for providing your viewpoint.

This applies to product or service reviews requiring specifics of an item. This should be easy if you’re familiar with the product.

Otherwise, research from various reliable sites and note common features highlighted by other users.

Price and specifications are two elements that buyers use to decide on a purchase. Ensure you get accurate data on prices and specs from major online shopping sites or company websites. 

Combine the tech side of a product with how you feel using them. This adds personality to your review and makes it more relatable for readers.

Things to Consider When Writing Reviews for Money

Writing reviews can be fun and profitable if you choose a reliable platform. Other than that, you’ll also need to consider the following:

What do you specialize in? Niche gigs like software reviews may be your best pick if you have a technical background in the topic and are familiar with its jargon.

If it’s your first review, starting with topics you’re interested in is a great way to kick-start the gig.

How often do you plan to write reviews? The extra money you earn depends on the quantity you produce, and platforms price them differently.

If you’re eyeing to take home a certain figure, you’ll need to create a schedule and decide what review to write at what time.

This can refer to your preferred review platform or your personal review blog. Decide what review type you’d want to focus on.

Will you only take on surveys, or are you into product and service reviews?

Long-form reviews take longer to submit, but they also pay better. Surveys are the easiest and are often the most competitive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to the questions most people considering writing reviews for money ask:

There isn’t any published data specifying niches you should review. Still, a great way to get the ball rolling is to begin with consumer-favorite industries like technology, books, cosmetics, fashion, and health. Usually, these companies are the ones that invest in market research and paid surveys.

This depends on what you’re writing about. Complete surveys can last for 3 to 5 minutes, whereas book reviews can go up to a week, including the time spent reading the material.

Simple product entries, like apps or software reviews, can be done in minutes to a few hours.

Is writing not your cup of tea? Here are other great alternatives to earn extra money online:

• How to Sell Notes :  Are you skilled at note-taking? Learn how to sell your notes online from the best platforms that offer decent pay.
• Get Paid to Go to School Online :  Here’s your chance to save money and get online education from trusted universities that provide huge discounts and competent allowances.

There’s a solid demand for well-written reviews that many companies worldwide are willing to pay. Earning decent cash and rewards is straightforward if you know where to look.

Use our list to start earning during your free time, and let us know which option you think is best!

Have you tried writing reviews online? What platform do you recommend?

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Review: Freewrite Alpha

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Four blank lines and a cursor. After getting through the setup pleasantries, that's all you're left with when you start a new draft on the Freewrite Alpha.

No spell check, no AI-powered notes on your grammar, and most certainly no other browser tabs to distract you from the ultimate goal of getting words down on the page.

Instead, Freewrite has taken its already distraction-free writing experience and shrunk the price tag some by cutting the Alpha's screen down to almost nothing.

I might not be a novelist, but between news posts and reviews, I write somewhere in the region of 20,000 words a week. So, I thought, what better way to test a writing machine than to use it exclusively for a full week , to see how it holds up to the rigors of the online journalist's grind?

Freewrite, in fairness to it, wouldn't claim that this is the ideal plan for the Alpha—it's a writer's tool, sure, but it seems fairly clearly aimed at longer-term projects, on a grander scale. We're talking novels, memoirs, manifestos.

Still, with cloud-storage syncing, I could have the Alpha immediately upload anything I write to Google Drive (or Dropbox , OneDrive, Evernote , or just its proprietary system called Postbox), so if I placed it on a desk in front of a computer monitor that I'd use to send drafts through to editors, there was nothing technically standing in my way.

So, one work week later, here I am, impressed by how the Alpha held up, but also wishing I were a novelist, since this device would so clearly suit that calling.

Writing Reformed

The Alpha is a simple plastic slab, with a small kickstand on the back that can't be adjusted, and a mechanical keyboard on the front. It has a red power button, a few function keys on that keyboard, and a four-line LCD display.

It's a word processor in the old-school 1980s sense of the word, capable of storing a large stash of drafts and syncing them over Wi-Fi when you're connected.

Moving between those drafts, changing your settings, and signing in and out can be a fiddly annoyance due to the lack of a touch interface or trackpad, but most people would find themselves doing that far more rarely than me, because, again, most people wouldn't write eight news stories on it in a day.

Once you start up a new draft, though, that blank four-line space greets you, and you'd better be ready to write. An online journalist does their research almost in the same moment as writing, in many cases—deadlines are rapid, so it can feel like you don't always have time to sit and think of your piece's structure before starting. It's a game of alt-tabbing back and forth.

Except, using the Freewrite Alpha, it's not. Instead, it's a game of reading what I need to read, digesting what I need to write about it, and then starting to type the words until it's done.

That might not sound radically different, and it isn't on a mechanical level, but the Freewrite Alpha added a layer of friction in my routine that I actually appreciated. It imposed an extra step, one that forced me to have a beginning, middle, and end ready in my head before starting a piece.

Sending Heaven

Of course, it helps that it feels great to type on. The Alpha's keyboard is excellent, with Kailh Choc V2 switches that are nice and tactile, but not so clacky as to be completely obnoxious.

The Alpha is also lightweight enough to be slipped into a bag easily. It's much lighter than my MacBook Air , albeit it also gets substantially more funny looks and unwanted questions.

While the Google Drive syncing was handy for me, the Freewrite also has a button I couldn't stop myself using—even after an automated email landed, reminding me it wasn't necessary: Send. This immediately sends your draft as a text file and PDF to the email linked to your Freewrite account, and nothing has ever felt more like ripping a sheet of paper out of a typewriter to me than hitting it at the end of a piece, that "Send" whipping it away from me.

In reality, pressing Send only beckoned the next step, an editing pass, but with this sort of product there is a lot to be said for the emotional weight of a design decision, and I fell in love with that Send button.

Still, that move through to the edit was also a step that the Alpha made more of a requirement than I'm used to. Every writer likes to imagine their copy comes out clean, and the rise of autocorrect has made that a lower bar than ever to clear.

Well, the Alpha has no crutches of that sort, so almost every draft I checked was riddled with little typos and words without spaces between them. On an actual computer, using an actual web browser, clicking through these to fix them was generally a momentary job, but it still leaves me wondering how an 80,000-word document might look when reviewed for the first time. Of course, being tentative on the space bar could well be a "me" problem, not a Freewrite Alpha one.

Just My Type

That's how I feel about most of my time using the Alpha, in fact: Many of my hesitations stem from my own predilections, not the elegant hardware I was using.

I went into this knowing I was bending the Alpha to my will to see how things went, but I came out regretting that my life isn't a nonstop writer's retreat where this thing would make perfect sense.

Because, to be clear, Alpha is just ideal for that use case, or if you actually do have a novel on the simmer. Being able to lock up your phone, close your laptop, and get this out would be a perfect way to get in that zone.

That experience is offered by all of Freewrite's writing devices, of course, but the Alpha is, crucially, its most affordable. That it also fixes the Freewrite Go's mistake of shipping without mechanical key switches is a bonus.

That said, we're talking about a $349 (£275) writing tool here. You can get a capable laptop for that price and have so much more at your fingertips.

Indeed, I'm starting to think that Freewrite's three writing options now look a little weird: The Alpha is the cheapest, and is light and convenient with mechanical switches. The Traveler , at $499, costs a chunk more for a truly portable design, but with an inferior keyboard and less room for your hands. Finally, the full-fat Smart Typewriter sits at $649, and has the best of all worlds with the bigger display, but is twice as heavy and thus doesn't make sense for frequent moving around.

What I'd really like is a middle ground—a single device that brings the bigger screen, makes navigation easier, and keeps the mechanical keyboard, but doesn't weigh a ton. Whether that ever happens (given it would probably make the existing models redundant) is anyone's guess, but I can dream.

In the meantime, the Alpha will sit for however long my loaner review unit remains with me. And every time I look at it I'll wonder why I'm not in a cabin, in a pine forest, writing something truly lasting. Send.

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• Critical Reviews

How to Write an Article Review (With Examples)

Last Updated: April 24, 2024 Fact Checked

Preparing to Write Your Review

Writing the article review, sample article reviews, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,105,656 times.

An article review is both a summary and an evaluation of another writer's article. Teachers often assign article reviews to introduce students to the work of experts in the field. Experts also are often asked to review the work of other professionals. Understanding the main points and arguments of the article is essential for an accurate summation. Logical evaluation of the article's main theme, supporting arguments, and implications for further research is an important element of a review . Here are a few guidelines for writing an article review.

Education specialist Alexander Peterman recommends: "In the case of a review, your objective should be to reflect on the effectiveness of what has already been written, rather than writing to inform your audience about a subject."

Article Review 101

• Read the article very closely, and then take time to reflect on your evaluation. Consider whether the article effectively achieves what it set out to.
• Write out a full article review by completing your intro, summary, evaluation, and conclusion. Don't forget to add a title, too!
• Proofread your review for mistakes (like grammar and usage), while also cutting down on needless information.

• Article reviews present more than just an opinion. You will engage with the text to create a response to the scholarly writer's ideas. You will respond to and use ideas, theories, and research from your studies. Your critique of the article will be based on proof and your own thoughtful reasoning.
• An article review only responds to the author's research. It typically does not provide any new research. However, if you are correcting misleading or otherwise incorrect points, some new data may be presented.
• An article review both summarizes and evaluates the article.

• Summarize the article. Focus on the important points, claims, and information.
• Discuss the positive aspects of the article. Think about what the author does well, good points she makes, and insightful observations.
• Identify contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the text. Determine if there is enough data or research included to support the author's claims. Find any unanswered questions left in the article.

• Make note of words or issues you don't understand and questions you have.
• Look up terms or concepts you are unfamiliar with, so you can fully understand the article. Read about concepts in-depth to make sure you understand their full context.

• Pay careful attention to the meaning of the article. Make sure you fully understand the article. The only way to write a good article review is to understand the article.

• With either method, make an outline of the main points made in the article and the supporting research or arguments. It is strictly a restatement of the main points of the article and does not include your opinions.
• After putting the article in your own words, decide which parts of the article you want to discuss in your review. You can focus on the theoretical approach, the content, the presentation or interpretation of evidence, or the style. You will always discuss the main issues of the article, but you can sometimes also focus on certain aspects. This comes in handy if you want to focus the review towards the content of a course.
• Review the summary outline to eliminate unnecessary items. Erase or cross out the less important arguments or supplemental information. Your revised summary can serve as the basis for the summary you provide at the beginning of your review.

• What does the article set out to do?
• What is the theoretical framework or assumptions?
• Are the central concepts clearly defined?
• How adequate is the evidence?
• How does the article fit into the literature and field?
• Does it advance the knowledge of the subject?
• How clear is the author's writing? Don't: include superficial opinions or your personal reaction. Do: pay attention to your biases, so you can overcome them.

• For example, in MLA , a citation may look like: Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise ." Arizona Quarterly 50.3 (1994): 127-53. Print. [9] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

• For example: The article, "Condom use will increase the spread of AIDS," was written by Anthony Zimmerman, a Catholic priest.

• Your introduction should only be 10-25% of your review.
• End the introduction with your thesis. Your thesis should address the above issues. For example: Although the author has some good points, his article is biased and contains some misinterpretation of data from others’ analysis of the effectiveness of the condom.

• Use direct quotes from the author sparingly.
• Review the summary you have written. Read over your summary many times to ensure that your words are an accurate description of the author's article.

• Support your critique with evidence from the article or other texts.
• The summary portion is very important for your critique. You must make the author's argument clear in the summary section for your evaluation to make sense.
• Remember, this is not where you say if you liked the article or not. You are assessing the significance and relevance of the article.
• Use a topic sentence and supportive arguments for each opinion. For example, you might address a particular strength in the first sentence of the opinion section, followed by several sentences elaborating on the significance of the point.

• This should only be about 10% of your overall essay.
• For example: This critical review has evaluated the article "Condom use will increase the spread of AIDS" by Anthony Zimmerman. The arguments in the article show the presence of bias, prejudice, argumentative writing without supporting details, and misinformation. These points weaken the author’s arguments and reduce his credibility.

• Make sure you have identified and discussed the 3-4 key issues in the article.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://libguides.cmich.edu/writinghelp/articlereview
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4548566/
• ↑ Jake Adams. Academic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist. Expert Interview. 24 July 2020.
• ↑ https://guides.library.queensu.ca/introduction-research/writing/critical
• ↑ https://www.iup.edu/writingcenter/writing-resources/organization-and-structure/creating-an-outline.html
• ↑ https://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/titles.pdf
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_periodicals.html
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4548565/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/593/2014/06/How_to_Summarize_a_Research_Article1.pdf
• ↑ https://www.uis.edu/learning-hub/writing-resources/handouts/learning-hub/how-to-review-a-journal-article
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/

About This Article

If you have to write an article review, read through the original article closely, taking notes and highlighting important sections as you read. Next, rewrite the article in your own words, either in a long paragraph or as an outline. Open your article review by citing the article, then write an introduction which states the article’s thesis. Next, summarize the article, followed by your opinion about whether the article was clear, thorough, and useful. Finish with a paragraph that summarizes the main points of the article and your opinions. To learn more about what to include in your personal critique of the article, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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17 book review examples to help you write the perfect review.

It’s an exciting time to be a book reviewer. Once confined to print newspapers and journals, reviews now dot many corridors of the Internet — forever helping others discover their next great read. That said, every book reviewer will face a familiar panic: how can you do justice to a great book in just a thousand words?

As you know, the best way to learn how to do something is by immersing yourself in it. Luckily, the Internet (i.e. Goodreads and other review sites , in particular) has made book reviews more accessible than ever — which means that there are a lot of book reviews examples out there for you to view!

In this post, we compiled 17 prototypical book review examples in multiple genres to help you figure out how to write the perfect review . If you want to jump straight to the examples, you can skip the next section. Otherwise, let’s first check out what makes up a good review.

Are you interested in becoming a book reviewer? We recommend you check out Reedsy Discovery , where you can earn money for writing reviews — and are guaranteed people will read your reviews! To register as a book reviewer, sign up here.

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

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What must a book review contain?

Like all works of art, no two book reviews will be identical. But fear not: there are a few guidelines for any aspiring book reviewer to follow. Most book reviews, for instance, are less than 1,500 words long, with the sweet spot hitting somewhere around the 1,000-word mark. (However, this may vary depending on the platform on which you’re writing, as we’ll see later.)

In addition, all reviews share some universal elements, as shown in our book review templates . These include:

• A review will offer a concise plot summary of the book. 
• A book review will offer an evaluation of the work. 
• A book review will offer a recommendation for the audience. 

If these are the basic ingredients that make up a book review, it’s the tone and style with which the book reviewer writes that brings the extra panache. This will differ from platform to platform, of course. A book review on Goodreads, for instance, will be much more informal and personal than a book review on Kirkus Reviews, as it is catering to a different audience. However, at the end of the day, the goal of all book reviews is to give the audience the tools to determine whether or not they’d like to read the book themselves.

Keeping that in mind, let’s proceed to some book review examples to put all of this in action.

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Book review examples for fiction books

Since story is king in the world of fiction, it probably won’t come as any surprise to learn that a book review for a novel will concentrate on how well the story was told .

That said, book reviews in all genres follow the same basic formula that we discussed earlier. In these examples, you’ll be able to see how book reviewers on different platforms expertly intertwine the plot summary and their personal opinions of the book to produce a clear, informative, and concise review.

Note: Some of the book review examples run very long. If a book review is truncated in this post, we’ve indicated by including a […] at the end, but you can always read the entire review if you click on the link provided.

Examples of literary fiction book reviews

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man :

An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.

His early training prepared him for a life of humility before white men, but through injustices- large and small, he came to realize that he was an "invisible man". People saw in him only a reflection of their preconceived ideas of what he was, denied his individuality, and ultimately did not see him at all. This theme, which has implications far beyond the obvious racial parallel, is skillfully handled. The incidents of the story are wholly absorbing. The boy's dismissal from college because of an innocent mistake, his shocked reaction to the anonymity of the North and to Harlem, his nightmare experiences on a one-day job in a paint factory and in the hospital, his lightning success as the Harlem leader of a communistic organization known as the Brotherhood, his involvement in black versus white and black versus black clashes and his disillusion and understanding of his invisibility- all climax naturally in scenes of violence and riot, followed by a retreat which is both literal and figurative. Parts of this experience may have been told before, but never with such freshness, intensity and power.

This is Ellison's first novel, but he has complete control of his story and his style. Watch it.

Lyndsey reviews George Orwell’s 1984 on Goodreads:

YOU. ARE. THE. DEAD. Oh my God. I got the chills so many times toward the end of this book. It completely blew my mind. It managed to surpass my high expectations AND be nothing at all like I expected. Or in Newspeak "Double Plus Good." Let me preface this with an apology. If I sound stunningly inarticulate at times in this review, I can't help it. My mind is completely fried.

This book is like the dystopian Lord of the Rings, with its richly developed culture and economics, not to mention a fully developed language called Newspeak, or rather more of the anti-language, whose purpose is to limit speech and understanding instead of to enhance and expand it. The world-building is so fully fleshed out and spine-tinglingly terrifying that it's almost as if George travelled to such a place, escaped from it, and then just wrote it all down.

I read Fahrenheit 451 over ten years ago in my early teens. At the time, I remember really wanting to read 1984, although I never managed to get my hands on it. I'm almost glad I didn't. Though I would not have admitted it at the time, it would have gone over my head. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate it fully. […]

The New York Times reviews Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry :

Three-quarters of the way through Lisa Halliday’s debut novel, “Asymmetry,” a British foreign correspondent named Alistair is spending Christmas on a compound outside of Baghdad. His fellow revelers include cameramen, defense contractors, United Nations employees and aid workers. Someone’s mother has FedExed a HoneyBaked ham from Maine; people are smoking by the swimming pool. It is 2003, just days after Saddam Hussein’s capture, and though the mood is optimistic, Alistair is worrying aloud about the ethics of his chosen profession, wondering if reporting on violence doesn’t indirectly abet violence and questioning why he’d rather be in a combat zone than reading a picture book to his son. But every time he returns to London, he begins to “spin out.” He can’t go home. “You observe what people do with their freedom — what they don’t do — and it’s impossible not to judge them for it,” he says.

The line, embedded unceremoniously in the middle of a page-long paragraph, doubles, like so many others in “Asymmetry,” as literary criticism. Halliday’s novel is so strange and startlingly smart that its mere existence seems like commentary on the state of fiction. One finishes “Asymmetry” for the first or second (or like this reader, third) time and is left wondering what other writers are not doing with their freedom — and, like Alistair, judging them for it.

Despite its title, “Asymmetry” comprises two seemingly unrelated sections of equal length, appended by a slim and quietly shocking coda. Halliday’s prose is clean and lean, almost reportorial in the style of W. G. Sebald, and like the murmurings of a shy person at a cocktail party, often comic only in single clauses. It’s a first novel that reads like the work of an author who has published many books over many years. […]

Emily W. Thompson reviews Michael Doane's The Crossing on Reedsy Discovery :

In Doane’s debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results.

An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon. But he’s a small-town boy who hasn’t traveled much. So, the Narrator mourns her loss and hides from life, throwing himself into rehabbing an old motorcycle. Until one day, he takes a leap; he packs his bike and a few belongings and heads out to find the Girl.

Following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat-Moon, Doane offers a coming of age story about a man finding himself on the backroads of America. Doane’s a gifted writer with fluid prose and insightful observations, using The Narrator’s personal interactions to illuminate the diversity of the United States.

The Narrator initially sticks to the highways, trying to make it to the West Coast as quickly as possible. But a hitchhiker named Duke convinces him to get off the beaten path and enjoy the ride. “There’s not a place that’s like any other,” [39] Dukes contends, and The Narrator realizes he’s right. Suddenly, the trip is about the journey, not just the destination. The Narrator ditches his truck and traverses the deserts and mountains on his bike. He destroys his phone, cutting off ties with his past and living only in the moment.

As he crosses the country, The Narrator connects with several unique personalities whose experiences and views deeply impact his own. Duke, the complicated cowboy and drifter, who opens The Narrator’s eyes to a larger world. Zooey, the waitress in Colorado who opens his heart and reminds him that love can be found in this big world. And Rosie, The Narrator’s sweet landlady in Portland, who helps piece him back together both physically and emotionally.

This supporting cast of characters is excellent. Duke, in particular, is wonderfully nuanced and complicated. He’s a throwback to another time, a man without a cell phone who reads Sartre and sleeps under the stars. Yet he’s also a grifter with a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” attitude that harms those around him. It’s fascinating to watch The Narrator wrestle with Duke’s behavior, trying to determine which to model and which to discard.

Doane creates a relatable protagonist in The Narrator, whose personal growth doesn’t erase his faults. His willingness to hit the road with few resources is admirable, and he’s prescient enough to recognize the jealousy of those who cannot or will not take the leap. His encounters with new foods, places, and people broaden his horizons. Yet his immaturity and selfishness persist. He tells Rosie she’s been a good mother to him but chooses to ignore the continuing concern from his own parents as he effectively disappears from his old life.

Despite his flaws, it’s a pleasure to accompany The Narrator on his physical and emotional journey. The unexpected ending is a fitting denouement to an epic and memorable road trip.

The Book Smugglers review Anissa Gray’s The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls :

I am still dipping my toes into the literally fiction pool, finding what works for me and what doesn’t. Books like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray are definitely my cup of tea.

Althea and Proctor Cochran had been pillars of their economically disadvantaged community for years – with their local restaurant/small market and their charity drives. Until they are found guilty of fraud for stealing and keeping most of the money they raised and sent to jail. Now disgraced, their entire family is suffering the consequences, specially their twin teenage daughters Baby Vi and Kim.  To complicate matters even more: Kim was actually the one to call the police on her parents after yet another fight with her mother. […]

Examples of children’s and YA fiction book reviews

The Book Hookup reviews Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give :

♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to tackle the voice of a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I do know that Thomas did it with a finesse only a talented author like herself possibly could. With an unapologetically realistic delivery packed with emotion, The Hate U Give is a crucially important portrayal of the difficulties minorities face in our country every single day. I have no doubt that this book will be met with resistance by some (possibly many) and slapped with a “controversial” label, but if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk in a POC’s shoes, then I feel like this is an unflinchingly honest place to start.

In Angie Thomas’s debut novel, Starr Carter bursts on to the YA scene with both heart-wrecking and heartwarming sincerity. This author is definitely one to watch.

♥ Review: The hype around this book has been unquestionable and, admittedly, that made me both eager to get my hands on it and terrified to read it. I mean, what if I was to be the one person that didn’t love it as much as others? (That seems silly now because of how truly mesmerizing THUG was in the most heartbreakingly realistic way.) However, with the relevancy of its summary in regards to the unjust predicaments POC currently face in the US, I knew this one was a must-read, so I was ready to set my fears aside and dive in. That said, I had an altogether more personal, ulterior motive for wanting to read this book. […]

The New York Times reviews Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood :

Alice Crewe (a last name she’s chosen for herself) is a fairy tale legacy: the granddaughter of Althea Proserpine, author of a collection of dark-as-night fairy tales called “Tales From the Hinterland.” The book has a cult following, and though Alice has never met her grandmother, she’s learned a little about her through internet research. She hasn’t read the stories, because her mother, Ella Proserpine, forbids it.

Alice and Ella have moved from place to place in an attempt to avoid the “bad luck” that seems to follow them. Weird things have happened. As a child, Alice was kidnapped by a man who took her on a road trip to find her grandmother; he was stopped by the police before they did so. When at 17 she sees that man again, unchanged despite the years, Alice panics. Then Ella goes missing, and Alice turns to Ellery Finch, a schoolmate who’s an Althea Proserpine superfan, for help in tracking down her mother. Not only has Finch read every fairy tale in the collection, but handily, he remembers them, sharing them with Alice as they journey to the mysterious Hazel Wood, the estate of her now-dead grandmother, where they hope to find Ella.

“The Hazel Wood” starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. (The fairy stories Finch relays, which Albert includes as their own chapters, are as creepy and evocative as you’d hope.) Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a very good book. It’s a captivating debut. […]

James reviews Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon on Goodreads:

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of the books that followers of my blog voted as a must-read for our Children's Book August 2018 Readathon. Come check it out and join the next few weeks!

This picture book was such a delight. I hadn't remembered reading it when I was a child, but it might have been read to me... either way, it was like a whole new experience! It's always so difficult to convince a child to fall asleep at night. I don't have kids, but I do have a 5-month-old puppy who whines for 5 minutes every night when he goes in his cage/crate (hopefully he'll be fully housebroken soon so he can roam around when he wants). I can only imagine! I babysat a lot as a teenager and I have tons of younger cousins, nieces, and nephews, so I've been through it before, too. This was a believable experience, and it really helps show kids how to relax and just let go when it's time to sleep.

The bunny's are adorable. The rhymes are exquisite. I found it pretty fun, but possibly a little dated given many of those things aren't normal routines anymore. But the lessons to take from it are still powerful. Loved it! I want to sample some more books by this fine author and her illustrators.

Publishers Weekly reviews Elizabeth Lilly’s Geraldine :

This funny, thoroughly accomplished debut opens with two words: “I’m moving.” They’re spoken by the title character while she swoons across her family’s ottoman, and because Geraldine is a giraffe, her full-on melancholy mode is quite a spectacle. But while Geraldine may be a drama queen (even her mother says so), it won’t take readers long to warm up to her. The move takes Geraldine from Giraffe City, where everyone is like her, to a new school, where everyone else is human. Suddenly, the former extrovert becomes “That Giraffe Girl,” and all she wants to do is hide, which is pretty much impossible. “Even my voice tries to hide,” she says, in the book’s most poignant moment. “It’s gotten quiet and whispery.” Then she meets Cassie, who, though human, is also an outlier (“I’m that girl who wears glasses and likes MATH and always organizes her food”), and things begin to look up.

Lilly’s watercolor-and-ink drawings are as vividly comic and emotionally astute as her writing; just when readers think there are no more ways for Geraldine to contort her long neck, this highly promising talent comes up with something new.

Examples of genre fiction book reviews

Karlyn P reviews Nora Roberts’ Dark Witch , a paranormal romance novel , on Goodreads:

4 stars. Great world-building, weak romance, but still worth the read.

I hesitate to describe this book as a 'romance' novel simply because the book spent little time actually exploring the romance between Iona and Boyle. Sure, there IS a romance in this novel. Sprinkled throughout the book are a few scenes where Iona and Boyle meet, chat, wink at each, flirt some more, sleep together, have a misunderstanding, make up, and then profess their undying love. Very formulaic stuff, and all woven around the more important parts of this book.

The meat of this book is far more focused on the story of the Dark witch and her magically-gifted descendants living in Ireland. Despite being weak on the romance, I really enjoyed it. I think the book is probably better for it, because the romance itself was pretty lackluster stuff.

I absolutely plan to stick with this series as I enjoyed the world building, loved the Ireland setting, and was intrigued by all of the secondary characters. However, If you read Nora Roberts strictly for the romance scenes, this one might disappoint. But if you enjoy a solid background story with some dark magic and prophesies, you might enjoy it as much as I did.

I listened to this one on audio, and felt the narration was excellent.

Emily May reviews R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy Wars , an epic fantasy novel , on Goodreads:

“But I warn you, little warrior. The price of power is pain.”

Holy hell, what did I just read??

➽ A fantasy military school

➽ A rich world based on modern Chinese history

➽ Shamans and gods

➽ Detailed characterization leading to unforgettable characters

➽ Adorable, opium-smoking mentors

That's a basic list, but this book is all of that and SO MUCH MORE. I know 100% that The Poppy War will be one of my best reads of 2018.

Isn't it just so great when you find one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every horrific, nail-biting moment of it? This is one of those books for me. And I must issue a serious content warning: this book explores some very dark themes. Proceed with caution (or not at all) if you are particularly sensitive to scenes of war, drug use and addiction, genocide, racism, sexism, ableism, self-harm, torture, and rape (off-page but extremely horrific).

Because, despite the fairly innocuous first 200 pages, the title speaks the truth: this is a book about war. All of its horrors and atrocities. It is not sugar-coated, and it is often graphic. The "poppy" aspect refers to opium, which is a big part of this book. It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking.

Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry’s Freefall , a crime novel:

In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it’s a more subtle process, and that’s OK too. So where does Freefall fit into the sliding scale?

In truth, it’s not clear. This is a novel with a thrilling concept at its core. A woman survives plane crash, then runs for her life. However, it is the subtleties at play that will draw you in like a spider beckoning to an unwitting fly.

Like the heroine in Sharon Bolton’s Dead Woman Walking, Allison is lucky to be alive. She was the only passenger in a private plane, belonging to her fiancé, Ben, who was piloting the expensive aircraft, when it came down in woodlands in the Colorado Rockies. Ally is also the only survivor, but rather than sitting back and waiting for rescue, she is soon pulling together items that may help her survive a little longer – first aid kit, energy bars, warm clothes, trainers – before fleeing the scene. If you’re hearing the faint sound of alarm bells ringing, get used to it. There’s much, much more to learn about Ally before this tale is over.

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One , a science-fiction novel :

Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.

The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three.

Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.

Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.

Book review examples for non-fiction books

Nonfiction books are generally written to inform readers about a certain topic. As such, the focus of a nonfiction book review will be on the clarity and effectiveness of this communication . In carrying this out, a book review may analyze the author’s source materials and assess the thesis in order to determine whether or not the book meets expectations.

Again, we’ve included abbreviated versions of long reviews here, so feel free to click on the link to read the entire piece!

The Washington Post reviews David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon :

The arc of David Grann’s career reminds one of a software whiz-kid or a latest-thing talk-show host — certainly not an investigative reporter, even if he is one of the best in the business. The newly released movie of his first book, “The Lost City of Z,” is generating all kinds of Oscar talk, and now comes the release of his second book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” the film rights to which have already been sold for $5 million in what one industry journal called the “biggest and wildest book rights auction in memory.”

Grann deserves the attention. He’s canny about the stories he chases, he’s willing to go anywhere to chase them, and he’s a maestro in his ability to parcel out information at just the right clip: a hint here, a shading of meaning there, a smartly paced buildup of multiple possibilities followed by an inevitable reversal of readerly expectations or, in some cases, by a thrilling and dislocating pull of the entire narrative rug.

All of these strengths are on display in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Around the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered underneath Osage lands in the Oklahoma Territory, lands that were soon to become part of the state of Oklahoma. Through foresight and legal maneuvering, the Osage found a way to permanently attach that oil to themselves and shield it from the prying hands of white interlopers; this mechanism was known as “headrights,” which forbade the outright sale of oil rights and granted each full member of the tribe — and, supposedly, no one else — a share in the proceeds from any lease arrangement. For a while, the fail-safes did their job, and the Osage got rich — diamond-ring and chauffeured-car and imported-French-fashion rich — following which quite a large group of white men started to work like devils to separate the Osage from their money. And soon enough, and predictably enough, this work involved murder. Here in Jazz Age America’s most isolated of locales, dozens or even hundreds of Osage in possession of great fortunes — and of the potential for even greater fortunes in the future — were dispatched by poison, by gunshot and by dynamite. […]

Stacked Books reviews Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers :

I’ve heard a lot of great things about Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Friends and co-workers tell me that his subjects are interesting and his writing style is easy to follow without talking down to the reader. I wasn’t disappointed with Outliers. In it, Gladwell tackles the subject of success – how people obtain it and what contributes to extraordinary success as opposed to everyday success.

The thesis – that our success depends much more on circumstances out of our control than any effort we put forth – isn’t exactly revolutionary. Most of us know it to be true. However, I don’t think I’m lying when I say that most of us also believe that we if we just try that much harder and develop our talent that much further, it will be enough to become wildly successful, despite bad or just mediocre beginnings. Not so, says Gladwell.

Most of the evidence Gladwell gives us is anecdotal, which is my favorite kind to read. I can’t really speak to how scientifically valid it is, but it sure makes for engrossing listening. For example, did you know that successful hockey players are almost all born in January, February, or March? Kids born during these months are older than the others kids when they start playing in the youth leagues, which means they’re already better at the game (because they’re bigger). Thus, they get more play time, which means their skill increases at a faster rate, and it compounds as time goes by. Within a few years, they’re much, much better than the kids born just a few months later in the year. Basically, these kids’ birthdates are a huge factor in their success as adults – and it’s nothing they can do anything about. If anyone could make hockey interesting to a Texan who only grudgingly admits the sport even exists, it’s Gladwell. […]

Quill and Quire reviews Rick Prashaw’s Soar, Adam, Soar :

Ten years ago, I read a book called Almost Perfect. The young-adult novel by Brian Katcher won some awards and was held up as a powerful, nuanced portrayal of a young trans person. But the reality did not live up to the book’s billing. Instead, it turned out to be a one-dimensional and highly fetishized portrait of a trans person’s life, one that was nevertheless repeatedly dubbed “realistic” and “affecting” by non-transgender readers possessing only a vague, mass-market understanding of trans experiences.

In the intervening decade, trans narratives have emerged further into the literary spotlight, but those authored by trans people ourselves – and by trans men in particular – have seemed to fall under the shadow of cisgender sensationalized imaginings. Two current Canadian releases – Soar, Adam, Soar and This One Looks Like a Boy – provide a pointed object lesson into why trans-authored work about transgender experiences remains critical.

To be fair, Soar, Adam, Soar isn’t just a story about a trans man. It’s also a story about epilepsy, the medical establishment, and coming of age as seen through a grieving father’s eyes. Adam, Prashaw’s trans son, died unexpectedly at age 22. Woven through the elder Prashaw’s narrative are excerpts from Adam’s social media posts, giving us glimpses into the young man’s interior life as he traverses his late teens and early 20s. […]

Book Geeks reviews Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love :

WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5

SUBJECT: 4/5

CANDIDNESS: 4.5/5

RELEVANCE: 3.5/5

ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

“Eat Pray Love” is so popular that it is almost impossible to not read it. Having felt ashamed many times on my not having read this book, I quietly ordered the book (before I saw the movie) from amazon.in and sat down to read it. I don’t remember what I expected it to be – maybe more like a chick lit thing but it turned out quite different. The book is a real story and is a short journal from the time when its writer went travelling to three different countries in pursuit of three different things – Italy (Pleasure), India (Spirituality), Bali (Balance) and this is what corresponds to the book’s name – EAT (in Italy), PRAY (in India) and LOVE (in Bali, Indonesia). These are also the three Is – ITALY, INDIA, INDONESIA.

Though she had everything a middle-aged American woman can aspire for – MONEY, CAREER, FRIENDS, HUSBAND; Elizabeth was not happy in her life, she wasn’t happy in her marriage. Having suffered a terrible divorce and terrible breakup soon after, Elizabeth was shattered. She didn’t know where to go and what to do – all she knew was that she wanted to run away. So she set out on a weird adventure – she will go to three countries in a year and see if she can find out what she was looking for in life. This book is about that life changing journey that she takes for one whole year. […]

Emily May reviews Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Goodreads:

Look, I'm not a happy crier. I might cry at songs about leaving and missing someone; I might cry at books where things don't work out; I might cry at movies where someone dies. I've just never really understood why people get all choked up over happy, inspirational things. But Michelle Obama's kindness and empathy changed that. This book had me in tears for all the right reasons.

This is not really a book about politics, though political experiences obviously do come into it. It's a shame that some will dismiss this book because of a difference in political opinion, when it is really about a woman's life. About growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about getting married and struggling to maintain that marriage; about motherhood; about being thrown into an amazing and terrifying position.

I hate words like "inspirational" because they've become so overdone and cheesy, but I just have to say it-- Michelle Obama is an inspiration. I had the privilege of seeing her speak at The Forum in Inglewood, and she is one of the warmest, funniest, smartest, down-to-earth people I have ever seen in this world.

And yes, I know we present what we want the world to see, but I truly do think it's genuine. I think she is someone who really cares about people - especially kids - and wants to give them better lives and opportunities.

She's obviously intelligent, but she also doesn't gussy up her words. She talks straight, with an openness and honesty rarely seen. She's been one of the most powerful women in the world, she's been a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she's had her own successful career, and yet she has remained throughout that same girl - Michelle Robinson - from a working class family in Chicago.

I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

Hopefully, this post has given you a better idea of how to write a book review. You might be wondering how to put all of this knowledge into action now! Many book reviewers start out by setting up a book blog. If you don’t have time to research the intricacies of HTML, check out Reedsy Discovery — where you can read indie books for free and review them without going through the hassle of creating a blog. To register as a book reviewer , go here .

And if you’d like to see even more book review examples, simply go to this directory of book review blogs and click on any one of them to see a wealth of good book reviews. Beyond that, it's up to you to pick up a book and pen — and start reviewing!

Continue reading

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• How To Write A Review: Cambridge B2 First

• Posted on 24/07/2019
• Categories: Blog
• Tags: B2 First , Cambridge Exams , FCE , First Certificate , Resources to learn English , Writing

Students who are taking their B2 First Certificate exam (FCE) will be asked to do two pieces of writing within an 80 minute time limit. Part 1 is always an essay . Part 2 is where you can get a bit more creative. You might, for example, be asked to write a letter, a report or a review, all of which have their own style and set guidelines.

When writing a review it can be difficult to know where to start. But don’t be afraid! We are here to help you every step of the way.

Remember a review could be for a book, a film, a magazine, a restaurant or even a product .

Three steps to writing a great review

Let’s start with something simple. Imagine. You turn over the page to your writing part 2 and you see this question:

Question taken from Cambridge Assessment English website . (Feb 2018)

Step One: Make a plan

The first thing to do is to make a plan, just like we did in our B2 First essay guidelines .

Think of a book you read in which the main character behaved in a surprising way. This could be surprising in a good way, where the character does something amazing and helps somebody. Or maybe there’s a twist at the end and the character does something really shocking. Either way take some time to really think about your choice.

E.g. I’m going to choose The Great Gatsby, because I had to read the book 3 times when I was at school and I’ve seen the film so I feel like I know it really well .

The structure

Next, think of the structure. Consider all the parts of the question and use that to help organise your review. Make notes about the following:

• An interesting title
• A catchy introduction
• A summary of the plot
• A surprising moment
• Your recommendation

Remember you’re going to want to separate these with clear paragraphs that are going to help the examiner read to the end without getting a headache.

You also need to consider the tone and how the review should sound to the reader. Remember this is for a magazine. Think about all the magazines you like to read. You want to sound chatty and grab the reader’s attention, but not bore them to sleep. Think semi-formal but friendly!

Useful Vocabulary

Now brainstorm some useful vocabulary for your chosen book, including lots of adjectives. Avoid using boring adjectives like good or bad . It’s much more exciting to say ‘amazing’ and ‘disappointing’ or ‘ terrific ’ and ‘terrible’ .

Here’s some more useful vocabulary to get you started:

superficial / deceptive / fascinating / unbelievable / rich / lonely / kind / reserved/ to be set in / to be written by / prosperity / characters / jazz age / protagonist / atmosphere / author / chapter / ending / fictional towns / prohibition / novel / on the outskirts / sad story.

Your next step is to think of some linking phrases. These are going to help tie together your thoughts and bring your review to life!

• Overall if you like…
• I was pleasantly surprised by…
• In fact…
• What I disliked the most was…
• The book contains…
• As well as…
• This well-written book…
• Unbelievably…

Step Two: Write it

Once you have a solid plan, writing your review should be easy!

First start with an interesting title. E.g. The Unexpected Anti-Hero. It relates to both the book that’s being reviewed and the question. It’s also short and snappy .

Next write an engaging introduction. Maybe start with a rhetorical question, for example:

Are you a fan of the Jazz Age? Then this is the book for you!

Or a general statement about the book that will hook the reader:

The Great Gatsby is a classic, with many twists and turns.

You could also give some background information. Here we use the past simple:

The Great Gatsby was written by F.S.Fitzgerald and is set in prosperous Long Island in 1922.

The second paragraph should summarise the plot (note – we usually describe a story in present tense ):

Gatsby is a mysterious character, he has big extravagant parties, and we never know if we can trust him.

The third paragraph is where we introduce the surprising moment and reveal what the main character did and why it was surprising:

• The most shocking part is when…
• I couldn’t believe it when…
• It was so surprising when…

In the fourth paragraph, give a recommendation! Here the examiner wants to hear your overall opinion. It can be something simple:

• I strongly recommend..

Or something more inventive:

• I wouldn’t read the novel again because…
• Everyone should read this immediately!

But don’t forget to say why!

Step Three: Check it

Now you have your winning book review it’s time to check for all those little (and big) mistakes.

Make sure you check:

• You’ve answered all parts of the question.
• It is easy to read.
• Your spelling is correct.
• You’ve used the 3rd person(s).
• You have used punctuation.
• There’s a variety of nouns and adjectives.
• Pick a book you know quite well! Whether it’s Harry Potter or The Hunger Games , make sure you have lots to say about it!
• Don’t be afraid to give both negative and positive opinions!
• Experiment with using first person and try addressing the reader with ‘you’.
• Read lots of real authentic reviews online, anything from holidays to music concerts, exhibitions to video games!
• Remember to put some of your own personality into your review. Have some fun with it and good luck!

Follow the links for some excellent phrases and vocabulary for other types of reviews.

Restaurant Reviews

Film Reviews

TV / Theatre Reviews

Exhibition & Concert Reviews

Here are some more sample questions for you to practice on your own:

Choose one and post your reviews in the comments section.

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

Twist (n): : a sudden change in a story that you do not expect..

Chatty (adj): having a friendly style.

Avoid doing something (v): to intentionally not do something.

Terrific (adj): excellent.

Snappy (adj): concise.

Hook (v): to catch.

adj = adjective

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8 Hidden Benefits of Being Bilingual

• By: oxfordadmin
• Posted on 17/07/2019

4 Past Tenses and When to Use Them

• Posted on 31/07/2019

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Interview highlights

Stephen king's new story took him 45 years to write.

Mary Louise Kelly

Courtney Dorning

Stephen King says finishing one of his stories decades after he started it felt like "calling into a canyon of time." Francois Mori/AP hide caption

Stephen King says finishing one of his stories decades after he started it felt like "calling into a canyon of time."

Stephen King is out with a new collection of short stories.

As you might expect from the reigning King of Horror, some are terrifying. Some are creepy. Others are laugh-out-loud funny. And one of them took him 45 years to write.

The book is a collection of 12 stories, called You Like it Darker .

Stephen King's legacy of horror

Over the course of his decades-long career as a writer, King has learned there's no taking a story too far.

"I found out – to sort of my delight and sort of my horror – that you can't really gross out the American public," King told NPR.

He spoke with All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly about the book, destiny and getting older.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Mary Louise Kelly: I want to start by asking you about the story, The Answer Man . You began it when you were 30. You finished it when you were 75. What the heck happened?

Stephen King: Well, I lost it. What happens with me is I will write stories and they don't always get done. And the ones that don't get done go in a drawer and I forget all about them. And about five years ago, these people started to collect all the stuff that was finished and all this stuff that was unfinished and put it in an archive. They were going through everything – desk drawers, wastebaskets underneath the desk, every place. I'm not exactly a very organized person. My nephew John Leonard found this particular story, which was written in the U.N. Plaza Hotel back in the '70s, I think. And he said, "You know, this is pretty good. You really ought to finish this." And I read it and I said, "You know, I think I know how to finish it now." So I did.

Kelly: Well give people a taste. The first six or so pages that you had written back in the hotel, it becomes a 50-page story. What was it that you decided was worth returning to?

King: Well, I like the concept: This young man is driving along, and he's trying to figure out whether or not he should join his parents' white shoe law firm in Boston, or whether he should strike out on his own. And he finds this man on the road who calls himself the Answer Man. And he says, "I will answer three of your questions for $25, and you have 5 minutes to ask these questions." So I thought to myself, I'm going to write this story in three acts. One while the questioner is young, and one when he's middle aged, and one when he's old. The question that I ask myself is: "Do you want to know what happens in the future or not?"

Kelly: This story, like many of your stories, is about destiny – whether some things are meant to happen no matter what we do, no matter what choices we make. Do you believe that's true?

King: The answer is I don't know. When I write stories, I write to find out what I really think. And I don't think there's any real answer to that question.

Books You Love

'carrie' turns 50 here are the best stephen king novels — chosen by you.

Kelly: You do describe in the afterword of the book that going back in your seventies to complete a story you had begun as a young man gave you, and I'll quote your words, "The oddest sense of calling into a canyon of time." Can you explain what that means?

King: Well, you listen for the echo to come back. When I was a young man, I had a young man's ideas about The Answer Man . But now, as a man who has reached, let us say, a certain age, I'm forced to write from experience and just an idea of what it might be like to be an old man. So yeah, it felt to me like yelling and then waiting for the echo to come back all these years later.

Kelly: Are there subjects you shy away from, where you think about it and think, "You know what, that might be one step too creepy, too weird?"

King: I had one novel called Pet Cemetery that I wrote and put in a drawer because I thought, "Nobody will want to read this. This is just too awful." I wanted to write it to see what would happen, but I didn't think I would publish it. And I got into a contractual bind, and I needed to do a book with my old company. And so I did. And I found out – sort of to my delight and sort of to my horror – that you can't really gross out the American public. You can't go too far.

Kelly: It was a huge bestseller, as I recall.

King: Yeah, it's a bestseller and it was a movie. And yeah, the same thing is true with It , about the killer clown who preys on children

Kelly: Who still haunts my nightmares, I have to tell you. You've written how many books at this point?

King: I don't know.

King: Really? In our recent coverage of you, we've said everything from 50 to 70.

King: I think it's probably around 70, but I don't keep any count. I remember thinking as a kid that it would be a really fine lifetime to be able to write 100 novels.

Kelly: Oh my gosh. Well you sound like you're still having a lot of fun, so I hope you have quite a few more novels for us to come.

King: That'd be good.

• Stephen King
• Short stories

Lyrcs: Write Lyrics Poetry Rap 4+

Counts syllables shows rhymes, patrick biedrzycki.

• 3.8 • 5 Ratings
• Offers In-App Purchases

Screenshots

Description.

Lyrcs is the single tool that empowers you to do what you do best - tell stories through music. Made for songwriters, by songwriters. RHYME DICTIONARY Gone are the days of opening a browser and checking rhymezone to find that perfect rhyme. Lyrcs contains a built in offline rhyme dictionary so results are shown to you in an instant. RHYME HIGHLIGHTING No need to keep track of which words rhyme at the end of a line, Lyrcs will do that for you. This allows you to instantly judge if maybe you've spent too much time on a single rhyme group. SYLLABLE COUNTING Have you ever needed to ensure a line in verse 2 matches the syllable count in verse 1? Gone are the days of manually counting on your fingers. Lyrcs provides instant syllable counting for every line in your lyrics. RHYME LINKS If you pronounce a word to sound like it rhymes with another word, use rhyme links to make them the same color. METADATA Save metadata like title, key, tempo, collaborators etc. ANNOTATIONS Add annotations for marking sections, specifying chords, remembering ideas or leaving comments. --- Subscription Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Version 3.4.0

NEW (iOS): Keyboard toolbar contains dismiss button NEW (iOS): Keyboard toolbar contains a button to insert an annotation (wraps highlighted words in annotation, otherwise inserts empty annotation).

Ratings and Reviews

It's okay....

I have started using this app, and it is helpful because it keeps count of how many syllables you use. But, I think that this app needs different sections for different things. For example, there can be a section for the chorous, and a section for the pre-chorous. This is very helpful for me because I am very new to song-writing and I like it whenever the app kind of helps you by using sections. Whenever I opened up this app I realized that it did not have different sections and I felt like the app was just throwing me out there and not helping me at all.

Developer Response ,

Hey Writing Dragon, thanks so much for your review. So glad you’re loving the features like syllable counting! Being able to identify sections is also a great suggestion. Could you try writing the title of the section above your lines of lyrics? Given it’s a free app created to help out the song writing community, a 2 star review unfortunately doesn’t help foster that community. Could I ask that you reconsider the rating?

Real Mac App for Writing Lyrics

This app does exactly what it says, looks great, and does it while being a real Mac app. It's exactly what I wanted. It uses plain text files, which is amazing, because they're easy to backup and I'm not locked in at all. On top of it all, the developer is extremely responsive. It's the app I would make, but now I don't have to!

Delightful, Clean, Focused App

I feel like this may not be getting a fair shake, or maybe I'm on a curve as I'm just using it for poetry. This is an excellent, universal minimalist writing app with helpful syllable tracking and a nice break-glass-in-case-of-emergency rhyme dictionary. Hopping between the Mac and iPhone apps as I work out my poems has been an absolute pleasure. Thanks!

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to write some kind words! It’s encouraging reading reviews like this to know Lyrcs is on the right path of being a simple app to write lyrics and poetry. There are some new features upcoming but if there is something you find is lacking I’m very receptive to hearing and improving Lyrcs (you can reach out on the contact us page on https://lyrcs.app). Good luck in your poetry journey! 💪

App Privacy

The developer, Patrick Biedrzycki , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

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She left the CIA in frustration. Now her spy novel is racking up awards.

I.S. Berry scored rave reviews and awards for her literary debut, “The Peacock and the Sparrow,” a novel mined from her time at the CIA.

She felt each boom like an electric jolt as she was trying to sleep in her Alexandria, Va., apartment.

It was August 2006, and Ilana Berry was then a 30-year-old Central Intelligence Agency case officer. Outside, construction crews were beginning work on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, knocking down the old expanse to make way for a new six-lane roadway.

But each rumble threw Berry off the steady anchors of time and place, hurling her back to her last year stationed in war-rocked Baghdad. There, she had spent sleepless nights alone in a trailer as insurgent mortars and rockets screamed into the Green Zone, the central area of the Iraqi capital where the American military, diplomatic and intelligence staffs were housed.

“I remember waking up and having the worst panic attack of my life,” she recalled. “I called my parents to say that we are all under attack.”

To cope, Berry began tracking when the crews would do demolitions and set an alarm for herself to stay awake. She began writing, caging the emotional fallout of her time in Iraq into the tidy frames of sentences. That writing would kick off a sequence of events that would pit her against the agency’s bureaucracy and end in her resignation.

But it would also start her second act as a celebrated, award-winning novelist — one that would be eventually be invited back to the CIA.

Berry applied to join the CIA while attending law school at the University of Virginia, believing it would combine her interests in international relations and intelligence work with her sense of patriotic mission.

Raised outside D.C., she was a 1994 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. She spent time in the Balkans after graduating from Haverford College, an experience that led to a position as an intelligence analyst with the Defense Department. “I loved the work of intel, and I wanted to make it my career,” Berry said. “So the CIA is the place to go, right?”

After being accepted, she trained at Camp Peary near Williamsburg, Va., known as “The Farm.” Much of that training was about logistics — how to conduct surveillance, how to know if you are being surveilled. But the more in-depth psychological elements made Berry wonder if she was in the right place.

“Your whole training is basically how to find people’s vulnerabilities,” Berry said. “What are their motivations? Is it flattery or vanity or revenge, or do they hate their boss? That was never an easy fit for me.”

But Berry graduated with high marks and volunteered to be stationed in Iraq for a year-long assignment. She arrived in 2004 as doubts were beginning to stain America’s initial reasoning for toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime. Among the CIA team, there was a growing realization that there were no weapons of mass destruction in the country — the main justification for the U.S.-led coalition’s invasion.

Berry found that the CIA trailers didn’t have the armored protections or safety protocols in place like their military counterparts. But when she advised CIA headquarters about the danger, she was ignored, she said.

“We weren’t taking the precautions that we should have been,” Berry said. “And it was clear we knew we weren’t.”

One specific incident left Berry with doubts about the CIA’s mission. She got a tip from an Iraqi informant about a possible suspect involved in the 2003 truck bombing of the U.N. Baghdad headquarters that left 22 people dead, including the commissioner for human rights at the time. Berry’s tip led to the suspect being taken into custody, but he claimed he was not involved. Still, he was carted off to a detention facility. Berry later heard from other officers that they were unsure of his guilt, and she worries he may have been wrongfully pulled into the maze of America’s post-9/11 detention system.

In response to Berry’s allegations about her time in Iraq, a CIA agency spokesperson did not address specific complaints or allegations but said the agency “is absolutely committed to fostering a safe, respectful, and equitable workplace environment for all our employees, and we have taken significant steps to ensure that, including strengthening the Agency’s handling of issues when they arise.”

The living conditions. The murky mission. All that seemed to Berry to fuel rampant alcoholism at the CIA station. “Baghdad really screwed me up,” she said.

Her tour done but still living with the emotional aftershocks in Virginia, Berry kept writing. “My goal was never to publish my account of Baghdad,” she said. “It was to make sense of what happened.”

She had volunteered to go next to Afghanistan and was enrolled in Farsi-language classes. During that time, Berry volunteered to the agency that she had been writing about her experience.

According to agency regulation, all current and former CIA employees must submit any writing they plan on releasing to the CIA’s Publication Classification Review Board, which determines whether a potential book or screenplay or writing contains classified information. After the agency learned Berry was working on a memoir, she submitted the manuscript.

When her writing came back, it was covered in redactions that Berry felt made little sense. “They redacted my height and weight,” she said. “They redacted the color of the sky. These are clearly things that are not classified.”

Berry felt the pushback was all due to the unflattering light the account showed the agency. Her complaints in Iraq had already begun to hurt her prospects at the CIA. Her follow-up assignment in Afghanistan was pulled. She channeled her frustration into an appeal over her manuscript.

“I fought every single redaction, if for no other reason than to stick it to them that this was wrong,” she said.

Mark Zaid, a D.C. attorney who regularly represents CIA officers and helped Berry with her appeal, said he believes the board’s difficult responses were tied to the protective stance the agency assumed at the time. “There is a deep-seated paranoia and ignorance among security officers,” he said. “Their internal processes are geared for damage control, no matter whether there is damage or not.” Zaid later hired Berry into his law firm as an of counsel attorney.

In response to questions about Berry’s past conflicts with the review board, an agency spokesperson said the “CIA does not comment on details regarding specific prepublication reviews.” The spokesperson added that “the Board is open to authors’ requests to reconsider content they believe is unclassified.”

Eventually, the review board agreed with most of Berry’s appeal and removed most of the redactions from her manuscript.

By then, she had already resigned from agency, frustrated with the fight and her experiences in Iraq. She was married and a new mother. Though she had won the right to publish her account, she no longer wanted her own story — and the trauma and personal doubt she had put in writing — out there.

Write what you know

Despite her clash with agency, piling the mixed feelings about her time as a spy into a memoir reminded Berry how much she enjoyed writing. As she launched herself into a new career as an attorney and later followed her husband to Bahrain in 2012, Berry kept at it. Now it was fiction, but Berry found all her sentences echoed back to her time in Iraq.

The pages that would eventually become “The Peacock and the Sparrow,” a novel featuring a weary CIA officer caught in the turbines of Middle Eastern political change, include themes mined straight from Berry’s time at the agency. Its first lines plunge a reader into the morally ambiguous head space Berry learned in her training. “It was the ability to please that you learned as a spy: smoking a cigarette, offering compliments you didn’t mean, falling down drunk from having accepted too many vodkas,” Berry writes.

The novel’s CIA protagonist, Shane Collins, faces the same indifference from higher-ups that Berry said she saw in Iraq. She funneled the same problematic behavior she witnessed — the drinking, the war-zone infidelities — into her main character. The gnawing doubts about the guilt of the bombing suspect also popped up as a plot point.

Perhaps the most surprising element in her new work as a novelist was how easy it was to submit the manuscript to the review board. They demanded no significant redactions.

“Time had passed, and I had built up a good relationship with the board,” Berry said.

Berry’s debut novel, “The Peacock and the Sparrow,” was released by Atria Books in May 2023 under the pen name I.S. Berry. The book was feted by both the New Yorker and NPR on their annual lists of the best books of the year. This month, the novel also won the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first novel by an American novelist, a significant industry award whose past recipients include Viet Thanh Nguyen and Tana French.

Even with that acclaim, Berry was still surprised when the CIA invited her to speak with Invisible Ink, a group of agency employees who are also writers.

“I was not exactly a poster child for the place,” Berry said. “But they assured me they valued authenticity over filtered plaudits, which were words I never thought I’d hear.”

Last September, Berry was sitting in her car in the ocean of parking spaces sprawling outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. Even with her invitation, she felt “nervous as hell,” she said. “I did feel like it was a family reunion where I was estranged from my family.”

But Berry then met her agency contact, a member of Invisible Ink, who had asked her to come and speak. She was taken into a conference room where she spoke to about a dozen current agency staff members to discuss writing, publishing and working with the agency’s review board.

As she was leaving, Berry was asked to film a video about the career paths of officers after the agency. She agreed.

“This was such a formative part of my life,” she said. “They are people who have had that same singular experience as me.” Going back to the CIA, Berry said, “felt like I had rebuilt this broken bridge.”

In the meantime, she’s working away on a new novel. It’s another spy tale.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Berry visited Invisible Ink last February. It was last September. The article has been corrected.

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Billie Eilish Dares to Write (Twisted) Love Songs

“Hit Me Hard and Soft,” her third album, is both concise and far-reaching.

By Jon Pareles

“Twenty-one took a lifetime,” Billie Eilish, 22, sings in “Skinny,” the song that opens her third album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft.”

Any woman her age could say that; it’s just math. But even before she was old enough to vote, Eilish had packed a lifetime of accomplishments into a career that she began in 2015 as a teenager uploading songs to SoundCloud. Since then, Eilish has racked up billions of streams, an armload of Grammy Awards, two Oscars and a full-length documentary . On “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” she deliberately tamps down some pop expectations while she warily embraces others.

Eilish has both the time-honored musicianship that awards shows admire and the metanarrative savvy of her digital-era generation. Countless imitators have learned from — and been emboldened by — her blend of raw revelations, graceful melodies and wily productions, abetted by her brother and songwriting partner, Finneas .

Their historically grounded pop recombines musical theater, parlor songs, punk, folk, electronica, soundtracks, bossa nova, industrial rock and more. Eilish brings to all of them the poise of a vintage crooner: the capacity to float above beats and jolts, to treat a microphone as a confidant. Her voice can be breathy and intimate or eye-rolling and sardonic; at very strategic moments, she reveals her power to belt.

Billie Eilish Hits You Hard and Soft

Eilish’s 2019 debut album, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” mapped gothic nightmares, adolescent obsessions and lingering traumas along with an occasional giggle. Her second, “Happier Than Ever” in 2021, reacted directly to the attention, shock, exploitation, stalking, exhaustion and newfound power that success brought her.

“Skinny” is a hushed update on Eilish’s superstardom. “Am I acting my age now?/Am I already on the way out?,” she sings, along with thoughts on her body shape, finding nontoxic love, her sense of isolation and a resigned reaction to social media: “The internet is hungry for the meanest kind of funny/and somebody’s gotta feed it.”

Yet even as “Skinny” connects back to “Happier Than Ever,” it’s a transition — a parting glance as Eilish moves from her very individual situation toward her version of more generalized pop songwriting.

For an artistically self-conscious hitmaker like Eilish, the proverbially “difficult” third album calls for self-redefinition, rethinking the past and challenging fair-weather fans. On “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” Eilish and Finneas further expand their sonic territory, reveling in electronics and plush subtleties, while they alternately honor and warp pop structures. At the same time, Eilish takes on a more conventional assignment: to write songs, particularly love songs, that don’t have to be all about her.

The album is a concise, 10-song set, a deliberate contrast to prolix streaming-era albums like the ones released lately by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé . Eilish chose not to put out advance singles, and she has urged fans to listen to the album as a whole, like an analog-era LP instead of a track list to be cherry-picked. Just in case 10 songs seems ungenerous rather than disciplined, Eilish makes a pre-emptive wisecrack; tacked onto the end of the last song, “Blue,” a seemingly casual Eilish asks, “So when can I hear the next one?”

The album hits more soft than hard. For much of it, Eilish follows through on her whispery Oscar-winning ballads, “No Time to Die” and “What Was I Made For?” She also takes up the craft of the love song, though she keeps her own peculiar twists.

“Birds of a Feather,” a declaration of lifelong love, could almost be a wedding-party song. “I don’t think I could love you more,” Eilish sings amid puffy major chords, a tinkly keyboard hook and a steady but unobtrusive beat, joined by radiant girl-group harmonies. But a closer reading reveals Eilish’s persistent morbid streak: “I want you to stay till I’m in the grave/Till I rot away dead and buried.”

Eilish is even more poppy and upbeat in “Lunch,” with handclaps and a thumping beat as she sings about being infatuated with a girl — “She’s the headlights, I’m the deer” — and declares, “She dances on my tongue/Tastes like she might be the one.”

Of course, Eilish gives equal time to love’s downsides. In “The Greatest,” the singer puts on a brave face as she’s ignored and rejected by the object of her affection. She sings with quiet patience over a pizzicato string-quartet arrangement, only to explode near the end. “All the times I waited for you to want me naked,” she sings in a shattering crescendo. “I made it all look painless — man I am the greatest. The greatest!”

In the wry “L’Amour de Ma Vie,” Eilish belatedly admits that her ex wasn’t the love of her life. “I told you a lie,” she sings with an unrepentant lilt; still, she sounds a little miffed that “you moved on immediately.” The song starts out skeletal and torchy, turns into an understated strut and then mutates completely: first with muffled electronic effects and then, out of nowhere, with a pumping EDM beat and Auto-Tuned vocals, as Eilish taunts: “You were so mediocre and we’re so glad it’s over now.”

That’s the swerve into the album’s final, more experimental stretch. In the multipart “Bittersuite,” the singer finds herself in a furtive affair — “I can’t fall in love with you/No matter how bad I want to” — as her voice is surrounded and eventually swallowed up by shifty, spooky electronics.

“Blue” pulls together the album’s through lines, picking up lyrics from the other songs. It begins as a hooky pop tune about lost love: “I’d like to mean it when I say I’m over you/But that’s still not true,” Eilish sings over oohing, ahing backup vocals. But midway through, the song dissolves into an eerie, glacial ballad about a someone scarred by a damaged childhood: “I don’t blame you/But I can’t change you,” Eilish croons, as a siren wails from deep in the mix; at the end, a string quartet takes over with a wordless dirge.

In that song, and for a good part of the album, Eilish turns her gaze toward characters outside herself and sets aside easy pop satisfactions. She has earned the prerogatives of a superstar, and on “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” she’s using them.

Billie Eilish “Hit Me Hard and Soft” (Darkroom/Interscope)

Jon Pareles has been The Times’s chief pop music critic since 1988. He studied music, played in rock, jazz and classical groups and was a college-radio disc jockey. He was previously an editor at Rolling Stone and the Village Voice. More about Jon Pareles

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'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' Review: Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy's thrilling revenge saga is outstanding

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ' Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ' hits the theatres on May 24, 2024, and it is a prequel to 'Mad Max: Fury Road'. It traces the origins of Furiosa ( Anya Taylor-Joy ) before she associates with Max in 'Mad Max: Fury Road'

The film features Chris Hemsworth in the role of a mythical warlord called Dementus who kills Furiosa's mother Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser) and abducts her away from her homeland, Green Place of Many Mothers. ' Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga ' follows Furiosa on her path to revenge against Dementus. 

The George Miller directorial is an allegorical parable that transcends the world of the 'Mad Max' universe and asks questions related to morality. Furiosa as a protagonist stands out as a picture of courage, justice, and hope. Here is a detailed review of the film. 

George Miller's writing and direction bring depth to 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'

George Miller lives and breathes the 'Mad Max' universe but takes it a notch higher with 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' as he works on a film where Max isn't the protagonist of the universe for the first time. Furiosa's story is one of courage and hope and her character stands apart from the other characters in the universe. 

The audience sees Furiosa grow up from an innocuous child to a furious warrior who could even cut her arm off to set herself free. By the time, the movie ends, you see Furiosa rise above the ways of the Wasteland and fulfill her revenge in the most hopeful and inspiring way. 

George's writing and creativity make this film an epic saga where a determined protagonist goes up and wins against an opinionated and strong antagonist. The biggest feature of this narrative is the message that George is trying to give through this film. He seamlessly blends this film into 'Mad Max: Fury Road' ensuring continuity in the franchise. 

Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth deliver powerful performances

Anya Taylor-Joy has proven herself to be a standout performer with this one. This is a role that will be remembered for ages as a defining role in her filmography. The character is sculpted to great depths and leaves a lot of scope for performance. Anya is up to it and transforms into a driven Furiosa as she packs a punch in every frame. 

Chris Hemsworth steals the show in this one as an antagonist who has a vision for the world. He might appear motivated in one scene and then flawlessly transitions to appearing delusional. His character involves a mix of philosophy and psychology and he is ready to immerse as he plays this character with brilliant depth. 

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' may be the best 'Mad Max' film yet

What differentiates this film from its predecessors is the clash of philosophies between the protagonist and antagonist. The makers stay true to their vision of going deeper into the universe in search of hope in an otherwise nihilistic world. 

This isn't an ordinary revenge saga and is one that has layers to it. A deeper understanding of the world and in particular its climax could offer hope to the world this film is treating as an audience. 

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' could be the best film of an excellent franchise and is an important addition to the franchise from the point of view of understanding the world and its characters. The film is a must-watch. 

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' trailer

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' hits the theatres on May 24, 2024

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The realm of mimesis in Plato: orality, writing, and the ontology of the image

Tomás n. castro , university of lisbon. [email protected].

The preoccupation with mimesis is central to Plato’s works. Mariangela Esposito situates the Platonic corpus in the age of an “anthropological paradigm shift” from a culture of orality to a culture of writing (pp. ix, 51, 59, 65) and proposes a “contemporary philosophical inquiry” (p. ix) into Plato’s criticisms of both cultures. The author later explains that in fact “there is no shift from orality to writing, but through orality to writing, in which Plato may be considered the main representative, given that the transition gained both awareness and intentionality under his cultural project”, a movement similar to the “shift through myth to philosophy ” that resulted from the employment of myths with a critical intent, no longer focused on concreteness but at the service of philosophical abstraction, “when philosophy became more conceptual and abstract under Plato” (p. 69, all italics in the original). Within this context, Esposito discusses the realm of mimesis in Plato as a “mechanism” (p. xiii) that reveals the constant relationships of opposition, continuity, and co-dependency in the critiques of writing and orality, as well as a crucial problem in the ontology of the image, devoting a separate chapter of the monograph to each one of these three axes (writing, orality, and image).

Throughout the book, one can count over fifty occurrences of the word “contemporary”, an adjective that seems to be employed by the author with two different intents. In one sense, “contemporary” refers to the topicality of some problems and their relevance to the present. In the very first lines of the Abstract, the above-mentioned paradigm shift that had happened in Plato’s time is declared to be “… very similar to the one we have been experiencing for a few decades. As we experience the progressive erosion of literacy in favour of digitalisation …” (p. ix), an assertion that is not resumed anywhere else in the book. The most direct bridge with current events only resurfaces in the short Afterword (“On the Contemporary Relatability of This Study”, pp. 143-147), where the author recalls some key-concepts of the study ( eidola , logoi ) and appears to apply them to “contemporary phenomena” such as “fake news” (including anti-vaccine narratives during the COVID-19 pandemic) and the first image of a black hole to be captured. [1] The adjective “contemporary” is also employed in a second way, often in conjunction with words such as “scholars”, “authors”, or “interpreters”, qualifying readings of Plato undertaken mainly during the 20 th century, which are extensively followed by the author and are pivotal in the first two chapters.

Chapter 1 of the book deals with the critique of writing in the Phaedrus and in the Seventh Letter of Plato, relying heavily on the “deconstructive reading” that Derrida made of the Phaedrus and the “epistemological reading” of the Seventh Letter proposed by Gadamer (p. 5). Following the famous essay “Plato’s Pharmacy” (later incorporated into Derrida’s Dissemination ), quoted in French in the body of text and then in English in a footnote (p. 7, n. 4), Esposito endorses Derrida’s reading in finding two charges against writing: that is, firstly, an imitation of the original and, secondly, an attempt to substitute the original, which makes clear the “… genuine connection between arts and writing in Plato’s work. This connection is the mimetic mechanism” (p. 17). The myth of Thamus and Theuth plays an important role in this reading of the challenges of writing, showing how “a technique is never innocent in itself” (p. 12), since the concept of pharmakon involves the opposite senses of poison and cure. [2] Gadamer’s interpretation of the Seventh Letter concurs with the critique of the weakness of the logoi , noting the importance of a dialectic of the image or copy in both works. Then, two lengthy sections offer a descriptive account of the history and development of an influential esoteric interpretation of Plato (pp. 31-47), usually known as the school of Tübingen (and Milan) and named after the testimony of Arist. Phys . 209b15, a thesis that argued for the existence of unwritten doctrines that are not explicitly mentioned in the dialogues but contained in other attestations. The author rejects this reading (“which this work does not consider sustainable”, p. 47) because it clashes with the description of a tension between writing and orality in Plato in which the project of the book is grounded, without making clear why the possibility of the Ungeschriebene Lehre is mentioned and then dismissed without a thorough analysis of textual sources.

The critique of orality in the Ion and the Republic is discussed in chapter 2. Havelock and the Harvard School are “the main theoretical model referred to in this chapter” (p. 52), which advances a reading of the oral origins of Ancient Greek poetry and the Homeric Question through the lenses of structural linguistics and anthropology. Denying the rationality of an alleged art of the rhapsody, Socrates denounces the mania of Ion, whose performances were made in a state of near trance “in which self-identity would be better identified with the personal voice rather than with self-consciousness” (p. 64). Esposito rightly frames this criticism within the set of problems that pose a threat to the structure of the psyche . The discussion of the arts in the Republic is articulated with “a discourse on the soul” (p. 71); at the same time the epistemological perils of mimesis and the mimetic mechanism in books 2, 3, and 10 are brought together with the distinctions between reality and appearances—and therefore between likeness-making and appearance-making—made in the Sophist .

Chapter 3 highlights the significance of the ontology of image in Plato’s account of mimesis . The author accounts for the decisive role of the conceptual couple eidos and eidolon for her argument, drawing on a truncated quote of the already extremely difficult Soph. 240a-c (in translation), where “Theaetetus insists on similarity ( eoikos ), resemblance ( eoikos ), likeness ( eikon )” (p. 99). The ontology of falsehood is also investigated with recourse to the Sophist , Theaetetus , Symposium , and Sextus Empiricus. The last sections of the book and its concluding pages emphasize the role of beauty in the transcendence of the dialectic of the “double” (p. 136).

While discussing the role of mimesis in education, the author recognises “a substantial homogeneity in Plato’s works” (p. 113), a valid stance that is further elaborated in a footnote where the authenticity of the Epinomis is questioned, which is a completely legitimate issue. Esposito claims, however, that “According to Diogenes Laertius ( Vitae philosophorum , III, 37) the Epinomis was added by Plato’s student, Philip of Opus, as a last book to conclude the Laws .” (p. 113, n. 47). Diogenes Laertius, though, writes in that passage that “some people say (ἔνιοί τέ φασιν)” that Philip of Opus transcribed the Laws from wax tables and that those people say that the Epinomis is also his (τούτου δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἐπινομίδα φασὶν εἶναι; Diog. Laert. 3.37, p. 263, 416-418 Dorandi). [3] After this, the author quotes a passage where there is a reference to “… skills that employ words, all the arts of the Muses, and the genres of visual representation” (τά τε κατὰ λόγους καὶ μοῦσαν πᾶσαν, καὶ ὅσων γραφικὴ μήτηρ; Epin. 975d5-6 Novotný = Tarán = Tulli), in a loose translation by McKirahan that follows the text established by Tarán, the author of a reference work on the Epinomis , a reference to which could have strengthened the claim of spuriousness. [4] A more serious mishap occurs when quoting the three criteria to judge eikona in Leg. 669a-b. The translation of Saunders follows the tradition of the so-called “moral interpretation” and reads the third criterion as “… and then, third, the moral value of this or that representation produced by language, tunes and rhythms” (p. 115; italics in the monograph), while the Greek reads τὸ τρίτον, εἴργασται τῶν εἰκόνων ἡτισοῦν ῥήμασί τε καὶ μέλεσι καὶ τοῖς ῥυθμοῖς; ( Lg. 669b1-3 Burnet = des Places). This suggests that the original text was not checked, other translations were not consulted (in English: Jowett, Bury, Pangle, Meyer, or Griffith, for instance), and neither were the critical tradition and commentaries on this passage. Saunders’ reading is legitimate but, as it is not literal, it should be explained and defended.

This review cannot be concluded without mentioning two sentences in the Premises of the book whose implications are critical both for the methodology followed in this work and for its bibliography: “A purely philological approach has not been considered due to a lack of advanced expertise in this specific field, and the possibility of its limiting the original aim of the research. Nevertheless, a personal reading of the original Greek text takes priority over any contemporary philosophical interpretation.” (p. xiii) However, it is not clear what is meant here by a “personal” reading of the original text. With regard to Plato, all quotes are taken from the Hackett complete edition (ed. Cooper), and the author does not make a single change or correction to these translations. As for the Greek text, “[t]he relevant Platonic texts are quoted from the Oxford versions edited by John Burnet” (p. xiv), but no philological reason or other justifications are provided for this choice; since Burnet’s edition, the first volume and the Resp. have had new editions in the OCT series, and other dialogues now have alternative reference editions, some of them already followed by the Hackett translation that Esposito quotes. As for Aristotle, the entries in the bibliography are the revised Oxford translation (ed. Barnes) and an Italian translation of the Po . The methodology followed in this book is thus not the same as the one stated in the Premises. Apart from these problems, there are inaccuracies in some works in the bibliography (e.g. Lopes & Cornelli, Murray); the English translations of ancient authors are listed without the names of translators (Aristoxenus, Sextus Empiricus, Simplicius); finally, references to modern works that are translations are not identified as such (one can even find separate entries for the same book by Szlezák in both German and Italian).

This book makes a contribution to the topic, with some remarkable scholarly insights, and it may be useful for an introductory reading (in translation) of some key texts in the Platonic corpus, especially for those who are interested in the reception of the problem of mimesis in authors of the philosophical production of the 20 th century. In view of the critique above, however, some caution should be exercised if one aims to make closer readings of the textual sources for the argument, since the general claims that underlie the readings of these sources are not defended as thoroughly as they ought to be.

[1] Four and a half pages that do “not intend to be a purely autoreferential academic exercise” (p. 143).

[2] “The Greek word pharmakon , which is a vox media [sic] (meaning at the same time medicine and poison), recurs often in the dialogue …” (p. 11, n. 15, italics in the original).

[3] Quoting from the same edition that is listed in the bibliography: Diogenes Laertius. Lives of Eminent Philosophers . Edited with introduction by Tiziano Dorandi. Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries, 50. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

[4] Leonardo Tarán. Academia: Plato, Philip of Opus, and the Pseudo-Platonic Epinomis. Philadelphia: American Philosophical. Society, 1975.

‘Atlas’ review: Originality lacking in…

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‘atlas’ review: originality lacking in sci-fi flick starring jennifer lopez, heroine must stop a dangerous artificial intelligence — while also overcoming bad writing.

If we didn’t know better, we’d guess “Atlas” was composed by an AI.

It feels as though the movie’s producers instructed one of today’s intriguing (but also at least vaguely frightening) programs built on large language models — maybe OpenAI’s ChatGBT, maybe Google’s Gemini — to spit out a script about a future in which humanity is at war with robots that once served them. That would help explain why “Atlas” feels like it consists of bits and pieces from so many other movies and why it is plagued by such subpar dialogue.

Regardless, it’s a bit of a slog.

Directed by Brad Peyton, “Atlas” is set in the future, when humanity’s needs-attending robots have rebelled.

“For years,” says a TV newswoman, “we have been told they would never harm us, but tonight, all of that has changed.”

We get images and sounds of chaos around the world. Many people perish. You know the deal.

This robot revolution has been led by Simu Liu’s Harlan, who flees to Planet GR39 in the Andromeda Galaxy after his war with the International Coalition of Nations tilts humanity’s way.

The main narrative begins 28 years later — about 150 years from now, according to the movie’s press notes — with Lopez’s heavy-handedly named Atlas Shepherd a military analyst and an expert on all things Harland, thanks in part to a shared past with the once-gentle robot that will be revealed in time.

She wants in on a mission to that unstable planet, but the operation’s commander, Sterling K. Brown’s Col. Elias Banks, prefers to have nothing to do with her, noting to a superior officer, Mark Strong’s Gen. Jack Boothe, that she failed the exam to become a ranger four times and that her psych evaluation says she’s “rigid and hostile.”

“I prefer ‘driven and determined,’” Boothe responds.

Atlas does, of course, force her way into the mission, Banks deciding he does need her — only after Boothe says HE needs her on Earth. (Yeah, it’s THAT kind of script.)

Once on Planet GR39, Banks’ Rangers will wear giant mechanical Arc 9 suits, each of which is outfitted with a sophisticated AI that melds with its operator via a neural device worn near the ear.

En route, Atlas is scoffed at for showing up for a meeting with thick paper packets of information but is insistent there will be no more digital briefings. (Her distrust of all things computerized would make more sense if we hadn’t met her waking up to information provided by an AI against whom she fell asleep playing chess the night before.)

The spacecraft’s arrival on the planet doesn’t go as planned, with the rangers — and Atlas — being forced to abandon ship via the Arc 9s, leading to an action sequence that might seem more impressive were it not so strikingly similar to a better-executed version of one from the far superior 2014 science-fiction film “Edge of Tomorrow.”

Soon, Atlas is separated from the others, left to try to survive both Harlan’s hostile forces and the planet’s largely inhospitable environment with her Arc 9’s AI, Smith (voiced by James Cohan). These two intelligences argue about the best courses of action, with Smith pleading with the defiant Atlas to don the neural device and sync with him/it; she stubbornly sticks to learning to operate the Arc 9 the old-fashioned way and on the fly.

Surprisingly, the ongoing conversation between Atlas and Smith is what amounts to “Atlas” at its best, thanks largely to the pitch-perfect voice performance by Cohan.

However, this increasingly philosophical discourse, too, runs off the rails as Atlas and Smith discuss the nature of existence, the close-minded former asking the thoughtful latter if he thinks he has a soul.

“I think everything has a soul,” he says.

“But you can’t find it in your code,” she counters.

“Not any more than you can find it in yours, but I have faith it’s there.”

Lopez (“Hustlers,” “The Mother”) feels miscast in the role, but we’ll say this: She puts her back into selling the movie’s hacky lines and its key moments. You can’t help but appreciate the go-big-or-go-home approach given what the actress and pop star has to work with here.

Despite the talents of Brown (“This Is Us,” “American Fiction”) and Liu (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Barbie”), Banks and Harlan are largely background players, although rest assured Atlas and the robotic ghost from her past have their requisite climactic confrontation.

Along the way, “Atlas” offers forgettable bits of action with visual effects that more often feel cheap. (For those who care, however, the Dolby Atmos Sound mix is fairly decent.)

Based on guilty-pleasure fare including 2015’s “San Andreas” and 2018’s “Rampage,” we expect a bit more from Peyton. “Atlas” simply isn’t entertaining enough to reach even guilty-pleasure status.

It’s not quite right to compare “Atlas” to an AI’s “hallucination,” as that is the term that’s been adopted for when a program provides incorrect factual information. Nonetheless, more often than not, it plays like some kind of bad dream.

‘Atlas’

Where: Netflix.

When: May 24.

Rated: PG-13 for strong sci-fi violence, action, bloody images and strong language.

Runtime: Two hours.

Stars (of four): 1.5.

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