Kinna

What to do? I can’t write the review

I like to write a review within 24 hours of finishing a book. Because I like to put my thoughts on paper when said thoughts are still fresh in my mind. So I finally finished The Stone Virgins (It’s been a slow reading week here at Kinna Reads). And for the life of me, I simply cannot write a review of the book. I’ve been sitting here stirring at a blank page, at times I’ve attempted an opening paragraph; the paragraph just falls apart right before my eyes. So I admit failure now. I loved the book; there, this short, one line assessment will have to do for now. And such is its effect on me that I will postpone writing the review, live with my thoughts on the book for a couple days and then attempt to write a review. Again.  In the meantime, I will start The Time of the Doves by the Catalan writer, Merce Rodoreda.  Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose works I adore, thinks the book is “the most beautiful novel published in Spain since the Civil War”.  Should right my balance 🙂

Do you write a review soon after finishing a book or do you wait a while?

11 comments

  2. i usually wait a few days ,let the book sink in to me ,sometimes your opion can change a few days after you’ve finished a book

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  3. I don’t really have any method to my madness. Occasionally I write a review right away but I often find my opinions change after more thought. Sometimes I wait and then I find it harder to remember what, exactly, I loved so much about a book. If I loved a book and have trouble with a review I post less and just gush, if I did not love a book and have trouble with a review I will often wait. So yes, not much help, and no method at all!

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  4. I usually write mine within a day, or it just isn’t fresh enough in my mind. Plus, I’m already into the next book, which detracts from what I recall of the last one. I do take notes sometimes, so when I’m traveling or someplace I can’t write immediately, I can still remember enough.

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  5. I usually write within 24 hours because once I am onto another book I feel I will lose the impact BUT I do think it doesn’t hurt to let a few days settle. I suspect if you have the discipline to do that the dust settles and you can really focus on what stands out.

    Kinna, I do know the feeling though of not knowing what to do – there have been a couple of reviews I’ve started and have left for a a day or so to finish.

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  6. I usually wait a few days. I take notes while I’m reading, though, so that makes it much easier when the time to do the actual review writing comes. The reason why I wait is because first of all I rarely have time during the week, so I review everything I finished the previous week on weekends. And secondly, I find that sometimes waiting a little bit helps me gain perspective. Some books grow on me with time; in other cases the flaws become more obvious.

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  7. I used to write my reviews as soon as I’d finished the book (or even writing some while I was still reading) but I have found that I can write them more easily after a few days. It seems that allowing a few days for my thoughts to settle makes it all clearer. Hopefully you’ll find it all just flows out in a few days time.

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  8. I usually try to write a review in about a day after I finished the book. I seem to be a bad reviewer though: I notice that there are so many people who think & think again on their reviews, rereading them and re-editing them. I don’t think I have the patience for that in general. I do think I am seriously trying to write a good review, I just usually write and if it doesn’t work out I either delete the whole thing and try again or try to rephrase it, but I don’t edit too much in general. I think I might need a little course on reviewing books in a good manner.

    As to reviews you don’t know how to write. I experienced that today and decided to publish what I had, since I got stuck in reviewing it for 2 days already. Maybe it’s best just to leave it at what you have, even if it’s just the line that you loved it. You might just find the right angle in a week or so.

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    • I really also struggle with reviews in general. Let me know if you find that little course. Yep, leaving it for a while might do the trick. I liked your review of The Solitude of Prime Numbers, though 🙂

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