book review example cambridge

Cambridge English: Advanced

Check out students' answers to Flo-Joe's CAE Writing tasks with a teacher's feedback

• Writing Class

Writing Class: Review

Task type: review.

Question You see the following announcement in a magazine:

Write your review for the magazine readers. (220-260 words)

Makeover: Anja

Read Anja's answer to this question below. Try correcting the piece of writing yourself first: use the marking codes to think about what might be wrong (or what's good) about the piece of work. Then when you're ready, click the green buttons in the text for our feedback.

This is a very good answer Anja. You've given a summary of the person's character and the impact on him of the decision to save JFK. The review is written in an appropriate format and in an engaging style that would hold the reader's attention throughout. It's clearly organised. Starting with an introduction to the book, two main body paragraphs and a well-crafted conclusion bringing the review to a close. Good use of cohesive devices to link your ideas and sentences together. Finally, you have used language flexibly and shown your ability to describe simple and complex ideas clearly. I have made a couple of stylistic comments, which I think helps a couple of sentences flow a little better, but these are subjective rather than corrections. Well done!

Marking Code

/\ Word(s) missing

- Omit word

C Capitalization

O Organisation

P Punctuation

PE Poorly expressed

R Register/Formality

SS Sentence Structure

T Tip (Not wrong but a suggestion)

WF Wrong form

WO Word order

WT Wrong tense

WW Wrong word

CAE Info and Practice

Cae resources to buy.

Cambridge C2 Proficiciency (CPE): How to Write a Review

• Mandatory task: no
• Word count: 280-320
• Main characteristics: descriptive, narrative, evaluative, recommendations/suggestions
• Register: depends on the task

Introduction

A review may be about a book, magazine, film, play, or concert, but it may also be about, for example, an exhibition. The target reader is specified in the question, so the candidate knows not only what register is appropriate, but also has an idea about the kind of information to include. A review does not merely require a general description of, for example, an event or publication, but it specifies the particular aspects to be considered. For example, the review may employ narrative, as well as descriptive and evaluative language, and a range of vocabulary relating, for example, to literature and the media such as cinema or TV. Source: Cambridge English Assessment: C2 Proficiency Handbook for teachers

Reviews are one type of text in Cambridge C2 Advanced that you don’t have to do but you can choose to do it together with articles , reports and formal/informal letters while essays are the only mandatory task in the writing test.

One of the easier tasks

I find reviews to be quite popular among my students because they are very common and really part of our everyday lives. Whenever we try to check out a new restaurant, film, book or experience when we are on holiday, we have a look at what other people think, who have already bought or done it.

That’s why writing reviews comes fairly naturally to many people simply because we see them all the time. We know that a good review is interesting, informative and persuasive and if you can do these things in the exam, you are good to go.

Of course, there are always certain criteria you need to keep in mind, but that’s what I’m here for, so let’s get into it.

What a typical review task looks like

First of all, it is a good idea to have a look at a task and get as much information from it as possible.

We usually want to find out three things that help us prepare for writing a great review:

• What is the topic of the task?
• What exactly do I have to include in the review?
• Who is going to read the review?

The topic of the review is children’s books and you have to talk about one that you enjoyed as child and would recommend even today. To be more specific, you have to say what you liked about it and why you think children today would still get something out of it .

Last but not least, you are writing for the readers of a literary magazine, which tells us that we shouldn’t write in a style that it too informal, but I also wouldn’t write as formally as in an essay . So, we ought to keep the style of language neutral , meaning that we can include some phrasal verbs and other smaller informal features like contractions (e.g. I’m or don’t), but I recommend not using any colloquial expressions that we typically use in spoken English.

How to organise your review

Reviews in C2 Proficiency can normally be structured in a similar way because the different elements we need to include are always the same: a descriptive part, something we need to discuss in a bit more detail, and a recommendation.

Title & introduction

Description, recommendation.

This commonly works very well. You can, of course split up the descriptive part or the discussion part in several paragraphs if it makes sense and at this level, you should definitely be able to make any task work for you, but this is a good basic scaffold that you can utilise in your writing.

Don’t forget to plan your review

Creating a plan before you start writing is an essential element of a good strategy in C2 Proficiency and I strongly suggest not skipping this step. It helps you to put your thoughts in order, which, in turn, can save you a lot of time when you are bringing them to paper.

The easiest way to create a plan is to take the paragraph structure you want to apply and to make some notes for each part:

• Title & introduction : Pippi Longstocking; Astrid Lindgren; 1945; childhood memories
• Description : young girl living by herself with her horse and monkey; super strength; Tommy and Annika; brave; adventures
• Discussion : I love her fearlessness, adventures and colourful world; children nowadays overprotected –> can benefit from a strong character like Pippi
• Recommendation : strongly recommend it; good entry to literature; good example of badass girl

Making the plan was a 4-minute effort and now I’m set and ready for my awesome review. The plan will keep me on track and I won’t have to think about the content anymore. All I have to do is turn my notes into full sentences and focus on good language.

The different parts of a review

Everything I’ve told you up to this point has been about getting yourself ready for the actual writing. We have a paragraph structure we can trust as well as an outline of our ideas. Now, we are going to look at an example and I will explain to you what my thought process looks like.

The introduction in a review has a very straightforward purpose: engage the reader and make interesting from the beginning. I like doing that by asking a question , which involves the reader immediately, including some kind of personal anecdote as well as some very basic facts about the topic of the review , in this case the name of the book and the author.

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren Do you still know your favourite story from your childhood? I remember listening to my dad reading stories to me and my sister after lunch every day and my most treasured book was about a brave little girl called Pippi Longstocking written by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren in 1945.

Every review gets a title, which doesn’t have to be anything spectacular but make sure that your text has one. Then, you can see that I basically just included the different things I mentioned earlier: a question (“Do you still know …?”), a personal anecdote (“I remember listening …”) and some factual info about the book itself. Mission accomplished. The reader is hooked and we can move on to the next part.

The second paragraph is there to talk a little bit more about the subject of your review . In the case of a book you want to give more information, for example, who the main characters are, where and when the story is set, etc. For a review of a restaurant you might mention the location and the cuisine they serve there or why you went there in the first place. I guess you get the idea. Describe what the task wants you to describe and make sure that your language is on point .

Pippi is a nine-year-old girl who lives in her own house called Villa Villekulla together with her meerkat, Mr. Nillson, and a horse. Not only is she an exceptionally brave girl that goes on many adventures with her best friends Annika and Tommy, but she also possesses superhuman strength, which she often shows off throughout the story, for example, by lifting the horse in the air with her friends sitting on it.

Here you can see that I give a breakdown of the main characters as well as the general setting of the story. You don’t want to give too many spoilers because no one likes that, right?

Thanks to my plan I didn’t have to worry about the content, but I was able to focus on the language. I’ve included some nice vocabulary and grammar (not only, but also; exceptionally brave; superhuman strength; which; shows off) to keep the reader engaged .

The discussion portion of a review always asks you to give your opinion on some aspect of the experience . In our example task, we have to say what we enjoyed about the book when we read it and why we think children today might still like it.

We could definitely split this part into two paragraphs, but I made it work in just one.

The excitement I felt back then is still very vivid in my memories. I loved Pippi’s fearlessness and her constant appetite for adventure as well as the colourful world with all its odd characters Astrid Lindgren brings to life. I’m sure that I would still enjoy the book if I ever decided to pick it up again and its timeless character makes Pippi Longstocking a great choice even for children today. In a world where many parents try to bubble wrap their kids and control every aspect of their lives, a rebel like Pippi can be the perfect antidote to that. Young people can learn what it means to confront and even thrive in the face of a challenge instead of avoiding it, which I believe is a very useful quality to have in life.

First, I give reasons for why I liked the story (fearlessness, appetite for adventure, colourful world) and then I project those aspects onto children’s lives today with their very scheduled weeks and little room for creativity and enjoyment while being encapsulated by their helicopter parents (Google it, it’s a real expression.).

With the first sentence I link this paragraph to the introduction and the different aspects in this section are all well connected using different cohesive devices (as well as, I would still enjoy; a great choice even for children today). Use the freedom you have in a review to link everything well and make it as easy as possible for the reader to follow your logical arguments.

The last part of a review should always be a final recommendation. This doesn’t have to be anything special, but this is why we read a review in the first place. We want to know if the writer thinks we should consume or experience the same thing or not.

Long story short, I would highly recommend the story to parents who want to offer their children an entry point into literature and a world full of wonder and excitement that they can share with Pippi Longstocking in a time when their daughters and sons need it more than ever.

Once again, I didn’t reinvent the wheel here. I make my recommendation and try to connect this paragraph to the previous one (“… in a time when their daughters and sons need it more than ever”). With a sprinkle of interesting language (long story short; a world full of wonder and excitement) we bring our review to a close.

Feeling ready for a review now?

By now, you probably can’t wait to start practising. Reviews in Cambridge C2 Proficiency are really not that difficult, especially if you know what you’re doing. Keep in mind the different typical aspects of a review (paragraph structure, planning, interesting and engaging language) and I don’t see how you can ever write a bad review ever again.

If you are interested, I can also help you with some writing feedback or even private classes . Until then, all the best.

Lots of love,

Teacher Phill 🙂

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Free English Lessons

Fce (b2 first) writing exam – write a review – video.

In this lesson, you can learn how to write a review for the FCE writing exam. For many people, the writing section is the most challenging part of the FCE test. In this lesson, you’ll see a step-by-step process for writing a review. You’ll see exactly what to do at each stage and how to improve your FCE writing score .

1. how to analyse your fce writing task.

Let’s look at a sample question:

• Book reviews wanted Have your read a book recently that you couldn’t put down? Write a review of the book. Say why you liked it and who you would recommend it to. The best reviews will be published in the magazine.

There are four steps to writing an effective answer. So, what’s the first step? Read the question and identify exactly what the examiners want from you.

Your FCE writing is assessed on four points:

• Communicative achievement
• Organisation

Each area is worth up to five marks.

First, let’s focus on content. To get five marks for content you need to make sure, “all content is relevant and the reader is fully informed.”

Those aren’t my words—those are the words from the official mark scheme! But what do they mean?

Very simple: they mean you need to do everything the question asks you to do.

Look at our sample question again.

There are three things you need to include in this task; Do you know what they are?

Number one: you need to write a review of a book. This means you should include some basic information about the book, like its title, the author, and what genre it is: crime, historical, romance, etc.

Number two: say why you liked it.

Finally, say who you would recommend it to.

Easy, right? Yes and no. It’s simple, but most people don’t get full marks for content. You should aim to get five out of five. Here’s how you do this:

One: make sure you cover everything fully. Don’t leave any parts of the question out! Two: make sure you cover everything equally. In this question, there are three points to include. You should have a more-or-less equal number of words for each point. Three: make sure you support your ideas with reasons or details. Four: don’t include anything unnecessary or irrelevant. Your task is to do what the question asks, and nothing more!

Now, you’ve identified the three things you need to include. You can move on to step two: planning!

2. How to Plan Your FCE Writing Review

Planning is the most important step.

The FCE writing test is one hour 20 minutes long. Parts one and two are worth equal marks, twenty each, so you should spend about 40 minutes on each.

Of those 40 minutes, you should spend five to ten minutes on planning.

It can be tempting to think, “I need all of that time to write! I don’t have time to plan!” However, this is a bad idea.

Not planning your writing is like going on a journey without map: you’re likely to get lost.

Planning is especially important for your organisation score. Your writing needs to be well-structured and coherent to earn marks in this area.

Organisation focuses on “how well the writing is put together”. By planning your writing carefully, it will naturally be organised. This gives you a good chance to get high scores in organisation.

You can also use this step to maximise your score in “Communicative Achievement”. This focuses on “how appropriate your writing is for the task”.

So, when you’re planning, think about questions like this:

• What kind of language should you use: formal, neutral or informal?
• Do you need a title or subheadings ?
• How should you organise your text? Do you need an introduction or conclusion?

The answers to these questions will depend on the exact task.

For a book review, it should probably have a title, but it doesn’t need sub-headings. It should be written in a neutral style, and it should use specific language for the task: for example to describe books, or make recommendations.

You don’t really need an introduction or a conclusion, because it’s not an essay; you’re not trying to prove anything.

Now, let’s make a basic plan together. When you plan, you need to decide how many paragraphs you’ll have, and what main idea will go in each paragraph.

How many paragraphs do you think you’ll need?

There isn’t one right way to do this, but you have three main points to include for your content score. So, it makes sense to have three paragraphs, and an extra paragraph to explain what happens in the book, like this:

• Basic information about the book
• What happens in the book
• Why you liked it
• Recommendation

Remember: this isn’t the only possibility. A different structure might make more sense for you. That’s fine; just make sure the structure is clear in your head. ‘Clear’ means that each paragraph has one main point, and you know exactly what that main point is.

After you have your basic outline, you should add some key words or phrases to each point.

A book I read recently was ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ by Truman Capote. Maybe you’ve read it, or perhaps you’ve seen the film!

So, here’s my plan. You don’t need full sentences, just an idea of what you’re going to say.

• Title -> Breakfast at Tiffany’s – A jewel of a book.
• Basic information about the book -> Breakfast at Tiffany’s , Truman Capote, modern American fiction
• Explain what the story is about -> a lonely writer fascinated by a girl who lives downstairs, set in 1940s Manhattan
• Why you liked it -> the characters are believable, they have interesting backgrounds
• Recommendation -> yes to teenagers and older but younger not appropriate

Pause the video if you want some more time to read the plan.

3. How to Write Your FCE Review

Okay, now it’s time to write your answer! You have between 140 and 190 words.

Count the number of words you write in your practice answers so you can get a feel for how much to write.

Here’s something you might not know: Cambridge does not allow correction fluid, correction tape or erasable pens. Make sure you leave plenty of space on the page in case you want to cross something out and change it.

Here’s our first draft:

• Breakfast at Tiffany’s grabbed my attention right from the start. The novella by Truman Capote opens with an intriguing mystery about how the protagonist, Holly Golightly, may have travelled to Africa, which is quite different to the film!The book is narrated by an unnamed male writer and is set in Manhattan in the 1940’s. He’s fascinated by Holly, who lives downstairs. She’s a society girl who is devoted to her brother Fred, and makes her living by convincing rich men to give her money.What I enjoyed the most is that the characters are believable. It’s not difficult to imagine a lonely young man trying to help the beautiful young girl who lives downstairs. It’s more difficult to relate to Holly but the hints Truman drops about her troubled past help explain her behavior.I’d definitely recommend reading ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ to older readers. Particularly if they’ve seen the film. As for younger readers, I’d recommend it teenagers but I don’t think the content is appropriate for anyone younger.

Pause the video for as long as you need to read it.

How does it look to you?

It’s not bad but it’s not perfect either. Now for the last step!

4. How to Check and Improve Your FCE Writing Answer

It’s time to find the mistakes. Even if you’re short of time, try to leave two to three minutes at the end to check your work. It can make a difference to your score, so it’s important!

This is where you can improve your score in the ‘language’ section of the assessment.

To get a high language score, you need to “use a range of vocabulary, including less common vocabulary,” “use a range of simple and complex grammatical forms,” and make only “occasional errors.”

Again, these are direct quotes from the Cambridge mark scheme.

Learn more with this Oxford Online English lesson on using a notebook to expand your vocabulary .

There will be mistakes and things you can improve in your writing. Look at our model review again. There are at least seven things which could be changed in this answer. Can you find what they are?

Here are some questions to help you:

• Have you forgotten to include anything?
• Is all the punctuation, grammar and spelling correct?
• Can you replace very common words with more interesting, specific vocabulary?
• Have you used linking words and phrases to make it easy for your reader to follow?
• Are you within the word count?

These are questions you can ask yourself after you’ve finished your own practice answers. Pause the video and read our answer. See how many things you can find.

First, did you notice I forgot to include a title? A book review in a magazine or a newspaper normally has a title, so our review should have one, too.

What else could I have done better? Look at the bold text in the answer. Can you improve them?

• Breakfast at Tiffany’s grabbed my attention right from the start. The novella by Truman Capote opens with an intriguing mystery about how the protagonist, Holly Golightly, may have travelled to Africa, which is quite different to the film!The book is narrated by an unnamed male writer and is set in Manhattan in the 1940’s. He’s fascinated by Holly, who lives downstairs. She’s a society girl who is devoted to her brother Fred, and makes her living by convincing rich men to give her money.What I really enjoyed is that the characters are believable. It’s not difficult to imagine a lonely young man trying to help the beautiful young girl who lives downstairs. It’s more difficult to relate to Holly but the hints Truman drops about her troubled past help explain her behavior. * I’d definitely recommend ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ to older readers, particularly if they’ve seen the film. As for younger readers, I’d recommend it teenagers but I don’t think the content is appropriate for anyone younger.

Okay, let’s see how you did!

First, titles of books and movies are normally written in italics or placed inside speech marks. Let’s put it inside single speech marks here:

• ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’

Then, in the 2nd paragraph, 1940s should not have an apostrophe:

• 1940’s 1940s

In the third paragraph, I’ve repeated who lives downstairs which I said in the second paragraph. Can you think of another way to say this?

You could say …who rents the apartment downstairs, …who lives in the apartment below his, or …who is a tenant in the apartment downstairs.

This shows a greater range of vocabulary and will improve your language score.

The next one is similar: can you think of a synonym for more difficult?

How about more challenging?

More difficult is not wrong, but challenging is a less common and more specific word. If you show a range of language, you’ll get more marks for your language score.

Next, behavior. Why is this a problem?

Behavior is the American spelling.

It’s fine to use American spelling, but you must be consistent! Earlier I spelt travelled with two l’s, which is British spelling. I need to change one, so let’s change behaviour to the UK spelling by adding a ‘u’:

• behavior behaviour

Next, let’s look at the gap at the start of the last paragraph. What do you think we could add here?

You could add a linking word or phrase. It would make it much easier for the reader to follow. You would also improve your organisation score.

You have a few options. For example:

What about in conclusion? Would it be a good choice?

Maybe, but it’s not ideal. It’s too formal! Save this one for your essay and keep your review in a neutral style.

Finally, what’s wrong with I’d recommend it teenagers?

Remember after recommend you need the proposition to: recommend something to someone.

• I’d recommend it teenagers. I’d recommend it to teenagers.

By correcting these errors and making these improvements, you could improve your FCE writing score without very much work.

We used this process to write a review, but you can use it for any Cambridge exam writing task, including the CAE and CPE when you get that far.

Good luck with your exam preparation and let us know when you pass! Thanks for watching!

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Blog – Posted on Friday, Mar 29

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:

Should you become a book reviewer?

Find out the answer. Takes 30 seconds!

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.

How much of a book nerd are you, really?

Find out here, once and for all. Takes 30 seconds!

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!

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Review – examples & model answers | C2 Proficient (CPE)

Fce, cae, cpe, practice, write & improve, cpe example review: book.

A literary magazine is running a series of reviews of books that people enjoyed reading as a child and would recommend for children today. You decide to send in a review in which you describe a book you enjoyed and the attractions it had for you as a child. You should also explain why you feel it remains relevant for children today.

Write your review

CPE Review: Example Answer (Grade: 4)

Childhood Book

One of my favourite childhood books is the ‘Six Bullerby Children’ written by Astrid Lindergren, a famous Swedish author. The story is set in a three-farm remote village of Bullerby in Sweden.

The narrator is a seven-year-old girl, Lisa who, with her parents and two older brothers – Lasse and Bosse, lives in one of the houses. Lisa describes the daily life of the children in Bullerby which – contrary to what one might think when imagining life in a small, remote village – is far from boring. The children have plenty of funny ideas, which often lead to amusing adventures.

Although the book was included in the compulsory school literature when I was a child (which often meant long, boring reads), I have truly enjoyed the adventures of Lisa and her friends. Despite very limited resources (the story is set in 1930s when children did not have many toys, not to mention a TV or video games!) the children always come up with exciting games or things to play with. This is something I admired and wished I could do when reading the book.

Another thing which appealed to me as a child was the natural childlike way in which Lisa (or Astrid Lindgren, the author) could tell the story connecting effortlessly with the young readers.

Despite the environment in which the children live nowadays has changed considerably since 1930s, children will always be children and if the book has appealed to so many young generations since it was published, I believe it will retain its impact. It can be more, even more relevant today, when children are presented with things to play, instead of inventing games themselves. Reading the book could definitely wake up their innate creativity.

‘Six Bullerby Children’ could, however, also be more relavent to adults who would like to either ‘return’ to their childhood for a little while, or be able to connect with their own children a bit better.

Get Your (CPE) Review Checked!

Cpe example review: old film.

The magazine Big Screen has invited its readers to review old films. You have recently watched a film which was made a number of years ago. You decide to write a review of the film you saw, explaining why it might appeal to a new audience and saying whether any aspects of the film now seem old-fashioned or out-of-date.

Grease n’ Beats

A teenage love, the eternal rivalry between delinquents and gooks, some romance drama and John Travolta working his little dance magic make the perfect musical, certain to be enjoyed by all ages.

Set in the 1950s, although filmed 20 years later, the story revolves around a group of boys end girls and, more specifically, Sandy and Danny. The couple met in the summer and immediately fell in love, but unfortunately, the little lady has to return to Australia when the new semester begins. Heart-broken, they part ways, but wait! Sandy’s family has a change of plans and they decide to stay in America. Unbeknown to both, they are going to be in the same high school. And here’s where the real plot begins — Danny isn’t quite who his beloved thinks. Tough-guy, a show-off, with a leather jacket and a cigarette, his outer character shocks poor, naive Sandy. Fighting, jealousy, strugle, proms and more twists meet the young pair, as they stave not only to prove their love but also themselves to a not-so-understanding, fake society.

Rings a bell? Romeo and Juliet? Pride and Prejudice? Grease deals with people. Throughout the centuries, pretending to be someone you are not has been a key to surviving. Why can’t we be accepted for who we are? Why do we need a mask to hide our true feelings, thoughts, worries? The eternal problem, the fear of being the outcasts, is seen in everyone, especially adolescents.

When entering puberty, you are not a kid, neither an adult You can’t be childish but also don’t have the experience to act maturely. What’s a teen to do? Frustration, sadness and anger built up, as we search for our true selves. Cliche? Not quite. Everyone can sympathise with the characters in Grease since they are dealing with everyday problems. Problems which, unfortunately, haven’t disappeared in the past 50 years.

Should one forget about the fashion-gap, which is quite big, they will see themselves in Sandy and Danny. And, even it they don’t, there’s still lots of singing and dancing to lift the mood! Definitely worth your time!

CPE Example Review: Amusement Park

A tourist magazine is publishing a series of reviews of amusements parks. You decide to send in a review of an amusement park you have visited which included interactive displays, rides, electronic games, a 3-D cinema and a boating lake. You should briefly describe two or three of the attractions and evaluate the contribution that amusement parks can make to the quality of life for local residents.

CPE Review: Example Answer (Grade: 3)

Amusement Park

I have recently visited an amusement park while on holiday. It had many exciting features including a 3-D cinema, boating lake, electronic video games and rides of all sizes ranging from simple ones for children to much larger rides for thrill-seekers. The 3-D cinema is exciting as it is a relatively new technology and unavailable near me. A documentary about sharks was showing when I visited. The 3-D experience is amazing, and when things come out at you from the screen they look very realistic. When this happens it makes people scream, like they were on a rollercoaster. There are more rides than anything else at the park as this is the reason many people go – for the exhilarating experiences. The larger rides have long queues and can take up to an hour to reach the front. The one that stood out for me was ‘The Extreme Drop’, which shoots you up a steep track at about 100kph before pausing at the top where you look down for a few seconds at the antlike people on the ground before hurtling towards them at an even greater speed. This ride has an incredible exhilarating rush and provides the loudest screams of any of the rides. There is a second queue for this ride which takes a little longer than the main one, but you get a seat right at the front of the carriage. I would recommend joining this queue for any ride available as you get the best views and biggest adrenalin rush.

Amusement parks make a huge contribution to the quality of life for local residents. They not only provide entertainment for the local residents, especially for young families during school holidays, they also bring jobs and money into the area. As well as jobs within the actual park, amusement parks help increase local tourism, which can provide a vast amount of jobs in a variety of different areas for the local residents. This will then provide a lower rate of unemployment in the area and a higher standard of living for the local residents.

CPE Model Review: Television Series

A TV listings magazine has invited readers to contribute a review of a television series that is particularly popular at the moment. Write a review, explaining why this programme is so popular in your opinion and commenting on whether you believe it deserves such popularity.

CPE Review: Model Answer (Grade: 5)

I bet a couple of years ago, the producers wouldn’t have expected and dreamt that their new ‘attempt to amuse’ bored viewers- and with totally unknown actors ‘from nowhere’ – would earn such a great success. After many years of living a daily life with characters from Dallas, Baywatch, Dynasty, a new wave of funny, clever and witty entertainment struck people in. And obviously, people welcomed the change very warmly.

‘Friends’ is full of diversity. Each of the main five characters is completely different and brings to the series something new. Despite their differences, they create a perfect working jigsaw. They live, laugh, cry and share their fate together. You can feel some kind of oneness there; and that is a vital thing in every friendship. Chandler – a sexist who can’t live without women – with his ironic and sharp, witty humour, contrasts with naive, a  little bit dumb but cute Joey, who has a vanity and irresistible smile in the role of an unsuccessful actor. Monica is a nagging perfectionist who often quarrels with frivolous and untidy Rachel. Ross is a worried palaeontologist who tries to come to terms that his wife left him. Poor guy! And at last weird Pheobe, who refreshes almost every episode with her ‘fabulous’ music which nobody can get. Oh yeah, she’s quite odd but everybody loves her.

‘Friends’ is a great refreshment after a long, exhausting day at work. It is no wonder that it is so popular. People just love it – from children to adults and older people as well. We need to laugh and relax. The actors, producers and creators deserve appreciation and admiration for making such a great show. People are waiting eagerly for new episodes all the time. And that’s a sign of success. Otherwise they would cease producing it, wouldn’t they? Not to mention that ‘friends’ is popular in every continent of the world. And that proves something.

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