HOW TO WRITE A REVIEW

1 Giving background information and effective openings

- I recently read/ saw
- One of my favourite books/films is
- This is one of the best novels I have ever read
- If you only read one book this year this should be it
- “.....” is the sort of book that grabs your attention from the first few
lines

2 Describing a story
- It is set in
- It tells the story of
- There is a twist at the end
- The main character is
Adjectives to describe characters: emotional, aggressive,(in)sensitive,
thoughtful, thoughtless,(un)selfish, generous, kind, evil, (dis)honest,
helpful, helpless, deceitful, good-humoured, optimistic, pessimistic,
annoying, forgetful, (un)attractive
Adjectives to describe the plot:
(un)exciting, action-packed, full of unexpected events, slow moving, fast
moving, realistic, confusing, far-fetched, (un)predictable, (un)interesting,
(un)believable, full of twists and turns, thrilling.

3 Giving a recommendation
- I can thoroughly recommend this book/film
- Go and see this film / Read this book
- You won’t be disappointed
- I certainly wouldn’t recommend this film / play
- Don’t bother reading/ going to see
- It isn’t worth it