Let's Talk With Smash & Kt (30)

May 24, 2013 by Kt Clapsadl

Welcome to the Let’s Talk weekly discussion meme!

Originally hosted by Melissa from i swim for oceans, Smash & Kt took her original inspiration, and made it their own, expanding it to more than just books. Let’s get personal (but respectfully so) and learn more about one another!  Each week, a different question will be posted along with a place to link up your posts and visit other people’s responses.This meme is definitely meant to bring out conversation and meet new people. So, Let's Talk!  

Special announcement this week:

Smash and I would like to thank everyone who has participated in Let's Talk with us over the past 30 weeks. We really have enjoyed discussing everything with you. However, as both Smash and my career situations have changed for the better since we started, we have been looking for ways to streamline our blogs, and still have the best content possible in our limited schedules. So, unfortunately, this meme is one of the things that will be discontinued. Thank you again so much for joining us on this journey!

This week's question:

What do you consider the most necessary things to include when writing a review? Should there be something emphasized more in the review such as reading experience, the characters, or the writing style? Are spoilers or minor explanations of the plot to be omitted from a review? (Thanks, Angie)

I don't there is any set things to include in a review, nor do I think there should be. We all have our own personal style that works for us. Personally I use a 4 paragraph format. The first paragraph is always a summary. The second and third are much more fluid, it just depends on what really stood out to me in that particular book. However I typically hit on my feelings of the characters in the second paragraph, and then the romance (if there is one) in the third paragraph. Or I talk about plot instead in either of those paragraphs. The fourth paragraph is a conclusion, but sometimes I include another aspect from the book that stood out to me, that didn't fit in with my other two main paragraphs.

As far as spoilers, I try to avoid them as much as possible, but sometimes I talk about the smaller ones, because it's unavoidable, or something that I really want to discuss. Heck sometimes I've discussed major spoilers, but that's rare, and those sections are always set apart from the main review.

How about you? Spoilers or no?
   

Welcome to the weekly Let's Talk discussion!

1. A Book Obsession..  2. Nemo @ The Moonlight library  

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Comments (2)

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The more I blog the more I realize there is no one way to review a book. You just have to go with what works for you. As a reader of blogs I like all styles as long as their love for reading comes through.

I love spoilers but I never include them in my review and if I do have something that I think may be a spoiler (like for an earlier book in a series) I add warnings.

I'll miss Let's Talk. I haven't been able to participate regularly lately but I always thought the topics were a lot of fun.
My recent post Guest post with Jessica Lave–Quiet on the Set
I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, though sometimes I can't properly review a book without bringing spoilers into it. I've tried in the past to avoid this, and I find that often those reviews end up a bit chaotic and disjointed, and I don't like that. So I can't say that I avoid them entirely, but I do make an effort to do so.

But what I nearly always bring into my reviews are the pacing, the writing style, the characters, and the overall story. Those are the things that I feel are worth commenting on the most, and the things that can really make or break a book for me (everything can be great except for the pacing, for example, and that one missed point can spoil the whole reading experience because it throws me off my groove).
My recent post Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge

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