Venturing into the Woods of Reviews

When I finishing Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad on my Kindle app on my phone it forced me to write a review before I could easily access the last page! I hurried and wrote a short review because I wanted to read the ending of the book without delay…

However, I felt as if the review I wrote was quite cliché and could be improved, but this was the first time EVER that I had rated a book publicly. So to see what could be improved of course I looked up others reviews to get a few ideas of what it takes to have a helpful review.

I was surprised to see that someone had already rated my short review helpful before I revised it on Amazon! So I took that as one of my criteria, a review on the shorter side. No one wants to read a novel of a review to find out if the novel is readable. The review also should be semi-personal but not biased; it should have a good balance. I shuffled through so many reviews that were also too short like, “was alright” or “a must for any bookshelf.” I did not find that either of these did justice for the novel if they hated it or loved it, I did not know why. They needed to back up their opinion. I also enjoyed hearing about methods that others used to enjoy the book; maybe they had read the reviews, or reread it several times. 

So with those observations I took a stab in the dark of writing my own review, and then even publishing it online for my Facebook friends to see!

So here it is:

“Finely written novel with a theme of imperialism. The two main characters Marlow and Kurtz are interesting and thought provoking. It is a dark novel that takes no empathy for the loss of human life. At some points the racism and sexism demonstrated by the characters is painful; however, this portrays very explicitly the historical context and the author Joseph Conrad's own voice. I did not fully understand the book until I understood to the context of why it was written. Reviews and Spark Notes helped me understand and get lost in the book that initially made me cringe at its darkness. The novel is thought provoking, and well detailed, but leaves reader with a dark impression.”

So obviously I kept it pretty short. I discussed the theme of the book, but also showed how initially the book was hard for me to read, until I understood Joseph Conrad, both expressing my opinion with facts.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed to not receive too much of a response to my post on Facebook about the review. I know my friends read, but maybe they use Goodreads for books and Facebook for socializing? Any tips on getting more of a response on Facebook? 

However, while interacting on Goodreads and Amazon through reviews I was surprised to find so many others who were able to appreciate Heart of Darkness as I had. I needed to first understand Conrad to truly get lost in the book, and a few other reviews discussed that! I looked at their other reviews and one of my favorite ones was actually on Amazon, and she rated mostly books! It was entertaining to see what other things people have rated like guns and knives and then Heart of Darkness. I feel like it could help identify me with the person or completely differentiate. It was a fun experiment!

I still feel pretty amateur and that I am venturing lost in the dark woods of the review world, so what does it take to have a well-written review for you?