Writing reviews
For readers and authorsUpdated 3 min read
A review is a star rating (press a star for a whole one, or use Exact rating for any quarter step) with an optional title and a body of at least 20 characters, plus a spoiler flag; edit or delete it from the book page. You can also say how the book felt, up to three moods and a pace; the book's page shows what most readers found once five have said. Reviews of early copies carry the early reader badge and one extra rule, honesty.
The short answer
Writing one
- Open the book's page and go to its Reviews.
- Press a star, 1 to 5, for a whole-star rating, or open Exact rating to pick any quarter step (for example 3½ or 4¾). A rating that is not a whole star shows its number beside the stars on your review. The book page shows the average to one decimal.
- Add a title (optional, up to 120 characters) and the review itself (at least 20 characters, up to 5,000).
- Tick the spoiler flag if the text gives the plot away: other readers then see it behind a click.
- Publish. Finishing a book offers this form; it never demands it.
You can edit or delete your review from the book page at any time.
How it felt
How did it feel? takes up to three moods (adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional, funny, hopeful, informative, inspiring, lighthearted, mysterious, reflective, relaxing, sad, tense) and a Pace (slow, medium or fast). Both are optional. It is asked in two places: the review form on the book page, and a small step headed You finished The Salt Road, which opens when you save a book's progress as 100 % in your Library.
- Your marks are private to you and kept whether or not you write a review; the book's page uses them only as totals. The review form starts from them, and Skip at the finish step keeps nothing.
- What you pick in the review form is also part of the review you publish: your review card shows it under the stars, for example Felt dark, tense · fast pace.
A book's page adds up everyone's marks, from readers who wrote a review and readers who did not. Under the Reviews heading it shows Readers found it: …, the three moods picked most, most common first, and Pace: …: fast for most readers (or slow, or medium) when one pace has at least half of the answers and more than any other, otherwise mixed. Each line appears only once five readers have given moods, or a pace; under five the page says nothing, and it never shows numbers or names. A book that is not published yet shows none of it, however many advance readers have marked it, and the lines appear by themselves once the book is published. A book with no reviews can still have them. The Mood and Pace filters in Browse use the same totals (Finding books).
The shorter review boxes in your Library and in My early copies do not ask, and leave what you marked as it is. A review held until release day on a coming-soon book does not add its moods and pace to the totals; save the review again once the book is out, and they count.
What a review is, and is not
A review is your genuine opinion. Critical reviews are welcome and are never penalised by the platform, and nobody, author or reader, may offer or accept anything for a rating's positivity (Community guidelines). Coordinated ratings by people who have not read the book are moderated as manipulation.
The early reader badge
A review of a book you received as an early copy carries the early reader badge, so other readers know the copy came from the author's campaign. It changes nothing about the rating; what it changes for you is your follow-through, which counts whether you reviewed on time, never how kindly.
Sharing it
A review can be shared to your feed as a Reading Life post (Share a review): see Reading Life posts.
Your reviews on your profile
Up to three reviews can be pinned to your profile in Profile Studio (Your profile's look).
Related
- Early copy reviews and your follow-through: An early copy review follows one extra rule, honesty; your follow-through counts reviews (or honest set-downs) and on-time reviews, never how kindly you rate. Set a book down from My early copies rather than going silent; ask for more time before the deadline.
- Reporting and blocking: Every profile, post, comment, book, review and photo has Report in its menu; a human moderator reviews it. Blocking someone hides you from each other entirely, they are not told, and you can undo it under Settings › Privacy.
- Shelves and progress: Your Library has five shelves (Want to Read, Reading, Completed, Did Not Finish, From authors); a book lives on one at a time, and a copy an author handed you keeps its mark wherever you move it. Books you are reading carry a progress percentage; reaching 100 % or tapping Finished moves them to Completed and offers a review.
- Reading Life posts: The composer at the top of Home posts a reading moment to your profile and your followers' feeds (started, finished, progress, a recommendation, a question, a poll and twenty more formats), each with an audience: Public, Followers or Only me. Edit or delete yours from the ⋯ menu.
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