Book Review Mini-Critique
Below you will find ratings (scale of 1-5) with descriptions for the major parts of your book followed by your Readers’ Favorite review. Although these are general ratings we hope they will give you an insight into how others may view the different components of your book.
These are the opinions of your reviewer, and although your reviewer is not an expert literary critic or professional editor, they are at the very least, an avid reader of books just like yours.
Book Details:
Title: Phone Life
Subtitle: A Career Tale from Lifestyle Learning® Publishing
Author: Paris Gamble
Genre: Young Adult – General
Book Rating:
Appearance: 5
The appearance of a book can make a significant impact on the experience of a reader, whose enjoyment is often enhanced by an enticing cover, an intriguing table of contents, interesting chapter headings, and when possible, eye-catching illustrations.
Plot: 5
The characters of a book should be well defined with strengths and flaws, and while they do not have to be likable, the reader does have to be able to form a connection with them. The tone should be consistent, the theme should be clear, and the plot should be original or told from a unique perspective. For informative books–those without plot and characters–this rating refers primarily to your concept and how well you presented it.
Development: 5
Development refers to how effectively you told your story or discussed your topic. The dialogue should be realistic, the descriptions should be vivid, and the material should be concise and coherent. Organization is also a key factor, especially for informative books–those without plot and characters. The order in which you tell your story or explain your topic and how smoothly it flows can have a huge impact on the reader’s understanding and enjoyment of the material.
Formatting: 4
Formatting is the single most overlooked area by independent authors. The way in which you describe scenes, display dialogue, and shift point of view can make or break your story. In addition, excessive grammatical errors and typos can give your book an amateurish feel and even put off readers completely.
Marketability: 5
Marketability refers to how effectively you wrote your book for your target audience. Authors may include content that is above or below the understanding of their target reader, or include concepts, opinions or language that can accidentally confuse or alienate some readers. Although by its nature this rating is very subjective, a very low rating here and poor reviews may indicate an issue with your book in this area.
Overall Opinion: 5
The overall starred rating takes into account all these elements and describes the overall reading experience of your reviewer. This is the official Readers’ Favorite review rating for your book.
Book Review:
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite
Phone Life: A Career Tale from Lifestyle Learning® Publishing is a young adult novel written by Paris Gamble. David and Carlie Stinson are proudly hosting the grand opening celebration for their new software consulting firm, Software Solutions. A young African-American reporter, named Ned, is covering the event, and his first question to the young entrepreneurs concerns how they got started. David asks him if he’s referring to the genesis of Software Solutions or to how he and his wife met. Ned would like both stories, so David begins with Junior High. David and his best friend Lee had lots of fun then playing pranks, though Lee was just about always the instigator and motivating genius behind the gags. Carlie was in their math class, and David was secretly crazy about her. No matter what Lee said to get David to approach her, his shyness made him awkward and uncommunicative. Finally, Carlie offered to help tutor him in math to get his grades up and the two met twice weekly for tutoring sessions throughout junior and senior high. They finally began dating, but another girl’s prank caused a breakup that both regretted for years. Carlie and David went on to study at different colleges, and Lee opened up his own gag shop.
Paris Gamble’s young adult novel, Phone Life: A Career Tale from Lifestyle Learning® Publishing, is an entertaining coming of age story that follows the lives of three young adults as they make decisions on their career paths following high school. Each of the three main characters is brilliant in their own way, and seeing them work towards their futures as they grow up and eventually leave high school is inspirational. There’s also a lot of humor in this tale as Lee’s pranks are marvelous, especially the clowns and chickens gag for senior prom. The author shows how college may not always be the best solution for a student in his treatment of the brilliant and nutty prankster whose career choice of opening his own gag shop is one for which he’s perfect suited and in which he will be perfectly shop is one for which he’s perfect suited and in which he will be perfectly happy. I particularly liked how the author also demonstrated how lackluster marks may not automatically indicate a lack of aptitude as the C-student clearly had a gift for computing and software design. Phone Life is engaging, educational and fun to read. It’s highly recommended.
