Design, Vibes, and Feels: My Low-Key Bookish Review Method

I like to read. Like most, I enjoy a story that allows me to escape for a while from the stressors and mundanity of my regular life. That said, the bar for what I would consider a good book is pretty low, and I really don’t think that’s a bad thing.

There’s certainly a place for more academic literature reviews. I don’t want to discount the people who put work into reviewing books with a critical lens, I just want to be clear that this is not what you’ll find here.

For me, it’s all about the experience I had reading. Was I excited? Could I relate to the characters? Did my mood and headspace match the story? Did I forget to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner in pursuit of finding out what happens next? If any of these were true, I would probably consider the book a good one.

My casual approach to reading and low bar for success aside, I do still have a rating system and there are a few specific things I take into account when forming my opinions. These include the story (duh), the book design, and finally, something I’ve lovingly named the touchy feelies.

Rating the Story

Typically I describe a book I’ve read in one of three ways:

• A good book — this means I thought everything about it was great. Story, plot, characters, themes were all winners
• A fun read — I use this when I really enjoyed a book but didn’t think it was a literary masterpiece
• It was fine — I definitely read it and I have no strong opinions either way

I also have a fourth, very rare rating that I try to save for books that left me seething for one reason or another:

• I hated this — I either DNF’d the book or I finished it raging over how the story let me down

Since good book and fun read are very close together in their ratings, I’ll leave you with an example to help you to understand the distinction.

A Good Book: The Free People’s Village by Sim Kern

The Free People’s Village was my favourite book of 2023. I realize 2023 was a little while ago now, but I really do think more people should read this. It hits hard on an imagined future where America spent the 2000’s focused on investing in green energy and how that would look with a similar political climate and class structure to our real world. This book is queer, totally punk-rock, and definitely makes you question if you’re really doing enough to push society in the right direction.

It’s also my favourite book design of all time. I haven’t found another book yet that beats this in that category for me.

A Fun Read: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

If you know you know. Fourth Wing has got people online very divided. I’ve seen people who are obsessed with this book (now series) and I’ve seen people who can’t stand it due to inconsistencies, issues with the writing, or questionable plot points. I can see validity in both perspectives.

I know for me, this was a page turner. All I could think about was dragons for like a month after I finished it and I thought the story was pretty exciting. I think the key thing here is to not think too deeply about it and just enjoy the ride.

Books like this are what I would file under fun reads because, as mentioned above, they are not literary masterpieces. They do, however, provide a good time. Sometimes that’s all you need to get out of a slump.

Judging Books by Their Covers

When I say I judge a book’s design, yes, I literally mean I judge a book by its cover. At least, that’s where I start.

For me, judging a book’s cover goes a little deeper than just the visuals on the front of a book. For example, is it a hardcover? Is there anything under the dust jacket? Something happens in my heart when a book is published with that little bit of extra effort to give you something that makes it feel a little unique.

Sometimes that’s as simple as an embossed quote under the dust jacket. Sometimes it’s an entire art piece inside the cover. Either way, I really do find that little bit extra goes a long way. As long as it’s intentional, and it isn’t just there to add some bells and whistles to hike up the price of a book.

Beyond the cover, I look at things like format, font choice, and chapter headings. Extras like maps, illustrations, or quotes also fall under this category. Again, these don’t need to be dramatic. I’ve found that tiny changes can make a huge difference in how immersed the book makes you feel.

When a book opens with a beautiful, expansive map followed by a good quote or two (whether quoted from real people or written as quotes from characters you have yet to read about), it can really put you in the mood to read. I’ve always felt like this is a beautifully gentle way to ease you into a story, and I honestly think I get hooked on books a lot quicker when they include things like this.

The Touchy Feelies

The final layer to my book opinion is purely and uniquely personal. I say this because it fully depends on the headspace I’m in when I read something. I think it’s important to remember that experiences are subjective. Everyone experiences life differently, and therefore some people will have different opinions than others when consuming a piece of media. If someone reads a book or watches a movie and it truly moves them, there was probably a personal reason for that.

All I’m trying to say is if I loved a book because it made me feel a certain type of way and you disagree, well, it’s probably just because we’re different people.

A great example of a book I read at the right time was Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda. I was in a deep, depressive slump when I picked up that book. If you haven’t read it, the main character is going through something similar. She’s a self-isolating, self-loathing, anxiety-ridden woman just trying to come to terms with who she is. Sometimes it takes watching a fictional character behave exactly the way you are to finally push you to get up and get your shit together. And I love that.

Come for the Books, Stay for the Vibes

I want to drive home that I am not against critical book reviews. I think they’re a great way for the reading community to get a better idea of what they’re getting into and they have a respected place in my heart.

I, however, read for the vibes. I like to turn my brain off and just let the story happen to me. I’m not usually reading books through a critical lens, so it doesn’t make sense for me to write reviews that attempt to judge someone else’s writing that way. So I’m going to review the same way I read: Low-key, casual, and (hopefully) having a good time.