Reviews

• Give the title and the type of book or film and other relevant background information.
• Give some basic information about what you are reviewing.
• Divide your review into paragraphs.
• Summarise the story, but don’t give away the ending. Give the reader a brief description.
• Give reasons for your point of view.
• Mention both things you liked and things you don’t like. Tell the reader what was good and bad.
• Give your overall opinion in the final paragraph.
• Remember to include a recommendation, even if it is negative.

Useful language

Things you liked:

• Excellent, perfect, wonderful, fabulous

Things you didn’t like:

• Poor, dreadful, awful, uninteresting

Comparing and contrasting:

• …much better than…
• …not nearly as good as…
• It was disappointing compared to…
• It was surprisingly good…
• Although…
• Despite…

Recommending:

• Overall, I think…
• I would certainly recommend…
• I don’t think I would recommend…
• All in all…
• I would strongly advise…
• Go and visit/see/buy

Spiderman 3 is the latest in the highly popular Spiderman series. It’s a science-fiction adventure starring Tobey Maguire.

The character of Spiderman is based on the superhero of the comic book stories. Peter Parker is a teenager who gains supernatural powers when a spider bites him. In this film we see darker side of his character as he fights the evil Sandman and Venom.

As in the other Spiderman films, the special effects are amazing, especially in the fight scenes. The soundtrack too is excellent, with songs by Snow Patrol and Burning Lips. However, I wasn’t impressed with either the acting or the story. I thought Tobey Maguire was very unconvincing and the story was very predictable.

Overall I enjoyed the film, although personally I wouldn’t go and see it again. Having said that, fans of Spiderman movies won’t be disappointed.

The Blue Palace

Do you like British food? Well, the Blue Palace is a new restaurant that has just opened in the centre of town. It is a fairly small restaurant and serves traditional British food.

The restaurant was very busy when I was there and is decorated in dark blue with simple wooden tables and chairs. It has a limited menu of starters, then four meat courses and puddings. My meal costs £25 with my drinks.

I was expecting to enjoy the evening as the atmosphere is really nice and relaxing and the staff are all very helpful. The meat dishes were surprisingly good because they were well-cooked with delicious sauces.

However, overall, it was disappointed compared to other restaurants in the area. The starters were very boring and too cold and the puddings had too much sugar in them. Also the service was very slow.

I don’t think I would recommend the Blue Palace as I think you can get better value for your money in other similar restaurants, which also offer more choice.

One of the best books I have ever read is, in fact, the book I am reading at the moment. It’s called The Bookseller of Kabul and was written by a Norwegian journalist, Asne Seierstad, who spent several months living in a traditional Afghan family after the fall of the Taliban.

Seierstad’s book is a collection of stories told to her by the different members of the family she lived with. First there is the proud bookseller himself, who has spent all his life protecting his books in order to bring the written word to the people of Kabul. Then there are the reflections and recollections of his two wives. His children and his brothers and sisters, which Seierstad reveals in such a sensitive and intimate way, that it is impossible to put the book down.

However. The Bookseller of Kabul is not merely the story of one Afghan family. It reflects the fight for survival that most Afghans have had to lead during recent decades and, of course, the repression experienced by Afghan women.

As a work of non-fiction, the book offers an insight into a culture that most Europeans will never have the chance to see. As a story, it is gripping. It is not surprising that this book has become an international bestseller, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn the truth about life in this part of the world.