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The deal is you write an honest review of Chasing Innocence and post it to either the US or UK Amazon site, or both. You then email me the review or a link to the review. The email address is listed on the last page of Chasing Innocence. Only the first claim to a review will be considered, so send the review or link when you submit it. Each month three people will be drawn from a hat from those that send me their review. I will contact each of the three and send a signed copy to each. A forth copy will be sent to whoever wrote the review I liked the most. If you write a particularly insightful review, I might just send you a book anyway. Honesty is the key. If you didn't like Chasing Innocence you simply say why. Or, of course, you can say why you loved it.
If you're comfortable writing a review then jump down to the bottom of the page. If you want some direction, then this next bit's for you. I've been writing reviews on Amazon for a few years now and tend to hover around the top 100 reviewer mark. A good review doesn't need to be long, although I can occasionally wax lyrical.
At all times while writing a review I try to be chatty rather than official and try to provide succinct information about my experience with the product. I have used my recent review of The Warrior as an example here. It's probably longer than you will want to write but at least it's full of examples for you to pull on:
The Stars
One Star - Seriously flawed or nothing like it was described
Two Star - Likewise, but less so
Three Stars - Delivered a good experience but nothing to stand it out
Four Stars - Contains some remarkable quality that really imprints on me
Five Stars - Quite simply Brilliant. Right up there with the best of the best
The Title
This will be as short as I can while quantifying my overall impressions. If I haven't thought of something by the end of writing the review I'll usually use a line from the review.
Opening Paragraph
This puts me, the review writer, in context with what I'm reviewing. How I came to it and what I thought of it. I write this so the Amazon browser can read only this paragraph and know what I thought. Sometimes I'll post only this paragraph. The rest of the review is just details. Here's my opener from the Warrior (DVD):
'I thought the advertising for the cinematic release of Warrior was slightly off the mark. Making it seem a little too much like a young fight flick, which it most definitely isn't. I think it might also have suffered from being the last of the recent fight genre movies released. This movie, regardless of genre, is quite simply one of the best I have EVER seen. I watched it three times on the roll during a long haul flight and immediately pre-ordered it from Amazon when I landed.'
The Overview
My next paragraph is a summary of the story without opinion or giving anything away. This can seem tough but basically details the key characters, their relationships and summarises what happens for the first third of the story. This paragraph is designed to contrast against the next one, which is your opinion. Here's my overview from the Warrior:
'Warrior is about two estranged brothers and a family ripped apart by a violently driven alcoholic father who was once a fighting coach. When the oldest brother finds the cost of saving his daughter from heart disease, is the mortgage on his house, he is forced to return to fighting to make ends meet. Always a greater technician over a great fighter, he now has something worth fighting for, his family. This is contrasted against Tommy, the young brother and prodigal son. A deserter from the army after his platoon were all killed in a friendly fire incident, he is fighting only to raise money for the families of the dead soldiers. As the UFC competition plays out in front of the media, it is these two very personal battles, that drives this emotionally intense and very violent story to its conclusion.'
Your Opinion
This is where you detail what you thought. I usually cover the characters and what they meant to me, the depth of the story overall and how it played in my mind. This will include the pace and quality of the writing/filmmaking. Also the levels of violence if relevant and how involved I was in the experience. This sometimes runs into a couple of paragraphs. Once more, from The Warrior:
'The quality starts with the script, it's incredibly well put together, managing the fine mix of violence and drama. This is backed-up by great acting throughout. Some of the key characters do not have a lot of screen time but bring such depth to the character you get them more from who they are over what they say. Tom Hardy combines raw physical intensity with real depth of character, and for me, as great and brutal as his fighting was, the scenes between him and his father and brother were riveting. Joel Edgerton for me though was the star. The underdog that will not give in because doing so will lose his family the roof over their heads.
'The climax is incredible because come the end, there is no favourite. How it is done is quite brilliant and sends chills down my spine just thinking about it.'
The Summary
I end my reviews with a short summary. Something that once more quantifies for the reader what I thought of the experience:
'Quite simply, Warrior is one of the best movies I have ever watched at any level. I can't recommend it highly enough.'
You can read the whole Warrior review here
So there you go folks. Don't forget, if you do write a review of Chasing Innocence and want a signed paperback, email it to me. The address is at the back of the book. If you already bought the paperback but want a signed one as well, the address is there on the last page. All reviews emailed to me count.
Click one or both the following links to be taken to the Chasing Innocence product page so you can write your review. The reviews selected each month will be listed on this site. The first draw will be April 1st. Deliveries in the the UK will be via Royal Mail, overseas via DHL.
Chasing Innocence UK
Chasing Innocence US
Thanking you in advance.
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