Reviews are written by critics around the time of a work's release. They usually answer the question "Should I invest my time and money into this?" Reviews tend to be newspaper article length or shorter, although sometimes a review will be longer. You can often find these in newspapers, magazines, websites, and other news sources.
Many major news publications will have an arts & lifestyle section which will include reviews on:
More in-depth critical analysis, usually referred to as criticism, often appears later in longer-form articles in magazines, scholarly journals and books. Check out some of the databases on our Finding Books, Articles, & More page in this guide for recommended places to search for criticism.
When looking for reviews, don't restrict your search to one source. There are significant differences in coverage, date ranges, and full-text availability.
If you need contemporary reviews of older works (think pre-1980), you will need to likely need to dig into historical sources. Many of these are still only available in print, though more are being digitized. The following databases and print materials available at the Bentley Library include historical newspapers and reviews:
New York Times Historical offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital PDF reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue. Coverage: 1851-2020.
Wall Street Journal Historical offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue. Coverage: July 8, 1889-Dec 31, 2012.