Other forms: literary criticisms
Literary criticism is reviewing and analyzing a written work of high artistic or cultural value. The very best literary criticism can reveal surprising things about a book, poem, or play, and help you understand it better.
While a book review usually describes some details about the book and evaluates how successful its author's intent was — or at least recommends whether or not you should read it — literary criticism digs deeper into a piece of literature. It's a scholarly way to write about a written work, analyzing its layers of meaning and its place within the context of other works, and interpreting its messages based on various philosophical or political viewpoints.