[chrisweekly]

Hmm. I agree with your main point (in your 2nd sentence) but want to address your opening question.

It's possible, even common, to encounter a relatively neutral synopsis (covering e.g. genre, themes, plot summary, and objective attributes of the writing style) which doesn't really pass judgement on the book. IMHO those are all things that don't require a human. A good book review is not a synopsis, it's a harmonizing echo of the ideas and feelings imparted by the author; shared, absorbed, combined and reflected, and resonating out to the broader field of readership. That's part of the magic of books -- the way one person's mind can connect so profoundly to many others' (though only ever via one individual reader's experience at a time) across time and space, even beyond death.