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Rating: 
Summary: A Big Help
Review: I first took the GMAT and got a 41 on the Verbal section. After using this book, I got a 47, and I credit most of my gain to this book. My main advice is to give yourself enough time to use the whole book the way they intended. I also recommend the Official Guide from ETS, which gives you loads of real questions.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I just had to prepare for the verbals and I think this was the book for me. It helped me reduce the number of mistakes for 15/41 to around 7/41. I have not yet given GMAT but I guess this book did help me a lot.
Rating: 
Summary: Throw a rock at me if you know a better verbal guide
Review: I would give 4.5 out of 5
Not 5 because it could use a few more reading passages for additional practice. The book is very good. Even though it has a few questions from the Kaplan CD (not more than 5), it makes a good practice. Here are the main strengths:
1. Good strategy Guide and source of questions; it is very well written and pleasant to read
2. Reading and Critical Reasoning are explained in more depth than in the Kaplan GMAT Guide with CD. I would recommend to get this book in addition to the Kaplan's Guide if you are having troubles with verbal (who doesn't you may ask). I improved RC only after i got this book.
3. However, probably the most helpful part of this book is the Idiom section. It is indispensable for International Students; I think this is the only guide that has so many USEFUL idioms, about 70 with explanations and examples. It is not crammed with all sorts of useless expressions as many idiom dictionaries are and it is not limited to top 5 either. I like the ballance. The book does not come with any software but has many questions and one verbal section of a practice test. And, yes, the questions are hard. It is Kaplan :)
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive review with tough questions
Review: Pros (in the order of personal preference):
- #1 by far is the questions: tough as nails, at least as difficult as the ones in the GMAT 800 book (also by Kaplan);
- Idiom reference and their GMAT-specific usage (i.e.: "consider to be" will never be correct on the GMAT, but "consider" will be);
- More comprehensive discussion of strategies for all of the questions types. In fact I would skip the verbal section of Kaplan's general GMAT guide (the one with the CD) in favor of this workbook. Con:
- A couple of questions on the sample verbal section test appear in the other Kaplan guides. Overall, the best guide to the verbal section of the GMAT I have seen. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Very good book with great examples and test material
Review: This book is a great place to start for reviewing for the verbal sections of the GMAT. The strategies covered are very helpful and the examples are first rate. After getting through it, I was able to get a better score on the GMAT and felt more confident going into the test. If it's been a while since you looked at grammar in detail, get a copy of Warriner's "English Composition and Grammar." Not that Kaplan's book was lacking, but I found using it in conjunction with Warriner's book helped to fill in any gaps in grammar that Kaplan did not fully explore. In short the best verbal workbook I found for the GMAT.
Rating:
Summary: Only if you need additional practice for the verbal sections
Review: This book is very helpful as long as what you're needing is additional practice to build up your performance and confidence for the verbal sections of the GMAT (note that it covers the Analytical Writing section as well, however it does not do so as well as it covers the other verbal sections). It takes you through each of the three types of verbal sections (Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning and Sentence Correction), with strategies on how to excel at each. But the basics you need for each can be found in the GMAT with CD-ROM book by Kaplan. Get this book only if you really need to improve in any of the three verbal sections, as you will be able to take a set of practice questions and three additional practice sets for each of them, followed by a comprehensive verbal section that should bring you up to speed even if your idioms and your grammar is a little rusty. Rounding up the book are precisely a Gramma Reference, a Guide to GMAT's most common idioms and a Guide to Usage and Style.
Rating:
Summary: DO NOT buy it if u bought the other Kaplan + CD-ROM
Review: This book provides great exercises to practice your verbal skills. It has practice questions at the end of each section as well as THREE practice tests for each of the three different types of verbal questions. Finally, it gives you one full-length GMAT Verbal section test. Lessons are written very clearly, with good tips and examples. BUT, if you have the other Kaplan book that comes with CD-ROM (math + verbal), DO NOT BUY this one as it repeats some of the same questions (quite a lot!).
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This book really prepare test takers. Teach you what to look for in the verbal section to correctly answer every question type. Much better than the Official GMAT book which does not give any directions, just give you a bunch of questions.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book, but could be a waste of your money!!!
Review: This is an excellent book ... by itself. The quality of the lessons, appendices and the rest of the material is great. The section on usage is very good, too. However, if you have already purchased Kaplan's GMAT CAT with CD-Rom, then all the practice questions - 3 sets each for sentence correction, reading comprehension and critical reasoning - from this book (with explanations )are available on the CD-Rom. I, felt, sort of, cheated of my $$$. In summary, buy this book only if you do not have the Kaplan GMAT CD-ROM. Save yourself some money. Don't spend your money twice for the same material!!
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