Project
Book Review API
Book Review API is an Express.js backend for an online bookshop. It exposes a public catalog for browsing books and protected endpoints that let registered customers write reviews.
FinishedSource code (opens in a new tab)
- Category
- REST API
- Started
- Aug 2026
- Language
- JavaScript
Stack
- Node.js
- Express
- JavaScript
- REST API
- JWT
- Sessions
- Authentication
- Axios
About this project
Visitors can list the catalog and search it by ISBN, author, or title. Customers register, log in to receive a JWT stored in their session, and can then add, update, or delete their own review for any book.
Features
- Public catalog listing with search by ISBN, author, and title
- Customer registration and login
- JWT access tokens stored in an Express session
- Authentication middleware protecting every review route
- Add, update, and delete a review per user and per book
Purpose
- Practice designing and implementing a RESTful API with Express
- Apply session-based authentication with JSON Web Tokens
- Separate public and authenticated routes with middleware
- Use async/await and Axios for request handling
Scope & Limitations
- Learning project with in-memory data: users and reviews reset when the server restarts
- No database, automated test suite, or deployment configuration
- Secrets are hard-coded and intended for local use only
Tech Stack
- Runtime: Node.js
- Framework: Express
- Auth: express-session and jsonwebtoken
- HTTP client: Axios
Notes
- Built on an IBM Developer Skills Network course starter repository.
- Source code: https://github.com/Felipeact/book-review-api