Aphrodite Reviews

six | the blessed and the pure ⬦

Book: The Blessed and the Pure

Author: TheGracedRaven

Genre : fantasy/dystopian

COVER

I loved the correlation between the cover and the book! It was very clever! However, despite the stunning graphics, I'm not sure it's exactly the most eye-catching cover. Unfortunately, Wattpad is a platform where covers need to be eye-catching to be read. It is extremely frustrating when such stunning pieces, such as yours, go unnoticed due to the cover. I recommend a cover that isn't so crowded - perhaps go with something simpler whilst still keeping the current design - if that makes sense.

BLURB

Okay, literally loved this. It was extremely intriguing and was written so well. However, I noticed you said 'xxx,' for both normal mortals and advanced mortals which was a little confusing. I think perhaps you were trying to keep it mysterious. However, I think putting the actual names would've suited better. I've re-read the blurb before publishing and I'm thankful I did because 'xxx' is no longer there lmao. I don't know if you changed this or if when I originally saw it, it was some sort of glitch, but after reading this, the book made more sense.

START (CHAP 1)

'Hallie was dying,' lmao I'm sorry - I had to put this in. Is it bad I laughed when I saw this? Anyways, this is EXACTLY what I like to see books start with. That one line automatically lures in the reader and it definitely made me want to read on. I actually got pretty excited when I read that!

CHAPTER 1

Okay, I loved the chapter. However, I was a little confused. She is contemplating death and the reader believes her death is recent, yet she has been traveling with Syagros for three days. I literally could not tell if it was figurative or literal and even thought for a good second that the story was about the afterlife. Although it is confusing, I felt it only added to the interest. I was curious as to what was actually going on. In this case, I don't think the confusion was necessarily a bad thing, which I congratulate you on, as it can be hard to pull off.

WRITING STYLE

It wouldn't be right for me to not mention this as the writing style was stunning. It was one of my favorite things in regards to the book. It engaged me as a reader and I think it had that special something. I can't describe it but It's DEFINITELY good! The more I read the better it got - I cannot begin to fathom how much I enjoyed your writing! The metaphors used in chapter 4 were outstanding!

INTRODUCTION

So when I say, 'introduction,' I mean to the different types of mortals/class. I felt there was a LOT of info haha. There were so many names listed at once, that I would often forget which one is which. I recommend spacing out the introduction. However, I did like how you didn't explain what they were right away. It can be tempting for authors to list everything about a character or in your case a social class, all at once.

CHAPTER BEGINNINGS (ALL CHAPTERS)

The start of chapters never failed to impress! I was in love with every single one and even found myself getting excited to see how the next would start! This is a very good quality for the book and I guess you could blame... or thank, your ridiculously impressive writing style for this.

STUTTERING

I am so sorry. Yes, I dedicated a whole subtitle to stuttering. As much as it infuriates me when characters stutter, I can let it slip. In chapter 1 there was a normal amount of stuttering. However, In chapter 2, Hallie says:

'O-oh! My n-name is Hallie N-Nephus. I-Its nice to meet y-you'

Stuttering is fine in the context it was placed, and I believe it is suited for the character. However, I think it was too excessive here and unrealistic. I think even just taking the stutter from the 'you' and keeping the rest would work. This is done once again, further on in Chapter 2. (although there are plenty of other examples I won't list)

Original: 'H-Hallie N-Neph-pus. I-I'm the n-new perf-former' You could perhaps try saying

'H-Hallie N-Nephus. I-I'm the new performer.'

NAMES

I loved the names! They weren't your basic names and were extremely creative. It suited the genre and setting of the book. Little details like this can really make a book successful!

PLOT

Brilliant. It was extremely original and thoroughly enjoyable! I was SOOO excited to find out more.

OVERALL

Omg! This book was crazy good! Reviewing books can occasionally get pretty tiring, but your book was so good I actually really enjoyed it! Enjoyability is ultimately the goal of the book, and you did just that. I really hope more people view your work as they are missing out by not! Good luck in your writing love (I'll be waiting for more chapters) xx