The Review Court

Unhealthy Coping Mechanism || Reviewer: TheBeanFairy

╔═════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ══════╗
𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑟: Adella
𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑃𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑎𝑔𝑒: Artemis
𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘: Unhealthy Coping Mechanism
𝐴𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟: sandydragon1
╚═════ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ══════╝

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Title

The title is perfect for your story. It describes the main point of your book in three words. That Harriet finds a way to cope with the stresses of her life in baking, but it ultimately turns into something unhealthy. It's also an interesting title that is sure to draw potential readers in.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Cover

This is a very beautiful cover! The colors in the photo and the font create a nice contrast that really draws you in and makes you interested in the story. The cover also perfectly captures the theme of the book itself, much like the title. Baking is Harriet's coping mechanism, which is shown in the cupcakes, but it ultimately becomes an unhealthy one, as shown by the devil horns and the dark colors.

I also have to make a special mention for the font because it's absolutely gorgeous and I'd kill to know the name of it.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Grammar

You did amazing with grammar in your book, which was a pleasant surprise. There were no grammar or punctuation mistakes that I could find, which made it easy to get into the book itself.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Prose

Your prose was very well written. You have lovely vivid descriptions that immerse your readers in the story, but they aren't so wordy that it's stilted. I can imagine the scenes as if I'm actually there, from the volcano cake to the lemonade. I also really appreciate that you didn't write Sam's dialogue as if he was a poorly written toddler, which is a common pet peeve that many people have with child characters.

You also keep the descriptions very true and consistent to Harriet's character. The words you use to describe people and things sound exactly like what I would expect her to say if she was the one writing your book.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Flow

The chapters flow perfectly with each other. The transition from the first chapter, with a child's birthday celebration, to the second, the aftermath of Frank not showing up, makes sense and provides readers with an insight to the relationships Harriet has with the other characters.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Plot

Your plot seems interesting and moves along nicely over the course of the first two chapters. You can definitely tell where exactly Harriet's frustrations lie and why she looks for a retreat in baking, like what the blurb describes. You can also see a bit of how Harriet's baking hobby could turn into an unhealthy obsession, with a couple things shown in her personality and actions.

The plot itself, as shown in the blurb, is intriguing and definitely nothing that I've seen before in a book. I, personally, think the transition from Harriet being a stressed out mom to whatever she becomes after she has an obsession with baking will be an interesting development.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Characters

First, I'll start off with Harriet. Right off the bat you get an in depth feel for her character and personality, as well as her frustrations and opinions. She's stressed, which is made clear by her headaches and her annoyance with Frank. She's forgiving, which is shown by her immediately forgiving Frank after they talk about his work habits.

She's humble, which is shown by her constantly brushing off compliments and directing them at other people. She's a very loving mother, which is shown by how she interacts with her son throughout the first two chapters. And she also seems to have a lot of doubt about her abilities, which is shown by how she refers to her baking both in the inner dialogue and her interactions with others.

In general she is a very well rounded character who I think will develop nicely over the course of the book.

As for Frank, he comes off a bit differently. We don't really see much of him in the first two chapters, but we still get a feel for who he is as a person because of how he's regarded by Harriet and some of the other characters. He's definitely a workaholic and doesn't seem to care much about his family, which is shown through him missing Sam's birthday for work and the fact that this seems to be a common issue with him.

It's also shown through the fact that he doesn't seem to care about how this affects Harriet, as he's fairly jovial about it and doesn't really take her concerns seriously. He also doesn't show any concern for how this might've affected Sam, which doesn't help his case.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

╔═════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ══════╗
𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒:
50/50
╚═════ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ══════╝

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

Thank you for requesting from me!