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《Blade》PACTS

REVIEW - PACTS by Theodora_lu
REVIEWER - DeathBlade__
(First 10 chapters were reviewed)
Title: 4.5/5
Just like the previous book, the title is simple but it sounds really intriguing. The title is a little similar to the first book but not the same, so it gives the feeling that it is part of the same series which is excellent. A minor detail I thought I could mention was that although the book is called ‘Pacts’, only one pact is made so far in chapter 5. There are so many deals made in this book that it outnumbers the pacts. Still, it is a great title that I really liked so you don’t necessarily have to change it.
Cover: 4/5
I love the cover. It’s simple and follows the same theme as the first book which I also really liked. The font is especially my favorite (for the title). However, you could change the subtitle. For one,  it’s hardly visible so it just feels like random text that’s taking up the space. Second, I don’t like its placement, it just feels a little out of place.
Blurb: 4/5
The blurb follows the same format as the previous book, introducing the main characters in two paragraphs. I loved it, it’s just written so well and really pulls the reader into the book. My one complaint would be with this sentence:
They have a mission to complete before the end of the year and like their counterparts. They must protect the people they care deeply about while still trying to survive the troubles of the life they live.
I would change it to: They have a mission to complete before the end of the year and like their peers, they must protect the people they care about…..
The problem was that you used a full stop instead of a comma. A sentence that should have flowed together was broken in the middle. Other than that, I love the blurb.
Writing Style: 8/10
Off the bat, it’s a lot less patchy that the first part of the series. There is still a lot of room for improvement but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. I noticed that there was a lot more effort and cross-checking done in the writing of scenes which is always appreciated.
There were two things I wanted to mention:
1. The surroundings weren’t written too well. I say this with reference to the scene where Danny goes to talk to Joey and Jordan. You mentioned that Jordan was tied up to a chair but that was just minor detail. You could have mentioned how he looked, but not in a simple way like he was tired. You could have gone through each feature and how it was different than before and what the chains he was tied up to did to him.
2. In The scene right after, Danny goes to talk to Sam and says he only figured one thing out, and that is that not all of them were going to survive. But how did he get this information by talking to Joey and Jordan? Neither of them mentioned anything like that and it just seemed so out of place. I would suggest adding some scenes in between so that it will feel a lot more continuous. 
Grammar: 7/10
My main complaint is that I couldn’t figure out if the book was supposed to be in the present tense or past tense. A few scenes would be written in the present tense and then out of the blue, it would change to past. Both were used equally, therefore I wasn’t able to tell. I’d suggest going through the chapters and re-writing them in the tense you intended the book to be in.
Other than that, there are a few minor mistakes that I corrected through comments. I wasn’t able to get to all of them but the comments should give you an idea of what type of mistakes you made. Other than that, re-reading the chapters by yourself should fix the issue, I don’t think an editor is necessary.
Plot: 7/10
The plot seems to be a lot more defined in the first few chapters. There is a lot of information and scope for the plot to move further. I guess my main issue was that I didn’t always understand what was going on. I didn’t complete the book deals therefore there is a lot of information I missed out on. Certain scenes do make my understanding better but it’s not enough. Other than that though, it has a lot of potential.
One more thing that I already mentioned is the second point in the writing style. The pacing of the book is a little patchy. One scene starts and the next one isn’t exactly continuous so it makes the plot seem a little undefined. The execution of the way the plot moves can be worked on but other than that, it’s all good.
Characters: 7.5/10
The characters have changed a lot and I loved it. I really didn’t like Peyton in the first book but she became so much better. It just shows that she had an incredible character development in the further chapters of ‘Deals’ which is so great.
The characters are a lot more fun to read and I love their interactions, Especially Marci and Gia. They have an adorable friendship, it’s honestly heartwarming.
My main concern is that we don’t get to know much about the new characters (new for me at least). For example, Nate. He seems like a nice guy but I do not know a lot about him. Maybe his character is written with more depth in Deals but still, it would be nice to get little hints of what his character is like. Basically, the characters are really nice to read when they are interacting with each other but I’m not sure if I could say the same about them separately (on Marci’s side of the plot).
I really enjoy Danny’s POV because it shows how much Peyton has changed but there is still integrity to her original character. It is the best of both worlds which I really liked.
I would suggest working on defining the characters from Marci’s POV but other than that, the characters are great.
Overall Enjoyment: 4/5
The thing that bothered me the most was that I didn’t understand everything since it’s a sequel to a book I hardly read. Since I didn’t know everything, I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much. Other than that, this book was really good. It is really commendable how you kept the base from the first book but made this into something extremely better. It’s no secret that I thought that the first book needed quite a few changes but this book was good. Just work on the factors that I mentioned and this book will truly be great.
Total: 46/60