Book Reviews

Form + Criteria

Disclaimer: You may choose to not answer certain questions in the form. It's totally up to you. But the reason I'm asking these type of questions is to make the critique more personalized. By doing this, I can get a good idea on what areas I should focus on more/what exactly I should help you with. So with that being said, you may proceed.

Fill in the form below for a critique + reaction! (Answer Form #1 and #2 in two separate comments. Answers don't have to be long, short and concise is preferable. My DMs will be open anyway so you can fill me in on anything you want me to know.)

Form #1

Title: ______
Genre: ______
Brief summary: _____
Word count: _____
Number of chapters: _____
Completed/Ongoing? _____
Is there anything specific you feel most insecure about? (plot, characterization, pacing, etc)______
Would you prefer just a critique or also additional comments as a reader? _____

*The purpose of reactions is for you to gain a perspective from someone who is just reading your story. It is another form of feedback that will show how your readers might react to something in the story. I will highlight on scenes I find humorous, enjoyable, emotional, repulsing and so on.

Form #2

Who are your characters (List the main characters): _____
What role do your characters play/What are they to your main character(s): ____
How many POVs are in your story? ____
Is there just one plot line + is there a subplot? ____
What did you take inspiration from? (books, tv shows, any type of media) _____
What kind of tone/mood/vibe are you going for? ____
How do you want readers to feel while reading your story? ______
What is the theme/message of the story?______
If you don't know the answer to the previous question, then what are you hoping readers will get out of your story? _____

These are the things I will be scoring you on (don't answer these questions, these are just for the criteria):

• Feedback on Plot (1-10)
Does the story stick to the plot all throughout? Is the plot made clear from the beginning? Is there a clear conflict? Is every scene in the story (from beginning to rest of the chapters) relevant to the plot? Is there a theme or a lesson learned by the characters that delivers an impactful message to readers?

• Pacing (1-10)
Is the exposition/introduction slow? How early on or long does it take for the climatic event to occur? Are the chapters too long or is their length suitable for the pace of the story? Is the pace fit for the story?

• Characterization (1-10)
Do all the characters have a purpose in the story? Do they have more than one defining trait that isn't just their race/queerness/mental illness/trauma/etc? Do they mean something to the main character? Are they rememberable? Are they a static or dynamic character? Do they learn a lesson/change throughout the course of the story?

• World building (1-10)
Is there a good balance between "showing" and "telling" to describe the world? Does it avoid info dumping? Is it confusing to follow or clear enough? Is it creative/original or copied after another story/type of media (doesn't count if it's just coincidental)?

• Writing prose (1-10)
Is the writing style too complicated or is it easy to follow? Is there a lot of grammatical errors that may pull the reader out of the story? Are the sentences clunky or too wordy as to be distracting to the reader? Is there often tense shifts? What type of word choice is used? Does it appropriately convey the tone/mood of the scene where it's being used?

• Tone/Mood (1-10)
Does the story manage to set the tone for every scene? Does the story keep a consistent tone all throughout the chapter and rest of the chapters?

• Point of View (1-10)
Is every point of view important and relevant to the plot? Is there a type of distinguishable "character voice" established in these different POVs? Is there filtering, for ex. a lot of use of "___, I thought...I decided..etc"?

How Rating will Work:

(__<5-10) If you get a score below 5-10, that may mean that the book has several flaws. It may be confusing and difficult to follow. There's isn't a good balance between "showing" and "telling." There may be characters or events in the story that aren't relevant to the plot/don't serve any purpose. The pacing may be slow and the story seems to drag, or it may be too fast that I can't tell what's going on.

(__>5-10) If you get a score greater than 5-10 then congratulations! That doesn't mean your book is completely flawless. But it was easy to follow and I got a clear idea of what it was about. There may be little to no grammatical errors. The characters were effectively done and aren't flat/pointless. The story may be enjoyable overall and also conveys some time of message/theme.