+ 𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐄: 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 +

+ Never Summer Again +

Username: @daniavons

Title (9/10): The title of this book makes sense considering the setting of the story and raises a lot of questions. Is Never Summer Again a foreshadow of regret within the piece? Does the characters life change forever during this time? Injecting intrigue into a reader is beneficial to making a great first impression on a reader, which you certainly did.

Cover (8/10): Aesthetics are important to any book the author wishes would get clicked on often, and I admire the grey aesthetic the book had taken as a reader. The two love interests gazing into each other's eyes in a lustful yet cautious nature (in my perspective) perfectly emphasized what I read of the book itself. Good job with that.

Blurb (6/10): I hadn't ever seen a blurb like yours, which I had liked to an extent. However, when I read the four chapters assigned, I saw nothing else besides the first thing mentioned from Lydia (the rules) and the introduction Mark. I was expecting all those things to be introduced in the chapters I read considering their length, especially the part where she's choked out by Patrick.

My suggestion on how to improve this will contribute to another later in the review.

Plot (7/10): One can probably infer that the romance is between a girl named Lydia 'Lyd' and a boy named Mark and their story. If that's the case, the idea of the plot is intriguing— a boy best friend coming back from America (I'm surprised the fact that they drive on two separate sides of the road wasn't brought up lol) to visit his friends, including Lyd. Lydia hates her rich life and most of her family. She also grieves her mother due to mom being away in a mental facility. She also has a boyfriend, but then there's this trust (maybe on the extreme side?) that she harnesses with Mark early on it since they once knew each other well. The plot itself made for a decent read.

Characters (6.5/10):

Lydia- I understand why she is the way she is; her why came out through the prologue, where she explained many things from the situation with her mom to her reasons for her tattoos. If I went through what she had, I'd think I'd feel a bitterness as well.

Patrick- Patrick seemed like a very decent guy in the beginning (excluding his little part in the description) Then there's a shift in the later chapters I read when he demands Lydia to come back to London with him so he could sleep rather aggressively. That's where my opinion of him changed. To me, he now seems inexcusably snobbish despite Lydia's explanation about why he was like that.

Mark- Mark was... odd. Besides seeming like a decent person, I didn't get much of him as a character besides descriptions of how Lydia knew him and her friend group. The thing that stuck out to me the most about him was how touchy he was towards Lydia even though I believe he knew she had a boyfriend.

Writing style (6/10): I like how you string together words and colorful vocabulary, like when you use 'banal' instead of 'unoriginal' and when you describe her actions. I also like the realistic dialogue like when you describe her actions.

However, there are a lot of telling descriptions. At many points in the book, especially the prologue, a lot of information is spilled in long paragraphs. It can be very daunting to a lot of readers (considering people's attention spans are shorter than ever) to read something that long. The most pressing thing, though, is that showing isn't something this book does even though it is VERY important to utilize to keep people engaged. We're told about her mom, we're told about a snobby dad, we're told about his gold digging girlfriend half his age, and we're told about her spoilt brother.

What I suggest is that in the first chapter, you show all these things.

For example:

The story starts with Lydia coming downstairs. Her spoilt brother immediately argues with her when she reaches the kitchen. This is because he wants her to take him to his girlfriend's house because he crashed the Beemer (signaling he's spoiled). Then Dad comes in and shouts at her to give into her brother's demands.

Lydia gets mad at him and he says he's not trying to be difficult (signaling he's not the best father) Then enters his girlfriend whining for her weekly allowance from him because she wants to go wine-tasting with her college friends (signaling she's a young gold digger) Lydia scowls at her and they argue before shouting she hates everyone (signaling yet another example of the burning disdain she has for everyone)

She then runs up the stairs for her room, but on the way, she spots the room her Mom nearly died in and explains her mom's problems with mental health and where her mom is now.

That way it shows everything and why Lydia is the way she is, and there is a colorful scene packed with action and dialogue before the reader's eyes.

Grammar/Spelling (6/10): Spelling appears good. However, there are some grammar rules I'd like to cover:

When you're naming three things in a row, always make sure to utilize a comma before 'and' since it is grammatically correct. For example:

- Incorrect use -

I hate the gilded cage I'm forced to spend with my advantaged, lazy ass alcoholic, selfish prick of a father, his obscenely young gold-digging tramp of a girlfriend and my spoilt brother.

- Correct use -

I hate the gilded cage I'm forced to spend with my advantaged, lazy ass alcoholic, selfish prick of a father, his obscenely young gold-digging tramp of a girlfriend(,) and my spoilt brother.

You do not need a comma for the word 'or'. For example:

- Incorrect use -

...I get to go to a fancy private school and would get a Beemer, or a Chanel purse for my birthdays and Christmas.

- Correct use -

...I get to go to a fancy private school and would get a Beemer or a Chanel purse for my birthdays and Christmas.

If the sentence is proceeded with the statement that they talked, use a comma. For example:

- Incorrect use -

"I want to eat" he said.

- Correct use -

"I want to eat," he said.

Chapter Length (3/10): I felt like I read War & Peace four times. My eyes felt as if they were driving on a never ending road of long paragraphs for four chapters. It really hurt my chances of getting to know the setting and characters more because I'm so tired of wondering when each part would end.

This could just be me, since long chapters aren't my thing if there's not much happening. Especially if there's no turning points to get the story moving. However, with most people's attention spans not insanely high, this could be many people's issue, too.

I recommend getting straight to the point of any telling of a story within two paragraphs at best (ex: when Lydia talks about her and Mark's first kiss) and cutting out every unnecessary detail you can find.

Overall Enjoyment (5/10): Overall, I think that its good considering its your first book. However, I think there are things that need to be majorly improved on. Most of these things I needed to improve on myself when I was writing my first book, and I'm still working on today to an extent.

With that said, I hope this gave you some insight from a reader!