Reviewer: Orlaith (Myst3ry007)
Review: The Port in Her Storm
Client: siindos
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The Port in Her Storm by title alone sounded, like a great concept. It gave the sense ofsafety and calm and made you believe that this was a love story. A romance or even a storyof one finding their salvation on their own.
Blurb:
The blurb however, was to be desired. It was far too lengthy and didn't entice you to want toread more. It gave you a sense of the plot but it gave so much away that could have beenwritten into a prologue or even into a chapter of its own.
I felt like the blurb wasn't used for its intended purpose but rather as a way to give backstorywithout adding it into the book. This took away from making me want to read it, and pushedme more into wishing for something else.
Grammar & Punctuation:
The grammar within this book wasn't the best. Words were constantly misspelled and attimes the author switched to text language. Where you shortened the word to just its letterswhich came off as odd since no one was texting in that moment. It was actually withinsomeone's inner monologue.
Punctuation was missing in places as well, and fell short in the sense that there were manytimes where sentences ran on too long. Where there was an abundance of commas for noother reason than to drag on the sentence making the read tedious.
Paragraphing & Phrasing:
Paragraphing was okay to the point that they weren't that long however they did drag on withthe same topic over and over. Sentences that dragged on too long, could be cut shorter tomake more of an impact especially in emotional scenes.
Phrasing – the phrasing used within this book is by far lacking. There are times when live isused instead of love. Where son calls his mother (step-mother) dear, sweetheart and otherendearing names which doesn't add up. These phrasing are so far off base it makes theread uncomfortable and forces you to pause or even close the book.
Characterization:
The characters lack in all aspects. Dynamic, function, personality and appearance. The author barely explains their appearances and also there is a lack of description where itcomes to speech.
There is a total lack of speech actual. There was barely any conversation within the chaptersI'd read and what little there was, wasn't even conversation really. It was short answers orquestions that barely made sense or even comments that didn't make sense.
Sadly, I feel the author needs to really do a deep dive into their characters and learn moreabout writing them and developing them before putting them to paper as they have zerodimension.
Their thoughts are all over the place and I understand that trauma does cause you to notthink in a linear way but they seem to continue in a continuous loop that has no end. Andmakes it appear as if the plot isn't moving in any direction.
The emotional description also needs work as characters lack in both sense and sensibility.Their emotions don't fit and the sentences they say don't match.
The description of skin is off. Purples, blues, blacks, faded yellows and greens I understand,because those are the colour of skin when bruised and healing. However, the mention ofnude tones and other colours throws the whole picture off.
Plot:
The plot seems all over the place, I was given the impression this was about the MC – Clarayet the book has been written mostly in the step-son's POV. Causing for much confusion asyou read. The blurb didn't match the plot.
The description of fear feels off at times and more can be done with it. As it doesn't make thereader feel fear.
There is a moment where the MC mentions that she found her partner after a lovelesschildhood. However, they aren't the same age. There is a considerable age gap betweenthem, which means by then he had met other women, also he had a child by one. So, itmakes you question how she can say that as well as where the step-son's mother is.
Name changes. The Step-son's friend was Rayan for a moment before it was spelled Ryan.A thing to note.
Writing Style:
The writing style is all over the place. It was first written in past tense but then switched topresent and has been switching continuously when you read.
I feel a lot can be done with this book but the writing style chosen and the misinformationgiven leads to its overall sad reading experience.
There isn't a flow to the writing. Nothing flows into one another, and the transitions if thereare one are choppy.
Overall:
All in all, this book needs a major make over and a good and thorough planning before it isrewritten as it has major plot holes, grammar issues and above all characterization issuesthat need fixing. As this is definitely not a love story as the title suggests.