Introduction:
Noctivagant is a smart, engaging BTS vampire fanfic written by Juliander2. This author, with this book, took home the first place prize in the Eclipse Awards, ships category. This book is very complex with rich storytelling and layered characters that make for a well-rounded narrative that will suck you in (no pun intended).
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Detailed Feedback
What Worked:
It'd be a crime to start with anything other than the characters. In Noctivagant, the character work is complex and engaging. The characters are easily the best part of the story due to how many layers they have.
Jimin, the protagonist, is filled with subtle details and realism that make him stand out. Seeing as he's the protagonist, that is a very very very good thing. His journey is emotionally complex and I was super attached to him by chapter one. The future chapters fleshed him out and made me even more attached to him. I wanted nothing more than to see him succeed.
Another thing I'd like to praise is how you handle your audience. It may seem small, but the story is clever in the way that it doesn't baby the audience or spoon feed us information. You give us what we need to know in showing over telling methods. It's refreshing to read a story that trusts the audience enough to draw their own conclusions.
The worldbuilding is solid in this piece. You don't do my pet peeve where you blur out the name of the place (i.e., "Let's meet at xx place"), which seems like a small thing, but it actually impacts the narrative more than one might think. Just by giving names to places, you're making them feel more realistic, and you're also grounding the audience in the reality of your world.
The locations presented in the story feel fleshed out and alive. The locations didn't feel chosen out of a hat. They feel like they impact the characters, set the scene, and interact with how the story is told.
The plot is simple: a vampire tries to save Jimin's life but ends up causing chaos in the process. Jimin's life is thrown off-course because of Namjoon's attempt at a good deed. The simplicity of the plot allows the complexity in the characters and themes to stand out.
While on the topic, the plot is easy to follow and structured well. It's caused by characters making decisions, which gives them agency and makes the story feel realistic. It doesn't happen because of out-of-character moments or coincidences; no, it happens based on decisions I 100% believe these characters would make. It's small things like that that make books more engaging and entertaining.
I know I've mentioned a lot of the smaller, finer details in the piece, but it's rare that stories, even in modern Hollywood, have these types of details. That's why I think it's super important to point them out and praise them so the author knows to keep doing them. Oh, and also so they know that the readers are noticing them!
I liked how the supernatural genre was used to tell a human story. I always find it very engaging when an author takes a supernatural/fantastical/sci fi genre and makes it feel human. It's a juxtaposition to itself, which makes it fascinating. Despite the story being about vampires, it feels more human than most human stories I read. In other words, you take abstract concepts and tie human experiences and emotions to them.
Looking at this from an overall perspective, Noctivagant delivers on the four huge elements in storytelling: plot, character, themes, and world. Along with that, the grammar is very good. Considering this is a supernatural genre with new world elements we need to learn, having good grammar is a massive positive that helps the readers understand the content they're consuming.
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What Didn't Work:
The only criticism I really had for the story can also be considered a compliment: I wanted more. The setup for this story was so incredible that I found myself upset when it ended because I wanted to see more of Jimin's life after these events.
I just felt it ended a bit quickly and I wanted to see more of what would happen with these characters and where their lives would go, if that makes sense. I won't dwell on it too much since the rest of the story was so engaging that I don't think me wanting more takes away from it. If anything, you can say it added more to the narrative.
I think this story could easily be longer and could even be turned into a novel or novella. That's up to you if you want to expand on this universe you created, but I hope you know it does have the potential to become something bigger if you ever wanted to do more with it! As is, I think it works in the short format, but I certainly wouldn't complain if you added more in the future.
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Summary:
- Engaging, complex characters
- Jimin <3
- Mature themes handled with care
- You treat your audience well
- Great worldbuilding
- Simple plot that's easy to comprehend and allows the complex elements to shine
- I wanted moreeee :(
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Overall:
Noctivagant is a story I'd recommend to everyone. It transcends the BTS fanfic genre and becomes its own smart narrative I can see being turned into an original short story. If you're a fan of thought-provoking books with complex characters, then you should check out Noctivagant asap.
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Noctivagant deserved the win for its smart storytelling and engaging characters. It's rare I see a story on Wattpad that does a lot of showing over telling and allows the audience to put the pieces together instead of blatantly telling us everything.
Even though it's dark and mature, I think it's a fun story with charm and intrigue. I would love to see more from the universe and more by the author written in this kind of genre!
I'm behind as heck on interviews since this review book has like 70+ unfinished requests, but I'm hoping to get interviews out to all Eclipse Awards winners this month. I'm sure I'll be in the author's dms soon with an interview all ready ^-^