¶10th Place¶
Intimidado by AvyannaTremaine 39/100
~Review~
What does the title mean? How is it relevant to the story? The blurb is a little short and doesn't tell you much about what the plot is about. While it does raise many questions, which is intriguing, I do feel the blurb is missing something.
A lot of grammatical mistakes, causes confusion as to what is being said at times. I would never advise a writer to write in all-caps, but certainly not when your character is actually whispering, that just sends all kinds of confusing messages.
Why would you use exclamation points when something is said with a sigh?The story progresses rather slowly after the first chapter.
After 5 chapters I'm still not sure what the plot of the story is supposed to be. The main character doesn't appear to have a goal, and the sudden tense moments throughout the chapters seem pretty random.
¶9th Place¶
By a Rose by ChiddyE01 44/100
~Review~
The cover does not look very professional. Some grammatical errors in the blurb. Also a little confusing, like for example, what does 'waking up every morn.' mean? Is it supposed to be short for morning? It's written like that in the first chapter as well. Please don't shorten the word morning, it doesn't look professional.
The chapters are on the long side. The use of English is a little strange at times, especially when it comes to expressions (like '...and people meant humans.', and 'spleen clean.').
Misspelled words. The story progresses very slowly. Too much time is wasted describing unimportant actions.
¶8th Place¶
Dead Laughing by Saramitra_ 50/100
~Review~
The cover is a bit average, not terrible but not amazing either. A few minor mistakes in the blurb. A clear premise though. The prologue was pretty underwhelming, and felt a little rushed. Two people meet, and then they become friends, three other people join, and they all become 'family'. And all that happened in about 5 sentences.
It would have helped to make clear in chapter 1 which point of view it was written from, because it caused some confusion. The character's name wasn't mentioned once.
I found it a little confusing that right after translating the dialogue in between brackets, there was also an added explanation of the tone of the sentence, like it was part of the translation.
Use of vocabulary is a bit repetitive. Too much time is spent describing unimportant actions, like going to class, which slows down the pace of the book. The large number of characters causes confusion, I'm having a hard time keeping them apart.
There's a lot of dialogue, which also slows down the pace of the book, and kind of makes me lose interest.
¶7th Place¶
Her Soul by Nefili123 52/100
~Review~
Quite a few grammatical errors. Strange language use at times, like for example saying 'she got down from the car' instead of saying she got out of the car.
The whole 'queen-bee group' concept is a little cliche.While the chapter was interesting, with the tense ending and the raised question, it also spent too much time explaining the queen-bee group dynamic. It slowed down the pace of the book, and kind of made me lose interest.
Misused sayings, like 'comeback plan' instead of payback plan. There are a lot of new characters introduced in chapter 2, so many that it's hard to keep track. I would also make it a little more clear when introducing a character that she's a dog, because at first I thought she was just another person.
Quite a few grammatical errors. It would be helpful to write parts of dreams in italics, to clearly show the differences between dreams and reality. I'm missing a clear explanation on what 'Roxos' are. Where did they come from? How are they different from humans? What does the name 'Roxo' mean?
¶6th Place¶
Dead to You by Ecaille13 57/100
~Review~
While the blurb sounds interesting, it feels like it doesn't cover the entire premise. For example, how do fairytales come into play here? The book is high paced, often in an effective and suspenseful way. But at times it feels rushed.
Grammatical issues here and there. The character of Marian feels a little overly scared, to an exaggerated point.
I felt like Jack's goal of finding Michael was completed way too soon. It could have been stretched out over multiple chapters, increasing the tension and mystery around the plotline, but instead Michael was found right away at the end of chapter 1.
Michael's emotions are all over the place, one second he's upset at seeing Jack, and the next he's happily telling Ariel that he's seeing someone.
The twist where Michael was revealed to be a monster felt very random.
¶5th Place¶
The Haunted Player by MessiWrites_ 58/100
~Review~
The title on the cover is rather small. The quote at the beginning of the blurb doesn't really do it for me. It's not intriguing, or beautifully phrased, or does anything to draw you in. The plot idea sounds interesting though.
The overuse of exclamation points and the capitalization of words mid-sentence are kind of an eyesore.
Chapter 1 was rather underwhelming. It was very short, and really didn't tell us anything the blurb hadn't already. The chapters are a little on the short side.
While the concepts of the story are, in itself, suspenseful, the writing isn't. I can't quite put my finger on it, perhaps it's an issue of pace or language use, but I often didn't feel very intrigued while reading. The plot idea is good, but the execution fails to really raise tension.
The use of English remained rather basic most of the time.
¶4th Place¶
The Evil Beneath Us by DarkFortresszn 67/100
~Review~
The author's name on the cover is placed in a way that you can barely read it. Some minor mistakes in the blurb, but nicely written overall. I like the premise.
Grammatical errors right off the bat in chapter 1. Repetitive use of vocabulary. Issues with punctuation.
Chapter 1 failed to intrigue me much. It just gave some information about the main character, but other than that nothing much happened. Misspelled words as well as misused words.
🥉Third Place Winner🥉
Vicious Fangs by SkylerChase29 73/100
~Review~
I like the cover, it's simple yet aesthetically pleasing.
There are some grammatical errors in the blurb. But the blurb is descriptive and seems to cover all the important plotlines of the book.
Occasional run-on sentences in there. Grammatical errors are present, but not to a point that the reader can't understand what's being said.
Vocabulary appears a little repetitive at times.
While the first chapter did a great job of raising suspense of the impending escape, it faltered at the end. I feel it could have ended on a much tenser note.
Plot is surprisingly intriguing, it makes you want to keep reading.
The way the reader is addressed later on in the book is a bit strange (like in the sentence 'Come on, you see this, right?'). The tone is a bit too informal at times as well, for example with the way the main character expresses herself in first person in chapter 3.
Overuse of punctuation.
🥈 Second Place Winner🥈
The Tour Guide by addledwalrus 82/100
~Review~
The cover is a bit simple.
Really interesting plot! The blurb is short but effective.
The prologue is very intriguing and suspenseful.
To avoid confusion, I wouldn't put thoughts between quotation marks. Italicizing them is fine, but quotations marks might make people think it's part of the dialogue.
The pace is a bit on the slow side, too much time was spent describing unimportant actions like taking a shower and doing the laundry. The rest of the chapters could be as suspenseful as the prologue is the pace was picked up a little.
The story is definitely original.
🥇 Winner 🥇
Divided by Shareese86 93/100
~Review~
Definitely the best cover out of all the entries.
The blurb sounds interesting, however it's a really short description.
Really good opening sentence in what I assume to be the prologue (And The Curse Begins).
The prologue is brilliantly written, though I needed to do a double take before I realized there had been a switch from the young girl's point of view to the dying aunt.
The first chapter is really well written. There are no grammatical errors or mistakes whatsoever. However, I do feel the pace is just a tad on the slow side. The whole chapter was one conversation, and while it did a great job of hinting towards Cassie's ability as well as the current world state, it still felt a little underwhelming. Especially the end, which I feel could have ended on a much more suspenseful note.
The plot is amazing, and so important and relevant to this day and age. The only thing that disappointed me was that there were only 5 chapters. I hope the writer will continue the book soon.
§ Remarks §
We say a big thank you to CharlieOakree for taking out time to judge this genre of the 3rd Edition of the Ruby Awards.
Participants, please send a private message to us to claim your stickers. If you have any question, kindly let us know via private messages only! Any question mentioned in the comment section here, would not be attended to.
Thanks and congratulations to everyone!
~TheRubyTeam