The Sunflower Awards 3.0

Teen Fiction Results

Time for the results! Without further ado, here they are for Teen Fiction! Thank you, linalagosya, for your hard work in these awards (she's also the co-host of these awards and one of the overall admins for this community as well, so she deserves some extra appreciation). Contestants, please check out their shout-out chapter-it has their username in the chapter title-if you haven't done so already. They deserve some appreciation :).

If you did not win, meaning you are not in this chapter, we will PM you ASAP with your results. If you do not receive your results, you were probably disqualified, but give us some time to send results.

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Genre Results

🌻Third Place🌻

Username - JustNicole0001
Book Title - He's Dating My High School Frenemy
Score - 81/100
Review -

Title works well for the story. Although with two main protagonists, it's unclear who is being referred to. Is the title from Calin's perspective or Gwen's? It's unclear. The cover is a bit old-fashioned, but suits the genre well. The blurb is excellent. Really draws the reader in and gives them a clear sense of the story. My only suggestion would be to read it aloud, it drifts/gets repetitive in a few places, but it's minor fixes. The plot has a nice energy as the story begins. The stakes are made clear, as is the conflict. And it's clear how one thing leads to another. And though a tad predictable, it's still fun to read. The story is fairly familiar in terms of the YA genre. Competing high school students with romance thrown in. Though it's not entirely original, YA readers will still love it. The writing style is a lot of fun. There's good humor, and the character's inner thoughts are well expressed. A little more description overall could be used to pull us into the scenes more, but overall it's good. There are some formatting issues, particularly with the dialogue. I'd suggest reviewing grammar for dialogue a bit more, and be careful of pairing someone's dialogue with someone else's action. The characters, as stated, are a lot of fun and pop off the page. Though in the early chapters they're mostly defined by their school ambition, I sense there's more to them both that we'll learn along the way. Overall, a fun, poppy story.

🌻Second Place🌻

Username - emmaeverafter
Book Title - Tinsel Tears
Score - 83/100
Review -

What an adorable little love story. The originality and uniqueness is by far the best part of this piece. A North-Pole elf LGBTQ love story is not one I've seen before and I delighted in it. The title is strong and fits the themes and plot perfectly. The cover is good aesthetically, loved the font, although the actual photo used is a bit off. The snow and setting are great, but the person snowboarding gives a different connotation to the story. I don't get a full idea of what the story is based on the cover, for that reason. The blurb is well-written and captured all the important aspects of the story, although it became confusing when I actually read the story. What I experienced in reading didn't seem to match the blurb. I expected to start with Abe in the future, or at least get there very quickly. But I read six or seven chapters, and Abe was still young. So although the blurb is well-written and I think overall the plot works, there are some pacing and structural issues in this way. If the story is about Abe in the future trying for a second chance at love, we should get to that quickly. The rest is just backstory and could be shown/hinted at/flashbacked to rather than given to us in full. The grammar is great, other than maybe a typo here and there, I didn't notice any mistakes. The writing style is also really nice to read. There's a good level of description, action, and dialogue, and the words flow well together. I enjoy Abe's anxious character and there are hints of what kind of person Patrick is (jovial is what I gleaned so far), as well as Lottie, but I wish we could have gotten to know our MC more (especially at the older age if that's the point of the story), before we dove into romance. So although the characters are beginning to be developed, the rushed pacing of trying to squeeze in the backstory detracted from how well-fleshed out the characters could have been. I wouldn't categorize this as teen fiction for a few reasons, so there were a few points lost in plot and character for that. Overall, a delightful read, and there is lot to admire about this little novella.

🌻First Place🌻

Username - mortaltendencies
Book Title - Money Hearts
Score - 90/100
Review -

Great, propulsive story. The title and cover fit the genre perfectly. The font and the photo work together seamlessly to provide that sort of "rich teen" vibe the story has going for it. The title suits the story well. I think the story unfolded at a really good pace. The mystery of what exactly happened to Eleanor and what Isaac had to do with it is gripping and I was excited to read on and find out more. The plot has a good energy. There are a few plot points in the beginning that are a little unbelievable/confusing, (such as some of the things her therapist seems to be telling her and her being driven out to LA for a dinner at 1 in the morning?) but otherwise, the story points are great and sequential in a nice way. Although there are plenty of rich girl teen fiction stories, I do enjoy the twist of how the story begins, with this terrible thing that happened. And including elements of a mystery and mental health give it a more refreshing feel. The characters are the most intriguing part to me. Although I'm not sure of the point of the prologue, the history between the parents is palpable! There's a lot of great specificity there. Then when we're introduced to Eleanor, she's such an interesting character who has been through so much. Her strained relationship with her father makes me sympathize and root for her. The grammar is good throughout. The one thing I'll mention is to look a little more closely at your prepositions. You misuse a lot of them (particularly "in" and "on") quite a bit! The writing style is easy to read and matched the genre, but be careful of awkward phrasing and dialogue. I suggest reading out loud! Overall, a great story!

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Congratulations to all of the winners! You will receive your prizes once the awards are over :).