Project Athena | Reviews

Middle of Nowhere (Emily)

Author: DeejayDJ010

Genre: Fantasy

Reviewer: OutOfMyImagination

Hello, and thank you for requesting a review from me. As you asked, I focused on the characters, plot, writing, and overall impression of the story.

In the Middle Of Nowhere, science meets magic resulting in a unique world of interesting creatures and structures. Here we meet Kelvin a seemingly simple guy with an interesting house pet Lee. As Kelvin navigates through life and makes new acquaintances, Aurelia fights risky battles. Princess Aurelia possesses the power of magic, feeling the weight of her decisions and a brewing war just below the surface. What will happen when Kelvin and Aurelia meet in the Middle Of Nowhere?

I usually start from the first impression of the book which is the cover and the book description. I can see how the cover relates to the story but it could be more aesthetic since more unique covers can catch attention from readers when they search for the book.

The book description is very poetic and I honestly love it, but it doesn't have enough information to know what readers will find the story. I would suggest adding a few details about the world and the current state of it, additionally, you can include the main conflict just so that readers will know more before starting to read.

Since I am reviewing just the start of the story it's hard to judge the characters, but both Kelvin and Aurelia seem neutral, although I would say Aurelia feels more thought out. Neither of them does not stand out too much and I feel it's because the story has a lack of dialogue.

In some parts, we as readers see how characters feel but they don't respond to other characters which sets a slightly strange dynamic. Dialogue tags can feel repetitive and in some cases unnecessary but it is better to add them so that readers will know who said what since otherwise it can get confusing. Dialogue can be a good way to show the world-building and character traits, plus it is a good way to share important information with no info dump as well.

I am not sure what you meant by "writing" in your request so I will cover all the bases. When it comes to the technical side, grammar, and punctuation the book feels polished with just a few missing punctuation points here and there, but nothing major. Your writing style is a bit cryptic, which is not a bad thing, but some parts of the world you are building could be explained in a better, more informative way.

I believe your strong side is descriptions, they flowed well and painted a nice picture of locations giving enough to imagine the scenes. The fight scenes in the chapter "First Fight" solidified that opinion, fight scenes can be hard and yours was truly captivating.

When it comes to the plot, the book has a good flow, not rushed, but as mentioned the cryptic parts disconnect some aspects of the story. I love the mix of science fiction and fantasy, I found it very unique. I am assuming Aurelia and Kelvin will meet in some way in the future since now they are disconnected so it's a bit hard to judge possible future plot points since the book description doesn't have the main conflict. So far it looks like the story is steady and has no info dumps.

I would rate this story three out of five stars, I feel like with more world-building and a bit more dialogue the story would be great. It does have huge potential and a descriptive writing style.

I would recommend this book to readers who like unique settings, and a few genres mixed in one book.