Book Reviews: For Those In Need Of An Outsiders Opinion

NO LONGER AVAILABLE

I will most likely begin every review with a reminder that I am NOT a professional! I am however an adamant book lover and have enjoyed reading and writing my entire life. These are my opinions and the things that I notice, enjoy, find need of touching up, etc.

 Enjoy!

THIS NOVEL IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO READ, HOWEVER, AS MY FIRST SUBMISSION I HAVE LEFT IT UP IN EXAMPLE WITH LIKENESSES AND NAMES REMOVED!

___________ is a novel published______ At the time of submission this novel has a total of eight published pieces.

 "I aim to show and include a large variety of different people from different backgrounds (wealthy, poor, dumb, smart, unfit, and fit) and what struggles they will face in the process of surviving."  

Descriptive:

" Four families find themselves facing a daunting challenge as they fight for survival against an insidious disease that turns the living into the living dead. The virus spreads rapidly, causing widespread panic and chaos, and the United States government faces the difficult task of managing the situation. As time passes, the families must unite and navigate a society on the brink of collapse. On November 21, 2023, their lives are forever altered as they are thrust into the heart of a global crisis that poses a significant threat to humanity. Life now requires the families to work together to overcome the challenges and demand everyone's innocence in order to survive. "Not everyone survives. Not all of us are here. That's just how it goes out here and sooner or later in there." "

I believe one of the most important things you could do with any form of written work is provide a gripping summary. You want your readers to click on your novel, read the description and not set it back down from there. ________ does this excellently! ____________, title and descriptive fitting together beautifully. It is captivating, an excellent example of giving the readers an idea of where the theme/plot of the novel lies without revealing too much of what's inside. Well written and intriguing, I was eager to start. Although I do not look forward to coming into the month of November this year.

Chapters 1: (pages 1-5)

-The story begins a dreaded few days before the given to come disaster.  Starting off strongly, it felt as though I was walking along with our main character, could feel and see with each detail where the story began. An easy to visualize story between the character descriptives and the scenery details. A diverse set of characters together on their struggles and frustrations, navigating their young lives. The lives of the families we begin to follow, setting us up nicely into every dynamic.

-The introduction to our first of the diseased is nicely done, and then again for our second. I like that we have different encounters of the ______ virus with the same families/people we are introduced to in the book. Each taking in the information differently. Leading into what I may believe is us watching the progression of how each one is going to handle the possible chaos. I find myself drawn in to learn just that. 

-With the picture growing wider into what is coming of this ______ virus, I'm glad to be reading the dynamics between militant power and their push becoming more involved in the slip of things still being manageable. Well, shoving is more like it.

-The shared moments of mourning, from loses to missing friends really brought in the ability to connect to our characters. __________ wrote these scenes well, where the emotion is heightened.

-The questions at the end based around what we just read is a nice little engagement with your reader ^-^

-Has a good slow burn, with small spurts of sudden "panic and confusion"- the edge of your seat waiting for the big bang that's to come, kind.

-Old people in horror movies are my least favorite thing, second to children. Here I am, nervous about a couple of old people. But maybe I'm just hoping that their invincible

Notes:

-Needs more breaks in the character dialogue, a separation in who is speaking. I also wish there was a way we could separate the shift in characters perspectives aside from just a symbol in between the transitioning scene(s). Without the names letting me know who we were reading about, I would be very lost at times.

-Possibly more time with some characters, and families. It would be nice to get a bit more time with them, build a bit more of an intimate relationship between the reader and who we are reading about before the plot begins to unravel. There are a lot of characters to keep up with, and sometimes they just flash by in a minute's reading and then it's right to the next one. If not spending more time to allow a certain person and or groups story to unfold, maybe a few less people to keep up on? 

-There are some small holes in connecting pieces, where it takes me a moment to realize what they are discussing amongst one another, or I lose where we are at scenery wise.

-Just a few editing points: I'm sure this is not the finalized version but here are just a few examples I found during my time reading. 

                    -"The dark-haired man stepped beside his partner, his hand REMOVING Keanu's shoulder as he did so." pg. 2, chpt. 1 damn that's a strong hand

                    -"Elijah chuckled, "Says the girl whose bag is making screaming at me right now." pg. 3, chpt. 1  whose bag is what?

                    - He could only imagine how his friend felt with her child friend (,) turned lover (,) dead (.) and now (remove 'and now') her (Her) mother sicker than ever before. p.g. 5, chpt 1 maybe just some missing punctuation? but I also haven't decided if maybe I'm just reading it wrong/overthinking it.

Conclusion:

There is a need of a small revision, just for some small grammatical errors, sentence structures, dialogue etc. 

Again, it was really hard to follow along with the dialogue and the shifting of POV's. There needs to be a space between turns in talking and something else for the shifts in position of storytelling. I was pulled in through the story telling aspect itself, present and in the moment with everyone... and then lost with the dialogue, or as I said shift in POV.

You have a great ability for description. When it comes to what I'm imagining as I go along with the book- from the feelings, colors, smell etc., I am THERE. I'd say that is my biggest compliment.

Though the entirety of the novel is not published, I believe this will be a novel I would recommend for those who enjoy the thriller of an apocalypse/zombie novel (with a twist of course). ________ has succeeded in capturing the glimpses of the lifestyle of a diverse group and I look forward to seeing how each one's background affects the way they handle what is to come. I am genuinely ready for the full publishing so I can come back and read it in whole. 

The review may progress sometime in the future/gain detail as the story continues and I learn exactly how I want to write these reviews. I will be adding notes for Chapter 2 throughout the next few days and publishing a finalized review by then as well.

Thank you for trusting me with your work!! I look forward to the day it is complete!

Keep on writing!

-Lilith (a.k.a D_W_Slayer)