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✨The Black Sanctum-Reviews✨

Title: The Black Sanctum

Author:  Tifari

Reviewer: romance_lover16

Hello, I'm glad that I got a chance to review your book. I hope you find my reviews helpful.

Title: 5/5

I wasn't sure what a sanctum was, so I had to look it up, but I think that the title is intriguing! It makes the reader curious as to first, what is a sanctum, and secondly, what is important to the story.

Blurb: 3/5

The blurb is very insightful to this world that we're going to uncover in the story. I'm particularly intrigued by the war between the Celestials and Mortals. I'm also surprised to learn that the Sanctum is not a place of warmth, but rather something dangerous, which really ramps up the excitement of the story! However, I do think that some parts of the blurb are unnecessary. For example, we learn that Toni and her friends are orphans, and then subsequently it is said that their parents died in the war, which I don't think needs to be mentioned in the blurb, but rather in the story itself. Additionally, when the author states, "After the war, three years later," I'd suggest that it be revised to, "Three years after the war," just for clarity's sake.

First Chapter or Prologue: 8/10

Note that I'm using the prologue to base my review, and when reviewing the plot I will start from the first chapter. I think the information given to us in the prologue was amazing! The feelings that Toni was feeling were clear to the reader and also easy to grasp, as what she was going through was a feeling that we have all felt at one point, in the sense that her descriptions of her feelings were common. I do think that this was a bit of an information dump and we could have gotten this information (such as of the president Ken Williams or John Wiles) in the first chapter or sprinkled throughout. I love the internal conflict that Toni has when her parents leave them, and it's a very moving first chapter!

Characters: 16/20

All the characters in this story are unique, which I'm very happy to see! The story is told from Toni's point of view, and we learn through her that she's been living with Tommy, her younger, mischievous brother, and his friends Xavier and Zoey, as well as Xavier's boyfriend Nico. I think that each character has been written very well. Xavier is playful and matches Tommy's enthusiasm, while Nico is more down-to-earth, similar to Toni. Toni and Tommy's relationship is a peak sibling relationship and I enjoyed reading their banter. I do wish I had gotten more insight into Zoey's character, though, as I feel like she wasn't fleshed out well enough in the first few chapters.  All we know about her is that she works for the Secret Service and quit after Tommy found out. I found her quitting her job to be a bit sudden, especially if she had been working there for a while. I understand it's because her friend is a Celestial, but I still think that it was sudden.
In terms of our main character, Toni, I feel like a lot of her feelings about herself are told to the reader, rather than allowing the reader to infer that by themselves. For example, when Toni is thinking about her parents, she says, "It's just trauma-induced behavior." Instead of telling the reader this, allow them to figure it out for themselves. Perhaps give her a certain tick when thinking of her past or delve into her emotions.

Vocab/Grammar: 24/30

There are a few minor grammatical errors in the story, but not many that would impede my enjoyment. I did notice that at first, Zoey's name was spelled with two 'o's, but then later in the novel, this was changed to one 'o'. I don't know if it was an accident or on purpose, but I think it's worth checking out! I also noticed that when Tommy is asking if Zoey and Xavier are going to visit them, he says, "Are Xavier and Zoey coming over again?" When it should be, "Are Xavier and Zoey coming over again?" Since it's more than one person. However, I didn't catch many errors, so kudos to the writer!

Plot: 15/20

The plot reminds me a lot of George Orwell's "1984", but the idea is very interesting! I like the idea of segregation between Celestials and Mortals and how Toni will eventually fight against this prejudice. I love the deep, meaningful relationships between the characters and how they're not plain. Tommy and Toni are siblings, but they argue and play with each other, and Nico and Xavier are adorable! I also sense something brewing between Tommy and Zoey, though I'd have to read further to confirm that. My only suggestion would be to do more showing than telling, and an example of that would be when Toni describes herself. Instead of telling the reader that she has unruly curls, show them by making them bounce around her face or fall into her drink. I also think that the information about her parent's birthdays and such isn't super important, so they don't need to be in the story. If they are important, bring them up when she's looking at a calendar or when the day comes. Same with her age. We can infer from the prologue that Toni is in her twenties when the first chapter begins.
I'm intrigued to know more about the world they live in. Are there any differences between that and the real world? Are there advances in technology? We already know about the Secret Service thanks to Zoey's involvement, but what does being in the service entail? Are there fights between Mortals and Celestials? What does the Celestial neighborhood look like? All of these topics, I think, are integral to moving the plot along, and so far, I think the author has done an excellent job of setting the scene!

Overall Enjoyment: 9/10

This book is going into my reading list and I'll definitely be reading more into it. The characters, setting, and plot all interest me and I would like to see more! I'm especially curious about what happened to Toni and Tommy's parents. They say that they're orphans, but do we know that their parents died? It's a mystery for now. I would say, for anyone who likes dystopian books like "1984" by George Orwell or "The Giver" by Lois Lowry with heavy character and plot-driven content, this book is absolutely for you!

TOTAL: 80/100