ꗃ﹕❜ Minerva ❯❯ A review shop [2.0]

×. ❜Midsummer dream [Rev. Cey]

Review: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Book Name: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Author: @pviscelle

Reviewer: @ceyshells

Cover: 3/5

A nice fitting cover that correlates with the title of the book. However, I personally feel it didn't fit that well with the storyline itself.

Edit: I'm not sure if you forgot about applying this book for review, but the cover has been changed. Although this cover is nicer and more fitting to the story, I cannot overlook the fact that the cover was changed mid review.

Title: 5/5

When I saw this title, my first thought was of the ballet. At this point, I don't remember much of the story for the original fairytale, but using this as a title definitely piqued my interest.

Synopsis: 9/10

I appreciate the explanation of what an incubus is, since some people may not, and that is one of the most important aspects of the story. A short yet descriptive blurb captures a reader's attention quickly and explains the story without being overwhelming. My only question is why the words "fantasy" and "short story" are separated with one at the top and one at the bottom. It makes it look broken up. Instead, I would prefer if you wrote "A fantasy short story" at any end of the blurb. That would make it look more cohesive.

Execution: 8/10

On a whole, this story is well written, with good grammar and an equally strong word choice. Personally, I feel the ending is a little abrupt and confusing. I will touch more on this in the next section.

Plot: 17/20

I find this story really interesting! It's quite dark and includes mature themes, however, it is not entirely explicit, which I appreciate. It follows the incubus who is drawn to this girl, a rather ordinary girl, yet his desire to become physical with her cannot be diminished. He watches as she falls in love with the neighbour, and symphatizes with her when he does not reciprocate. Unable to curb his own desires, he does touch her, though mildly, gently and never more than once, or she might realise. Ultimately, he ends up having his way with her while she recovers from the round she had with the neighbour, who is her brother's boyfriend. The part that I mentioned in the previous section, execution, which had me confused was the ending. I understand that the girl is experiencing the symptoms written in the medical report, but is she the medical student or the patient? If she is the patient, I would remove the scene about the medical papers as it makes me think she's the medical student. However, if she is the medical student, then I applaud you for rounding out the story with such a dramatic twist.

Writing Style: 16/20

The story is written from a first person point of view, in the perspective of the incubus. Though I am not the biggest fan of first person writing, this was definitely a good move for this book. Writing using the incubus's perspective helps since we are utilising his desires and thoughts to fuel the plot. I also appreciate the way this story uses descriptive language in the form of harder vocabulary words.

Grammar & Vocabulary: 18/20

The grammar of this book is pretty much spot on; if there were any issues, they were mostly negligible or unnoticeable, such as punctuation errors involving commas or the occasional run-on sentence. I'd suggest proofreading once more if you believe there are any minor errors. Vocabulary wise, the story utilises a number of words that require some knowledge to use, so a great job in that aspect.

Character Development: 7/10

This story includes 2 characters as the main focus: the incubus and the girl and her friend, who happens to be her neighbour. The innate feelings of the incubus are told in the form of his desire to be physical with the girl. Additionally, the girl's feelings can be seen based on the way she behaves: through her actions and words but not as much her thoughts. The neighbour friend, who is a boy fostered by the neighbours, is her love interest, though he does not seem to reciprocate these feelings. These three characters are well developed upon, although not so much the boy since he only becomes of significance in the second half of the story.

Total: 83/100

Additional Comments: Hello @pviscelle , I believe this is the second book of yours I'm reviewing, and I want to thank you for reapplying in my review slots. If you have anything you wish to clarify or any questions, feel free to dm me.