Reviewing Books! - ⚠️CLOSED⚠️

Review - SHAADI

Book Name - SHAADI

Author - Uditasree

Title and Summary: 5/5

As a full American, I wasn't sure why you named the story what you did. I was actually completely unsure how it related to the story at all, before searching it up. Of course, now after searching it up, it makes a whole lot more sense relating to the culture of the story, but I was unfamiliar with it, which you can probably understand. I'll give it full points because of how you used it and expected it to be interpreted, but keep culture in mind for future books.

The summary does a good job of gathering up the main points of conflict and interest in the story. It fits the criteria and captures interest for those interested in the topic. Well done!

Book Cover: 4.5/5

The cover is in an interesting style that I likely wouldn't have picked out for myself, but does include the main characters and a setting. It serves your purposes, without anything I can really remove from it's quality, and for that I'd give it full points. I'd bring up two things. One is that fact that maybe you could have made it more clear that it was about a wedding in particular, or perhaps included dada in it, who in a way is the most important character. The other is that it looks like a children's book cover, which is slightly misleading, since it seems the target audience is young adults.

Writing Style: 4/5

The descriptions are amazing. I love the little truths and words of wisdom sprinkled around in the story, as well as the satisfying phrases that can be found. You seem to lean a bit heavily on descriptions and dialogues and a bit lighter on pacing. Past tense also seems to be used for the actual actions of the characters while present tense is used in thinking. It's a bit odd to jump back and forth, so be mindful of that in the future.

Okay but here I'm going to say the dialogues between the characters were adorable 🥹

Punctuation/Grammar: 2.5/5

I may not have mentioned this in previous book reviews, and I'm not going to be going in and noting corrections personally, but you miss some punctuation occasionally, especially commas, but it isn't nearly as bad as many other works I've seen. Your grammatical skills could use some brushing up, too. Remember that you have the entire English language at your disposal and it could very well pay off to use smoother transition words and well-rounded ideas. 

Aside from the constructive criticism, you follow the basic rules of grammar well and I don't see many more areas you need to dramatically improve in. 

Characters: 5/5

You created interesting and dynamic characters, who served the purpose of a short story well. Shanti's introduction and her dada's was seamless and masterfully done. I didn't really manage to catch the character of Abhi and his role in the mischief, same as Aadya. Aadya only showed up in one scene, and slightly contrasted with what you had said earlier about Aditya being the only human being in the room, but I'll let it pass. The dialogue between characters and dada's unique personality and advice was both wholesome and reinvigorating. A bad story could easily have dampened my mood further, but this story isn't one of them.

Plot: 3/5

The story came out strong, with good characters and world building. I wasn't entirely sure how Aditya's awkward silence portrayed that Shanti's grandfather had disappeared, however. That section of the story actually had me a bit confused. The journey they took was pleasant, but could be improved with better overall pacing. The endings were wrapped up nicely, with the story being a tale told to Shanti's daughter. Finishing the story how you did is also an incredible way to do so, with a feeling a elation given to the reader afterwards.

Comments:

I liked it! It was a beautiful story with characters that I wasn't expecting. Short and concise as all your stories are, with a plot wrapped with a bow. Great job on this story, and I will say that your attention span is longer than mine!

Also if my review seems a bit off, it's because I'm in a bad mood today and had to read and review your story in the quarter hour I'm allowed on the computer. I speed write.

Focus Points:

Use of commas, tenses, weaving your plot together a bit more clearly. Aside from that, you're pretty much covered.

Overall Score: 24/30