🕷 Step Into My Parlour Reviews 🕷 [CLOSED]

Midnight's Queen

Cover and Blurb Review

Cover 8/10: The cover is mesmerizing. From the woman's enchanting eyes to the mountains I thought was a mask at first! The colors here complement one another. That may not have been intentional but even the banner in the lower right-hand corner seems to improve the cover's overall scheme. However, it would be even better if the banner wasn't obstructing the title. The project being promoted is adored, just not at the expense of the tile.

Title 9/10: This title has everything to do with the premise of the story. The royalty aspect is shrouded in a web of mystery when paired with "Midnight". As a reader, I was already asking myself important questions. Is Midnight a person, perhaps? Does it represent something sinister and vile? Maybe it stands for something?

Blurb 7/10: This blurb hit quite a few key points for me. It dragged at a single instance, yet still managed to draw me in as a reader. The teaser quote is this blurb's bread and butter. This is what midnight is all about. The blurb answers a few questions I had surrounding the title. There wasn't too much given away, just enough for readers to have a better grasp of what to expect when they open this book. So far there's a very eerie, foreboding atmosphere being set up here and that's what many will expect going into this story.

Grammar 6/10: The only gripe to be had with this blurb is the grammar. I spotted quite a few errors and this is the first impression a reader has of an author's writing. They won't open the book if the grammar isn't up to their standards.

In the teaser quote, "Ferocious, dark forms awake during midnight, featureless. Lifeless," one of the keywords is lower-cased. In the rest of the blurb it's been uppercased. The meaning behind "midnight" hasn't changed, so it should be capitalized in the teaser quote for consistency.

This comes down to preference, but I think "...monstrosities awake during the strike of Midnight" doesn't hold the same urgency as the rest of the blurb. "During" makes it sound like there's more time than there really is. This blurb is mysterious, meant to have the reader at the edge of their seat. Something as simple as replacing "during" with "at" thickens the tension.

The second sentence in the main portion of this story's description drags on for too long. By using the em dash (that line used for abrupt stops or interruptions in writing) the reading flows better.

"The souls of beasts and dark monstrosities awake at the stroke of Midnight – when the breach between two worlds is yawning wide open."

This already elevates the mysterious tension this blurb is providing. The em dash isn't necessary, but there's a difference without it. It'll be read like every other sentence at an even pace. The abrupt stop works better here. I also think it would be a better replacement for the comma before, "poisoning the tranquility of nature".