Elephant Reviews [CFCU]

Bluebells and Hanging Ropes

By: MissLacybee

First Impressions (ex. Cover, blurb, title)

The grammar is pretty flawless.

-Title: The title seems alright.

-Cover: The cover is good, but the top line is cut off a bit.

-Blurb: The blurb is pretty good.

Mechanics (ex. Grammar, sentence structure, etc.)

The grammar seems to be quite sound.

Plot

The plot is good, interesting, but it is our opinion that the pacing is a little on the slower side, particularly in the beginning chapters.

Characters

- There are quite a bit of characters introduced at once, so it is a little hard to keep track of them all.

- It seems like there quite a number of mentions of how Molly is not very emancipated, but it is curious as to why it is such a value to become less emancipated in a society that seems to not value such independence from women.

-[Slight possible spoiler ahead] It felt unclear that he actually consumed the opium in the beginning of chapter ten. The bottle was pushed towards him, but it could be mistaken for being pushed towards him before his consumption, and that his shaking hands were due to anticipation. Maybe more emphasis on the initial experience (i.e. physical) would immerse the readers in the experience more.

The prose in this story is very clean and easy to follow along, but at the same time the vernacular feels appropriate for the time period. We wish you the best of luck in your writing journey forward!