Quest Reviews (CLOSED FOR CATCH UP)

Kola's review

Philophobia

UNBROKENSMILE

Book Cover

I love the colours and the aesthetic that you choose for your books. It glows with relatability. Relatability in the sense that it shows the regular day-to-day life within the image. I love the attention to detail in the irony of displaying men holding hands whilst the book title screams Philophobia. Great execution! (I know the lovely @jasz made it lmao)

My only concern would be the positioning of the words, "Black ties, glass souls and-" I believe it would translate better if this was placed above the word Philophobia to create a better flow of thought and reading. I also suggest a small space between the word and the laptop (this is just my ocd kicking in).

I also really appreciate the usage of your own name. It definitely adds to the professionalism of the book like I always say. I definitely think this is a cover that I would pick up in a store.

My first impression from the book cover gives me the impression that this is a story with two male protagonists that aim to live their wondrously normal lives and end up in the solace of each other. The colours chosen in this cover showcase the emotion of calm, peaceful and normality. Therefore, I would be expecting this to be portrayed in their personalities. The delicacy of their personalities and the theme also portrays hints of an adult book aimed at talking about serious issues and the journey of life. It definitely was so appealing to me considering I'm getting to that phase of my life.

Blurb

The summary definitely gives the right amount of information perfectly. I know exactly who the characters are; Mark, Xiao and Mina. The atmosphere of the corporate world has been set and the previous hint towards adult maturity has definitely been translated into the blurb. It is such a satisfying group of informative writing that I love especially the mysterious intriguing tone left at the end. Amazing job!

I think there is a typo in the first sentence, one of the semicolons can be taken off. I also suggest (to keep the professionalism), "Book Two of Soulmate Series." on one line. Followed by, "Can be read as stand-alone." on the next line. I love the little flowers so definitely keep them, it beautifies and feeds into the romantic nature of the book.

The first sentence is a banger. I loved the introduction truly. My only concern was, ",that saved his life." It was a little out of place to understand how a horrific coma would save his life. I expect this momentary pause in time for him gave him an opportunity when he woke up, perhaps? But either way, it does leave me, as a reader, a little confused rather than intrigued. I suggest removing that statement OR breaking the sentence up to create a separate sentence in a new paragraph line that dictates, "A coma that saved his life." However, I do not understand the intention to be made here so I definitely suggest that you drop an inline comment so I can better aid you in this execution!

The next sentence is definitely the line that brings us into the world. I truly loved every word of it and the sentence structure. It adds the perfect theme and setting that brings me into your imagination, absolutely brilliant!

"Xiao Wei has no experience, no references, and is as shy as one can be."

My concern with this statement is the relationship between the informative characteristics that have been given out. Experience and references relate to the same field of interest whilst the quality of "shy" is a personality trait. A complete personal opinion (I can be wrong), I believe that it creates an involuntary pause with the beginning flow. I suggest, "Xiao Wei has no experience or references." And moving the shy personality trait to the next sentence or keeping that trait into the book.