Thank you so much to the judge who wrote this review! It is so long and detailed 💗
love at first encounter by cynthiachennn
My review will be in the next comments. Thank you for allowing me to be a judge for this contest ♡
From the very beginning we started off with an introduction of the main character, Bella, and I loved it! It was a pleasant thing to read about how other people saw her versus how she sees herself so early in the book. Specifically those lines regarding the house people thought she belonged in compared to the one she herself felt she belonged. It was a great way to start establishing her character early on!
I also loved the intrigue you built about people thinking she might be a Death Eater. It was a quick couple of lines but did enough to plant a seed of doubt about who her character really was. I had a lot of questions and ideas (none of which were answered, great hint to drop and leave open!) forming. She said she was an ordinary witch. But if she was, why would people pair her alongside a band of dark witches and wizards? Definitely an interesting thing for you to sneak in there before moving on to the next scene.
You broke the fourth wall! Lol I love when writers do that so much. Paired with how well you maintained the third person pov, it made for an enjoyable read.
I also appreciated that Bella's romance and interest in Oliver was already a focus from the start. It worked well, weaving those details in and out, as you revealed more about who Bella is as a person. I absolutely adore her views on love at first sight! It's definitely a breath of fresh air from a lot of other MC's that fall head over heels after their love interest simply looks at them.
Now, the ending! The ending was well worth the wait! Your ending is an amazing example of how a cliffhanger should be done! My attention was held until the very end but those last 3-4 lines completely hooked me. It made me reflect back on my Death Eater/Bella theories, realize this book was probably going to play heavily on morality, and made me wonder where you were planning on taking this story! I don't like to read HP fanfictions, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first part of this story. Thank you for submitting your book and allowing me to judge it! Keep writing
This is the end of my review ♡♡♡
