Reviews of Of Life and Death, Across the Veil by Below_the_current - Webnovel

Hey there, I am terribly sorry that I never actually realized that we were swapping reviews; I was asking some others for honest reviews and I forgot that I had asked you for a swap, so I'm very sorry for that. Anyways, let's go. I'll give some of my honest thoughts. I'm not very big on paranormal stories, but I'll do my best to be objective. Writing quality overall is quite good. I spotted little to no grammar mistakes, though I am a little confused as to whether or not you are writing this in past or present tense. It is best to choose one and to stick to it, and I believe that most people prefer past tense. Stability of updates...I know that we are all busy people. The quality of a work shouldn't be based on how often an author updates, really. I see that you also have other works, so I'll pass on this one. Your story is developing quite fast. The plot moves along at a nice pace. You only have a few chapters out, so I cannot say much more. But your premise right now calls for intrigue. Again, you only have a few chapters out right now, so I cannot say much for character design. However, you seem to have given very little description or explanation of who each character is. Your style also lacks outside narration. For example, if Rina has been staying there for a couple of days, you could probably sum up from her point of view a couple of the people she's with and what they're like, so that the readers have an image in their heads. Again, you only have a few chapters out, so I cannot say much on your world background. However, I think a little more explanation would be good. Are werewolves a secret in this world or not? Is there anything else different about this world? You can drop in hints and things in between thoughts as well. All in all, you've got a good grasp on writing with room for improvement. I feel that you could use narration a bit more rather than staying in the scene, as that can come a bit tiring to readers. Keep writing author; you will become better than you are now.

Hmm, here comes an honest review. This review is purely based on my personal opinion on the story. Everything I write within it is taken from my worldview, and cannot, and will not, try to convince others otherwise. I haven't been too harsh on the stars, as I objectively think that others will like it more than I did. First off the blurb that is even before we begin the novel. I had to read it a few times, but I did not really understand the sentence "She won't take revenge, her monster a world away." My initial thought was lead towards a story where the main character had been reborn in another world, and that the one she had to gain vengeance on was in another world, so she let go and moved on? I was also a bit confused about "She won't take revenge.... what she wants is vengeance" I mean, I know that there is a difference between the words, but it is very slight, and it feels rather contradictory to me - before I have begun the novel. Then the prose used in the blurb is also rather flowery. The blurb is extremely short. It does not really introduce the story, but it does inform the reader of what kind of prose one can expect when reading. Writing Quality: Well, it's not my style. The tense changes. I am not sure if this is intentional or not, but it really confuses me. Curse words are used at a rather often, and sometimes in a weird and, in my opinion, pointless places. "She blearily inspected her surroundings and cursed when she found herself in a fucking forest. A real motherfucking forest..." I don't think this adds to the writing style. I understand you write that she cursed, but to actually write the curse words is, in my opinion, a little crude and uncomfortable. There are quite a few curse words in the four chapters in general. The writing style itself is not bad, but it isn't my style. "Silence hung heavily, the kind you would only find in an empty house" "The path is cobbled and weary with time, passing through a garden of trees, the sakura buds peppering them" "The alpha," he smiled soft and bright. "Smiled" is not really a dialogue tag, in general, actions and facial expressions should not be used as dialogue tags. Stability of updates: Too early to comment on this. At the time I gave this review there were 4 chapters, so I gave it 5 stars. Story Development: It is, once again, rather hard to give an adequate review of this, due to the few chapters, but what I read was quite good. The chapters are a decent length and something is happening throughout. If you like werewolf and alpha novels, then I think you would be rather pleased. Character Design: Hmm, the characters are well introduced. There are only four chapters, but you do get some understanding of them. I do think it is done pretty well. World Background: Confused me. I still do not completely understand what kind of world the book is set in. The main character seems to come from our world, but there are a few things that confuse me. She finds herself taken to another world. I think. A world with werewolves, but this also is a little hard to understand what to expect of such a world. However, I have never read werewolf stories before, and this might be why I am confused. All in all, if you are into the genre, then you will most likely enjoy it. I would definitely suggest you give it a try anyway, as it is pretty solid writing.