Kevin Addams

More Bruce than Batman

A neat slow-burn romance with good dialogues and smooth narration from chapter to chapter. However, I got more Bruce Wayne than Batman, which was kinda disappointing, but as a romance, this story gave Bruce Wayne, Alfred, and Dick a happy-ending. A nice one for a change.

Not finished yet?

The story had structure and flow like a fairytale would, but no fantastical elements placed inside. It's also unfinished, despite being labelled as 'Complete'. However, the writing style is good, and the author conveys the drama well.

Familiar but fanciful✨

A fairy-tale collection with common tropes, familiar elements and stereotypical plot points, but the author succeeded on adding his authentic seasonings. My personal favourite rank: 1. The Golden Bird 2. The Straw, The Coal and The Bean 3. The Dog and The Sparrow 4. Briar Rose 5. The Old Sultan

Delightful but somewhat disappointed

I chose this book purely looking for some Superman's fanfiction. At first I was intrigued for seeing Superman conflicted with USA's ideology in theory vs in practice, but later on I realised there wasn't much Man of Steel in here and in fact, there's no Kal-El at all. Instead, This story showed how merciless military advancements could be in times of war, leaving their test subjects in severe condition and how inhumane the goverment really is. How much I fancy such critical narrative!

Glorious yet Grim Garden! 🌸 💮 🪷 🏵️ 🌹🥀🌺 🌻 🌼 🌷 🪻

Either it's an insanely beautiful metaphor for disease or depression and perhaps suicidal-ideation, or maybe it's purely an eldritch-driven illness/curse. However you perceived it, it's a hauntingly a magical, unique and clawing story written with mesmerising style.

The resolution saves it from three stars!

The writer design a brighter take on limbo—an endless summer paradise until twenty-eight days later where the soul are returned to reality. A unique take over the usually sombre limbo, but with a quetstionable element (I'll explain later on). Now, among these soul we find Lucas and Nova. A married couple brought together by harsh fate. Their relationship began with a forced union, because they're married for their father's business and nothing more. However, Lucas tried to be a good husband whereas Nova played the role of a toxic wife for years, even until the birth of their daughter; Luna. Lots of flashback slowed down the plot, but it is easy to follow. Those flashback made me think the writer didn't plan the plot thoroughly and therefore the flashback exists to cover up possible plot holes. The straightforward writing style aids the lacked-planning but it's very straightforward and you'll encounter many typos in the way. As for characters, my favourite would be Lucas, because he tried and didn't let bitter past turned him sour. Nova came in second for no reason in particular, at least she changed her ways in the end. Clay is third because he 'works' with stern manner untill Nadine happens and weakens him. The characters also makes this story to be a chic-lit for how most of the characters with agency were females and the bad people were both men (The protagonist's fathers). It could've written differently, changes the genders, but the story would still works. Lastly, the world-building is religiously questionable as suicidal souls eventually becomes angles. Yes, I know it's fiction, but the concept is unacceptable when considering angels have humanity. Perhaps it would be better if suicidal souls gets to be the caretakers of Luminary without being called angels, where they'll guide non-suicidal souls in limbo and see them receiving second chance they'll never get for eternity. The authors could improve on writing dialogue, characterisation, plotting and proofreading. That's all from me, I hope it helps.

Wrong shelf!

I enjoy the author's writing style of not doing excessive showing and goes straight to the point. However, the plot presented many irrelevant elements that question its status as a drama-horror. Sure, the dramatic aspect hits the right notes, but the horror would've been better cast aside or replaced with romance. The Collins defeated the hurdle life threw at them, and Granny Rabbit lives peacefully, but Rocky was vague, and his death left his arc unanswered for whatever happened in the house. The ending feels like Tatyana dream came true, and I like it. She deserved it. The author could improve on adhering to genre, adding more showing in the scenes and writing a more natural dialogue. I hope my review helps! Thanks for reading~

A Surge of Sillyness

The story borrowed lots from Disney's Tangled, though there're fresh elements with the werewolf, witch, and two kingdoms. The plot showcase morale cause & effect throughout, and straightforward timeline, though lots of plot points were forced. The characters are two dimensional & outrightly comedian in their respective ways. Rebecca/Rapunzel is a stereotypical damsel in distress, Corrfinn is not charming nor bright but determined in loving Rebecca/Rapunzel, unlike Swordin who had no reasoning for his action and in the end he's just Gryffilda's goon. The King gave flavour to the plot only at the beginning and his queen barely cause a ripple on the surface, even the goat (definitely deserves a name) was more functional than her. Gryffilda got the ambition in driving the plot, but lacks strategy and personally she deserved a clean death as her closing arc. The set is standard though Marmormond is an intriguing place to discover just how a werewolf kingdom would function, but also questionable since Rebecca's father knew Corrfinn's father hence, he should at least know somethings not right with Marmormond when full moon rise. The most unique element and I think the selling point of this story is how it is written in Shakspearean English (the dialogue that is) it gave nuance I never had when reading English story before and it was easy to swallow. As for Genre adherence, this would be better as comedy-fantasy rather than romance. The author could learn on crafting original storyline, plotting, & creating clever antagonist.

Messy satisfaction!

A thrilling horror-mystery with stereotypical, but efficient plot. The story employed a standard trope in survival-horror genre, which saw Eleanor & Cody being the only ones to get out of the Manor. Half of the story you'd be wondering why we follow Eleanor, when Cody was introduced first? I think the story would flow fine without knowing too much of Eleanor's side, since she didn't have connection to the manor without her father and it'd be neat to follow Cody & Michelle's investigation till they enter the manor. After they met, the story could onfold as is. Other leading role such as Michelle & Mr. Lynch got a decent spotlight, whereas supporting characters had varying degrees of agency. Our antagonists were cliché, for their purposes was to just be evil forces within the story. One particularly impressive element on the story is Molly. She had background story, agency, and the most impressive is her supernatural prowess. She's almost like a superhero, but her presence didn't overshadow Cody, which was a nifty balance. Her closing arc is also satisfying and fitting for her, as in she disappear as is and not being attached to Cody/Eleanor just because. The author could improve on writing battle scene, lively supporting characters, avoiding typos & setting up clue after clue for an eye-popping mystery. Also, I think this story has potential to be adapted as a game, could be great with switching players POV & the eerie manor.

Better execution & selection needed

A collection of story that fits the horror genre, but with low scare factors. The author explore horror to paranormal and even sci-fi. The collection had a good start with 'The Music Box'. The plot rolls concisely and clear, although the twist was meek, the characters were superb for their roles. A little bit word trimming is favourable and descriptive words are also needed. However, thing start going downhill after 'The Music Box'... The rest had straightforward plot, nothing wrong with that. However, each chapter needs more descriptive paragraphs & imagery instead of long telling. Some characters are effective but most felt off, such as too many females in 'What Would You Do For Gold ?' And 'The Doll' or the questionable age gap in 'Platform 2'. The dialogues are also delivered unnaturally. The resolutions also felt forced or ridiculous such as in 'The Doll' and needing better explanation in 'The Secret Door'. With that said, this is my personal rank: 1. The Music Box (The best overall) 2. The Secret Door (Lovecraft-ish, but could be better) 3. Platform 2 (Vague & puzzling) 4.What Would You Do For Gold? (Stereotypical) 5. The Doll (Low tension & wacky)