What is your opinion?
I liked it!
"Sorry for taking so long to write a review. I really liked the story, and your writing also definitely improves as the story goes on. There are a few grammatical errors, and in the first chapter there's a bit when Mr. Woolf encounters the Hushbournes, and he addresses Mr Hushbourne as Bernard, and I think you meant Francis. The reason I'm pointing this out, because it's a very small mistake to make and easy to fix, but I think you should fix it asap, as it's the beginning of the story, when the reader isn't as familiar with the names yet, and I was a little confused on who Bernard was, and had to read the paragraph again. But besides that, I enjoyed this story loads, there was a suspension through out the chapters, that kept me thinking that something bad was going to happen. Especially Lord Axby... In my head he died a 100 times. I didn't know anything about your story, before i started reading it, and i loved guessing if it's going to be a horror story, or a thriller, or a crime?! He was my favourite character. I also liked that not one of the characters turned out to be what I was expecting. I ended up hating Elizabeth, and at first I thought I'm going to like this woman. The twist on the end was surprising, reminded me of the Pretty Little Liars books a little bit, only more mellow and satisfying. The favourite part was definitely the description of the painting/landscape, when Mr Woolf realises he's standing at the same spot where Birches and Magnolias was painted. And later on Lord Axby too. Truthfully, the end was good, but it made me really sad :( I was hoping for Charlotte to find happiness with Lord Axby, as you built up their relationship so nicely. Overall I liked it loads!"
Great read anywhere!
"I loved reading this! Every chapter makes you want to start next one as soon as possible. In places you want to read faster to know what's coming next and in places read it over slowly again to savour the authors and characters paintings. Absolutely loved this! "
Fantastic!
"I want to start off by stating that you are great at setting a scene and describing the small and intricate details of scene without it being monotonous. The characters give off a vibe and are brought to life with this kind of writing and you nailed that. I also want to say that the biggest blunder to this story would be your grammar and punctuation. A few words misspelled here and there along with commas that seemed out of place."
Birches and Magnolias
"Okay, so the introduction really grasped my attention! I was immediately curious as to what this 'secret' would be. You have a very fluent writing style. You also manage to sketch the characters quite clearly from the beginning: the distant and brooding mr Woolf, the self indulgent King, the party lover and gossiper Axby, I can see them clearly while reading and that's one of the hardest things to achieve. Great job!"
Neat and Written Well
"I loved the tone of the story and the small mystery behind the one called Mr. Woolf, along with the painting titled, "Birches and Magnolias." As reading on and learning about the few characters I was introduced to I found myself curious and enticed to continue to find out the importance of the painting. To me, it reminded me of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Your writing style seemed to fit the century yet, was simple enough to understand. There were a few small grammarical errors but other than that it was flawless. I cannot wait to read more! It's a defient worth read :)"
Birches and Magnolias
"Good plot!"
At First
"I have to say that at first I was slightly confused. I have seen this book before, but the first few chapters threw me off. I honestly don't think this type of book is particularly for me, but I still wanted to write a review! The style of this book really opens my eyes for future writing techniques I'll have to try and incorporate some into my own stories. I enjoyed the dynamic between the characters and how they speak. It really is something different."
A real story teller in the making
"Hi Ty, I've just finished your book and wanted to give you detailed notes. Characters: I liked your characters. Charlotte is very consistent and three dimensional. Daniel is lovely. Mr Woolf becomes more likeable as the story progresses. I think he would benefit from not being depicted as quite morally dubious in the early chapters - the moment of change comes when he realised that Roo is mentally unwell, but his behaviour after that point is not compatible with his earlier description. Lord Axby is a great character but I found it very hard to reconcile him with a powerful lord. He is obsequious to quite a far degree, which is difficult to reconcile with someone in his position. Perhaps if he were the younger son a lord he would make more sense. So far as I can see his position is not helpful to the story so it could possibly be changed if you think that appropriate. Mr and Mrs Hushbourne are not very solid characters. I think in the early chapters when you put a lot of information in - particularly in the first two chapters - you could stretch that out and do something to build more depth into them, particularly as regards their motivations. Rupert has an arrogant smile at least three times in chapters 1 and 2. A more subtle description might be good. Also not sure how his character as it's very up and down. Overall I think you have imagined your good guys really well and your bad guys less so - that's an easy mistake to make but sucks depth from your work. Spend some time in the shoes of your bad guys and you'll improve as a writer. Plot I like your plot a lot, but I waited far too long for the revelation, after which not much happened. I think a bit more of a twist and turn - a final surprise hurdle, after Mr Woolf sees the picture, would help a lot. Grammar My main issue with your novel is probably your grammar. Your use of the comma is simply not very good. You should learn the use of the semi-colon and hyphen, and incorporate them appropriately. You need to use the comma a little less, overall, but that's more stylistic. Style This was both good and bad. You can write naturally and beautifully, and you have a light touch that makes for easy reading. However, you tend to overdescribe - readers can do a little work on their own and it's good when they do. Your narration varies between quite oblique (when you are talking about mysteries) and too full (when Woolf overhears the hushbournes and the red riding hood analogy). I wonder if you have read Vanity Fair, by Thackeray, which I think would really suit your style and humour. Also, anything by Austen would inform your style. This book is very readable and I quite enjoyed it - in that respect it is better than most books on here. You've done well, but as my heading suggests, you could be a proper novelist. I hope you take my feedback as helping you to get there rather than being mean or unpleasant. Keep up the good work!"
