Sapphire's Review Store 4.0

Review by Faye: Let's Talk About Murder

Title: Let's Talk About Murder

Author: shhravanii

Reviewer: Fayesther

Title and Cover (5/5)

The title is a good hook in itself! It is catchy and represents your story really well!

I love the cover! The colour palette is eye-catching. The brightness and heat of the fire and the dark background frame the girl's silhouette really nicely. The picture also brings a youthful feel to the book, as well as dark mysterious undertones. Gorgeous choices were made here! I also really liked the various fonts chosen, especially having "murder" written in a cursive font – a simple format but so effective. All the writing being white helped your cover to look modern, also it is clear to read against the dark background picture.

Blurb (5/5)

Your blurb brings a good amount of introductory information and asks really intriguing questions that successfully managed to hook me in as a reader. It is a nice length and gets straight to the point, which I really appreciated. You even managed to showcase a bit of your writing style in there, for it matches the voice of your narrator really well. A perfect blurb! Well done!

Writing Style (4/5)

You have a writing style that I can truly get on board with! I loved your use of metaphor to help build up a picture in my mind. I also loved the way you brought together a variety of mood levels to bring your story to life.

An example of a metaphor that I enjoyed is: "The secret was growling in her stomach." – your writing was full of gems like this, which is just fabulous to read.

Your writing has a great amount of showing, which made me become lost in your story's world from the prologue and all the way through the chapters I have read.

The characters' actions were described incredibly. I could see very clearly in my mind's eye what was going on at all times. You also managed to keep up the energy throughout. I would've liked a bit more detail added about the characters' physical appearances as I found it difficult to picture them at times. Having a clear picture of the group of friends would help the reader become more immersed in the story.

The aside thoughts written in italics were a nice touch. Making sure these sections were obviously separate from the narrative was a good formatting choice. I actually ended up anticipating what the narrator may comment on next, as it was always good! I have to say, when this is not done right it can be a distraction but you used this tool in a very effective way. Not too much that it grated, neither too little so it came across as inconsistent. You brought the perfect balance.

I liked how you finished the first couple of chapters with messages from "the Black Hole" these bold caps sections looked good on the page and worked well at tying up each of these chapters nicely. I think it would've been cool if you kept using this format for all the chapters. I understand that the "Black Hole" didn't always message, but it would be a nice flourish if you snuck in other messages at the end of the chapters – for instance the message recipient may assume the message is from the "Black Hole" but it ends up being just a message from "Mum" or something. (Just a thought please feel free to ignore).

Having dialogue in bold within Aphrodite's phone conversation with her brother was an effective choice. It made it clear that his speech was coming through the speaker of her phone. However, when making choices like this within writing do make sure you carry it on till the end of the section. The last couple of Joshua's speech wasn't put in bold and I found that distracting. (I do think that this was a simple oversight rather than a deliberate choice though).

Plot (4/5)

The concept of this story is intriguing and you have executed your ideas really well, making your story really engaging.

The prologue brought an excellent hook. Describing a dark scenario that spiked the curiosity within your reader. I immediately wanted to discover more! Also when I carried on reading you took the story in directions that I didn't see coming and I truly appreciate that! When stories are too predictable they are not as interesting to read.

Each chapter so far follows on from the previous chapter really well, making your story easy to follow. You also did a good job at introducing each character, explaining their various personalities in a clear way, so clear that I reckon I could guess who was speaking without the narrator telling me in later chapters – this is really impressive after only six short chapters!

I adored the sibling chemistry between Aphrodite and Joshua! It brought a great energy to the story and truly felt authentic. It was a delight to read!

Having an omniscient narrator who gets distracted from storytelling is a really fun choice. However, I think you could add to it by introducing the narrator more in the beginning and maybe insert them into the story somehow, maybe as a stalker of the group or a quiet member that is taking everything in. Doing this would help connect the reader to the story a bit more. Having a nameless narrator, with your unique storytelling style makes everything involved in the story seem to be kept at arm's length.

Your story included great moments of humour I genuinely laughed out loud in places! I loved the sassy and relatable teen banter, I especially loved how the narrator joined in with it! That was genius and so funny!

The way you built up a sense of mystery throughout was intriguing and done in such a subtle way that the plot came across as more realistic drama rather than melodrama, which I think works perfectly for the story's era and voice.

Overall (18/20)

Your story is a story that is easy to follow, full of interesting characters that vary in personality and temperament. The characters worked so well together, making this a story that was fun to read. You brought a good amount of mystery and brilliant moments of comedy. You have a youthful writing style that truly took me back to simpler times and I had so much fun reading!

Thank you so much for asking me to review this funny yet mysterious story, I hope you found my feedback helpful.