CLN's Seasonal Reviews (CLOSED)

M I N A by Queen_of_life_Heba

Reviewer: PurpleHyacinth007

Author: Queen_of_life_Heba

Before Reading:

Tile and cover:

First of all, I am absolutely in love with your book cover! I mean, with the design on your cover, which thriller/horror fan wouldn't be reeled in? Kudos to whoever designed it. I love the way it matches with the genre of the story; spooky, mysterious and vintage. And the way such a simple title gave me little chills down my spine made me love it even more! I am honestly very impressed by it.

Next, I like the title of your book and the spooky vibes it gives off.

These both are a 10/10 for me. *chefs kiss*

Blurb:

The blurb, omg, like can it get any more perfect?! It does a great job of reeling in readers. It's short and crisp. You gave enough to intrigue readers but left enough mystery to make them want to read more and more. The chronology of the blurb is perfect. It gave me a clear idea of what I should expect from the story and helped brace myself a little for the wonderful impact of the first chapter.

This is a 10/10 too!

While Reading:

Paragraphs, grammar and vocabulary:

Firstly, the structure of each paragraph is wonderful! It's neither too long nor too short, just perfect. You cut off every paragraph at the perfect time; when the "camera" moved.

Secondly, your grammar is flawless. There were no grammatical errors whatsoever in the 5 chapters I read. Bravo!

Lastly, the vocabulary is...wow. I feel very pleasant whenever I read any book with such exquisite vocabulary.

In this category too I give a 10/10!

Characters:

I love the way you introduced every character in the story, it's beautiful. You described every feature of theirs but didn't drag it and make it hard to understand for the reader. I had a clear picture of how they are, in my head. And it was wonderful to meet every one of them.

For describing every character so vividly and beautifully, you get a...10/10!

Prologue:

I literally cannot express in words how much I like the prologue. The spooky scene you have set, the way you have written the dialogues and the vivid description you have give of every moment is just *chefs kiss* wonderful. I was so hooked just by reading the prologue. The way you showed, instead of telling the readers, how scared Mina was about lying is just wonderful. It was smooth and every scene played out in my head like a movie. Simply wonderful.

Chapter 1:

Oh my god, I loved the opening of this chapter. I mean, which reader wouldn't be reeled in just by this wonderful opening line? The starting of this chapter has such a warm aesthetic to it, it made me feel pleasant. Oh, and the way you introduced the characters, Yvaine and Amberly, makes me feel like I'm in the story meeting them for real. The ending of this chapter was the best, spooky and mysterious with a little cliffhanger. I was so eager to move on to the next chapter.

Chapter 2:

Again, I loved the starting of this chapter and how you described everything so vividly. In the middle, where Yvaine stepped inside the château, I could see everything happening in front of me, like a movie. And the ending of the story, after Yvaine opened the bottle, was simply chilling. It went well with the spooky music I was playing in the background. And again, the ending with a cliffhanger was great and made me want to read more and more.

Chapter 3:

Wow, w-ow, my feelings towards Jonathan in this chapter went from ⬇️ to ⬆️ by the end of it. And the way Paisley tried to hold back her tears is just so sweet after what she had seen of her sister. The dialogues in this chapter is just perfect and gives off the perfect British vibes. I'm glad that by the end of this chapter Jonathan realised what he had done to his own sister, Mina, was wrong. I was honestly kinda glad he at least felt something about doing such a thing.

Chapter 4:

Ahhh, this chapter was by far my most favourite one. The descriptions, the scenes, the plot! *chefs kiss* I was playing spooky music in the background while reading this and it gave me the chills. And the usage of a zeugma at the end is also appreciated. I think I was more excited to find more about Whilhelmina after this chapter than Yvaine was.

Chapter 5:

As always, this chapter had a great, warm start to it and the descriptions were just flawless. Amberly's excitement in this chapter fully matched mine. The interaction between Yvaine and Amberly was so sweet and kinda relatable to me and my friend. And this chapter ended in a cliffhanger as well, which pleased me all too much.

For all the chapters (including the prologue) I give you a 10/10 again! Great work!

After Reading:

I absolutely loved every second of this novella! I don't know if it's because I'm a thriller/vintage fan or if your writing is so wonderful, but I simply loved reading it. As far as horror novels go, this was way up there, at the top.

Every description you wrote, every emotion you explained and every scenery you oh so vividly explained painted a perfect picture. And the words you chose and how you strung each paragraph together so perfectly like an artist was simply wonderful, I can still feel my heart racing in my chest. You did a great job at showing the reader instead of telling us about things. The flow of the plot was super smooth, with absolutely no plot holes, and every scene played out in my head like an awesome movie. I was on my toes the entire time any twist came. The ending of the fifth chapter was beautiful. I can't find a single thing wrong with this novela as a whole.

So, in total, I give this wonderfully spooky novella a *drum roll please* 50/50 score! WAHOO

Please don't ever stop writing such wonderful stories. And may the universe be with you on your writing journey.