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Switch of Soul: Seven - Detailed Feedback

Intro:

Switch of Soul: Seven was written by starsinsky1999. It is a BTS fanfic. More specifically, a body swap AU. It follows BTS member Jungkook and reader self-insert character Y/n on a journey where their bodies swap and they must find a way to revert the change before their lives are impacted in an irreparable way.

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Detailed Feedback

What Worked:

I think the best part of this story is the concept, and not just the concept but also how it's executed. With this kind of AU, it's most common to see it be mostly about sex and stuff, which is of course a crucial difference between the male and female body, but you decided to cover more parts of the human body and lifestyle differences that made it more fun to read.

Both Y/n and Jungkook struggle in their bodies and don't just take to it immediately, particularly with Jungkook dealing with the period situation. Of course they admire being in the opposite sex's body, but they also have to struggle so it isn't an easy transition. That's what makes the concept so solid: it isn't scared to show the darker sides of being a man/woman.

Similarly, I like how there is commentary on the way women are treated and how Jungkook gets front row seats to that. I really liked how she put him in his place when he said he put Y/n's hair in a ponytail because men drool over exposed necks. It feels like Jungkook got his eyes opened to the treatment of women, both through firsthand experience while in Y/n's body and also the explanations from Y/n herself.

It also very accurately captured the struggles of women without needing to beat the audience over the head with it. It was more subtle and captured the differences without force feeding us the story you're trying to tell. That's just a long way of saying you did showing over telling in that regard, and I appreciate that you treated the audience like smart adults who can figure out what you're trying to say without you needing to hold our hands. Nowadays, many books and TV shows (looking at you ATLA live action and Percy Jackson) overuse exposition and tell us too much, so I was glad to read a book where you gave us our own space to think about what's going on.

In chapter 27, I like how you took the time to show how women can sometimes treat men like pieces of meat. It shows how both women and men sexualize each other and it needs to stop because of how invasive and creepy it is. You don't put either side on a pedestal and you actually call out both for doing bad things to people who are just trying to mind their own business. It's a moving theme and it also gave more depth to the body swap genre. You took a genre that's used quite frequently and gave it more complexity, which I appreciated.

That's how it is with the pacing, too. We get proper chances to slow down and think, which means the story isn't just constantly jumping from one plot to the next. We get chances to cool down and see what the characters are thinking and feeling. We get heart-to-heart convos and firsthand looks at the struggles they're going through in a meaningful manner.

I like the differences between Y/n and Jungkook and how they handle the situation. While Jungkook is a bit more relaxed about it, Y/n is absolutely freaking out both over Jungkook's body and the entire situation. Jungkook is amazed to be in a woman's body and admires it (not in a weird way), and Y/n does the same but is far more panicky about it.

It makes them like foils to each other where they have vastly different reactions to the situations they're thrown into. I like it when authors take their two lead characters and give them such different traits and personalities. It makes them stand on their own and it also provides challenges for the two to overcome. It's easy to believe they'll clash at every turn because of their differences, but they actually work pretty well together, and it's entertaining to see their relationship blossom.