Primrose | REVIEW SHOP [ OPEN ]

★ { Ananas } Dungeon

Reviewer: rebecca_batteur

Client: Ablazeisaleo

Title:

The title is quite interesting, given how dark and intimidating the story wants to be. A dungeon is an underground place that is generally mysterious and even quite threatening and I think that fits well with the tone that is set here. Furthermore, quite interestingly, the first aspect given to us of the book, through the summary, highlights a metaphor spun around architecture. Crime becomes a labyrinth, we have frequent mentions of a web of secrets, of mysteries, and we are told about the corridors of power... The whole thing paints in my mind the idea of ​​a closed place, which would slowly close in on the heroes, a closed dimension that highlights the idea that the main characters are prisoners of the intrigue that weighs on them like the walls of a cell while they desperately seek to get rid of it. The dungeon here almost reminds me of an insane asylum, a rather hushed and unhealthy atmosphere. Additionally, frequent mentions are made of darkness, which seems to be an omnipresent aspect of the story, as such, the idea of ​​a dungeon fits perfectly with a dark universe where the unpredictable takes place.

Cover:

The cover is particularly well done, it looks professional. The font used looks very good, especially for the title, "Dungeon", written in letters of blood. What better way to highlight the idea that it is a bloody story that we are about to discover? The writing at the bottom and above is also pleasant to look at, it is reminiscent of the kind of small text that one might find in a published book, it is a success since it highlights the idea of ​​a work quality. What is written also confirms the idea I had of the story from the title and is very elegantly worded, with the recurring idea of ​​darkness that invades the cover. The care in designing the cover is very important to me since it is the first thing we see, the first thing that perhaps makes us want to consult the book. I find the artistic choices made here to be very interesting. A certain atmosphere seeks to be rendered, through this succession of fine and slender tree trunks of which we can only distinguish the silhouette resembling the bars of a cage, while the atmosphere seems imbued with a scarlet vapor, extending a crimson veil all along the decor, as if red exhalations were rising from the ground itself. The very landscape breathes violence and blood. Like an animal in agony, the forest spits out the last streams of blood, invading everything around and impregnating the character who stands alone among the trees, the only human appearance in the middle of this image which mixes black, red, and white. He is probably standing at the edge of the forest, on the verge of entering it, and contemplating from the outside what dark and dangerous awaits him in the depths of the woods. Deep in the woods that seems indicated by the bloody, dripping title on the cover, Dungeon. The blood is very omnipresent, even flowing from the top of the book as if in an attempt to completely cover the cover, or as if the violence of the text could not be contained and had to escape in long garnet streams.

I have to say that I like this cover. I can do very long analyses on it and I like to do very long analyses. I don't have a quota of words to fill, but it seems that I have masochistic impulses since I force myself to write at least four pages per review.

However, I must point out that, although this cover is pleasant to look at, I cannot say if it is the one that best corresponds to the story that is told here. Certainly, it is very good, technically, I have nothing to say about it. Besides, theoretically, keeping it like this poses no problem, it pleases, is very visual, and catches the eye. However, I don't know if this is the best representation of this story for me, given that at no point does it seem very representative of the events that take place in the book. So, we never enter a forest in the story. It's not very important, one could say, but I find that it's better when the cover manages to be a direct reference to the book or at least to convey an atmosphere that makes you think of the story... Here, it's very bloody, very violent, and very raw, from the lighting to the chosen palette. But I don't know if that's best for your story. So, while there is indeed death, violence, and darkness, I wouldn't say it's as graphic or dark as the cover describes. More than anything, it's a crime thriller and not a horror story. These are, to me, two different things that are not supposed to be represented in the same way, you cannot use a similar theme to promote them because, fundamentally, they are not the same story. This is the only problem I have with the cover, the fact that it is not directly representative of the story or, at least, an inaccurate version of the story.