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The Beginning of the Tragedies

The Beginning of the Tragedy

By marvelous_wonder

Reviewer: rowancarver

Cover

The cover is a little bit dark and difficult to see, especially on mobile. BUT I really like the design. I like the sort of autumn vibe it has and I like the text a whole lot..just brighten it up a little so the picture is easier to see, and I think you'd be good to go.

Blurb

Really curious blurb, not a lot is given to the reader, which certainly isn't a bad thing. I appreciate your aesthetic writing of course, and that's quite a lovely poem to open with "I've been drowning on my love ever since they were born/And I can drown a little more if it means we'll get them to a safer shore." I didn't understand it, but I guess I will the more I read (I should admit that I suck at interpreting poetry)

And then two sentences hit up the plot

"In which the Mikaelsons are turned into vampires, by kinder means, and for much crueler reasons. "Always and Forever" came at much a greater cost than they ever thought."

I don't think I've ever seen a blurb like this before. Nothing has really pandered to the reader and I can admire that, however, I'm curious to know what's going on. The line that gripped me was "in which the Mikaelsons are turned into vampires." That line raises a ton of questions. Who are the Mikaelsons and who turned them? What kind of world is this going to be, if vampires exist? What is your magic system? The time period? The context? Lots and lots of questions raised in just a simple phrase.

Hook

Couldn't really find an overarching hook, but I found several throughout the chapters.

Conflict

There is a tragedy that happened to this family that remains a mystery, but this drives the conflict and the reader repeatedly asks themselves what that tragedy is.

Antagonist: Bolverk

Mikaelson v Bolverk

Character Analysis

Esther is already a fascinating character from the first sentence of the first chapter. "During her centuries on the Other Side where she atoned for the sin of creating vampires..." I love that. Soft world-building centered around a character! Awesome job.

Esther lives with her husband Mikael and her children, whom she is incredibly protective of.

Her husband Mikael is the protector of their village and a very powerful man.

Tatia, a girl who the Mikaelson children admire, who swoons them for gifts and whatnot

Rebekah, Tatia's friend.

Finn, one of Esther's other children.

Kol, another sibling

Henrik

Elijah

Niklaus, a really mysterious and peculiar child mentioned in the prologue, also a member of the Mikaelson family.

Plot

I really liked the prologue, I like how you just threw the reader in and didn't pander to them at all, and asked them to accept who these people are without telling us. "When did the tragedy of the Mikaelson family begin?" such an intriguing opener and the rest is so well poetically written as the author does a sort of role call for the family, and makes us ask what exactly happened to them. I want to know what Esther's sins are, Dahlia's bargain, who Freya was and why she was given up, and why Mikael was blamed. Who is Ansel and what is the scandal behind him? So many good questions raised here, and the author does a good job of maintaining mystery throughout. The prologue left me with lots of questions and very few answers, and it made me go "what the heck is going on? Hold on, let me click the button and find out."