Today, I'm reviewing the fantasy novel "Wanderlust" by L. Costevelos, self-published in 2019.
Overview of points discussed in this review:
Strengths of the book
Richly imagined world/great worldbuilding
Strong theme/Point
Important/revealing scene at the end is emotionally deep and well executed
Powerful lines regarding the theme/point that fully connect the reader to the character
Weaknesses of the book
Clarity and inconsistencies
Character believability (minor issues)
Time flow/handling of time between two worlds (mostly at the end)
Style (often over-dramatized, sometimes vague)
Sentence structure/word choice (present participle + other -ing forms)
Grammar
For the -ing form that is SO very present in this book, I strongly suggest the author read this very clear and helpful article: Using -ing Words | The Editor's Blog (theeditorsblog.net). This is an issue I see A LOT in manuscripts, but it’s really such an easy thing to improve on your own.
Overall, I’m happy I bought the book and read it. I’m satisfied with what I got out of the reading experience but wish the author had hired a line-editor to go through the manuscript before publishing.
Could this book have benefited from a developmental edit/book coach?
Absolutely!