Hey guys!
After some thoughts and blablablablabla... I decided to open a request thread in which WE can swap honest reviews of our novels!

Here are the rules and things you should know:

1) Post your request as per the following method:
- Title
- Genre
- Synopsis
- Link
- Cover picture (optional)

Example: (Made up story)
- Title: Gilgameth's Banana Epic adventures
- Genre: Fantasy
- Synopsis: Gil's favorite food is banana. Blablabla. Follow his epics as he sails far across the seas to a land filled with adventure and dangers. With his insatiable appetite as the compass of his journey, he will seek the legendary golden banana. Blablabla. Will he find this mythical treasure?
- Link: https:webnovel/notatruestory.com
- Cover Picture: (Imagine an image here)

If one of those is missing, apart from the cover picture, I WON'T even BOTHER reading further than the first letter. Maybe others will. But I sure won't.

2) Stay polite and be coolheaded. What you will look at are just SUGGESTIONS.

3) Do not expect professional work.

4) The reviews should be posted on this thread and not on the book's page—unless it's a pretty 5 stars—as to avoid making an enemy out of readers and authors. It's for your own good, believe me.

5) All genres are invited to apply. No discriminations.

6) Help each other. Why? Because if you want your honest review as fast as possible you should ask other people around to swap honest reviews with you. Moreover, it can be a great experience and improve your own writing skills.

7) Try to leave a few paragraph comments to point out grammatical issues (if any) when you do your honest review. Don't do that for all of them, but at least 5 or 6. It's always helpful. ALWAYS.

Now that this is done, if anyone still wants an honest review... well do write a request. :)

Read you soon!

WARNING:

Please, do stop replying to this post and scroll down to write your request. Someone will eventually pick it up. As of now, I'm already busy enough with other reviews and it's piling up every day. Try to ask for an honest review swap with someone else.

An example of what I can do for you (I won't name the author who asked me to do this, nor his work, for obvious reasons).

A Synopsis analysis:

That part, is useless in my opinion
———————————————————

#WEBNOVEL SPIRITY CONTEST 2021
#SLICE OF LIFE GENRE

"Have you heard? There is a man who tries all day to plant lotus flowers in the Denali Mountain."
"He must be crazy, even an Ice and wood Dao Flowering Realm Expert would not dare."

"Mummy that man dancing in the water over there is not wearing clothes"
Mrs Richard decisively covers her daughter's eyes while hauling a large fireball at the shameless man.

"What is going on? Since all the answers are C, why did I fail?
Lyle watched his 20% script while resolving to report his lazy teacher to the Examination Board.

———————————

1) The first thing readers will see is a god damn tag about you entering the Spirity contest. They don't care. Even if you want them to know, it's already shown under your rating. So don't make it repetitive. Same for the #Slice of life.. You already have tags under your synopsis. Even if you want to highlight it, do it through you synopsis, no, SHOW it.

2) The dialogs and all that are great and one of them even made me crack a smile. But to my opinion, they serve no purpose. The actual synopsis begins afterward. Before reading about the tired hero my mind was trying to make heads or tails of what was happening. If you do include dialogs in your synopsis, make sure to... anchor them with something. Those are just here for the taking, or to "kinda" introduce potential characters. Again, to my opinion, they serve no purpose whatsoever. Even if it did, it wasn't clear enough for me to catch it.

3) Anything else that didn't come to mind.

Yoan_Roturier

I am. If somebody asks me about the honest review (some help) I will spend my time reading and tell what people are doing wrong. I will send them links about proper construction, dialogues, etc...

I have another contracted (Anemones)... The novel is finished, just don't have the time to add all the chaps.
I don't expect much, just a few specific comments... but that's what people write it... eh...

Anemones

slice of life, realistic story

(Not really a synopsis, but a piece of review written by a professional literary critic...)

"A story about the editorial world of a men's magazine...
A love story with elements of betrayal or a story of betrayal with elements of love. All this in the scenery of the high society we long for; additionally packed with culinary and automotive trips.
Anemones slightly feminizes reality and it is a thing that should attract many readers - men and women equally.
It's about men! But written in the author's optics, so all readers will find their fascinations fulfilled.”

https://www.webnovel.com/book/anemones_20040643706911505

hansora

Here's a little synopsis analysis to start.

Your synopsis has two parts.
———————
THIS ONE:

*Three years ago, Kato Himari was forced to end her first love in order to cherish herself more. On the same night, she met him in a series of strange events.

Life went on and the uncanny events were put at the back of her mind.

After nursing her heartbreak for three years, a funny companionship of a cat and a little dumpling led her to meet a warm and tender man.

Three years ago, Hayashi Kazuya was compelled to assume a crucial role after tragic events kept on befalling his loved ones. In the process, he had to redefine what was important to him.

There were things he had to let go of.

There were things he had to hold on to.

As he was still hanging on a thread, he met her who reminded him of smiling daffodils to the sun.

Would their encounter give them second chances of gaining more hopes in the face of the future?*
————————

And THIS ONE:
*"Meow~ Meow~"

The orange tabby cat sneaked out of the house, bringing back with it a little girl to resurrect the faint link between two people who had just crossed paths together once.*

*"Uncle, when would you give me an auntie?"
"Uncle, why don't you marry Teacher Kato home?"
"Teacher Kato, do you find my uncle handsome?"

Both of them exchanged glances before they hurriedly looked away with the tips of their ears reddened. The little girl grinned and gave thumbs up to the orange tabby cat next to her before she looked at her back.

"Big Brother, look! I've found us an auntie!"

"Meow~ Meow~"

The orange tabby cat happily agreed to the little girl's words.*
————————————

It isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, the way it is structured is confusing. I found myself frowning when reading it. I had to read back the first sentence a couple of times before understanding that part one talked about the characters backgrounds and part two is some kind of short story that announces the tone/color of your book.

In my opinion, either you keep one part or you fuse both, or find a way to make it flow. Keep in mind that a synopsis on Webnovel (the right word is actually "blurb"), needs to:
- Introduce your main character(s)
- Announce the tone and genre (don't write "this is a romance/slice of life book!" please)
- Be short, NOT TOO short mind you.
- Explain the main-conflict

You already got those tho. So kudos to you. Just make it flow better.

The "three years ago" part of the synopsis wasn't right to me, because it's repeated twice. It feels like we're going backward, but we're actually reading forward. Weird....

The cat seems important and cute. But... I kept wondering what that thing was doing here. And who were those people talking? We can guess who they are, but with no actual settings to relate to it's kinda hard on the reading part. However, it's cute.

So to put it in a nutshell, your synopsis already has the main elements for a good one. But you need to correct the flows, meaning, improving the readability and avoid confusion.

If I wasn't clear enough, because I wasn't, do ask me to clarify the points you didn't understand.

Hope it helps.

Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman
silent_walker
GENRE: FANTASY
Link:
https://www.webnovel.com/book/broken-tower-saga-the-first-swordsman_19844340505430905

Synopsis
The Maha Tower or The Broken Tower of Omega, some call it. It is a place of Dream, a place of Passion and a place of Chaos. Wealth, Glory, Fortune, Strength. Everything could be found here as they say.
Wrik spent years to find this tower, ignoring his studies, University. But to no avail. Until a day when a letter came to his door with a pair of tickets to the tower.
Little did he know that the place he was leaving for is full of threats and risks. He had to face off several known and unknown Enemies – Newfound or Ancient.
Join in the adventure of Wrik Everknight, who with his few new and old friends climb the tower, learn the ancient power of Mahasayer and uncover the mysteries of the destruction of Maha.

I edited it a bit after reading it... Still like to add something.

Tags10 tags

MYSTERY1# GAMELEMENTS1# SCIFI1# FANTASY1# LITRPG# TOWER1# HEIST1# ELEMENTALPOWERS # ADVENTURE

You're doing a fine job by the way... I've seen your other post about promoting your novel... It makes easier for the moderator or reader or writer...

YOU CAN BE HARSH WITH YOUR REVIEW... I WON'T MIND...
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.

AND LAST IF ANYONE ELSE WANT ANY HONEST REVIEW COULD REPLY TO THIS COMMENT... I'll try as soon as I can to critique it.

silent_walker
Thanks! Just doing it to help a bit Grand Void Daoist and the fun of it. The moderator is kind of... alone waging war against powerful enemies: Angry Spammers. And Yue bot is... I don't know where she is, probably vacation. Some other guy Motivated Sloth does work wonders and stops Angry Spammers attacks often enough. But, they keep coming so... it's a never-ending war. I'm just standing on the sideline with popcorn and throwing some health potions here there to help a bit. Hahahaha.

My review to-do list is currently full. However, I'll remember your request and come to you when I'm done with the others. If by then somebody didn't already review yours that is.

SpilledInk
Humm gonna have to wait a bit. Try to see with @Jo_J if she's (you're a woman right?) willing to honestly review yours. You might have to wait a week or two if you want me to do it. You'll understand why once I post my first review here.

A little something to begin with.
Your cover picture is awesome! However, the "Patreon/NEOARTCORE" just above the characters bosom is... hum. Yeap, it takes away the charm or it. If you know how to use photoshop try to erase the letters. Should be simple enough to do it cleanly.
Your title is barely visible too. Do keep in mind that human eyes tend to wonder first at the places you see on this picture.

Okay so notice that there are four lines, two horizontals, and two verticals. The dots you see are where they meet. And usually this is where people gaze are naturally attracted to. It's a mathematical law called golden number or something like that (I don't know the correct word in English). In short, it is supposed to define what's beautiful to the human eyes. Don't ask me for further details, is one long-ass explanation.

So, to put it simply you want your title to be written along those lines. Usually the horizontal ones. Take a look at mine.

The catchy word of my title is more or less on top of the first horizontal line. I added to it a golden font, a visible size and voilà! Haha.

Note that there are exceptions to this rule. Some pictures naturally form lines that would catch the eyes. Take a look at the popular painting "The Scream", Edvard Munch.

Do you see the line drawn by the bridge's frame? This is exactly of those exceptions where you could probably write a title on. Tho it would look a bit weird to my opinion. Not the best example.

Anyway, since cover pictures are in majority portrait type images, this is what applies to them.

In marketing, communication, photography, and film production this is common knowledge. They prioritize those zones to have their audiences focus on what they want them to see. Try looking at a professional photographer's work or just at the next movie scene you'll watch and you'll probably see similarities with what I'm telling you.

Hum... I wonder if I really should reveal all my tricks hahaha. Consider this a little favor and a free course on images' structure.

By the way, weren't you the author who condemned my benevolent comment on J_oJ's work "The Bet"? -_- HuMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

@Grand_Void_Daoist
I should have checked with you before but... all this isn't considered to be against the rules right? Please say no.

Yoan_Roturier

You shouldn't try to explain that basic knowledge of literature/advertising/photography/etc. to some 'authors' :)
Some time ago I tried to explain the basics of creating a plot, differences between the theatrical play and literary text, and other knowledge needed to build interesting action, etc... but most of the 'authors' know theirs 'literary rules'.
When asked how many books they read in the last month, or last year, the answer was "I don't have time for this".

Epyonnn

Do you like fantasy? Honestly, it's not my cup of coffee; I finished my adventure with fantasy literature on the books written by Tolkien and Julius Verne many years ago.
Could you take a look at the story written by Udeju?
It's nicely written so it's a pleasure to read it

Yoan_Roturier

in some groups on discord - yes, but not here. Sorry for the truth here ;)
but that's what it looks like. Waste of time :(
You can create a group on discord with that knowledge.

Jo_J
Haha already have one. Members aren't much active as of now. They're all busy with some real-life stuff and one guy is a webnovel top 200 author, thus quite busy, so he won't speak unless addressed to.

Dear Ladies SpilledInk and Gentelmen Yoan_Roturier (two lions jumping for each other's throats?)
What are you talking about?
I don't mind if you share your views somewhere here: https://www.webnovel.com/book/anemones_20040643706911505

English is not my first language and I make a lot of errors (the editor deals with it...), so... I don't really care about comments like yours SpilledInk ;)

Yoan_Roturier
Jo_J#8824

SpilledInk

Yeah... :) I am trying to get you a bigger audience ;)
You don't know the pleasure when you read a story and you don't have to think too much 'what the author wanted to say, etc...'
I know nothing about the fantasy genre. In my review I wrote what I saw, I wouldn't read 5-6 chaps if I didn't enjoy it.