No surprises.

This is an example of an actual Beta Review I have done of someone's book.

No details have been changed as I have the authors permission to post their review for this purpose...

It's not an exact likeness but it is similar to what you can expect to see if you request a review from me.

Read on...

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The Type by dreamalittlefic

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What do you think is too much or too cliché?

Okay, so I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent here but please bear with me.

In my opinion, the negative mindset of "Too much" or "Too cliché" is too harsh a stance to take... especially when it comes to the plot of a fan fiction.

I have read some stories where there was swearing in every second sentence, or sexual content in every chapter, or angsty tension from start to finish, and yes, it was a lot (and maybe to some, "too" much) BUT they suited their respective narratives, so it wasn't inappropriate. You've got to look at the big picture.

In terms of your book, the relationship between Jin and Aera is cliché, and so is the plot so far. Idol and his childhood best friend, navigating their mixed feelings for one another. It is definitely cliché.

However, in the world of fan fiction EVERYTHING is kinda cliché... Love at first sight. Bad boy and good girl/boy. Rich boy and poor girl/boy. Dom and sub. Enemies to lovers. High school. College. CEO. Mafia. Wizard. Werewolf. Vampire. Hybrid. Even some phrases, "Like what you see?" or "Jimin's got no jams!" - they're all overused so they can all be considered cliché and actually, there's nothing wrong with that!

Just because a book has a cliché premise, or has clichés throughout, doesn't make it bad or boring.

But what it does mean, is that you may have to add things, or put more emphasis on certain aspects to make it stand out or more original. Such as, action, drama or mystery elements to peak intrigue, upping the romantic chemistry or making character personalities and interactions stand out etc.

You've only written 11 chapters so far and you did say in your author notes that it'd be slower paced, with Jin and Aera only beginning to scratch the surface of their feelings, so though I haven't seen anything that would make it rise above its cliches YET, you've definitely still got the ability and time (if you want) to add some flair to it.

What can you do with your story to make it more interesting?

One of the main things I noticed when reading The Type, is that there is quite a lot of inner monologue and not much dialogue, so I'll say this first as a fact...

Dialogue is more interesting than inner monologue.

Think about when you yourself read a book. Is it the characters inner monologue or dialogue that you feel most interested in? Chances are, is that most (if not all) people will agree on dialogue.

This is not to say that inner monologue can't be used effectively and isn't important (sometimes it's inescapable) but wherever possible, it's best to use any opportunity you can to 'Show don't tell' or 'Let actions speak louder than words' because that's the stuff readers want.

We want the story of Jin and Aera's relationship to be shown to us via actions, body language and dialogue, not told through thought.

There were quite a few times where I found you explained information about Aera or Jin in inner thoughts, then repeated this information again via dialogue. There were also missed opportunities where some of the inner thoughts could have been better utilised. Here are a couple of examples:

Your sentence - Sighing softly with my head hung low, I walked backstage with the rest of the boys while Jungkook constantly asked me if I was alright. I constantly nodded to every question not bothering to look up.

Amended sentence (with dialogue) - I sigh softly with my head hung low as I walk backstage with the rest of the boys. "Are you alright, Hyung?" Jungkook asks for seemingly the hundredth time. I just nod, not bothering to look up.

Your sentence - "So you won't tell me what else you heard?" he asked again, this time caging me in his arms from behind. I chuckled shaking my head as a 'no'. He grunted turning me around by my shoulders and I held up the spatula in my hand as a defence weapon to his stare.

Amended sentence (with action and dialogue) - "So you won't tell me what else you heard?" he asks again, this time caging me in his arms from behind. I chuckle and shake my head. "No." He grunts turning me around by my shoulders and stares as I hold up my spatula. "Prepare to be SPLATULAD!"

Splatulad. What even - I'm sorry about that - but can you see/feel what a difference dialogue and action make?

Within all the monologue there was also quite a bit of information about Jin and Aera's pasts, or Jin and Aera themselves that seemed like add-on detail which wasn't really necessary for sake of the plot.

If you're unsure, a good way to check if you're providing too much detail is to ask yourself...

Is this information going to have significance later on or am I telling them information just to tell them?

Another thing - and this would also be helped with more dialogue - I would suggest showcasing Jin and Aera's personalities more to endear them to your readers and make their friendship seem more genuine. Right now, Jin and Aera's interactions seem a bit un-impactful because they only really hang out at Jin's house and don't do much meaningful relating so it's hard to find reasons to emotionally invest in them. What makes Aera more beautiful than every other girl, every beautiful idol? What makes Jin so special to Aera? Their quirks. Their humour etc

Since you said you're stuck about where to take your story, I'd suggest that you sit down with a pen and paper, and try map it out from start to end. You can always change it up as you go but at least if you have a solid plan, you'd know how your characters need to act/change along the way to fit certain scenes and can cut out any un-needed detail as well.

Is it good so far?

It's good, but it has the potential to be much better, and I know you know that because you yourself have expressed your feelings to me about the matter. Is it something you can turn around? Is it something you can improve? Always.

Should I unpublish?

There's a very simple answer to this and it's this...

Do what makes you happy.

Yes, that's absolutely a cliché answer but it's the most genuine advice I can give you. It's all you.

If you're the sort of person who gets down because people aren't reading, commenting, voting etc to the point where it's affecting your mental health then do it, or better yet, unpublish, edit it and come back and try again.

But remember this... low reads and votes doesn't reflect how good a book is. Far from it.

A wee story. A few weeks ago I came across a Taekook Ship book and it had no reads and votes but it was a great book! Still in its early stages but as good a Taekook book as lots of others I have read of the same calibre with hundreds of thousands of reads, and when I commented the author got back and told me they were just about to unpublish it. The moral - is that now they've kept it up because they know someone's enjoying and following it.

And honestly, if it were to be unpublished now I'd be sad because I really like it (it's called Always With You by PurpleCoterie if you want to check it out).

I notice your book does have a few followers though, which means somewhere out there, there are people enjoying your book who might be sad if it's removed.

Is that worth enough to leave your book up for? Well, that's up to you to decide.

My final thoughts

I know you're feeling a little lost and insecure about your work at the moment, but hopefully this review helped answer some of your questions, or at the very least give you a little peace of mind about how you feel about it and where you might take it in future.

Linney xo