Book Name: Years of Red over Blue
Author: DoNotLookAtTheSun

Reviewer: rinaXhazurina

GENERAL QUALITIES: 45/50

Title: 5/5

A very captivating title with a lot of interpretation to allude it to. The meaning of the color overlapping another with its many alluded symbols hints at the war as the main conflict of the story and the inner dissonance of the characters who once had peaceful lives. There are many meanings to deduce from its beautiful articulation.

Book Cover: 5/5

It aligns perfectly with the title. The shade of the sun coloring the sky and the blood splats was so cool and intricate with how the design is laid out. The fact that the sun is also the symbol of the Japanese who were terrorizing the Philippines in the story's timeline to shine over the silhouettes of the soldiers and light up Liway's silhouette red instead of black says so much about the multiple interpretations and theme the story is going for. I'd definitely give it more than a perfect score.

Blurb: 5/5

The blurb sets the protagonist with details giving enough readers to identify who they are and what role they're going to partake in the story. It also introduces the main conflict that touches on history. There is a presence of a unique storytelling trait focusing on the main character as a musical prodigy and her journey in a world where war has taken place. It makes readers curious to want to read the story as it kindles the questions like how will she fight against or cope with the war when she's just a musician instead of the occasional soldier or any powerful figure involved in similar conflicts? Will her talents guarantee her survival? It's these wonders that captivate readers into wanting to know more about the story and what distinguishes it from other similar books under the same genre. An excellent blurb that introduces a unique story.

Characters: 9/10

All the characters are lovable with restrained goals under the Japanese occupation and logical fears and misbelief. I like that Liway has an active grudge against the Japanese and other foreign people who also occupied the country and doesn't hide it with how she openly insults them as they enter the shop in a scene that is executed to be humorous. 

Liway has a lot of depth with how she was raised to be pampered because she is the youngest child and was a child prodigy in music. This results in her impulsiveness, stubbornness, and immaturity, for when she almost threw a rock at the Japanese general, which are reasonable given how she was raised and she was shielded from stern consequences and was only showered with affection. 

She is self-aware that she despises them, including the foreign people who didn't have active participation in the war and just happen to be Japanese, Spanish, or American. With Park calling her out and her actively taking steps to help her family by taking physical labor and resisting the urge to rebel against the Japanese on the spot when they entered their house shows that the story is actively pushing her to develop those character flaws. Her family truly resembles the customary Filipino family too which makes it believable with how Liway is usually idle and the other family members are responsible in the house and they shield her from the dangers of the world. 

Park is also an interesting character with how patient he is with Liway to the point she made a scene to place him in a dark light in front of Lee. He isn't afraid to call her out and even though he finds her fascinating, he is more focused on her rash behavior. Him having a mysterious background without it being revealed right away is rather adding more to his intrigue to keep the readers curious. And for Lee, it's surprising how more is known about him than Park and that he comes from a well-off family but chose to stay in a country where war is ongoing. I believe he has a greater role though, as the story progresses. 

The characters are believable with their own unique antics that make them easy to identify when asked how to describe them. However, there is a gap that seemed untouched by the story. I feel like the family had moved on too fast after the death of the father, even though it was mentioned that weeks passed by after the burial, it's as if there was not enough emotional grief the characters were made to feel, hence, for the readers as well. Given that Eduardo has been an excellent father, I suggest giving Liway and her family time to reflect on their father's death to emphasize the depth of their grief. There's also the matter of where the mother is and how the sisters feel about her too since her husband died and is the only one to solely take care of their children. Even if these moments are going to be tackled in the latter chapters, I recommend bringing them up at least a few more times in the first few chapters. It also makes me wonder does Liway not feel any guilt for her father's death considering that her running from the car made the vehicle stop, and though her mother and sister got out saving their life, it was within the area of the explosion. Not saying I blame Liway because far beyond the area they all could've died if the car hadn't stopped and it was within the enemy soldiers' part, but wouldn't it at least give Liway a small feeling of guilt. 

There's also a huge potential in using this vulnerability to push her character growth, as it was her strong emotions that sharpened her impulsiveness to jump out of the car. It'll further make her self-aware of how she lets her emotions get the better of her, and from her pampered upbringing, it makes her realize consequences that can hurt her and her loved ones she isn't safe from committing if she doesn't change this flawed part of her being. Not only would it add to her impulsive actions and motivation to her goal, but it's also a great value exploring how an incident isn't someone's fault but rather the circumstances they are in, along with the lessons of learning self-control and maturity that comes with emotional and thoughtful weight. It's just a suggestion because adding more to a book is a difficult process that may wholly change it but I think it will enhance the story with how it fits into it.

Worldbuilding: 8/10

The worldbuilding, in its historical fiction context, is good with how close it resembles the Philippines during the Japanese occupation. Mentioning the upper class and lower class is important as it was a big factor in the community at that time. It also laid out how the Filipinos lived poorly under the Japanese as they struggled to get basic survival necessities, the abuse they experienced stemming from the soldier's motivation to be promoted, and the exploitation of the women for certain acts and the people to do hard labor. Adding to the fact that women were treated less, forcing Liway to disguise as a man, is also heightening the accuracy and tension of the world. Nowhere else seemed safe in the area except for Liway when she's with Park, aligning with the story's conflict of war but it shows that there are also moments where the protagonist and the readers can take a break from the main problem when Liway is in the gallery shop. 

Establishing the Filipino culture using its environment did well to deliver that vibe with the mention of the churches, the women gossiping, the bond of families, and the persistent traffic in Manila. And turning this once peaceful environment to a warfare territory was done well with the thorough details building up to the conflict as it shifted the emotion from feeling the coziness in the Prologue and first half of Chapter 1 to the disaster that will cover the rest of the chapters.

 There is one thing that worldbuilding lacked in expressing its full potential: the thorough detail of the people's lifestyle by the clothes they wear and their interaction with each other and society. It wrote that there were class divisions among the Japanese and Filipino, however, there were also divisions within the natives as well. Show us how these divisions are occurring, not just tell us. Give readers a glimpse into what the Filipino community looked like in the 1940s through the customs they have like the clothes they wear, the appearances of the house, or the presence of specific vehicles like maybe there were horse-drawn carriages in the streets. 

While the uniforms of the Japanese were specified, how about for the Filipinos in their respective classes? Weren't there barong tagalogs or camisa de chinos mentioned? I feel like these were the things that made me feel like something is missing as I'm reading a story set in the Philippines in the 1940s, allowing readers to understand the world but not fully experience the vibe.

Writing Mechanics and Style: 13/15

The writing is engaging with the descriptions and thorough details that go well with the slow pacing of the story and focus on emotions. I was enticed by the lines, 'The piano had always been Liway's world, the one thing she truly understood. But life had taken a cruel turn, and now even her music seemed like a luxury she could no longer afford,' and 'Their love, fragile yet resilient, was a small rebellion against the war that loomed over every aspect of their lives,' with how the descriptions compare the sensation with the themes associated with the characters and the conflict they're facing. 

The thorough details enable the readers to have a deeper experience along with the characters in the moment, fleshing it out to become a sensational read. The writing style is also unique with how quirky it sounds, which greatly reflects the structure of the dialogue as well. (Unimportant personal opinion: I often see this unique writing style among Filipino and Indian writers in Wattpad). 

There are a few writing corrections though. Normally, there are two capitalization mistakes in the lines, '"Me, being a woman at these times is more dangerous than me being a Filipino." hopelessness can be traced to her tone,' and 'Still not claimed," she said, Pointing at the Japanese couple's wedding picture as she returned to the pile of boxes she was working with.' There are also sentences standing alone as dependent clauses not in a good way like 9. "Ahhh?" Looking at the man's hand on her arm and then on his face. Her eyebrows almost met in disbelief. "Mister, I guess you left your decency. Did you realize you just held me twice without my permission?" In this area, I think there's a lack of dialogue tag, which is the next error where voice lines do not end with a dialogue tag and straight up proceeds with a following action verb. 

This is seen in Chapter 1 in '"You know what?" Cutting off the man, "I'm sorry, but I don't entertain strangers." She turned to leave, but the young man gently grabbed her right arm to stop her, '"Ahhhh! You are my fan?" She laughed aggressively, trying to mock the man. She's dumbfounded that the man didn't even bother to make up a unique excuse. "Fan my foot. Old stories won't work for me," while rolling her eyes.' Similar cases are also frequently seen in the rest of the chapters. It is standard that dialogue tags are added before, in the middle, and after a voice line as long as it is connected by a comma. This can be fixed by adding a short dialogue tag or simply ending the voice line with a period instead of a comma which will then be succeeded by the next action, such as '"You know what?" she said, cutting off the man, "I'm sorry, but I don't entertain strangers,"' or '"You know what?" She cut off the man. "I'm sorry, but I don't entertain strangers."' As for the writing style, usually it is subjective for writers to adopt their own style but there are traits that make the writing awkward to read but only because the style is uncommon so new readers may have a hard time catching up with it. First off, there's a frequent presence of filler words in descriptions that need to be removed as it won't change the meaning of the story. 

Example in the line, 'His heart almost stopped, his cheeks heated up, but he still managed to answer the lady's query with another query.' There is no need to add the word 'query' after mentioning the first; removing it will yield no difference in the meaning. Another is in 'The young man turned on the small radio placed above the front desk,' where the phrase 'placed above' is redundant, as merely reading it as 'The young man turned on the small radio on the front desk,' already gives readers a picture of the small radio placed above the front desk, unless it is in an unusual, uncommon position such as inside or on the floor beside it. Trust that the readers will understand and visualize the moment; acknowledge the barrier between the understanding of the writer and the reader that there is a balance that writers should not spoon-feed the readers with excessive, redundant descriptions or underwhelm them with unspecified details. This can be mastered when the writer perceives whether or not the intended meaning of a description is changed or altered when removing or adding something to it. 

Example, in the Prologue, 'She crossed her right arm to her left shoulder and patted the wrinkled hand of the old man, "I'm fine."' When you remove the redundant phrase 'She crossed her right arm to her left shoulder' and condense it to 'She slowly moved her hand to pat the wrinkled hand of the old man behind her." This way, there are more spaces left for words and there are no significant changes in the meaning of the description. In my opinion, these word-by-word descriptions are only exceptional when they highly appeal to the five senses like describing the soft, wooly cotton of the pillow or the overwhelming spicy-sweet fragrance of a food written in an intricate manner but only when the story's genre is intended for slow pacing. 

Another is the heavy presence of the writing technique of 'tell' when the 'show' aspect is already laid out, having no need for the former. This is shown in the line, 'Liway was usually cordial to their guest, but if a Japanese client entered, she always put on a not-amused face and openly treated them coldly. It made Park realize that she had a grudge towards that specific race.' The first sentence uses the 'show' technique of writing, only for the third sentence to unnecessarily conclude it in the 'telling' way. This is not a good way of laying out what is happening for the readers because it will then remove the awe of allowing readers to make sense of what is happening themselves. Instead, the story is explaining to the readers the event when enough details are already given to allude to what is happening, making some readers feel a bit annoyed or robbed of the story's awe for how it is "stating the obvious." The style is already good in giving descriptions and details, therefore, it will only need to remove the lines that explicitly tell the reader the event unfolding. 

Make them do the interpretations themselves but with careful descriptions that are not too excessive or too vague that will lead them away from the main meaning. Again, trust that they will understand what the writer is trying to make them understand in that specific moment of the story. Efficiency and balance is also important in writing. I also noted that there metaphors repeatedly used just after its recent utilization like in Chapter 1 where Liway's expression is described to be like a sweet child who'd just been given a candy something like that, and a few lines later, it proceeds with the father's enthusiasm which also uses the same metaphor with the candy description. I suggest using diverse descriptions to add to its variation. There is also a sudden but small shift to Filipino when the whole language the characters use mainly is in English apart from Filipino terms like Manong or Manang. 

Not to mention, most common folk Filipinos like Liway's family, used Filipino to talk to each other in that historical time. This was in Chapter 1 when Liway said "Si Manong," which came out of nowhere and would be confusing to non-Filipino readers because not only are the dialogues mainly spoken in English, and since the writing also mainly uses it, the language use should stay as consistent as possible. There is also an instance where a voice line in Japanese, '"The general is coming! Gather at the main road and give respect to the general!"', is explicitly written only to be rewritten in the context that it is translated in English. There is no need to lay out a dialogue in foreign context only to be reiterated when the story will only show that a translator will translate it, copying the written sentence word-per-word. Instead, summarize that the Japanese said something in Nihongo and the translator translates it in the next. It will also bring a brief moment of anticipation for readers to wonder what was said. 

There is also the matter that the reading point of view is set in omniscient reading perspective which was not further emphasized until chapter 2 when the story delves into the thoughts of Liway and Park. I thought it was set in the sister's or mother's first point of view at first in the Prologue and first chapter. And last is the line of thought, 'What are you doing, Liway? You're in disguise! You should be running, not standing here like a fool. Get out of here-now!' where I suggest it should be italicized to indicate that the line is in Liway's thoughts and not within the other texts where the story is written, unless it may be the writer themselves speaking to the character through the writing, which is uncommon. 

However, it seems that the writing style doesn't adapt to writing the explicit thought of characters but for the sake of making the writing consistent, write the thought in a consistent third-person point of view instead of making it appear in first-person. I know this is long but these are just my thoughts and suggestions on the writing style, which is, overall, better and more understandable than most.

SPECIFIC QUALITIES: 90/100

Execution: 16/20

There are many things in the story that are well-executed. It embraces the Filipino culture with the mentions of church and frequent family bonding that show their closeness. The Prologue with the scene in confronting the reporters sets the common phenomena where the media focuses more on the controversy of a figure over their talent. It captured deep emotions with the proper laying out of relationships and deep feelings like desperation put into action when Liway went out of the moving car. I also appreciate how it mentions a historical figure and the story doesn't act as if these people don't have an impact in history given the timeline it is set in. The relationship between Liway and Park seems to be apparently going for a romantic type with how it was set in a "love at first sight" kind of meet cute. 

Their dynamic becomes amusing along the way as Liway's prejudice against foreigners and, overall, stubbornness, makes her antagonistic toward Park who just patiently tolerates her and doesn't think of firing her. The sass with Liway actively trying to make Park a bad guy in front of Lee reaches a new level of antagonizing someone maybe because she finds it entertaining or it's because of her generalized prejudice. 

As the story progresses, there is however, a lack of musical element to Liway's ability which is one of her biggest identities in the story by how she was established as a musical prodigy, hinting that it will be a big factor in the story. I also like how Liway is always resisting her impulsiveness to offend the Japanese or other foreigners as it's a hardship within herself considering the things that happened to her and her family. It puts her in a more difficult spot as her new work requires her to tolerate the people, though not exactly the soldiers, who invaded their country. But for the first few chapters when the occupation began, there was no element to appeal to Liway's prodigy pianist identity apart from mentioning discovering Park's collection of her songs. Since she moved to working at the gallery, there was, at least, no mention of her missing playing the piano along with mourning the lives they once had, which I think is important to show how much she is constantly reminded of their dire lives in the present; where she could've been playing the piano instead of being an assistant to a gallery. Different from the field she is used in. 

I suggest adding details of how much she missed playing the piano and as extra, make her listen to her own music from the collection Park had. It was also puzzling how the business card Park put into her pocket was not used at all, for the first few chapters at least. Wouldn't it merit a big role when Liway was looking for a job because of how it seemed like it was being set up to that point? The situation also seemed more believable instead of coincidentally encountering a paper that promoted the photo studio just by a wind that happened to be there and happened to blow in her face. 

There's also a huge potential I think would've pushed the characters to be more exposed in the main conflict using Park's photography occupation to take pictures of the area during the war and Japanese occupation. Though I have not read that far into the story, this event may happen as it progresses. But in case it doesn't, I highly suggest adding moments like these to make the characters not just act passively by surviving the Japanese's abuse, but so they're also having an active interaction in places where the war had severe impacts on not only for the sake of worldbuilding and execution, but to also reveal more about the characters by showing what they think of the situation as they face the deeper realities of warfares. 

There's also Lee who doesn't seem to have an active role in the story, probably as of yet. It seems that he comes into the studio just to be the humorous guy and fill Park's character by comparing his lively nature compared to the latter's mysterious background. I'm not sure if I read anything about him doing something actively in the studio, as he did say he'd help his Big Brother which may be his significant role in the story, but given the explicit writing of the story, I don't seem to quite remember it. I recommend, at least, make him do something helpful in the studio or show him to be doing something important related to the war or the characters, not just by talking to them, that makes readers easy to identify what he does as the war rages on and not just what he is. 

Primarily, this is to reveal how different people or different backgrounds propagate during a war, like how we have Liway, a music prodigy who had to do hard labor to help her family, her sister who's also the same but in a much harsher condition, and Park, a mysterious, seemingly Korean man, who does photography for reasons yet unrevealed, further considering how more about Lee is known than him, too. Overall, I think the story could do more in bringing the elements (plot, characters, plot tools, others) to have closer interconnected relationships and the internal and external conflicts to further reflect on each other.

Pacing: 15/15

The slow-pacing is very appropriate for the genre and ambiance the story is going for. Each moment in a scene lays out the emotional significance every minute reading or so. The warmth, sadness, wonder, resentment, tension, joy; it's as if almost all paragraphs allude to a feeling written in an impressive manner making it more sensational while progressing the story. It seems to perfectly encapsulate the balance between the story's main inclination on emotion mainly embracing the slow-paced rate and rushing through the suspenseful or dynamic moments like when the car got bombed and the father dies without having to linger too much in the moment because that's the appropriate rate to conclude the moment, and thus, the chapter.

Story Elements Unity: 12/15

I like that the love interest is instead a photographer instead of a soldier and a Japanese, diverging expectations. With this, Liway and Park's field are closely associated, wherein combining these together introduces two art forms playing a role in warfare. Liway's rash behavior and Park's calm demeanor is such an amusing dual combination that brings entertainment and adds to the brief light-hearted aspect of the story. Liway's shift from being an innocent, pampered girl to a resentful, stubborn person reflects the condition of the Philippines, which was once a peaceful nation turned to a disastrous place of inequality and prejudice. The elements of the story coming into unity may seem distant as it introduces a protagonist who is a piano prodigy living in a time of war and a country where they are invaded by the enemy. 

However, this contrast is actually interesting and brings a promise to creatively converge these two different areas. Of how music can play a major role in war. I've only read the first few chapters so I can't say much about this, but stripping some musical elements from the story in those parts feel as if the story is straying from its promise as Liway isn't exposed to any object pertaining to the piano, which is a big part of her. I already discussed why this is important for the execution and in terms of the story's element's unity, it is significant because again, it is how the story was established: showing the connection between music and war. Her character made to be a famous figure, the first pianist prodigy of Southeast Asia, should also come with a big role in the story. 

Yet the first few chapters don't seem to be building up on that moment and instead shifts mainly to the relationship between Liway and Park, as if it's taking on a new plot. I suggest adding details that references Liway's pianist ability. These could be in the form of musical objects like disks and she further explores these by listening to them often, or her having a reflection of her piano days like how I elaborated in the Execution section. I don't mean to say that Liway is mainly identified by her talent, but because she was established to be this young master in music, this is still a strong part of her where no one else has that she can use as a weapon or solution in facing the main conflict, the war. This is her external means to challenge the conflict head-on but her motivation mostly comes from her inner strength and growth like love for her family, learning self-control, and more. 

Though the story should focus more on making the characters grow, adding these details that appeal to her musician identity from time to time is still essential to show that part of herself is still there instead of exhibiting the plot pretending to forget that major piece of herself. I'm also expecting that Park's photography field is going to play a huge part as pictures about historical conflicts hold so much perspective. I also anticipate him to possess a deep insight about the situation, providing deeper, new angles about battles, because perspective is a big word for a photographer like him or someone who specializes in galleries. There's also the concern where Park and Lee don't seem too concerned with the war. Though Park is still a mystery and Lee is carefree, and they're both unaffected by the unfair treatment of the Japanese, not showing their response to the main conflict makes them out of touch with reality. 

I propose giving readers a glimpse on what they think of the war, and the oppression, and hint at how the Japanese people treat non-Filipinos even in brief moments in the first chapters before they are further explored in the latter.

Dialogue: 14/15

The dialogue was immensely heartwarming with touches of amusing humor where both are applied in conversations appropriate for particular characters that reflect their personality and relationship. This is shown by the intimate conversation between Liway's family and how teasing is each other is a big part of showing their affection. The voice lines are consistent with their established character where Liway usually speaks with sass and stubbornness, Park is usually calm and pokes fun at others sometimes, the sister is kind and gentle, and more.

However, there are big flaws in the structure and execution of the dialogue, affecting the reading flow. First, there were no dialogue tags in some voice lines. I already discussed this in the Writing Mechanics and Style section because it's more appropriate there. There was also the line where it would be more proper to format it in Italics because the pronouns were switched into second person POV. I also mentioned this beforehand. This is for the sake of the writing consistency of the story and not to confuse the readers. But overall, the dialogues fit the multicultural context between the diverse people and play relevant roles mostly in highlighting their characters.

Plot Hole Presences: 4/5

So far, the story is progressing good. Though the mother and brother were missing in action for the first few chapters, I think there is a reasonable reason for their disappearance and it holds a significant role in the story. The only plot hole I deduced was how did none of the Japanese soldiers recognize Liway's face? She is said to be the first Asian/Southeast Asian prodigy so surely her face would be plastered on international papers. This was a big wonder until it was only mentioned in Chapter 3 that Liway disguised herself as Leo. I suggest bringing this disguise thing up as early as possible before displaying Liway to be out in public because not including this would put out the obvious plot hole in the story of why no one recognized her. Bringing it up only after she went out would dislodge the laying of the sequence of the events and unintentionally bother the readers with the plot pitfall.

Overall Enjoyment: 4/5

I enjoyed it all in all. It was fun with almost all the characters showing their goofy side to cope with the war in the country. The output of Filipino culture through the characters, relationships, and worldbuilding pulled me into the immersion of experiencing the culture before there were the modern cities. The bond between the family was realistic and heartwarming, making the death of Eduardo more tragic and the family has to move on in less time than needed because they are forced to labor under the Japanese occupation. 

Park having a mysterious background did well to intrigue the readers in his introduction. Reading each line is new information revealed about the character, the world, the situation, and the feelings, making one moment linger not too long but except for the filler words. Very impressive, and I recommend it to people interested in historical fiction with a mix of the unusual elements coming together made into a heartwarming story and a touch of romance. But in the end, the main drawback was the shortfall of engaging in the worldbuilding due to the details that could have been added in the first few chapters that projects out the 1940s Philippines atmosphere.

Theme: 25/25

What also makes it a good read was the apparent theme the story lays out in almost all its aspects. In the Prologue, it shows people's vulnerability against the mass media with the pressure of the public wanting to sip out drama from a popular figure to twist it into their own liking through tactical questions better left unanswered. Considering the Prologue showed that Liway has been rumored to conspire with the Japanese, the very people who oppressed the Filipinos in history, it's only reasonable for people to think she deserves the award for National Artist of the Philippines, despite showcasing her grand talent. 

Bringing up the division classes is still a relevant topic to explore even today, holding many more insights by the topic itself that allows people of different backgrounds to come up with their own interpretation for it. Valuing family as the core motivation for people to keep going through hardship is a strong lesson to put out there with war as one of the biggest disasters in the world. Finding the time to bond with your family and peers communicates the importance of relationships as they're the driving force that pushes a casualty of war to survive. Maintaining these relationships and making new ones--Liway, and Park and Lee--also shows that no matter the dire situation, human survival has depended on connections in many ways. 

The struggle to retain an individual's passion versus giving it up for survival is a character conflict that serves a critical relevance in this modern world like where talents and passion are instead replaced by the status quo in most industries just so an individual can make meets end. The themes of war, relationship values, passion, love, culture, and others used well and combined with the elements in the story yield many more powerful morals readers of any background and individual trait can infer easily from the book. It's excellent and inspiring.