Hello, everyone!

I present to you, with a not-at-all-small delay, and yet still here, the reviews for category Mystery/Thriller! 😅

This wouldn't have been at all possible without:
Kailucy
Milestunes_xx
@ninpanibright

Thank you! 💕💖

I'm really sorry I won't be able to provide results for the rest of the categories! 🙇

The past year has been much busier for me than predicted, and it seems to get even more hectic, so I won't be starting any new contests for a while.

Happy holidays to everyone celebrating the orthodox Easter! 🐣🪺

Love you all! 😘💋

🙊❤️‍🔥🙊

🥇Agent X
by ScribbleYourThoughts

Judge: Kailucy

Writing style: 10/10
Pacing: 14/15
Setting: 9/10
Character descriptions: 9/10
Dialogue: 9/10
Plot: 19/20
Character development: 13/15
Overall enjoyment: 10/10

Total: 93/100

So far, I'm really enjoying this. The characters are wonderful, and I'd love to learn more about them. The dialogue feels realistic; a few sentences felt a little off, but it wasn't bad. The pacing is decent, and I like that it's taking time to build up. I look forward to reading more when I have more time.

🙊🙀🙊

🥇Still
by AhmedSKA

Judge: Ash Donovan

Writing style: 9/10
Pacing: 14/15
Setting: 9/10
Character descriptions: 9/10
Dialogue: 9/10
Plot: 20/20
Character development: 13/15
Overall enjoyment: 10/10

Total: 93/100

This story will make a great horror movie! I love how the characters are described in the first chapter via photographs. It's an approach I don't see often. And it all gets super interesting right away. When the characters are having an important emotional moment, the scene seems a bit rushed, and I did see a few grammar issues... for example, instead of "Infront" it should be "in front", but the whole composition is so spot on, I barely paid any attention to them.

I love it!

😈❤️‍🔥🙊

🥈Curse of Rose de Winter
by flowersforleah

Judge: Milestunes_xx

Writing style: 9/10
Pacing: 12.5/15
Setting: 7.5/10
Character descriptions: 7.5/10
Dialogue: 9.5/10
Plot: 17/20
Character development: 12.5/15
Overall enjoyment: 8.5/10

Total: 84/100

The story was intriguing I definitely enjoyed reading it. However, I do feel there could be some improvements made, specifically in the pacing and word choices. The timeframes for each chapter by itself are well planned but there needs to be more descriptions in each chapter to make it a smoother transition between each time jump. Adding in more descriptions of the emotional feelings and thoughts, for instance, could slow down the pacing and make for a smoother read. It is important to be selective of word choices as well since the word chosen can set the mood for a certain scene, adding or taking away from the main essence. For instance, calling someone 'generous' gives a much more positive tone to the context than calling them 'extravagant'. In other aspects, I really enjoyed this story! I love the concept and writing style and it was an interesting read so keep at it!

🙊🙈🙊

🥉A Blade of Dead Poems
by CubistPerson

Judge: ninpanibright

Writing style: 8/10
Pacing: 13/15
Setting: 4/10
Character descriptions: 4/10
Dialogue: 9/10
Plot: 16/20
Character development: 13/15
Overall enjoyment: 7/10

Total: 74/100

I think the writer needs to improve his character and setting descriptions because readers need to envisage the scene in front of them in a spicy mystery/thriller book and people often learn a lot from a character's description. What I love about this book is how the riddles which are used to solve the mystery are written (in the form of poems), also, dialogue is very important for mystery books because the reader learns about the main character's progress from his dialogue with others and this writer has done that. The reader is inclined to continuing reading. As I said above, the characters are a bit too shallow, so the writer should work on that, and their use of tenses as well (there's a little mix up here there with the use of past and present tense). To conclude the writing style is okay but not the best and the writer should work on that when editing.

🙊🤍🙊

4️⃣ An Online Mystery
by Aweirdoonearth01

Judge: Milestunes_xx

Writing style: 7/10
Pacing: 11/15
Setting: 10/10
Character descriptions: 5.5/10
Dialogue: 8/10
Plot: 7/20
Character development: 10/15
Overall enjoyment: 4/10

Total: 62.5/100

As a lover of cliches, the plot follows a common cliché of a typical online romance novel, yet it does not hint at any romance which intrigues the reader on what type of story this might turn out to be. However, the presentation of the story isn't consistent and it does not adhere to the given genre (i.e. mystery). The lack of consistent writing style may even be frustrating for some to read as there is an overwhelming amount of unnecessary commentary and descriptions in the majority of the story. The dialogue style doesn't remain consistent either which is quite confusing when reading. Additionally, the purpose of some screenshots is lost as the information is repeated below it. I think this story does have some potential but the plot is slightly unclear and I'm unsure on what genre it belongs in currently. The writing needs to be more focused as well. Still, it does have the potential, so keep writing and you'll get there!

🙊🙈🙊

5️⃣ PreeJun Ff: Kashmakash
by salley145

Judge: Ash Donovan

Writing style: 6/10
Pacing: 11/15
Setting: 4/10
Character descriptions: 5/10
Dialogue: 6/10
Plot: 14/20
Character development: 9/15
Overall enjoyment: 7/10

Total: 62/100

The first thing I've noticed is that grammar needs more work. The word "and" was used pretty often. You might try replacing it with commas or "as", depending on the specific case. For example, "he asked, tucking her fringe behind her ear as she rested her head on his shoulder". Also, it should be "crying" instead of "cryingly", as in "Preeta said crying". These are not the only grammatical issues I saw but I can't list all of them in the review.

Plot-wise, you succeed in capturing the reader's attention with the very first chapter. I got emotionally involved with Preeta and her misfortune from the get go. However, from chapter 3 onward, the pace seems a bit rushed. Some actions could be described with more attention to detail.

Overall, the book is interesting but it will become even better after editing.

🙊🤍🙊

6️⃣ A Love Worth Saving
by AmaPriscilla7

Judge: Ash Donovan

Writing style: 6/10
Pacing: 10/15
Setting: 5/10
Character descriptions: 4/10
Dialogue: 7/10
Plot: 9/20
Character development: 7/15
Overall enjoyment: 7/10

Total: 55/100

This book is participating in category Mystery/Thriller but at least in the first 9 chapters, I didn't see anything that would classify it as Mystery. It's more of a romance. It starts with the happy ever after the crisis in the relationship is resolved. Not the typical plot structure I'm used to.

Pacing is a bit rushed. At times the setting is described in detail that helps the reader imagine where the action is happening, like when Nicole goes to the beach, but in other scenes it could be divided more time on descriptions, both on the setting and characters. For example, in the first chapter, you could also describe Nicole's hair and how she moves to the music, the way only a man in love would view it.

Sometimes, you use past tense even when the event could be told in present tense. For example, in the first chapter, when the boys enter the club.

In dialogue, I saw a lot of "says" and "asks". They could be replaced with synonyms or characters' actions. At times, dialogue tags are missing.

In conclusion, the story still requires some editing, but it looks promising.

❤️💋❤️

6️⃣ The Stolen Crown
by CAMoltzau

Judge: ninpanibright

Writing style: 7/10
Pacing: 14/15
Setting: 3/10
Character descriptions: 4/10
Dialogue: 7/10
Plot: 9/20
Character development: 7/15
Overall enjoyment: 4/10

Total: 55/100

Firstly, I admire anyone who writes historical fiction in the 21st century. Writing historical fiction is not easy because one who have to study the rules, the manner of talking and the light. I liked the fact that the writer decided to write on historical mystery. But I will say, this book has a lot of weak sides like the use of too much exaggeration, descriptions don't tie well (the writer is trying to avoid focusing on physical attributes but is not doing it well), dialogue is a bit empty. Like I said, writing historical fiction isn't easy and the writer needs to do a lot of editing and proofreading. But all in all, it's not a really bad read.

🙊🤍🙊