A/n: This is going to be one of my shortest reviews ever. The hardest reviews to write, are for those books that completely blow you away. Because what do I say, when I don't really have any suggestions to give? Probably just going to gush about how much I loved it, I guess. And also, I would like to recommend this book to anyone who comes across this review; do check it out.

Username: Nicental

Book title: Dark Haven

Genre: Short story - Dark romance.

Focus: Plot, grammar, writing.

Book cover:

This is probably going to be a recurring theme in this review, but I LOVED it. I loved the cover. The image is well chosen. Beautiful space management. Font style as well as size is perfect. Author's name is clear and visible.

I don't have any suggestions. It's perfect.

Blurb:

Now the things is, when blurbs are short like one or two sentences, I always suggest expanding them. But none of my usual suggestions will apply to your story because it doesn't really fit into a box. It's totally something else. For your story, I think what you have done is perfect. Others might or might not agree, but I personally thought it was genius. Great job! I don't have any suggestions.

Plot: (focus)

Again, what can I say? Your story is something else. How do I judge it based on premise, pacing, originality, plot holes etc. when none of them actually apply?

Every single aspect was beautiful. This is a work of art and it can't be judged by the usual standards. So I'm just going to deviate and talk about the story arc instead of the usual stuff.

The story arc was great. You started with something relatively normal (normal for the book, it still was pretty twisted) and it grew more and more sinister and dark as it progressed. The beginning, the middle, the end: top-notch execution.

When people write short stories (talking about myself here) it's easy to forget that it too, needs to follow an arc. And that it too, should have a proper first, second and third act. But with yours, not only have you remembered to structure your story properly, but you have done it so seamlessly and effortlessly. It was a joy to read.

Writing style: (creative) (focus)

Man! Your writing style... What can I say? To sum it up, it blurs the line between poetry and prose. And I don't mean the badly executed flowery descriptions, but actual, poetry.

Your writing is as seductive and sinful as your characters. How many ways can you express obsession, without actually saying it outright? This was a masterclass in showing and not telling.

The second person narrative usually gives me war flashbacks, because I have read one too many y/n fanfics out here on wattpad. But your book reminded me how beautiful it can be when executed properly, by somebody who knows what they are doing.

Every single line drew me in and forced me to pay attention. I'm usually a fast reader, but with your book, I slowed down because each and every word was written with a purpose, just like poetry. Beautiful, beautiful writing. Probably one of the most seductive ones I've ever read on wattpad.

And the actual poem at the end. Beautiful.

Writing style: (technical) (focus)

With regards to grammar and stuff, I usually take notes for the first chapter so people can just follow it for the rest. But with yours, I finished reading and realised I hadn't actually taken any notes. So I went back and combed through with a magnifying glass and came up with minor flaws. This doesn't take anything away from the quality of your writing, because they were mostly just typos. It'll probably take you five minutes to edit the whole book. However, I thought I'll just point out stuff from the first chapter, or scene rather.

Line 1:

The first line of the book. Now I'm not saying there was anything grammatically wrong with it. But I think maybe it was a bit too long. I totally understand that it was intentional but I still think breaking it up would be a little better. I suggest a fullstop after "my thoughts are dark."

Line 2:

"Reducing your will into nothing"

Edit:

"Reducing your will to nothing"

Line 3:

Comma instead of a fullstop after "out of all the people on earth"

Line 4:

"I see that you are busy," your words draw my attention.

Edit:

"I see that you are busy." Your words draw my attention.

This is because what follows the dialogue is an action and not a dialogue tag so a fullstop should be used instead of a comma.

Line 5:

"We have a connection..."

The problem with this line is that it's too convoluted. There is nothing grammatically wrong with it, but it confuses the readers a bit.

As you can see, there's nothing really that wrong with any of your sentences. They are all either typos or extremely minor issues. I only mention them in such detail because you requested grammar as a focus.

Characters:

You know after reading the whole book, I realise that I don't actually know the gender of either of them. You haven't mentioned names but the genders too... What a masterful thing to do!

I don't know if it was intended that way or if you had specific genders for either of them in your mind. When I started out, I automatically assumed that the painter was a male and the muse was a female which I think is probably what you intended, but you never state it out loud. The physical descriptions you give them could actually apply to any gender.

I went back and checked, maybe there was some small clue I missed, but overall, you keep it so intimate yet so non specific. Masterfully done. I have spent the whole story inside a character's head without knowing their name or their gender or age or anything for that matter. But the connection forged was so intimate and so skillfully done. I have no words. Beautiful.

Final thoughts:

I think your writing will stay with me for a long time. Whatever flaws your book has, its so inconsequential and will take you five minutes to fix, if that. Beautiful writing, beautiful story, beautiful execution. I usually hope that the person who requested finds my review useful, but I haven't actually offered any suggestion at all. All I can do is congratulate you on being a writer of this caliber and thank you for choosing me to review the book. Truly great writing! Keep on rocking!