Title

The title 'His Light At Stake' makes me think the light symbolises something else, I'm not exactly sure what. It also makes me think that the book could be about a character who is going through a hard time. It's a interesting title, and does make me curious as to what the book is going to be about.

Cover

The book cover is very simple with a silhouette of a couple embracing each other. This makes me assume that one of the themes in the book could possibly be love. You've got the sun glistening in the background and the sky above. The colours used on the book cover all blend really nicely together and go well.

The fonts used for the title look great on the book cover as you've used two different styles that go together. You've used the colour black which suits the rest of the cover and avoids clashing with the background because of how you've positioned the title.

Blurb

The blurb is short but informative which makes me like it, especially since you've introduced the main character Rayna. Just from reading the blurb, I'm assuming that Rayna is going through a bit of a personal struggle with her past haunting her at night and of course the loss of her family affecting her. I do feel some sympathy towards her as she seems to have gone through a lot.

The blurb is interesting though as it says she meets a stranger, I want to know more about this stranger and how he will have an impact on Rayna and what will happen next. You've done a good job with the blurb, I don't feel like there's any feedback I can give you here.

First Chapter

The first chapter introduced us to Elijah and we can clearly see that he has a troubled past and has many doubts about himself being a good father. He feels like he's failed at being a father due to his sons being out of control.

The same goes for Rayna. She came across as this broken character because she was crying in the streets and possibly frustrated as well when she kicked the stone. It is interesting and I'm beginning to wonder whether Elijah could be the stranger who Rayna meets in the back. I'm curious to see how it all works out between them.

Some feedback would be to add a little more detail to the chapters as they are quite short. The detail could just be a bit of information about their past, but not too much of course. It's important to find a balance between info dumping, and withholding crucial information.

Plot/theme

The plot is going at a reasonable pace with Rayna bumping into the stranger about twice now. It seems like she has a very difficult past as she begins having flashbacks, and then there's the notes being left for her which scare her. You can practically sense the fear from her when she reads the note and then runs away.

I'm not sure what the themes are in the book at the moment but I feel like this is because the book is still in the early days yet. You've done good with the plot in terms of making sure it moves on slowly. I would suggest you try to ensure you continue doing this with the rest of your chapters as well. Personally, I have enjoyed reading the chapters so far. I'm liking it very much.

Writing

Your style of writing is good and you have used a range of descriptive language consistently throughout the book which did make it enjoyable for me to read as a reader because I wasn't getting bored of the plotline.

My only feedback would be to try to include the themes of your book throughout your writing so the reader can have some sense of this as well. Spelling and grammar like always need to be checked up on as there will always be silly mistakes hidden amongst the rest of your writing somewhere waiting to be found and corrected.

Characters

The development of both of your characters - Rayna and Elijah - is very much in the early days as Elijah has only just been introduced and makes brief appearances. He comes across as a cold, harsh character at the moment, however, I'd love to see more of his personality, emotions and thoughts throughout the book because it does feel like he's hiding something at the moment.

Rayna comes across a very broken character with a past that is clearly still haunting her to this day. In terms of both of your characters, there could improvement in really getting into their shoes when writing as them so you're able to evoke real emotion with the reader.

Overall Impression

The book is very much in the early days, and so of course there is room for improvement. My main advice would be to ensure consistency throughout your work when it comes to the length of your chapters, writing style, and descriptive language. I feel like if you plan the plot of the book properly, it will be much easier for you to be able to write the chapters as you would be expanding on the points. I'm hoping the feedback I have given does help you to improve your work somehow.

Good luck with the rest of your book!

Reviewed by: Pixie