Firstly, I want to start with an apology towards the writer of this book. I on the behalf of the other reviewers want to say sorry to you for taking an awfully long time getting this review done considering the fact that you were one of the first writers who submitted their book up for reviewal.
I did make the effort to actually read the entire book, all eighty chapters and provide you with an honest review.

Title

The title of this book is one very simple word which we tend to hear a lot nowadays "Immigrant". This single word made my mind explode because I hadn't read the blurb nor anything else but was thinking about what this book could be about, whether it involved human trafficking or smuggling. It's safe to say that it did the job of making me think and it's a good title for the book.

Cover

The book cover is a 50/50 for me, you've used an image of a city and you can see the lights and everything. It looks really cool and I can understand how it relates to the book because Valeria has moved to Seattle which is like the big bad city so it makes sense. On the other hand, I feel as though the image used on the cover isn't the best of quality and it's not very eye catching either.

The font isn't too bad, it gives the cover a shabby kind of look which I like. My feedback for you would be to try and find another high quality image to use or try to create a book cover specifically based on the key idea of the book as I'm aware that the book is long and has a lot in it.

Blurb

The blurb is short and it's okay, however, I think it can be improved in some ways. You've introduced the two main characters Davis and Valeria in the blurb which is good because at least now the readers won't get them confused with the rest of the characters.

The issue is that as much as the blurb is informative, it just isn't interesting enough to draw the reader in and make them actually want to read the book. If it wasn't for the title or the fact that the book was up for reviewal, I most likely would have not read the book based on the blurb itself. I would suggest that you try to add something a little more exciting in the blurb, I mean there are over 70 chapters in the book so surely, you'd be able to include some more information.

First chapter

The first chapter was fascinating as we were introduced to the main character Valeria who explained how she's moved from Mexico to Seattle for her education. She's basically the new girl who's moved to the big, bad city and tries to explore it- well explore the university campus more like. Then of course, she just happens to meet James and Davis who are rather rude to her at first, well Davis continues to be rude throughout the whole chapter and comes across as a prick whilst James does apologise and tries to be nice or civil at least.

The first chapter was good, I'm not really sure if there is anything you can improve on because you haven't necessarily included or excluded too much in the first chapter. I'd say it was a decent chapter, it definitely got me to turn the page and continue to read so it's a job well done.

Plot/themes

The plot felt like it was going at a very fast pace, one of which I didn't really like at first because it's like the characters had just met and then everything escalated out of control. It definitely felt like I was reading a cliche book at some points because it's like Davis is the typical, good looking player who's also a total prick and then Valeria is like the innocent, naive girl- well at first she is and then her true colours come out.

I liked how Valeria sneaked off with Ed and Davis saw her but he was too busy with Sydney. I feel like Davis was angry because he finally got a taste of his own medicine and he didn't like it, yeah well the truth does hurt so suck it up Davis.

I find it incredibly annoying how Davis sometimes comes across as controlling and not like the alpha male I want him to across as. It is crazy how their friends are all involved in their lives because they're so close to each other, the storyline with Cora is something which I kind of saw coming because Nia warned Valeria that Cora was manipulative.

I felt some sympathy for Valeria for what half of the characters put her through, especially what Liam did to her and the last chapter was literally a bombshell when Aaron revealed to Davis that Valeria had tried to end her life twice before moving to Seattle. I mean I knew Valeria had suffered a lot with her family and past but I had no idea that it was that bad. Also, every time Valeria and Davis argue, he comes after her and it just turns into something else. I think we all know what I mean by something else.

I don't think this book has been classed under the mature theme and no warnings have been given to the readers but I think there definitely should be as there were many mature themes throughout the book which are not suitable for all readers plus the numerous scenes of intimacy which were quite graphic as well. I would highly suggest you include a warning on the blurb at least or before the first chapter. I do feel like the plot was getting boring at times or the book was going too fast for me to enjoy it properly. I would suggest making any amendments to the book once you've completed writing it.

Writing style

Your writing style is very good as I managed to complete reading the book so that certainly says something about it. You were very descriptive and creative with your writing, this was demonstrated with several of the scenes between the characters. As much as I enjoyed your book and like your writing style, there were a few issues that need to be considered.

The first issue is spelling and grammar mistakes, I was a little shocked to find numerous mistakes because of the length of the book. I realised halfway through the book that it hasn't been edited properly at all. There was also the confusion with your tenses, I spotted a few times where you had confused the tenses in the sentences and so they didn't make sense fully. My feedback for you would be to find yourself an experienced editor and get your book edited properly as I see a lot of potential in you and your writing but the book needs editing.

I'm going to include some examples of the mistakes/typos I've come across when reading so people don't think that I'm just exaggerating or lying in my review.

Below are some examples of spelling and grammar mistakes or missing punctuation and confusion with the tenses.

You've spelt the word "biting" as "bitting". This may be a minor mistake but a reader can still spot it.

You've spelt "eyebrows" as "eye browns". This mistake/typo definitely stood out for me.

There is missing punctuation as there should be a comma after the word "sandwich" and there is also confusion with the tense as you've written "My sandwich croissant and hot chocolate arrived". You've written it as though it has happened in the past, however, you then switch back to present afterwards

This is a scene between Ed and Valeria where he says "We have never get alone too much". Straight away, this does not make sense at all and the entire sentence needs to be rephrased or rewritten.

Again we have some missing punctuation, I can't see that apostrophe in the word "Lets" anywhere.

The word "though" has been spelt incorrectly and left as "thou".

I know you probably think I'm picking at small things but these small things make a big difference. A sentence isn't a sentence if it's missing punctuation and a word isn't a word if it's spelled incorrectly.

Character development

Valeria is shy and quiet at first and comes across as a very naive girl who's constantly falling for the bad boy and can't stop thinking about him. Her character definitely took a big development as she changed into this confident, young lady, however, I have to say that she is still naive because she allowed Davis to put her through so much and yet still stayed with him and it wasn't because she loved him at first, she was more like fascinated about him and infatuated but then of course, it did end up turning into love like always.

Davis is a mixture of everything, he's shrouded with mystery in the first 20 chapters until he begins to finally open up about his past and then we learn about all the hardships he's been through such as the death of his sister, his brother ruining the family and going to prison as well as his past with Cora. I did Davis very annoying at first because it was like his emotions were always out of control, especially when it concerned Valeria. I mean, she told him that she's going out to eat and then five minutes later, he bombards her with calls and messages before following her and asking what she's doing there like she did tell you that she's going out to eat.

I don't really like how Nia or Laura hardly checked up on Valeria when she was going through so much shit with Davis like that's your friend, what happened to girl code and girls having each others backs? It seemed like Nia and Laura cared more about partying and going out than being with their friend and helping her when she needed them.

Overview

Overall, I did enjoy reading the book but not too much, I think it's mainly because some chapters and scenes were a bit cliche and the spelling, grammar and punctuation also kind of disappointments me in a way.

On the other hand, I would say you've done a good job with the book as it does bring in and increase awareness of anxiety, PTSD and how it can affect someone and the kind of impact it has on someone's life. I think it's quite important to include these topics as not many books include real life issues, conditions such as those which were included in your book.

I would recommend this book for others to read despite there being many areas which could be improved, I did still enjoy the book and it's not a bad read so feel free to check it out and give it a go.

Reviewed by: Pixie