Title

The title 'The Girl From Swan Lake' made me assume that the book was going to be about a girl who may play a part in some kind of play or dance. I'm assuming swan lake is a dance, but I don't actually know. The title is fairly standard, it doesn't really attract my attention though.

Cover

The book cover is very simple. It looks like a Google image has been slapped on with some text. The image doesn't really have much colour, but it is related to the book, so that's a good thing.

The text could be placed a little higher. It is more difficult to see at the bottom as the image looks darker there so it does clash with the text. I would suggest using a better quality image for the cover though, one with a little more colour so it looks more appealing to readers.

Blurb

The blurb is well constructed. We have a short introduction to the main character Grace and we're told a little about what she likes and her interests, including her crush Daniel. It seems very generic, just about a normal girl who's struggling to meet the goals she's set for herself and then she has all this other extra pressure on top of her as well.

I can't say that I found the blurb interesting, personally it seems like the book is about ballet and I just don't really have an interest in that. However, I'm sure there are other readers who do and would very much enjoy reading your book.

First Chapter

The first chapter opens up with two friends having a discussion about school with Grace feeling nervous and scared. Both of the friends seem to be on the creative side, with Grace liking dance and Sky liking painting and art. You've got the school bully Lila of course who clearly has nothing better to do than put people down.

I'm assuming that Grace must have switched schools or something based on the comment Lila made. It seems like Grace is getting bullied. I feel like you did a decent job of writing the first chapter with a lot of detail, however there's nothing in there that is telling me to turn the page and keep reading. It just hasn't hooked me onto the book and that's what I feel like a first chapter should do.

Plot / Theme

I can't lie but I found it really cliche how Daniel, the good looking, popular boy suddenly needs help with his studying and decides to ask Grace for help like 'hello Daniel, can you not see that Grace is stressed out already?'. I did have a feeling that Daniel and Grace will end up bonding whilst studying and love follow. I'm glad that Grace managed to get over her fear of stage fright and her nerves, and she does seem more confident at the end which is good.

The plot seems okay; you have put some effort into it and tried to make it original, however I do feel like it's missing something. I was expecting some twists and unexpected events to occur which didn't happen so that was a shame. I'm not really sure what theme you're actually going for in this book, it's somewhat difficult to understand it.

Writing

Your writing is good; you've used descriptive language consistently throughout the book and your sentences are not boring either so this means I can continue to read the book without getting fed up. For the most part, it seems like your spelling and grammar is great, however like all books, I don't think it'd hurt you if you were to just go over it again and check that there are no errors.

Some feedback would be to ensure that your chapters are a consistent length as I noticed that some were short whilst others were much longer. Try to include detail in your chapters, but not too much to the point where it bores the reader.

I'd recommend aiming for maybe 2500 words per chapter.

Characters

Grace seems like a very shy character at first, however I'm able to see how her character slowly develops into this confident, young lady. Her friend, Sky, also seems very supportive and I think it's nice how they maintain their friendship despite both of them being busy with their own lives.

I would have liked to have seen more personality in the character. I was able to see some emotions and thoughts, but I don't feel like I actually know what kind of girl Grace really is. Making your characters different and giving them their own thoughts and personalities allows the reader to delve deep into their mind and wonder what's going on.

Overall Impression

Personally, I did not enjoy the book due to the fact that I didn't find it interesting, but, that is my own personal opinion and others may enjoy reading your book, but it just wasn't for me. The way you've written the book shows me you've put effort into it as each chapter was constructed well, but there is room for improvement and I can only hope my feedback in each area does help you.

Reviewed by: Pixie