Final Total: 2.5 (reshelved)

Reader 1:

Cover: 2/4 The photo is quite atmospheric, giving a nice haunting, paranormal feel. But should probably be reframed so that there is more of the spooky green & trees than forest floor. 

The biggest problem here is the size and arrangement of the letters. They are hard to read and waaaaay too small. I'm going to have to whip out a magnifying glass to find read them properly. Large, larger, largest -- if you can manage it!    You also don't need "by" next to the author name, as that is more school or press release, than what appears on covers (although some tiny presses do use that, which is a big tip off that they're tiny presses who can't afford real graphic designers.) 

Title: .5/2 Doesn't tell me anything. Doesn't ring any associative bells (maybe 'reckon'?), nor does it have a texture that would encourage me to see what it's all about. Could be a person, place or thing. 

Blurb: 0/4

Every journey has a beginning. Daniel Ravin's journey started as a child. Ummmmm....so did everybody else's. We all start as kids.

 His past has returned for revenge, forcing him on a journey he has tried his whole life to avoid. That's the word "journey" three times, two times too many for this short of a space. The main thing missing here is: details. First, we're handed the obvious: Daniel's journey began when he was a child. Good for Danny. What journey? Where to? About what? A physical, mental, spiritual, multi-dimensional journey? What exactly are we talking about here? 

Then we're told, Daniel's past has returned for revenge. Fine, but is this a situation, a person, an idea from his past? What was his past like? How are we to understand what's coming for him when we don't know where he's been? And then, there's this NEW journey. Not the one he started on as a kid, no, a new journey that he's been avoiding! I'm not being providing with nearly enough to know if I want to look further into this story or not. It sounds confused and like maybe even the author doesn't really know what's going on -- or just doesn't want to tell us. So, that'll be a pass for me.

Total: 2.5 (I've put the book back on the shelf)

Reader 2:

Cover: 1/4 So, I see you stated that someone else did the cover for you, and I am sorry to say, they didn't do you any favours. The white writing doesn't read well over the photo, the font is frankly atrocious for this context, and the composition leaves a lot to be desired.

I would suggest, if you are not very good at doing covers for yourself, you use an online program like canva, or even Wattpad's recommended Desygner, to help yourself out a bit. There are a lot of nice templates you can use, to get a much better result and quickly. Let me know if you need some help on that. Alternatively, there are some amazing artists on this website you could ask.

The photo is interesting, and hints at supernatural - this is not backed up by the blurb, so maybe expand on that?

Title: 1/2 The title itself is interesting, but having read the blurb it seems to refer to nothing, and that jars me.

Blurb: 1/4  You're giving me so little to go with I don't really know where to start here. This is even less than an elevator pitch. Your blurb is incredibly vague, makes no reference to who - or what - the title Reikon is, and considering it is the title I'd assume it was important to the story?

"Every journey has a beginning" is such a cliche, and really doesn't tell your readers anything. Of course each journey has a beginning. Then you say Daniel's had started as a child. But you tell us nothing about what this journey is, what is it in his past that has returned for revenge, or what it is that he is avoiding. Mystery is all good and all, especially considering this is a thriller, but you need to give something to grip your readers.

Also, you have used the word "journey" 3 times in as many sentences. 

Total: 3 (I've put the book back on the shelf)

Reader 3:

Cover: 1/4 First, while this cover's vibe is good (green, black, and yellow give it a creepy feel, and the swirling black thing is ominous) it's too hard to read the title, and the 'subtitle' might as well not be there. The brush text is lost in the swirly thing. Which brings me to the second problem. There is no real focal point for the picture. It's dark and moody, but any mystery is wiped out by the fact that there isn't a strong enough hint that this is actually supposed to be a monster. It's just... a swirly thing. There isn't anything in that one-liner of a blurb to help out in that department, either. 

Last, but not least, overall, this looks very much like a kid's school report, mostly because of the 'A Novel,' and the 'By Garrett Raymond.' So. Make the title larger/more visible, get rid of 'a novel,' and 'by,' and find a pic for the background that has 1.) a clearer connection to your blurb, and 2.) a clearer subject. Either it needs to be amore understandable image of a demon/dragon/creature, or it needs to be a clearer image of fabric in the shape of a demon/dragon/creature/person. Either way will work, but the half-way thing is irritatingly vague.

Title: 1/2 One word, cool, unreled to both the cover and the blurb... not so cool. What in the heck is a Reikon?

Blurb: 0/4 This isn't a blurb. It's a tagline. Clear and concise as it may be, it gives no real indication of what earns this book the creepy, demon, serialkiller, supernatural, thriller, or fbi tags. Not that you would have tags in a bookstore, but it would be in one of those departments, I imagine. The cover hints just a tiny bit at it being creepy, but as mentioned it doesn't actually have any clear relationship to what's going on in the "blurb."

Mention something! 'Every journey has a beginning.' Well that's nice, got anything else? 'Daniel Ravin's journey started as a child.' Oh. So intriguing. I thought he might have started as a bat. That would have been fun... Reverse Batman... Oh wait! 'His past has returned for revenge'! Ok... His childhood returned for revenge? That's all I've got to go on, right now, so... Ah. Wonderful. Now he's being forced 'on a journey he has tried his whole life to avoid.' So, his journey DIDN'T actually start as a child. Maybe he IS a bat. Which is it? He's a child, he's not a child, his childhood started his journey, he didn't go on the journey, what are you trying to say? (That's the problem with truncated blurbs. There is absolutely NO wiggle room.)

I would suggest giving just a tiny bit more setting at the beginning. 'Deep in the forests of Endor,' for instance. Your character intro could stay basically the same, even if it's a bit obvious, but the last part of the sentence needs to be elaborated on a bit. His journey started as a child... when what happened? There's no inciting incident mentioned. He started killing people? He witnessed a murder? He was possessed by the demon Reikon? I have no idea, which makes it so vague it's not all that interesting. You can then move from there into his 'past' returning for revenge, and your reader will understand what the heck you're talking about.

You need a better villain than 'past,' BTW. It's faceless and toothless. Is it the demon? The Reikon? Why should I be invested in your character's problem if I don't even know what that problem is?

The last part of the last sentence is fairly decent with its hint at a main conflict. But what are the stakes if he goes on this journey? What's the resolution supposed to be? Will he conquer his own fear? Will he keep the Reikon from returning and slaying people? Without those two things, there isn't really any tension in the blurb. He doesn't want to go on a journey, but he's going on one. Could be a description of the Lord of the Rings, or my last trip to Wal-Mart. Give me more. Not a TON more, you don't have to dump everything on me at once, but there's not enough here to drag me in yet.

Total: 2 (I've put this book back on the shelf).