Book: Winter Fall

Author: Shumin12

Reviewer: TuesdaysLeftovers

Please note that this review is only based on chapters (1-12) because of time constraints and/or it was updated after the review was written. Because of this, some aspects of this review may be incorrect or different as the review is not made considering the book as a whole. Thank you.

Description: 2/5

While the description uses a quite direct and slightly descriptive writing style, it does not really tell much of the content of the book in any aspect. It is very vague and while some parts of the plot can maybe be inferred from it, it is very unclear.

There is also an issue in the fact that I assume you were trying to write poetry, but I’ll touch on that later in the “Way of Writing” section. Essentially, what you are writing is not poetry.

Cover: 3/5

The cover is okay as it seems to convey the kind of themes present in the book and the main characters, yet the whole thing looks a bit incohesive because every part of the cover has noticeable differences in lighting and style. An easy fix to this is to add a semi-transparent layer of something (such as sparkles or snow falling) over the whole cover, which will give the illusion of cohesiveness.

Title: 5/5

I like your title a lot because it's simple, yet it conveys one of the main themes of the book.

First Impression: 3/5

When I opened the first chapter, I was pleasantly surprised to see it start out with an attempt at poetry. While the content of the poetry is artistic and beautiful, the way it was written, like I said for the description, is written not very well, and it can not really be considered poetry. Once again, I will elaborate more about this in the “Way of Writing” section.

Readers Interaction: 4/5

(Remember, the amount of readers and how much they interact with the book does not determine anything about the quality of a person’s writing. Reader’s interaction varies from many different things such as the writing style itself or amount of author’s notes among other things.)

Your book has quite a few votes and comments, meaning that interactions are high.

Story Plot: 7/15

The plot of this book, while I can see what you are trying to go for, is not executed in the best possible way. There are many aspects that are confusing, not only in small details such as language, but also there are some holes in sections of the book concerning specific details of the plot itself.

Here are some of my notes or questions about the plot in specific areas of the book:

-Putting “poetry” in the first chapter sets a certain artistic and mystic tone for the book, yet the rest of the book does not seem to match it. It’d be nice if things like character descriptions would be detailed in equally descriptive words as your poetry.
-How and why did Chan agree to take care of his friends? The way its worded makes it seem like a formal obligation. (Ch. 4)
-Chapter six is really confusing in terms of setting and context.
-What is the purpose of the flashback and what caused it? It seems a bit unclear. (Ch. 7)
-I really like the gift-giving scene because each gift sort of more or less establishes the type of relationship each character has with Hyunjin. (Ch. 8)
-I feel like a scene where Lyn meets up with Chan after her return would be very helpful to establish the kind of relationship they have with each other.
-Mentioning the year Mr. Song’s daughter was born in tells nothing of the age considering that the actual year the book was set in was not mentioned. (Ch. 9)
-In my opinion, author’s notes being put in the middle of a chapter, especially if they are used to explain something, are extremely unprofessional. If a person’s writing was good enough, they wouldn’t need to have something outside of the book to explain something.
-Hyunjin’s backstory is so vague and so far the book makes no progress even uncovering it just a little. Books are good when they have some mystery to keep readers engaged, but this is to the point that it just feels kind of dull.
-Chapter 11 is great in establishing a viewpoint from a different perspective to show off character relatipnships.
-Almost all weddings are planned at least a whole year out usually more. Having a wedding in a month is kinda unrealistic. (Unless there was a time skip since the announcement. If there was that should be made clear) (12)

Plot Twist: 8/10

So far, I do not believe there were any parts that were considered a plot twist.

Grammar: 9/10

Your grammar is pretty much perfect. My only critique would be that there are a couple of instances where your capitalization is inconsistent.

Emotions and Feel: 6/10

While this book tries to display certain emotions like how Hyunjin is feeling down, because of the lack of detail in his backstory, it is hard for the reader to understand it. Because of this, the emotions do not feel well conveyed.

Character Development: 3/10

So far, there do not seem to be any distinct changes in anyone’s character despite being twelve chapters in.

Way Of Writing: 4/10

In terms of your writing tone and style, you are very capable of writing artistically and detailed. Despite this, there are two specific aspects of your way of writing that stick out to me that you could fix.

The first aspect I’d like to point out would be your usage of Korean terms and words. This is something that is super inconsistent and confusing throughout the book, to the point where it is unclear whether they are actually in South Korea, or in some English-speaking country. For example, you use Korean honorary terms, and even use a romanized korean word in chapter two (which by the way, I think that word is spelled incorrectly. Are you trying to romanize the Korean word for sorry, 미안해? If that’s the case, then it would be spelled mianhae, not mianhee). If they are speaking Korean, then they wouldn’t need to say these terms, as they are already translated over. One other issue I found in this realm would be in chapter twelve when Lyn said naur. Why would she say naur and her and her friends have a whole conversation about her picking up an Austrailian accent when they aren’t even speaking English? Because no is not “no” in Korean, this wouldn’t make sense in language context.

The second aspect I would like to point out which I have already mentioned before, would be the way you write poetry. While the content of the poetry is artistic and poetic, none of the poems so far follow literally any of the standard poem rules such as rhyme scheme, syllable count, meter, rhythm etc. None of your poems have a specific amount of verses, most have very inconsistent syllable counts in each line, and there is no consistent rhyme scheme in any of them. The meter of the poems is non-existent as your use of words do not flow in the same way in each line. I’d say for your next poem you can start by researching the basic aspects of a poem, and set for yourself certain goals for each aspect. For example, for meter, you can use iambic pentameter, so you can practice writing in iambs.

Overall: 6/10

This book is intriguing, and I’d like to see what creative direction it goes in the future.

Total: 60/100

If you have any questions, need clarifications, or elaborations about what I wrote here in this review, feel free to ping me (@TuesdaysLeftovers) in a comment and ask, I’ll try to answer as soon as possible. Thank you and have a nice day!