Back to Square One. (1)

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Hey there! Here to review as requested. You've already got quite a few reviews on this one so I'll just see if there's anything I can pick out.

Finally, the girl had put an end to it.

Is she really a girl? That seems to suggest someone young, whereas this is a woman. Perhaps you could just say "she had put an end to it."

He had been verbally hurting the children - long nights without a father to tuck them in, no father to protect them, no father to care for them.

I think that if you want to emphasise something it's probably best to put it in italics rather than bold.

"He's gone forever, now.." She muttered

I don't know whether you meant for that to be an ellipse (...) or a full stop. But yeah, two periods don't mean anything.

She still had the same expression on her face, she walked up to his empty, dead body and kissed it.

The first comma should be a semi-colon.

walking back up to the first floor, and. locking the basement door on her way out.

I don't think that you meant the period to be there?

"Are you ready for our date, Margaret?" The soothing voice asked.

Soothing doesn't seem like the right way to describe it. It's not the kind of way you'd expect a date's voice to be described.

"Yes, I'm on my way. My kids are at a friends. I'll see you soon, honey!"

Should be "friend's"

"Maybe this will be the right one," she asked after she had hung up.

Seeing as no-one else is there it would probably be better if you said "she asked herself" or "she remarked to herself".

Margaret walked out the door with a wonderful smile - a bit creepy though.

Maybe you should show here instead of telling. Just saying "a bit creepy though" takes away from the flow of your story and leaves your reader filling in the gaps.

Exiting the car, she walked up to the door and knocked a couple of times and than entered.

Should be "then entered"

"H-hi.." She said nervously.

Again the whole double period thing.

Emily was very afraid of Margaret, already. Somehow she sensed something wrong with her, her hostility maybe?

Instead of telling us this you could perhaps show it through body language and how Emily and Margaret react together.

"I'm nine." She answered, a bit arrogant
.
This is contradicting yourself a bit. You've said that she's shy, even scared, of Margaret. And no she's suddenly being arrogant?

"Did I just call her honey?" She thought to herself.. "Well, might as well play nice girlfriend role." She said to herself.

Perhaps her inner comments should be shown in italics rather than speech marks.

"Yes." Emily answered, lying.

Again, why not show us this instead of telling? Perhaps she twists her lips, or holds Margaret's gaze for slightly too long.

Overall:
This was a good piece that definitely made me want to know what was going to happen next. I think that your plot is pretty strong but you need to work on developing your characters and their actions more. Don't be afraid to go into detail - early on in the story we need more description on your characters so that we can understand them better later in the story. In addition, you might want to work on showing instead of telling. But yeah, it was a very well put together story so far! I think it's in the same competition as mine so it does make me nervous!

Good luck and well done. I hoped that I've helped.

~Amy
"It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want."

-Spock.


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This was interesting. The character of Margaret was a bit chilling, and mysterious. I also liked the attitude of the little girl, Emily. Her attitude seemed appropriate for a nine-year-old girl to have in this situation, but she also seemed very mature. I enjoy reading about young children who surpass their age group. Maybe a little more detail could be added, but I haven't read part 2 yet, and I saw you saying something about adding a flash back. I was just a little confused about this woman, Margaret. But, overall, this story kept me interested. I'm going to read part 2 right now.
"If you don't earn respect when you're alive, you don't deserve it when you're dead."
~Brian Kinney~




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Hi! Here is my review!

Overall, quite good. However, here are a couple of little nit-picks (nit- not nick-)

xLogan wrote: Finally, the girl had put an end to it.


What girl? Is it the woman, or someone else?

While he was at work all the time and never was home to take care of the children or to check up on his own wife. She wondered if he even cared about them or even was aware of his negligence. He had been verbally hurting the children - long nights without a father to tuck them in, no father to protect them, no father to care for them.


Wow! Confusing! You change tense mid-sentence! I don't have time to correct it now, but look at some past reviews. Also, "verbally" is the wrong word - try "psychologically"

While flipping through a few channels Dan finally came down the winding stairs with a little, young girl by his side - holding his hand. She gave the girl a quick frown.


You don't need "young" and "little." Delete one or the other.


They sat down at the nice dinner table, it was a sea-food restaurant. There was all kinds of scenery.


NICE? NICE? No writer EVER uses the word "nice" when there are a multitude of possibilities out there!! Try "neatly laid" or "cozy" or something. Also, a description of the scenery would be good.

"Little miss Emily would like cherry soda and I would enjoy some sweetened tea."


"miss" should be "Miss"

"I'm nine." She answered, a bit arrogant. Emily was very intelligent for her age - almost the mental capacity of someone thirteen years old.


We don't really need to know she's very intelligent, it's unnecessary.

I don't have the time or patience for all the little nit-picks, but try not to change tense mid-sentence - it will SERIOUSLY confuse your reader.

Keep writing!

Mia x
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Thanks for reviewing, Mia. It would be nice if you would've added your opinion on the story instead of just nit-picks - but that's okay. I'll get to editing now! (I've been putting it off for days - so might as well now...)

Remember to check out the second part, everyone!!!
"People are afraid to die, but are also afraid to live."

[•_•]
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Hey, I feel that everyone else has covered most of the major things...or the nit-picks... make sure you keep everything easy to follow, describe the people and surroundings more and watch your grammar, other than that its a great story! I'm addicted to Criminal Minds so anything with serial killers catches my interest immediately.
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