Young Writers Society

Hello again! Salis here with a review for the final part (so far) of your story!!

The banter between Blake and June never gets old! Considering everything they've been through, I'm glad they're back to this and one could even be forgiven to think none of the nightmares they experienced were real.

I was expecting for Blake to heal rapidly, but not that fast with all the wounds he had received at the hands of Puter and Shadows. This perhaps means he is getting stronger and it is affecting his regenerative abilities as well?

The training he's been doing has clearly paid off, seeing as how he can summon the scythe at will now, so overall he's made great progress. I hope he'll keep developing his powers to reach even greater heights as it clear another threat will reveal itself soon enough.

I must say, the cliffhanger at the end was really great! Only a minimal amount of information is given in regards to the new character that joins the narrative, nothing being revealed about that person's appearance, affiliation or anything else whatsoever. Apart from one important fact: he can see Blake's scythe, so whoever it is, it's clearly not a normal human, that being sufficient to pique the reader's interest.

I can't wait to see more of this and am especially looking forward to Blake's conversation with his mother as while I don't think she knows too much, there are still at least some truths I hope she'll reveal to him. The better he understands his situation, the more adequately he'll be able to react and that can be of critical importance as we've all seen how dangerous an opponent unpreparadness can be in this story.

Thank you for this tale full of mystery and suspense!! I'll be on the lookout for whatever you create next!!

Hi Otterpop,

Mailice here with a final review!

So, you definitely gave me a good surprise once when I thought I was reading the epilogue here. No new surprises, but a well-written conclusion that goes towards an open ending. But you leave a big cliffhanger and now I'm standing there like a curious chicken and want to read on.

But that was to be expected, especially when you consider that we are in the book "Awakening" and that this is only the beginning. I'm focusing here again on the whole story rather than just the epilogue because I think it's quite short but good and there's not much to say about it except that it's a great ending.

In general, I like the story. It had a pleasant tension and mystery in it that with always give the feeling and urge that we will find out more in the next chapter, only to find that there is more to come and more opening up in the story. I like Blake as a character. He seems alive and convincing, especially how he acts and how it also contrasts when the story goes off the rails, especially in the later part with Puter.

I think you have a very slow narrative pace, especially in the first half of the story, which I like for getting into the story and getting the different characters involved. We get enough time to have the relationship between Blake, June, his mother and the other friends. You build it up well through the different scenes where they are at school together, or even when Blake is in solitude with his mother. Definitely a well written introduction.

The second half a much faster pace, mainly also because the plot period is shorter, leaving not much room for other things. But since a lot of things have already come up in the first half, I think it's a good way to also push the development of Blake as a character and add a bit of action to the suspense. I was a little surprised that we moved so quickly towards the end, but I think it's hard to get it right for every reader, especially because you leave some questions open for the sequel.

In summary, I really liked the story because it has a very well-written mix of character development and mystery!

Have fun writing!

Mailice

Hi Otterpop!

That’s quite a cliffhanger to tease the next book! Just getting a little speculative again here, but I wonder if it’s the girl from his vision. I think it’s a good idea for a suspense-type series to have a cliffhanger ending like this since the main conflict of the book has been wrapped up enough to be satisfying. I find myself curious to know what happens next but not feeling like I’m completely left up in the air.

I remember you mentioning that you intend this story to be something in YA, and I can totally see that for example in this beginning scene where June is insisting it’s fine for her to be outside. Even though Blake is concerned, they both end up disobeying the doctor’s orders in the end, which feels like a YA-style element of youthful rebelliousness somehow. xD In any case, moments like these kind of show their young age, even though they have to deal with big adult-like problems (like mysterious family secrets and the whole town succumbing to a deadly disease) and contrast them from the sober minded grown-ups in the story.

It may not be very relevant to the main plot, but I wonder why the doctors and nurses aren’t worried about the superfast healing. Could it be they’re still busy with the disease on other fronts? Or are they just not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth?

With closed eyes he let his mind calm and clear, only letting images of June and his mother flash through his head. He clenched his fist. And when he opened his eyes, the scythe was firmly in his grasp.

"Blake, it's been four days. I should he asking if you should be outside walking.

He still had some bandages, but the soreness had mostly gone away.

With his hand clutching his weapon tighter than ever, and his breath labored ekth panic,