I'll trade reviews with you!

#1
I'd love to read more of your stories, and I need more reviews on mine, hence the thread.

There are a few things that you should probably know, though:
-I will not read anything with explicit sexual content, gay romances, gender bender, harem, or anything that goes against my personal beliefs.  I'm sorry about being so strict, but I will only go so far.  I have the right to back out if necessary.
-If you would like to review mine, that would be great, you can find it in my signiture. But if you don't, no problem, I'll review your story anyway.
-When replying, please specify what you want the review to be centered on, be it your characters, motivations, plot, or whatever.  I'll do the general review style (going through style, grammar, story, character, and overall scores), but specifications would be nice so that I can know what to look out for.

Looking forwards to reading your book!
Just another girl living life to the best that she can, God's child, now and forever.  I'm looking forwards to meeting you and talking with you in the future.   My novel:  http://www.royalroadl.com/fiction/14788/terminal

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#4
Just wanted to bump this and let y'all know that I'm still here. I didn't review Lily's because (as I explained in a private message) some of the things in there didn't sit well with my beliefs. But I'd love to review any of yours. :)
Just another girl living life to the best that she can, God's child, now and forever.  I'm looking forwards to meeting you and talking with you in the future.   My novel:  http://www.royalroadl.com/fiction/14788/terminal

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#5
'God_is_Good' pid='830938' dateline='1513005369' Wrote: Just wanted to bump this and let y'all know that I'm still here.  I didn't review Lily's because (as I explained in a private message) some of the things in there didn't sit well with my beliefs.  But I'd love to review any of yours.  :)

What do you mean by the term Litrpg romance?
Is that when the focus is on slice of life romance in litrpg, or that the MC has a love interest at all?

I'm about to try yours out, but don't feel obligated to read trough mine if it conflicts with your convictions. 
My MC has a non human love interest, although I have foregone to do any explicit sexual content. I just suck at writing it and would rather score less on the cringeometer, than earn brownie points for kinky sex. It's also not in the forefront of the story, since her role is to strengheten the MC, and not be a fanservice object.
My fiction

Cheers!

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#7
[/quote]

What do you mean by the term Litrpg romance?
Is that when the focus is on slice of life romance in litrpg, or that the MC has a love interest at all?

I'm about to try yours out, but don't feel obligated to read trough mine if it conflicts with your convictions. 
My MC has a non human love interest, although I have foregone to do any explicit sexual content. I just suck at writing it and would rather score less on the cringeometer, than earn brownie points for kinky sex. It's also not in the forefront of the story, since her role is to strengheten the MC, and not be a fanservice object.
[/quote]

Okay, I have to apologize, because that was a really dumb typo that I really didn't mean to type.  What I meant was 'LGTP romances or gay romances'.  So that was my mistake and I'm sorry for any confusion it may have caused.
Just another girl living life to the best that she can, God's child, now and forever.  I'm looking forwards to meeting you and talking with you in the future.   My novel:  http://www.royalroadl.com/fiction/14788/terminal

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#8
When you first asked I thought you didn’t quite have enough for a full review. I’ve been following it now I think you do, so I’ll try to get one done today or tomorrow.

Ironically I didn’t have anything sexually explicit in the story when I first replied I was game, but now I do. Those sections of my story are clearly demarcated, can be skipped, and have PG summaries so that anyone who would find them objectionable can continue on the narrative.

I always appreciate the review swap, but don’t feel compelled if you feel it would be upsetting or violate any personal convictions.

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#9
Thank you so much, Volos, that would be really good.  I'd love to review your novel, but I don't think I can conciously read that one part, so if you tell me which chapter it's in, I'll read it up to that part.
Just another girl living life to the best that she can, God's child, now and forever.  I'm looking forwards to meeting you and talking with you in the future.   My novel:  http://www.royalroadl.com/fiction/14788/terminal

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#10
Chapter 27, but you can’t miss the warnings. There’s another somewhat objectionable section in an earlier chapter, abuse rather than something clearly sexual, but again there are clear warnings in the pre chapter notes (you won’t be able to miss it and read by accident). My design is to deal with misogyny, abuse, and the tendency of men to overstep when in great power, not traumatize readers with obscene for the sake of being up obscene.

It was one of the things my wife actually pointed out to me when we started looking at a few of these light novels together. There’s a horrible levity and disregard given towards what is clearly sexual abuse in a large number of these—they’re just toned down and with comical anecdotes that make them easier to swallow. Thus, one of my initial plans with the work was to show what would an un-whitewashed version of such abuse look like. It’s not a cornerstone of the work, and a little dab will do you, but it is one of the aspects I struggled with the most.


I just double checked, the other chapter is 19. You should feel fine reading 19 up until the asterism. I don’t really know that you would find the content objectionable to your person, though most should find the actions within the narrative objectionable, but I would just as soon stay on the safe side.

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#11
Thank you for letting me know all of this, it's really clear that you know what you're doing and have given this a lot of thought.  I'll read up to chapter twenty six, but if I'm not up to reading chapter nineteen, I'll let you know and review anyway.  Your story looks amazing- I'm looking forwards to it!
Just another girl living life to the best that she can, God's child, now and forever.  I'm looking forwards to meeting you and talking with you in the future.   My novel:  http://www.royalroadl.com/fiction/14788/terminal

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#14
Hi God_is_Good,

I'd be interested in trading reviews if you have time in the future. I've bookmarked your story for later reading and should be able to get to it in the next week or so.

I've read your concerns above and fully understand if a trade review is something you might not be willing to do. I respect your beliefs and limitations that you've set in place. I've glimpsed your story and don't see anything that would set off any of my convictions, but I understand if something in my story might do so for you. If you decide my story isn't for you or might offend in any way, please let me know. I'll leave a supportive anon-star review if you decide a detailed review trade isn't worthwhile.

The story I have is: The Vorrgistadt Saga.

The good, the bad, and the comparative elements (are within the spoiler tag).

The good bits that seem to meet your requirements are:
- There isn't any explicit sexual content. No sex scenes at all. There is the presence of romantic scenes, and those will be increased in future chapters and some 'tasteful fade-to-black' scenes in the future. This story is definitely not erotica in any shape or form.
- There isn't any active gay/lesbian romances thus far in the story. There will be a couple mentioned in future chapters (not written for several months, yet). These relationships will be to flesh out the character's motivations and won't be explored explicity.
- There isn't anything related to gender-bender or harem in any way.

The bad bits that could cause you to 'nope-out' of reading the story are:
- The story is set in a fantasy setting that has no correlation to the real world as we know it. Thus it has the presence of pantheistic and/or pagan-inspired belief systems as well as magic. The society believes in multiple gods and several hierarchies of those gods. The gods aren't manifest in the world but are seen as avatars of key aspects of reality. They are a removed set of archetypal concepts that most people see as natural phenomena, but I try to leave some ambiguity on if they exist, if they don't exist, or if there is a unifying 'creator' in the background.
- The world the story is set in is a brutal one. The genre could be described as Grimdark Swords & Sorcery. Many people die every day. The world is in decline from a previous set of civilizations and is now descending into barbarity. There are some pockets of civilization left, and some groups that still believe in the rule of law or tradition, but many have fallen to being hordes of brutes that kill and pillage to survive.
- Although the tone I'm going for is low-fantasy, there is the presence of supernatural elements in the story. There are otherworldly entities (alien consciousnesses) that work in the shadows. There are individuals that have made pacts, performed human/blood sacrifices, or drain energy from the world to become immortal in desperation against death or aging. There is the presence of ghosts or shades (echoes of the spirit) of the dead. There is divination (although seen as a good art to help others, but not always good), elementalism, ancestor worship, curses/hexes, blessings/devotions, and necromancy (which in most hands is seen as being more like exorcism where a 'priest' can settle an earthbound spirit and allow it to transcend... Not so much the raising or commanding of the dead, but the later can happen in the hands of a sorcerer).
- There is violence in the story. Many of the characters have set moralities and ethics, but the situations of the world often overwhelm them or throw those beliefs into chaos. There is the presence of violence in the story, and although I try to tone it down and keep it on point, sometimes it can be disturbing. When a monster performs violence, it is due to their inhumanity or overwhelming vices, usually. When a person commits violence it is an exploration of morality, ethics, the weakness of their character, or in the case of one specific character... Her relation to a blood curse that follows her around and tempts her much like a possessing demonic force. Please note there are no typical demons or angels in this story. Ultimately, the story is a complicated morality-play that focuses on several character's journeys as they explore what it means to be 'good,' 'bad,' or to seek some form of personal redemption for their individual failings/burdens.
- Oh, and as a fair warning from a purely technical viewpoint... I do firmly believe in the advice mentioned by Brian Sanderson about simple-but-varied dialogue tags. This particular story doesn't use that advice. I'm drawing upon a style from older stories (Greek epics, Viking sagas, Biblical parables, and Medieval tales like Morte D'Arthur by Malory) for the dialogue organization. As well, the story is highly visually focused (there are reasons for that which will become more pronounced in the story). Almost all of the dialogue tags are complex and are interspersed with description. This is a stylistic element to make it seem less like a novel being read and more like a tale being told by someone inside that world while focusing on things they would find worth sharing. I understand this can give some people headaches if they like to skim through a story quickly or are diehard fans of literary fiction dictates over speculative fiction adventurousness.

If you find that you want to do a review trade, the specifications that you mentioned would be focused on:
- Characters and their motivations. Whether they seem believable and any concerns with them.
- Plot development and general interest in the story. What works or doesn't work, if there are any plot-holes I overlooked, or if anything seems too contrived.
- A general sense of if you would be interested in the story and would continue reading it even despite all the warnings above.
* I mostly have grammar and spelling under control, and have some good readers that point those concerns out for me, but if you notice anything please let me know so I can fix it.

When I review other's work, I mostly focus on elements of character, motivation, and plot-line. I'm fairly forgiving with elements of grammar and spelling (especially if the author isn't a native english speaker as I understand the complexities of using a different language for creative expression). If I notice some glaring things, I might post up a list of suggested edits in the comments. I won't post edits or suggestions in the reviews as I see that as too permanent and overbearing on a work (given that reviews tend to be permanent things that don't get updated).

Grammar and spelling stuff can get updated with revision. I like to focus on the actual 'spirit' of the work. What I find is powerful with it, or what I find as lacking in some respect. I'm not a harsh reviewer and prefer to give a story the benefit of the doubt, even if it's something that I might not enjoy personally. The only harshness I have in reviews is mentionings of technique and artistic critique. If something desperately needs another few revisions, I'll say so. I generally prefer stories with high character investment, lots of detail/description, a fair deal of world-building, and heavy atmosphere. I also have a pet-peeve towards single line paragraphs if they are used too often, excessive amounts of 'tell and not show,' or 'removed-passive-voice' in descriptions, and formulaic dialogue tags with no variation. (1,000 paragraphs of, "Bob Said.") Oh, and the lack of the oxford comma in a work can make my eyes twitch. I also start to cringe if authors include really badly done romantic or ridiculously graphic sex scenes in their works, but I don't think your story will have that present.

I look forwards to reading Terminal, and hope you can find something non-objectionable in my own work.

Thank you for your time.
https://vorrgistadt.files.wordpress.com/...banner.jpg
"If you like pie, eat pie. If you don't like pie, have cake instead." - Someone Wise

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#15
Wow, thank you for the time to write all of that out, your story looks fabulous. I understand your concerns, and thank you so much for being so upfront with them, I find it really helpful to be prepared from the beginning. I have several books that I'm trying to read right now, but I hope it won't be more than a week before I can get your review done. I will focus on those details and get that to you ASAP.
Just another girl living life to the best that she can, God's child, now and forever.  I'm looking forwards to meeting you and talking with you in the future.   My novel:  http://www.royalroadl.com/fiction/14788/terminal

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#18
God_is_Good,

Thank you so much for the amazing and gracious review of my story. It really means a lot that you gave it a read and found it worthwhile. I hope there wasn't anything objectionable in it despite some of the themes I mentioned above.

I posted up the review for Terminal a few days ago. I hope it does your story justice and brings in more readers for you. Your story deserves all the exposure it can get. Thank you for writing such a profound and emotional story. Your story is very solid. The only thing I can think to mention is just one more sweeping revision to catch just a handful of misspellings and one or two fiddly sentences. You've set a high standard with your grammar, your spelling, and the overall tone of your work. I'll be keeping up on upcoming chapters as you go.

If ever I can provide anything in the future, just let me know. Thanks, again.
https://vorrgistadt.files.wordpress.com/...banner.jpg
"If you like pie, eat pie. If you don't like pie, have cake instead." - Someone Wise

RE: I'll trade reviews with you!

#19
You are definitely welcome, it was my pleasure!  Your story was fantastic and I look forwards to reading more of it in the future.  To be honest, your review was probably my favorite review that anyone has ever given on my novel.  I think you're idea of what the story is about and the themes present in each chapter is really accurate.  I really enjoyed the way that you reviewed it, especially for my own novel, not just doing the usual run through (which I did) of style, story, grammar, and character, but really taking the time to examine what the story is really about.  Thank you so much for your time and honest review, it really does mean a lot.
Just another girl living life to the best that she can, God's child, now and forever.  I'm looking forwards to meeting you and talking with you in the future.   My novel:  http://www.royalroadl.com/fiction/14788/terminal