[REVIEW] Young & Wasted by Amryt

GENRE[S] — friendship, drama, slice of life, , yuri, highschool!au

STORY TYPE — chaptered

+ STORY LENGTH — 31 chapters

STORY STATUS — complete & rated M

DESCRIPTION — You know when they say high school is like the highlight of your life? That is absolutely true to seven friends. Each of them have their own problems and this is the story of how they deal with them. But hey, not everyone has a happy ending, right?
 score: 78.5/100
title • 05/05
Your title fits your story perfectly. It's relevant, not too long and gives the readers a good feeling of what your story is about. Job very well done.
FOREWORD + description • 07/10

There isn't really much of a description, but the warnings you have are a good indication of what the story involves. But still, a little brief synopsis would be nice.

I thought your foreword was very effective. You outline each character and their relationships within a small passage which was very well done. And you did it without giving too much away - you did well in this aspect.

plot • 26/30

At first, I found your story quite hard to get into. Series 1 focuses on each character individually, and I felt it made things go a little too slow at the start. I completely understand why you did it, and it was beneficial for readers during Series 2. But I think you could've incorporated the details of series 1 into series 2, but at the same time, it's also fine the way it is. I wouldn't bother changing it. 

When it came to series 2, things really began to pick up and I found myself enjoying the story much more.

Your plot wasn't exactly original, but I thought you put your own spin on it well. You also kept a nice flow. I also really liked how it wasn't just one plot line - you incorporated a few, and you did it in a way that didn't feel messy or overwhelming. 

I also liked how you tackled issues that were relatable to the readers, and majority of it was pretty realistic. 

The only criticisms that I have are:

If Hyunju has an eating disorder, and Jackson is aware of it, I don't think he'd get her released. Sure, Hyunju may have convinced him otherwise, but if she's in hospital, she's in there for a reason. She wouldn't be admitted if she was okay. As a friend, I think Jackson would want her to fully recover first. 

Also, I felt like while the ending of the story did tie up the loose ends, I kind of wanted things to be more in-depth. Like, who is the girl Iseul is with? Where is Jackson working? What exactly happened to Mark? I know these things are implied, but I felt I wanted to know more about what happened to them.

characters • 20/25

Generally, I quite liked your characters. I felt like you made them genuine and likeable which was nice. And they were pretty three dimensional. 
You also had a good mix and contrast within your characters.

Yugyeom was such a cutie, and Hyunju was such a poor soul. I liked how you built a feeling of inevitability in the lead up to her death, and just generally her downward spiral was well done.

I wish we could've seen more of Mark though. I felt like he was terribly misunderstood, and I felt like it would've been really interesting to see things from his view, and his feelings about Hyunju's death. 

I also wish we'd seen more of Iseul's confusion concerning her uality, and just generally the degeneration of her relationship with Jackson.

GRAMMAR + writing style • 12/20

You kept a nice consistent voice throughout the story. While your style could be considered basic, I don't think it took away from the story at all. 

I thought your grammar was okay, especially when English isn't your first language, but I noticed a couple of recurring mistakes, such as:

You often said something along the lines of "They sat on the table.", but it should be "They sat at the table."

Another mistake that came up is: "He's probably late or somewhat." should be, "He's probably late or something."

And there were a couple of other minor mistakes that you made quite often, but getting someone to proof read should help you rectify those - I suggest getting a beta-reader or something.
appearance • 04.5/05

I thought your layout was pretty nice - though your foreword and description could be considered a little messy.

I also thought your poster was cool, especially the fact that it's animated.

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT • 04/05
When I first started reading, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it. But as things progressed I surprised myself and actually began liking it. I think that because it was a Skins!AU, it made me connect a little better because, being British myself, I got the sense of Britishness that you got from watching the show, which was nice. 
Reviewer's comments
I think as your English progresses and you get more practice writing you'll become a great author. I see a lot of potential, and I really enjoyed reading your work. Also, apologies for the long wait! It was our fault entirely. Anyways, keep up the good work!

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