Ripped: A Repulsive Love

☠I'll Rip Your Story to Bits.☠ Reviews && Fanfic Help [Closed]
Author:  GreenALiveTnS
Reviewer:  Ai_Dami
Status: Picked-up and credited.
Posted: 12.12.12

Your Story is Called What?!: ☠☠

A Repulsive Love

Your title is grammatically correct. It is able to reflect the general theme  and mood of the plot and a clever use of words to represent the different “types of love” you attempt at discussing in your story.
However, it lacks a certain charisma that a title needs and isn’t as catchy as it could be.

So this Thing Right Here...That's a Description and a Foreword...? You've Got to be Kidding Me!:
☠☠
 

Your description has three big issues. The sentences and vocabulary is choppy and bland, the grammar is problematic, and the overuse of rhetorical questions is terrible.


(---> For the part of the description before it descends into rhetorical Hell.)

If you read the description out loud, there is no flow between the sentences and no flow even in one sentence. Some of it ties into the grammatical errors but a lot of it is that the sentences are very bare. There is no detailed description and so the description becomes boring.


As well, the sentences are not in a logical order. The reader is told that Jiyeon and Suzy played and lived in the countryside for years, but now, suddenly they haven’t seen each other for a year and they’re in university? And before the reader takes all of that in, the fact that Jiyeon is in love with Suzy is thrown at them. It’s very “What the **** is going on!” for the reader. Yes, the description should try and give general background knowledge but you are piling on years and years of experiences onto the reader in four sentences.


Errors:


    • They didn't meet each other for a year.” → “They haven’t met each other for a year.”

    • Jiyeon went to Seoul to continue her studies, whereas Suzy continued her studies back at home. “ →
    • “Jiyeon had went on to Seoul to continue her studies, whereas Suzy was continuing her studies back at home.”

    • “Jiyeon likes Suzy the same way as a boy would. But Suzy wasn't aware of that.” → “Jiyeon liked Suzy the same way a boy would, but Suzy wasn’t aware of that.”
      • [Here, the way you’ve worded how Jiyeon likes Suzy is actually quite odd. It implies that all boys like girls romantically or that girls cannot like girls romantically. But I suppose that depends on a person’s viewpoint...]

So, onto the rhetorical questions. Just no. Rhetorical questions are meant to emphasize an idea, mostly to be used in writing with persuasive intentions. They can also be used in fictional writing sometimes in the way you have, but instead of emphasizing something, you’ve created a chaotic and confusing mess. There is a lot of unnecessary questions asked. JustWhat will Jiyeon do if she knows that Suzy already has a boyfriend? ”  is actually enough to convey the meaning, and the reader doesn’t get bored with the onslaught of rhetoric.


    The foreword is really confusing. When I read it now, after finishing the entire story, a light bulb flickers on, but the point of a foreword is either to give some extra insight into the story, or to have an author’s (or friend’s note) about the creation of the story. And as a reader, your foreword doesn’t draw me into the story at all.

    Errors:

    • Love is a word which has many meanings, depending on how we apply this in life.” → “Depending on how we apply it, love is a word with many meanings.”
    • Love can make people blind to everything, just for the sake of unloving thoughts towards the lover. ” → “Love blinds people to everything else for the sake of loving thoughts towards their love.”
      • [ I assume that since this is describing Jiyeon, that she is loving towards her ‘lover’? But, if Jiyeon doesn’t have a lover in your story, she is in love with Susy, or later on Myungsoo. So it would make more sense to say, towards their love.]
    • Love is a human's deepest feeling. We are willing to sacrifice anything for the happiness of loved ones. ” → “Love is a human at their most passionate, when they are willing to sacrifice everything for a loved one’s happiness.”

In all, the foreword would read much more smoothly if it was in a normal paragraph format; it would also read more professionally. For example, “Bae Suzy loves in many ways. She adores animals, loves her unnie, and is in love with her boyfriend Lee Taemin."

I'm Ready To Stab Your Characters Now:


    Your characters, all of them, are very two-dimensional, unlikeable, and unconvincing.

Jiyeon is too irrationally angry most of the time, "spontaneously [punches]" Taemin or Myungsoo for unknown reasons multiple times, and randomly pinching Suzy's cheeks or suddenly bursting into tears. Go in depth about Jiyeon's emotions. Why is she so angry? Yes, we can infer that Jiyeon is jealous of Taemin, but backstory and more detailed reasons please! Don't just make the readers guess what Jiyeon's exact feelings are. When Jiyeon is trying to cheer Suzy up, don't just give the surface reason. Take the time to make it possible for the reader to sympathise with Jiyeon. You want us to realise that Jiyeon really cares for Suzy, even if it is actually a sisterly/platonic love. That way, readers will be cheering for dear Jiyeon and she won’t seem like the unrealistic or bipolar character that she is now. Jiyeon’s sudden realisation that she actually only “loves Suzy as a sister” is also a huge contributor to the unreasonable and two-dimensional factor. (see: Are You Sure You Know What You’re Doing? for continuation)


With Taemin, Myungsoo, and Suzy...

Taemin seems like an over-dramatic and whiny child, tagging along with Suzy everywhere and crying out for her attention, unable to understand what is actually going on, repeating the fact that Jiyeon “is a lesbian” everytime something doesn’t go his way. Myungsoo doesn’t seem to understand what “no” means and he just seems to be crying of self-pity all the time. Suzy is just... plain. She seems somewhat like a Mary Sue; getting angry and pouting over little things and big things, not really able to do much. In general, your characters are way too emotionally unstable and don’t have realistic personalities and actions.


    There is also the sudden introduction of a God-like Byunghun and the odd Sohyun. There isn’t too much to say about these two yet because you haven’t developed them a lot as of now, and they both seem to have disappeared. However, I’ll talk about them more in depth in the next section as they seem to be major turning points in the plot.

    All of your characters are undeveloped really and none of them seem like an actual person. It is impossible for readers to connect to them in any way. Also, do keep in mind that you are writing about real people. You might want to think about developing the characters’ personalities more along the lines of the idols that they are based on. Believe it or not, it’s quite difficult to imagine sweet, baby-face Taemin as a raging, “Get-off-my-girlfriend” Hulk.

Are You Sure You Know What You're Doing?  ☠☠☠
   
    In a way, you have found a very rarely seen topic; you could have made the plot to A Repulsive Love very unique and interesting. However, your content is very shallow, unlike the promised insight that readers would expect from your foreword and does not expand or explore the depths of any type of love. The story doesn’t flow well as a result of choppy and lazy transitions from different perspectives (the labelling such as “Jiyeon’s POV”) that not only reveal incompetence as a writer, but also prevents readers from achieving a deeper understanding of your characters.
    Honestly, the plot is all over the place; so much so that it’s hard to criticise one aspect of it. You imply that Jiyeon’s loving Suzy “like a boy” is repulsive, yet you never explore on this idea. What is this about Myungsoo’s father? How did he suddenly change his mind about hating Jiyeon? Go into depth about these things to connect the reader to the characters. As a reader, I don’t understand your plot or characters because there is no logic behind them.
    It’s better to spend some more time on the details and elaborating important ideas and themes; love, homouality, relationships, etc.
    I don’t even know what you’re trying to get across with your plot. There are huge plot holes; more recently, Lee Byunghun and Sohyun’s appearances and Jiyeon’s sudden decision to cry about being horrible to Myungsoo. Byunghun and Sohyun’s introductions were extremely random and unexplained, they make absolutely no sense! Yes, they lead to Jiyeon’s flip-flopping and realising her apparent heterouality, (after a dozen of chapters of her adamant about being in love with Suzy, which also makes no sense) but Jiyeon’s trust in Byunghun is completely irrational and not understandable. Her inexplicable change to a crying girl who realises her “sins” makes absolutely no sense; her acceptance of Myungsoo as well.
    In all, the plot to this story really seems like the typical, cheesy romance novel:
Boy 1 loves Girl 1, his childhood friend , Girl 1 is dating Boy 2, Boy 1 is thus jealous of Boy 1. Girl 2 loves Boy 1 and wants him to realise it, so she is always hanging around with them.
    And then you’ve substituted Jiyeon as Boy 1, Suzy as Girl 1, Taemin as Boy 2, and Myungsoo as Girl 2.
    It can be concluded, that the plot of A Repulsive Love is unoriginal, confusing, and very shallow.

Better Stay In School and Listen to your English professor:  ☠☠☠

    In terms of grammar, you had a lot of mistakes in regards to verb tenses, sentence structure, and diction. However, your attempt at using an expansive vocabulary and the fact that I haven’t found a single spelling error is very commendable.
    In terms of diction, it can be hard to use unfamiliar words in the correct way, especially when a language is not your native language, even with examples. The same goes with sentence structure and verb tenses.

→ Errors taken from Chapter 16
    “For just a few hours, I wasn't with her, but I already felt so empty like a hollow shell.” → “I was only without her for a few hours, but I was already a hollow shell, empty of emotions.”  [It makes no sense to have feelings when he is empty. Also some structural errors. Time usually goes to the back. I think another reviewer has already noticed this, but you overuse and make errors with comma placement a lot. Check out  MusicChibi and Schehezerade’s Grammar Tipsy for helpful tips on grammar and writing.]

    “Those interested in the same- were the person who had a ual disorder.” → “Those who are interested in others of the same- are people who have mental (?) disorders.” [Since love is only in the mind, it makes no sense to say that it’s a ual disorder as uality is only in relation to the body really. Also, if a character is thinking a thought about something that’s current or something that spans a long time, it should be in present tense. Those is plural, so when you use another word “person” in its place, that word needs to be plural as well.]

    I simpered at her, batting my eyelashes, but she gave me a sour face.” →... [The word “simper” means to smile in a coy/coquettish way. In fact, the acts of simpering and batting eyelashes are normally only associated with flirting. So it makes no sense that Taemin is doing this when he was just sobbing and feeling doomed.] → In general, this paragraph made use of many cliched  expressions for the scene in question. Try to minimise the use of such expressions in the future as they take away from raw emotions.
   

I also suggest more detailed and vivid description of the scenes and characters. Yes, Suzy has an innocent face, but what else does Jiyeon think about it? Why is it innocent? What is her smile like? Also, try to use the active voice; I found that you seemed to use the passive voice very often, but the passive voice isn’t very interesting to read.


→ Taken from Chapter 1

He kept stealing glances at me, which made ​​me upset.” → “He kept stealing annoying glances at me; I rolled my eyes, upset.”

I waited for her bus by pacing back and forth, and saw him approach me.” → “I paced back and forth, waiting for her bus, and saw him approach me.” [Is it Myungsoo approaching Jiyeon here? Don’t forget to make the subjects and direct/indirect objects clear!]


I Can See Why You Like Writing Better Than Arts ☠☠

    The first poster is quite nice. The background is not bad either, but it would make more sense to have a background that covers an entire page as the tiled look seems a bit unprofessional. I would say that graphics with a bit more colour would fit your story more.

*YAAAWNNNN* Meter: ☠☠
☠☠
    A Repulsive Love may have the potential to be highly interesting and engaging, but it flops because of a lack of cohesiveness, understanding of the main themes (homouality and love), and unrealistic as well as unoriginal characters and storyline. The bland description even though an expansive vocabulary is used throughout bores and choppy, confusing sentence structures make it an almost painful read.

VERDICT: ☠☠
☠☠/☠☠☠☠☠
 


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[I'll Rip Your Story to Bits]The Crush Review--Complete![Chapter 21]

Comments

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relau99 #1
You haven't updated since 2012, does that mean this shop is no longer working?
Everyone is cool and I'd like to get my story ripped if you will still accept requests in the future ^^
Mahwiii
#2
Chapter 54: i reallllyy am super sorry >.<
at that time i had exams and couldnt log in but then i stopped coming in aff.... really sorry..
i even took some of ur time and its just too late now...
but now i checked..
uhhh idk what else to say >.<
am stupid am sorry ...
....
i really know its late but i still feel bad and will feel bad if i dont apologize probably.. sorry >.<
MasterTickleBack
#3
Chapter 45: ☠AFF Name: LadyTickleBack
☠ I want a: review
☠Story Title: Rulebreaker
☠Story Link: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/408307
☠Details: school, romance,
Password: You, you, you are so addictive.
☠☠Main Group in your story: B.A.P.
☠☠How many chapters does your fic contain? 9 right now
tinnitus
#4
Chapter 68: *pouts* It's still closed and the holiday's over DX
Kwontokkii
#5
Chapter 44: This is cool :D
YongOppa
#6
I would like to withdraw being a deliberator.

As for the fanfic review I've been assigned too, I'll review it, put it in a blog post and personally PM it to the requester.
Haruka-Harukaze75
#7
☠AFF Name: Haruka-Harukaze75
☠ I want a: review!
☠Story Title: Vampire Knight Destiny (Korean Ver.)
☠Story Link: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/340868/vampire-knight-destiny-korean-version-afterschool-ftisland-infinite-japanese-korean-snsd-superjunior
☠Details: you, you, you are so addictive.
☠☠Main Group in your story: After School and Infinite
☠☠How many chapters does your fic contain? 2 so far
dreamyflower
#8
Chapter 47: I've got a question. Would you review a really long story? One that has 40 chapters; each chapter has 1200-1800 words. And the story is not finished yet.