The Dead Woods

Reviewer: dhaatk
Review for: -Tigress-

Requested on: 05/06/2015
Finished On: 11/06/2015

NOTE: 9 Chapters (Spoiler Alert)

(10/10) Title: The title is chosen very well. It is original and gives of a supernatural vibe, which might be a spoiler for the story's genre. Also, the Dead Woods make up a big part of the story. From the beginning, narration is slowly lead towards this place, it is also where the happens and the protagonist's life changes.

(9/10) Character: All characters have their role that they stick to until the very end. In scenes where a lot of villagers gather, some readers might not be at ease due to the fact that every speaker is distinguished and has a name. There is no doubt that sometimes a random minor character may say only one thing that would be enough to startle the protagonist and influence him or her. Instead of craming readers' minds with names, a character could be given different descriptions. For example, the speaker could be an old lady that used to give candies to the protagonist when he was a kid or a young loud boy who the protagonist had never liked. These people themselves are not important, it is just their words that have an impact. However, as said before, all significant characters are well-written. It is also amazing how Taekwoon is lead towards being the antagonist but by the end of the story it is loud and clear that the true antagonists are those magical creatures.

(10/10) Originality: Fantasy stories are quite popular but this particular one could be seen as original. Ordinary fairytale-like story has royal family, dangerous beasts, bad witches and sorcerers. However, this story is far from it all. It focuses on regular farmers and their rural life, suddenly interrupted by something magical, which happens to be some weird creatures, that have never been mentioned in any other story, at least not the one an average reader could recall.

(39/40) Storyline/Plot: The story is short so the plot may seem not thorough at first. Only after finishing the whole piece does the reader realize that everything was put in that short text. All necessary components of a good story are easily found. Tension is built step by step, without rushing anywhere too much and jumping into too fast. Therefore, the pace and the flow are really great. Also, there are no extraneous events that just disturb the main plot. The only drawback of this storyline is the way the Watcher are killed. They are portrayed as rather smart creatures, who have become very wise due to absorbing all that knowledge from people. It is very strange and a bit unbelievable that after gaining so much knowledge from humans, these creatures are not aware of the fact that they would burn and die in the fire, since they are from wood. Why was there the fire where they stayed?

(25/25) Grammar/Errors: The grammar skills are just simply splendid. Vocabulary is extraordinary! It is rich, colourful, and very sophisticated. Some writers take their choice of words for granted sometimes, but it is always a good card in order to keep the readers interested.

(5/5) Overall Enjoyment: To be honest, I am not familiar with VIXX very much and I got mixed between the characters, because I know none of this group members' real names. Also, I tend to avoid fantasy stories, because I lack imagination and it is hard for me as a reader it is hard to see things the way the writer wants me to. However, I really liked your story. It was short, but powerful. It is definitely one of my favourite stories I had to read while reviewing!

(98/100) Points Total

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