Review - Graveyard Boys

(Story Title): (4.5/5) 

As soon as I saw 'Graveyard Boys,' I thought it to be quite an interesting title, something one doesn't often see on AFF either, that if I was just a passerby that saw your story, I would want to check it out. The title automatically made me think the story was going to be somewhat of a mystery/horror/thriller type story, and since those genres are a bit rare among AFF, it made me want to click on the story even more.

And when I connected the title to your story, I definitely thought it was kind of an ingenious title as this story seems to be about secrets and keeping them buried. So for you to have the title 'Graveyard Boys,' it made perfect sense to me to have a title like that since people believe there to be something 

However, having the 'Season One' took a lot away from the title for me, because you can easily explain in an author's note that this story is 'Season One' instead of openly stating it like that. Not many are fond of seeing stuff like that in titles, and it would probably be better having a numbering system instead if you need to clarify which part of the season it is.  (Roman Numerals would probably be best when doing so.) Because while it may be okay for the people that ship some of the rare pairings you're writing about, it's not the best thing to have if you're trying to get other readers that don't necessarily ship those pairings to read the story.            

(Description/Foreword): (3.5/5) 

For a non-native speaker, I applaud you for how well written and concise your foreword is, not giving me too much information or giving the whole story away, so kudos for that. Your foreword easily gave me some quick insight to some of the problems your characters are facing, as well as, letting us know about a mysterious character who happens to know their secrets gives off this aura of intrigue. However, even though the set up is indeed similar to shows like 'Pretty Little Liars' with a slight touch of 'Gossip Girl,' it just seemed a bit too lighthearted compared to the rest of your fic.

Which isn't necessarily a terrible thing if you're trying to keep things light, but the story isn't exactly lighthearted and is probably going to go down a much darker path as you continue to write your chapters. Plus, G sounds more like a playground school bully in the foreword, rather than having any real malicious intent that is being shown later. Especially since it can be okay for your readers to know a bit more about G than the actual characters.       

(Story Plot/Originality): (7/10) 

The story is definitely an intriguing one and I like the little twists and turns that you've added throughout. You have a good mix of mystery, adventure, and comedy going on with just enough romance and high school drama to make this type of story work without seeming too unrealistic. But I do have a feeling that this will get a bit darker in the long run.

The comedy is great because it reminds everyone that yes, the Graveyard Boys are indeed high schoolers, making the story seem more realistic and also presenting to us that as they experience certain things, they will mature. All the characters have their own voice and mesh well together, but are different enough that it's easy to differentiate between all of them and the problems attached to them.

Overall, I think you're doing well so far with giving an appropriate amount of clues without going overboard and telling us too much about what is going. To some, that might irk them a bit, but this is a mystery story and to figure things out, you will have to read. 

Originality wise, it's not that original as you're basing it off the show 'Pretty Little Liars' and I see some influences from 'Gossip Girl' and probably a few other shows you may watch, but I think you're doing a good job with making the plot your own and trying to add your own things to the story that don't follow the main show you got your inspiration from. 

              
(Flow): (7/10)   

With having so many characters, it can be a habit for chapters to be a little choppy since you're trying to fit all the characters in, whether they get their own parts or not, but they don't have to be in every chapter. You can break chapters up and focus on only a few of them instead of all of them, making your chapters seem less choppy and let the reader get a feel for the characters a bit more. You have interesting characters, but it can be a bit hard on the reader with the constant switching of POVs between all of them, especially since it may make it harder for them to relate to all your characters later on.

Usually the reader can relate to one or two characters relatively well, but with fics like this where there are more than two leads, it's better to give just a bit more so your reader can empathize with all your characters instead of one or two.  Especially when some readers may skip parts because they aren't able to connect well with a certain character(s) and end up missing a vital clue to the story. 

However, your chapters were well constructed and nothing seemed too out of place as you followed a relatively simple timeline per chapter, each scene usually coming a few minutes to an hour or so later than the scene before that. It was easy to follow and I was able to go through each chapter without having to go back and reread scenes to understand what was going on. 

                  
(Grammar/Spelling): (7/10)

There were a few times where you had misspelled words or they weren't completed all the way, which could easily be fixed by looking over your work or using a simple spell check. Grammar was pretty good and there wasn't anything too jarring that kept me from having to stop too much while reading it. So good job there.

                      
(Enjoyment): (7/10) 

I don't read a lot of EXO fics, but I did find this story to be quite interesting and a good read. The little recaps at the beginning of each chapter were pretty cute and I found the characters to be rather enjoyable. The only thing that really irked me was G's excessive use of the word 'es.' Like every time G had a part, he would always say that word and after a while it just got a bit old. But other than that, you definitely have a good start to a good story. 

                    
(Total): (36/50)                      
Would I recommend it?: If you don't mind EXO rare pairings, mystery, and stories that take place duirng high school, I would recommend it.  

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