Runes of Despair by myheartswishes

Review by exoticbabylove

Title:

The title did sound mysterious and interesting at first look, but I have to add in that titles with '_of_' are really overused right now in AsianFanFiction, so it was really plain after seeing the title for a little while. Personally, for me, a title must have a really strong connection with the story ever since the start, the word 'despair' had a strong connection as the characters did experience the feeling of despair in the story but for 'runes' I couldn't find any connection with it from the start foreword/description and the first few chapters. Hence, I would say that the word 'runes' wasn't really suit the title.

Description & Foreword:

Bam! This was the impact I got after reading both sections, they were beautifully-written and I could sense the strong emotions and feelings intact in the passage, you made your those words come alive. I have to say that this is so unexpected as I didn't expect much after seeing the title, but the description and foreword just hit me without any warning. The flow was very smooth and when I read it, the feeling was exactly like the beginning of 'EXO-MAMA' where the narrator told us about EXO Planet. Yeah, I felt the goosebumps and serious-ness while reading the description and foreword. However, I preferred the foreword way more than the description. The description was well-written but part of it was quite hard to comprehend as the readers are new to the story. We need more information to be able to understand the current situation, it did feel a bit lost at some parts but it gave me a picture of the story's outline. The story takes place in the dystopian era and the people living there are in despair like how the title relates to this; there is a leading group of people which was the 'Holy Governor' and there was an opposing group: 'Organization'. This was what I understood in the description, with much diffculty. Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm more of a slower reader and I tend to take time to adapt and remember the names. As for the foreword, it was easier to understand and it was much more attracting. Eun had to choose two sides, both with advantages and disadvantages, and it makes the reader question themselves. Here are some questions that I had after reading the foreword. Who was that man talking to her? Which side would Eun take? Why? Thus, I have to say that your description and foreword is one of the most exceptional ones I have ever read. Wonderful!

Plot:

So far, I have to say that plots like yours are extremely original and fresh; adding to that I love reading stories from an alternate universe from ours. Where it is extraordinary and interesting, thus I have to say that the plot was well-written and it shows how much thought you have put into the plot and proper planning was done before any writing of the chapters was done. The flashbacks written was intriguing and again, stunning. What I had to comment on was how Eunkyung was punished when she took the blame when Jongin stole something, the punishment room and the ways the warden punished her reminded me of three scenes. First, the scenes described from World War 2. How the Japanese soldiers tortured the civilians, one of the ways was the bloat their stomach with a lot of water and punch them in the stomach. Adding to the fact when you described how inhumane the wardens were, how they committed treacherous acts without feeling guilty or sorry towards little children, it was similar. As for the second scene was the scene in Avatar(Airbender), the part were some characters were locked up at