Lost Stars - Exodus_17

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Lost Stars - Exodus_17
Reviewed by Suhyo07
Title
 
At first I wasn't really sure what you're trying to get at with your title, because there wasn't any connection with 'stars' in the story, but after reading the story, I realised the title was hinting at Wonshik's career and Taekwoon's voice, the two things which were about to shine the brightest. It also refers to both Wonshik and Taekwoon's break-ups, the main two characters being the 'stars' in the story, with the two also lost, and found the path within each other. 
 
Correct me if I'm wrong though. 
 
Description/Foreword
 

Your description can be described in one word; 'bland'. While it has everything in the story summarised into a few sentences, which was good, there wasn't much feeling in the sentences. It's like you were vomiting the words out, which reassembled into sentences. 

While the last sentence did arouse my curiousity, the other sentences could be arranged into a paragraph each, which would make them more visually pleasing to the eye, because right now it seemed like a mess. 

You can hit the precise points of your story's , and put it in the description to make the reader have the desire to click into the next chapter. If I were a normal reader stumbling upon this fic, I wouldn't have much motive to click onto the next chapter. 

How about this; Wonshik is an aspiring artist who was drowning in the pools of despair at his latest work, which he never seems to be satisfied with. Until he realises how thin his bathroom walls really were, and found the other broken piece to his own. 

It sounds better, doesn't it? Your original description gave me the wrong idea at first; it mentioned how thin Wonshik's bathroom walls were, so I thought it was a fic (I apologise for my dirty mind) 

You don't have to follow my example, but try spicing it up a bit. I'm sure you can do it, seeing that your writing isn't bad at all. 

Appearance
 

Everything looks fine to me, besides the jumbled mess in your description. You can change the font to a more elegant one, like Georgia or Lucida Grande, but it's fine as it is right now. 

Plot
 

The plot is fine at first glance; there weren't much plot twists, and the events were pretty realistic. However, when I read it again, I found a few points that I'm not sure about. 

For one, a piano bench isn't that long; with two people sitting on it, especially two people with Taekwoon and Wonshik's sizes, their bodies would've easily touched. I wish you could've gone into more detail in that. 

Another would be the wedding invitation. I know this fic is based off Beautiful Liar to some extent, but just from the story, I'm curious to why his ex would invite Taekwoon to her wedding still, even though they broke up. Is there a specific reason as to why? I wish you had put that into the story, just a comment here or there, not much but letting the reader know as well. 

Also, how did Wonshik know his way around in Taekwoon's apartment? Assuming he has never been there, even if Taekwoon's place is small, his feet wouldn't automatically move in the direction of the other's kitchen. 

The theme of your plot is certainly overused; neighbours who fall in love with each other after a single or few encounters are seen everywhere. However, I didn't expect the broken part at all. It was your twist to a cliche plot, and I really liked that. 
 

Characters
 
Wonshik and Taekwoon resemble the two idiots in VIXX, and I really liked that. 
 
While Wonshik is portrayed as the caring person in the story who just couldn't let his broken neighbour be even if he's going to be late for an important meeting, his personality traits are somewhat confusing. 
 
At first, you describe him as being extremely stressed, which was absolutely fine, but then in any normal situation, I would say, instead of thinking that my plumbing is broken when I heard muffled sounds, I would be more likely to freak out, especially when it's nighttime. It might be my own personal preference though, you can ignore this comment.  
 
However, I absolutely loved Taekwoon's characterisation. You made him seem broken without being vulnerable, something I hated to read when it comes to Taekwoon because he isn't that sensitive. (At least to me)
 
There was also a certain rawness to Taekwoon's character, which, again makes him seem small and vulnerable without actually displaying the above mentioned two traits. I really loved Taekwoon's personality in here.
 
Between Taekwoon and Wonshik, I would definetely say that Taekwoon is the more realistic and better-described character out of the two.
Details
 

The details were written shockingly well, especially since your description didn't really gave a good impression at first. The shower scene and Taekwoon's feelings, everything was described in great detail, which I really like. Good job on that.

Grammar
 
Let's see. There weren't too many grammar mistakes on the surface, which was really well done. However, on a closer look, I did spot a few mistakes.
 
The first one would be the tenses. Most authors make this mistake, so you don't have to worry too much. In the description, you had chosen to use present tense for the first two sentences, but in the third you suddenly switched to past. Wonshik's walls had never changed; they were the same old walls, so naturally it would be a little strange to use 'were' in the end.
 
I'm not sure where to stick this onto, so I'll put it in the grammar section as well. While your characterisation and descriptions were in amazing detail, your choice of words really well, there seemed to be something missing. Instead of being there in the story, the reader seemed to be watching the events unfolding from afar, and not in the same dimension. It just didn't feel real enough.
 
Again, the story wasn't well organised, and the structure was a bit messy. The word 'he' had been used too many times in a paragraph. Inside of stuffing everything in one paragraph like you were free-writing without purpose (which all of us do XD), you can add a few 'Wonshik's and 'the man's here and there to prevent overusage of the word 'he'.
 
Also a few minor mistakes; instead of 'so he was sat crosslegged', it should be changed into 'so he was sitting crosslegged'. 'Haphazardly' is spelt with one z, not two. 'It's' is short for 'it is', and 'its' is the possessive pronoun. Punctuation mistakes, after a verb which describe a person speaking, there should be a comma, placed in between the verb and the open apostrophe. Also, some of your paragraphs were seperated, some weren't. Again, it's a bit messy.
Flow
 

The flow is at a comfortable pace, and the story is easy to follow. There are no changes needed to be made, but your words seemed jumbled, as if everything's in a rush. However, the development of the story is at a comfortable pace.

Overall Enjoyment
 

Fellow starlight here~ So honestly, I'm not really a big fan of Wontaek. But this story is easy to read, especially when I can picture that sort of happening in real life? Wonshik is a dork after all XD. This story is a nice one to snuggle up in a blanket for, (aka stories which I can read when I'm de-stressing myself) so I really like it.

Thank you for choosing this review shop ^^ I hope you like your review and it helps! Please don't forget to credit in your foreword and comment below when you received it. If there's anything you want to ask, don't hesitate to do so in the comment section :) Have a terrific day~ (PS: can't wait for LR comeback :3)
 
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Comments

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SnowWhite_Queen #1
I love Vixx and thank you for making a shop named after them!! \(^-^)/
stellarstarlight
#2
I've always been curious about review shops. I could never do it myself. If you don't mind my asking, how did you come up with what to focus on? Like, how do you decide what parts to review?
chariseuma
#3
Chapter 11: Hello there! Thank you so much for taking your time to review my story - it means a lot to me. This review had been very helpful as I failed to realize the sudden changes in tenses OTL pls forgive me as i am very horrible with tenses ;A; I'll have a reread and checked the mistakes needed for me to fix it.

once again, thank you so much! i have posted a credit on the foreword ♡
XxLittleKittyXx
#4
I requested! :)
XxLittleKittyXx
#5
Title: South Side Mafia
Story Link:https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1288620/south-side-mafia-gangsters-southkorea-childhoodfriends-kidnapped-gangsterromance-revengeromance-violenceandmurder-streetlife-ganglifehorror-policeforce-aileebts-killernamjoon-bapbts
Author: XxLittleKittyXx
Profile Link: https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1644599
Length: I'm Aiming For 50
OnGoing/ Complete?; Ongoing
Theme's/Genre: Romance, Drama, Violence
Character's/Pairing: BTS x Ailee/ B.A.P X Ailee
Additional Comments: I only have one chapter done right now, but I wanted to see someone's opinion first ^,^
Is English your first language: Yup
Preffered Reviewer: None
Passwored: Dowonkyung
flytothesKAI
#6
Chapter 10: Thanks for the review :) will credit you when I get to my laptop
chariseuma
#7
Title: a fingertip away
Story link: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1282759
Author: chariseuma
Profile link: http://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/242416
Length: oneshot
Ongoing/Completed?: completed
Themes/Gender: angst, friendship
Characters/Pairings: yoongi x OC
Additional Comments: - let me know if u accept my request, then i'll allow text selection
Is English your first language?: no
Preferred Reviewer: -
Password: Dowonkyung
flytothesKAI
#8
Chapter 3: Title: Pit-A-Pat
Story link:http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1276359
Author: flytothesKAI
Profile link: https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1001526
Length: oneshot
Ongoing/Completed?: completed
Themes/Gender: fluff
Characters/Pairings: Daehyun x Youngjae (B.A.P)
Additional Comments: - I'll allow text selection after you accepted my form :)
Is English your first language?: no
Preferred Reviewer: -
Password: Dowonkyung
Denisebyul_92
#9
Chapter 9: I received my review already! Thank you so much. Your words are really appreciated! :)