The author is @teraae in case you're wondering. I enjoyed this book too. ~XOXO BUTTERBALL
____________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Masked by Madness

First thought on title: Are we going to be visiting a mental hospital or an asylum because those are the images that come to mind when I see that title. It conjures up images of a sociopathic  serial killer that has escaped from a criminally insane mental ward. As for teen fiction and romantic thoughts definitely not, but perhaps some dark humor. 4 out of 10 if it was getting scored while it is a good title it doesn't hit home for your main genre and even one of your sub genres.

Cover: This is both strange and slightly disturbing in a way. This cover seems more suited to a 1940s Noir story, where crime and corruption runs rampant and aliens are possibly trying to invade our world. Judging from the picture they have yet to understand the concept of human faces. For a story with dark tones this fits however due to it being teen fiction people may be less likely to read it (Speaking from experience). 8 out of 10 while it is a great cover something like this isn't suited for teen fiction exactly. Teen fiction covers while they can have darker shading for darker stories, they also tend to still have a splash of color in some form. At the moment it's more suited for dark romance, dark humor which are some examples.

Summary: No one could ever have guessed that Jane and Grayson had anything in common. The first, a rebellious, bold, animal lover, and the other a dark and brutally sadistic, abusive boy; they were nearly complete opposites on the outside. Other than their below average teenager lifestyles, the strongest, and possibly only, string tying them together is their incurable mental illnesses; their insanity. Drawn together by pain and suffering of both mind and body, Jane finds herself in need of help while Grayson has nothing better to do than watch people and animals suffer at his own hand. When an unexpected curve ball is thrown at Jane and Grayson, they are forced onto a strange adventure that reveals to them the more beautiful and exhilarating side of life

Thoughts: Okay this is definitely a good summary, it kind of also works as a type of backstory too while not giving too much away. The only thing I would recommend is not clumping it together like that. Other that for this summary it is 5/5 definitely top notch.

First and second impressions:

1.Okay then, I see signs of someone being a serial killer later on in life. Grayson reminds me of those sadistic video game and anime children. Like Alma from FEAR or Hibana Haida from Deadman wonderland (Everyone remember that sociopathic girl? She killed seven elementary school boys for flipping her skirt up, by torturing and dismembering them!) I give Jane props for not backing down (I hate animal abusers) but she kind of screwed herself too. Chapter 2: ouch...it's a good thing that the class is extremely cautious and weary of Grayson but like Jane said just because he's missing doesn't mean he did it. He could've  had prior kitten drowning engagements.

2. I can tell what type of humor this story contains and I like it. Dark humor is my favorite. How ever I would perhaps place a trigger warning for people on the first chapter, just in case you know. Grayson shows signs of being a Sociopath already, but the thing is when you're a sociopath and no one trust you it makes it A LOT harder to scheme and lie. I would make some students have faith in him like maybe school delinquents or teachers so that he can abuse that faith/trust later on in the story. As for Jane, she seems kind of stoic and while she said that it might not have been Grayson that pulled the classroom incident, I get the feeling that she knows something. Why? Because stoic acting or rather stoic characters seem to notice a lot of things others don't.

9/10 you write Yanderes/sociopaths wonderfully Grayson has all the makings of a future serial killer. However make at least someone trust him other than Jane it'll really bring out his character when he turns on them. As for Jane I didn't really pick up much from her character besides in the prologue. But any normal person would be angry at what Grayson was doing whether they like animals or not. So if she is a bit more on the stoic side let her notice the smaller important details in the story sometimes.

Grammatical rating: 5/5 I saw no mistakes, all of your tenses were proper too. There was just the right amount of detail too.

Genre ratings: Teen fiction 4 out of 5 on the originality scale. Rarely can people make a sociopathic teenager work unless they're possessed or already up in a mental ward. So seeing Grayson having his fun outside and in a open area is definitely interesting and the fact that people don't just disregard what he's doing due to the natural charm. And 8 of 10, while you portrayed the students correctly you can't forget about the teachers, when talking about Mrs. Layla you kind of contradicted your earlier statement of her being docile and sweet. Sure teachers with that personality yell if they have to but when it comes to a student failing classes, they're more likely to try offering after school help or tutoring rather than yell, they also tend to get mostly disappointed instead of angry.

Sub-genres: Humor category the first is dark humor and honestly that gets a 4 out of five. You do cynical dark humor well but usually it fits a more sarcastic and dark character, so Jane having the slightly upbeat personality can't really do it justice. Grayson seems more like the cynical, dark humor prank for example if the class trusted him after that pen incident he could've told Julie in a certain tone  "I hear that ink is a bitch to get out of clothes." Ten out of ten on joke placement especially Andrew's snarky comments. And while it doesn't fit her personality Mrs. Layla saying  "Girl please," at Jane's request for another retake did elicit a chuckle.

Romance category 5 out of five on the dialogue scale however I would tone back Grayson's maniacal laughter. He reminds me a bit of Izaya from Durarara with his  'pranks' on his classmates. As for the second part it'll be tough to rate due to the number of pages you have however I would say 9 out of 10, the reason for that is because, like the rest of the class truth be told Jane shouldn't have any faith in Grayson. She even thinks he's disgusting and awful, however their pacing is perfect. Since she thinks badly of him and suspects him, she doesn't instantly think differently about him compared to people who may trust him or fan girl over him for some reason.

Overall scores:

Cover-8/10

Summary-5/5

Grammatical rating-5/5

Genre rating- Teen fiction 1:  4/5

Teen fiction 2: 8/10

Sub-genres:

Humor 1: 4/5

Humor 2: 10/10

Romance 1: 5/5

Romance 2: 9/10

Final score: 9/10: while everything seems just about perfect I would definitely recommend writing to your character's strengths and weakness. Grayson's manipulative so give him people he can manipulate. I also recommend that you maybe, change Mrs. Layla's personality description or make her seem more disappointed than angry at Jane. I hope this helps you in any way.