Author: @Little_Songbirdx — thanks for being my first review! :)

Genre: Fantasy

The One-Liner
A great read for those interested in love, war, and Period Dramas. :)

Cover
• I felt that more could've been done with it, and that a different font could have been used. Although it does go well with the story, It wasn't something that really caught my attention right off the bat. Then again, I'm a sucker for really simple-looking covers so that might just be my bias talking. :0

Characters
• I wasn't sure about Gavrila at first because he seemed like a real ~donut head~ , and quite honestly boring. But I see some potential for growth and development with him.

• As far as Evangeline is concerned, I think she's an interesting character, but there seem to be some inconsistencies. At some points she seems straight to the point and a little fiery—my favorite kind of female character—while other times she seems to be timid and shy. Although both personalities are valid, it's important to choose one or the other. When you're reading a novel, there's nothing more confusing than when a strong character makes a decision that makes no sense in regards to who she is. It comes across as a cheap move that the author makes to force the story in a certain direction (although I don't believe that was your intention at all, in this case). I will note, though, that I only read six chapters, so there could easily be more development on her part that I missed out on. :0

• Another thing I would like to bring up is depth. It was lack of depth that I really felt contributed to Gavrila's dullness. This whole story is going to take place from Gavrila's perspective, so there needs to be something that keeps things interesting. Mostly, you would only ever brush the surface of why he likes or dislikes certain things. I would suggest taking the time to really delve deep into his thoughts and opinions. For example, it's mentioned that Gav (hope you don't mind me calling him that) has a love for being on the front lines. Why is that? Well, he hints briefly that it's because of his distaste for being a gentleman, but I think that it should go much deeper than that, especially since he's choosing to risk his life in rebellion of that notion. Has he lost a close friend to a previous war, and wishes to avenge him? Has he got a secret sadistic side to him? Or maybe he earnestly wants to win his father's approval by risking his life on the battle field? Answering a question like one of these could really make Gav more relatable and human.

• Perhaps give more room for inner dialogue as well, as that will give you more artistic leeway, and possibly open the door to some richer description.

Plot
• I really like the storyline! Something I will add though, is that I feel that there should be more mystery and unpredictability. I would have liked to have seen Evangeline not meet Gavrila in his library, for whatever reason, or something like that.

• There are some darker themes that I felt like you wove into the story with a lot of skill. Inclusion of those death certificate things sort of brings about a realization that there's a lot of people dying in the war. Makes you want to know why...

• Inclusion of elements that are more on the absurd side could make things really interesting as well. For example, maybe the war being fought is a result of a coked-up wizard pulling all the strings... Okay that was a terrible example, but do you catch my drift? This is under the Fantasy genre after all, so you should take full advantage of that.

Dialogue
• Like I said in your mini-review for The Ace Awards, you've got a knack for intelligent dialogue! I feel that this is gravely important because it gives fluidity to the characters' discourse, and therefore to the story as well.

• What I encourage is to maybe write some longer conversations. With your talent, that kind of dialogue could generate suspense and excitement all on its own, possibly even with very little description.

To Sum It All Up
• I had a lot of fun reading your work (I decided to read 6 chapters). There weren't any horrendous grammatical/mechanical errors that I noticed which I GREATLY appreciated, and your writing style is simple which makes it all the more lovely. You've got A LOT of talent and you've displayed it skillfully within this book. Overall an interesting read, especially for those who love Historical-Fiction type stories. :)

Me when Gavrila said "Which one are you?":