First of! I should begin this chapter by thanking my fellow judges Ruth_Eze and OneWinterNight for their hardwork. Please pm me which book would you like me to read as one of the prizes or thank you gift to you guys ^^ It has to be your written book. If you haven't written one, you can suggest to me any other book that you want to support or gain attraction.

Participants, if you would like to know your scoresheets, please message me through PM or in this chapter. Stickers for both judges and participants are available at the end of this chapter. If you wish to have a clearer image, please message me and I will send you the link to the google docs ^^ Same goes to the winners.

Without further ado, let me announce the winners of the teen fiction category from 3rd to 1st place.

—3rd place—

Book Title: Nerd Next Door

Author: countryfresh

Book cover and title: 6/10

Blurb: 8/10

Plot development: 11/15

Character development: 8/10

Grammar and punctuation: 4/5

Overall enjoyment: 16/20

Total score: [53/70]

Review: I really like the author's way of conveying the main character's thoughts and pious, quite unique and noteworthy. The story is personally relatable but the book cover isn't as 'eye-catching' as the content in it. Not that it's bad, it's dainty but refurbishment would do the book a lot better.

—2nd place—

Book Title: There's Only You

Author: HappyEndingWriter

Book cover and title: 8.5/10

Blurb: 7/10

Plot development: 11/15

Character development: 8/10

Grammar and punctuation: 4/5

Overall enjoyment: 18/20

Total score: [56.5/70]

Review: I think it's cute and I like the humor. The plot was a little bit unexpectedly fast paced but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

—1st place—

Book Title: The Boy with Strange Blood

Author: Olvaaarrdd

Cover (9/10)

The cover suggests a story that is aimed at a teen or middle grade audience. The colors and composition are lovely, and I especially liked the addition of Efren's hair pick. My only critical comment is that it almost seems aimed at a middle grade audience, and I do think it's a bit much thematically (infidelity, death, language) for the average middle grader!

Blurb (8/10)

I would personally move the first sentence of the second paragraph down to just before the last sentence and re-word them a bit to make it work. Talking about Efren, then saying what kind of book it is, then talking about Efren again is a little awkward. Also, I think the blurb could be trimmed and edited a bit more for the maximum punch. The story is so powerful, but the blurb is a little scattered and doesn't quite do the story justice, in my opinion (Note: title isn't changed in the blurb).

Plot Development [14/15]

For reference, I read Chapters 1-10 for this review. I think your plot develops naturally from Chapter 1, where we are introduced to the key plot problems, characters, and Efren's tone/style right from the opening paragraph. The second section (The Prince), and in particular chapters 4-7 were strong plot development chapters. Chapter 4, in particular, does so much to reinforce how Emelda and Efren's relationship with each other and to "Pops" has shaped the narrative to this point and how it will continue to direct the story. By Chapter 7, we started to really see the way that Emelda and Pops' relationship was starting to break down, and how this drives both the plot and represents the division Efren later feels in his own life/personality. Chapter 9 and 10 have fantastic pacing and plot development throughout. However, I think there could have been a little more build-up to the moment where Efren realizes that Pops has been lying about everything, and Efren's resulting reaction. Still, the dramatic tension in this chapter is masterful, and a powerful way to show Efren starting to grow up and see what's actually going on with his parents.

Character Development [9/10]

The way you use dialogue and tags to develop characters is masterful. Chapter 1 starts right off with a beautiful blend of prose and dialogue. While the following chapters continue to develop Efren and Emelda's voices and personality, I found that Efren's voice was a bit lost at the beginning of Chapter 4, but it came back with ferocity by the second half of that chapter, and only continued to gain steam. Chapters 5-10 took place in the past, and they really contributed a lot to the portrayal of Emelda to both the reader and in Efren's eyes. The almost mythical depiction of Pops was also a nice touch, and it made it all the more heartbreaking when the reader realizes (before Efren of course) that Pops has been cheating and lying all along. Again, as I mentioned above, I think we could get a little bit more drama and horror when Efren realizes Pops is lying to him in Chapter 10.

Grammar and Punctuation [5/5]

A very clean read with no glaring punctuation errors that I noticed. I was far too hooked on the story! As for readability, there were some paragraphs that ran long and that could have been split into two, but that was the only thing I noticed with any consistency. The very long blocks of text sometimes had very interesting details that almost got lost. I would recommend breaking up some of the longer passages on action beats to make it a bit easier to read.

Overall Enjoyment [20/20]

This story was beautiful, and while I don't typically enjoy contemporary fiction, I loved every chapter I read of this book. Now that I am done reviewing it, I intend to go re-read and comment as well. I loved the mixture of dialogue and prose, and the humor mixed in with real heart. While I think that the themes and language are a little strong and heavy for middle-grade or younger readers, I think it is 100% appropriate and relevant for a teen audience. Any critical feedback I had was technical/taste related, as detailed above, and I am sincerely invested in the characters, story, and themes of this book.

Total Score: [65/70]

Congratulations winners of the Teen Fiction category!

—Participants—

—Judges—