Review Shop - Quotev And Wattpad (CLOSED) - The Phantom of Antrim

Intro:

The Phantom of Antrim was written byspectrejim01. It follows Jack Fisher, a young man who struggles to adapt to his daily life after the loss of his beloved mother. This narrative follows deep emotional topics revolving around grief and self-discovery.

I apologize for the delay in this review. I explained in the last chapter, but I will say it here too: HammerHandedHeart wasted my time, broke the rules, and was rude and snobby to me, and all the work I did on her review could have gone to yours instead since yours was right after hers, but no, she wasted my time. I'm so sorry, it's not fair that your review came later all because someone wasted my time. I hope this review is helpful and is worth the wait. Thank you so much for your patience, and again, I am so sorry you had to wait all because of one person's selfishness.

I'm gonna start with a really small part that relates to the aesthetics, not the core content. I normally don't comment on this type of thing, but I think it's worth mentioning: I like the title. It's an engaging title and I wasn't sure what Antrim meant, but it looked interesting. That led to me looking into the word and figuring out more about its origin, so that was a nice learning experience. I always like it when books show me new things I can educate myself on. And, beyond that, like I mentioned before, it sounds cool and pretty without being over-the-top. I know that seems like a small thing, but it's important for drawing readers in. Good job!

When I review things, I often reread earlier chapters to see if I missed any details or can pick up on something new. Something I picked up on while rereading was the very first paragraph of the story mentioning how "...normally, it's a bad omen for skipping the morning routine...". That may seem like a small thing to point out, but considering bad things happen to him all throughout that week, that detail seems far more significant upon a second reading. It's a subtle moment of foreshadowing that can easily go unnoticed, especially as you read more and become engrossed, it kind of slips your mind what was said at the beginning. It gives the story more rereadability and it makes me want to keep reading that first part to see if there's anything else I missed.

In general, there are many small details like those, and I appreciate you for giving special attention to the little things. I think too many authors skip over that kind of stuff, but incorporating little details is imperative for reader engagement. Searching for and finding those details made rereading fun!

Those are the two smaller things I liked, so let's move into the bigger things.

First and foremost, let's talk about Jack himself. He's the protagonist of the story and the emotional heart that packs all the punches the readers are going to feel. I think you've done a good job setting up Jack's character, not only through the prologue chapters where you establish his relationship with his mother, but in the first core chapter as well. The sanctuary scene was mixed between the speech and descriptions of Jack's surroundings and feelings, and I liked that mix since it moved the story along while also giving us a hint at Jack's mental state.

In general, Jack is an engaging protagonist that I want to cheer for. He's dealing with an extremely difficult emotion, and it's written in a way that's believable. He isn't just angry, he isn't just sad, he isn't just missing his mom. He has a combination of a bunch of different emotions that include things like rage, sadness, and longing, but the grief goes beyond that, which I think is a great thing.

The themes are the next big thing I'd like to talk about. I've been on record saying one of my personal favorite themes is grief and the complex emotions that come with it. The story is very short so far and only has four chapters out, and only one of them is a core chapter. So it's hard to judge how many emotions are going to be present in the future of the story, but based on what I've seen, I think you have a great start.

Review Shop - Quotev And Wattpad (CLOSED) - The Phantom of Antrim - Detailed Feedback (2024)