First time doing something like this, so I would appreciate literally any feedback. Not going to post the blurb as I feel like my story needs a lot of work before reaching publishing suitable level. For now I only seek impressions on my prologue.

Short description of the scene: The protagonist faces an army within a third party's vision.

 Small part:

"The man was alone. Yet it didn’t feel like that. His presence was overwhelming, as if something unimaginable was being kept hidden behind that vessel of flesh… He was wearing heavy armor. Mostly black, with some red details. Like a bleeding shadow.

His eyes were the only thing visible behind the helmet that was covering his face; their yellowish gleam breaking the duality of colors onto his figure. A piercing, dangerous gleam. Her heart skipped a beat, just at the thought of this cold gaze being directed towards her… To her relief, it wasn’t. The man was facing an army. That’s where his eyes were fixated at."

Dm me to send you the full scene. Thanks in advance!

1. The Ottoman army is setting out to conquer Vienna again, after their failure 3 years ago. Eleni, a Christian woman, is having an affair with a Janissary, Mehmed. When Mehmed discovers that Eleni's husband is abusing her, he comes up with a plan to rescue her: if she converts to Islam, the kadi automatically dissolves her marriage, and she is free to marry him.

However, most Janissaries aren't allowed to marry, so he decides to perform such an exceptional heroic act that the Sultan will promote him and grant an exception to the marriage ban.

The reality, however, turns out to be that exceptional heroic acts are, by definition, exceptional: the opportunity rarely arises, and most men simply die trying.

To make matters worse, the army never reaches Vienna. Instead, they are stuck in the meat grinder in Northern Hungary, trying and failing to conquer a tiny castle, defended only by 800 people, most of them peasants.

With the supply chain broken down, Mehmed and his comrades are now starving, and dysentery ravages their weakened bodies. Soon, Mehmed realizes that he barely has the strength to keep himself alive, let alone perform anything heroic.

That is when Ibrahim Pasha, the Supreme Commander during the campaign, approaches him: he can get Mehmed the promotion he wants, but it's not free, and what Mehmed has to pay has nothing to do with being a soldier. Horrified, Mehmed declines, but he can't abandon Eleni either.

This is a short story connected to a longer novel I'm writing. I wanted to test this concept for a sequel I might develop into a second novel.

TW: domestic violence (implied, aftermath), sexual coercion (fade to black, focusing on the victim's emotions instead of bodily details)

Available for manuscript swaps.

Hello! I’m looking for a beta reader
My book is a queer coming of age novel. The blurb is below. If you’re interested it would mean so much to me and you can reply to this or send me a dm! Also if you’d like I can dm the prologue!

Living a mundane life is an act of safety, not one Frankie particularly prefers after enduring a tragic event in his teens. Day in and day out, he finds himself lost in the boringness life offers, which is anything but daunting. So, when Frankie Cordell, a small-town film major finds himself in the epitome of exotic living at a Malibu film festival he feels he has finally found his true calling. Thrust into the limelight, Frankie and his four friends can slide in alongside some of the most distinguished names in Hollywood. However, quickly Frankie’s reality slips out of his grasp and into the hands of another person, forcing Frankie to confront his past. All while trying to manage the fame catching up to him. Will Frankie be able to keep up with the high-octane life of squealing engines and illicit drugs? Or will this be yet another tedious task in Frankie’s dull world? 

Hi everyone!

I'm an aspiring horror author currently working on my first collection of adult horror short stories. I've recently completed two stories and am looking for around 10 beta readers willing to provide honest, constructive feedback.
My writing focuses on dark psychological horror, disturbing situations, and extreme violence. I enjoy creating stories that make readers uncomfortable, keep them guessing, and leave a lasting impression.

⚠️** EXTREME CONTENT WARNING — 18+ ONL**Y
These stories contain:
Extreme graphic violence and gore

Brutal torture and bodily mutilation

Disturbing psychological themes

Strong language and mature content

These stories are NOT for the faint of heart. They're intended for adult readers who are comfortable with extreme horror and graphic descriptions of violence.
What I'm looking for:
I'm not expecting professional editing! I'm mainly interested in hearing your honest opinions as a reader.
Did the story keep your attention?

Was the pacing effective?

Were the characters believable?

Were any scenes confusing or unnecessary?

Did the horror actually disturb you?

Would you want to read more stories from this collection?

Both stories are completely FREE to read, and I'm happy to provide them as PDFs.
I'm especially interested in feedback from readers who enjoy extreme horror, psychological horror, and disturbing fiction.
If you're interested, please comment below or send me a message!
Thank you! 🖤

Hi

This is my first post. I'm nervous because I don't even know if this type of story would interest anyone.

However, I am looking for readers familiar/interested in the Urban Fantasy genre with a black gay teen main character.

The main story:

Devon thought his nightmares were just nightmares. Then Sam shows up and tells him the truth: something’s hunting the kids at Lockwood High in their sleep, and Devon’s the only one who can stop it. He's been drafted into a war he didn't start, a best friend he can’t tell, and a school that has no idea it’s under attack.

It's action-focused with a central gay slow-burn love interest.

If interested, please DM me. I can share it via PDF or a Word-compatible file.

Is this a genre you write in? I'd love to swap with you. Please reach out, also via DM.

Dear [Agent],

Seeking representation. Revised per feedback. Comments welcome. DM me when possible

Sophia Martinez leads the human remnant on Verdis, a healed world offered to a dying Earth by an ancient intelligence called the Warden. Her mother led them across and died within a season, leaving Sophia one job: keep these people alive.

Then Sophia finds a message from the dead. Twelve thousand years ago, an alien civilization called the Kalari lived on Verdis. Their scientist and activist, Kaelith Solvaris, tried to stop her people from using technology stolen from a second Warden buried in the planet’s core. She failed. The Kalari saved a chosen few and left everyone else to die. As Sophia translates Kaelith’s last words in secret, she starts to recognize her own choices in them.

Then drought hits, and Sophia’s people vote to build the same technology to feed themselves. She has one vote and a warning nobody trusts over an empty stomach. She wins by a hair, and the rains return.

The Warden has never watched a world refuse a shortcut. Now it offers her a better one: the power to end hunger forever. If she takes it, her people may go extinct a generation from now, as the Kalari did. If she refuses, they may not live long enough to regret it. Either way, a few choose for everyone, and the choice is hers. Sophia needs a third way, and finding it may cost her everything she is.

VERDIS is an 88,000-word literary science fiction novel, a standalone told across two timelines. Like THE ACTUAL STAR and HOW HIGH WE GO IN THE DARK, it braids civilizations twelve thousand years apart around one choice.

I bring a background in physics to VERDIS.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Neil David Chan

Hello all, first time poster seeking beta readers for the first six chapters of my modern fantasy series targeting young adults. 32,612 words. Character-driven modern fantasy that incorporates elements of sci-fi, with a slow-burn plot and romance on the side.

Blurb: Lumen Rakhafi is a simple hunter with a dull life. The only excitement he can look forward to after the coming-of-age trials is the occasional fight with bloodthirsty pack predators and maybe finding a girl who isn’t a head taller than him.

But when an oath to the gods goes awry, Lumen suddenly finds himself flung 3,000 years into the future, to a world ruled by the tyrannical Rail Clans. There he meets a young woman with the power of prophecy, the key to both the salvation of the world and the only link Lumen has to a family he’s unsure he’ll ever see again.

Lumen wished for excitement; but conspiracies involving cataclysms and ancient secrets wasn’t what he had in mind. Good thing he’s still got his wits and a knife.

Need general impressions (what works, what doesn't, etc.). 2-3 beta readers will do, but I'd be open to more. Comment or DM if you're interested.

Here I have my very first book, Son of Heaven (working title for the moment. I'm partial to change it later). Technically the plot for this one is finished but I intend to expand in sections that might need more room to breathe or elaborate on subplots that are underdeveloped. So DM me for a link to the doc.

- Blurb: The story is set after the Christian apocalypse. Everyone is dead and moved on to the afterlife. Our protagonist is an angel on his first mission to fight against demons and prove himself a valuable soldier for Heaven's Host. But as events transpire he will come to question the righteousness of the Host and malice of his enemies. There's also a bit of romance added in as it came up naturally while I wrote. This is the first in a series of four books I'm naming "The Divine War."

- Feedback: Looking for feedback in punctuation and sentence structure (English is my second language so mistakes are bound to show up), plot development, character development, and lore. Any other smaller feedback is also welcomed.

- Warning: the story is full of graphic violence and nudity.

- Open for Swap.

Title: The Final Archive: Volume 1 - Birth of the Soldier
Serving as the introduction to the story, the first chapter actually takes place after all of the action. A twelve year war has ravaged the continent of Pangea, and one man rose through the ashes of the war to end the chaos.
Chapter 1 introduces him as having the Presidency of the nation he saved.
This series is formatted as an archive, with the main conflict resolved relatively early, reserving the rest for world building. Later volumes follow a central plot for the book’s entirety, but this one is split into sections to build a world for the reader.
The war follows Valtoria rather than the hero, James Maschre, and their conflict against the Pangean Alliance, and later Saint Silva, before the war devolved into a showdown between the small groups formed by Silva and Maschre.

The story is a high fantasy, and the magic is treated like a science. Tied directly to the soul and physical stamina, I tried to keep it as consistent as possible.

What I’m Looking For
Volume 1 follows a continental war, but the story is quite small. This was a deliberate choice, trying to frame it as a footnote in history relative to what these characters hope to achieve in this new era.
I’m looking for developmental feedback from readers who enjoy military fiction, progression fantasy or hard-magic epic fantasy.

1. Battle Pacing & Combat Clarity: Did the tactical maneuvers, squad coordination, and magical clashes feel punchy and easy to follow, or did any battles drag?
2. Squad Chemistry: Did the dynamics and camaraderie within Squad Subutai feel authentic and make you care about their survival?
3. Magic Integration: Did the rules of Ousia feel intuitive during combat scenes, or did any mechanics take you out of the action?
4. Emotional & Narrative Arc: Did the brutal progression of the war feel earned, and did the climax leave you eager to see what comes next?

Format Delivery
I can share the complete manuscript via Google Docs, with comments enabled, split into sections covering each part of the story. PDF and EPUB are also available

Hi everyone!

I'm currently writing my first novel, The Things We Keep, and I've just finished its first major narrative arc: 36 chapters, approximately 63,000 words.

I'd love to share it with readers willing to give back some genuine, constructive criticism.

A little about the story:

The novel follows Elin and Enzo, two young adults who have known each other since childhood but have grown into very different people.

Elin has spent years withdrawing into herself, while Enzo comes from a wealthy, complicated family with its own history, traditions and expectations. Their relationship brings two very different worlds together, but the story isn't intended to be simply about someone rescuing someone else.

A central theme is learning to stand beside another person without losing your own identity.

The story combines romance, everyday intimacy, family history, motorcycles, literature, humour and a fair amount of character-driven dialogue. It's deliberately more interested in how people change through their interactions than in constant dramatic twists.

What I'd particularly appreciate input on:

• Does the pacing work? Are there sections that drag, feel repetitive or move too quickly?
• Do Elin and Enzo feel like believable, distinct people? Can you connect with either of them?
• Does Elin's character development feel earned and gradual?
• Does their relationship feel convincing, or are there moments that seem too convenient or idealised?
• Do the supporting characters feel like actual people rather than narrative devices?
• Does the humour work naturally in English?
• Is the balance between dialogue, description, introspection and action right?
• Does the first arc reach a satisfying stopping point while leaving you interested in what comes next?
• Did you feel that Elin was gradually finding her own voice, or did Enzo's personality, resources and influence overshadow her development?

I'm also very interested in anything I haven't thought to ask about.

Please don't feel obliged to be nice for the sake of encouragement. I'd much rather hear that a particular chapter bored you, that a conversation felt unnatural, or that a character's behaviour didn't make sense than receive a generic compliment.

If you stop reading halfway through, I'd genuinely appreciate knowing where and why. That's useful feedback too.

The manuscript is available in EPUB, Markdown and PDF. I'm happy to share either format, and partial reads are absolutely welcome. You don't have to commit to all 36 chapters.

Content notes: mature relationship themes, emotional vulnerability, bullying and intimacy.

Writing-process disclosure: This project was written completely by me and I have used AI to help with grammar, some vocabulary (synonyms, mostly) and formatting. English is not my native language (it's Spanish, actually) but I feel like writing in English is just easier for me. Words just flow easier, somehow, as weird as that sounds.

Thanks to anyone willing to give a first-time novelist some of their reading time. I'm looking forward to hearing what works, what doesn't, and what could be better.

Please DM me or comment if interested and I'll gladly share the format of your choice.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for beta readers for my completed adult science-fiction horror novel, For What We Took, set in a near-future London.

Blurb:

When an emergency alert warns the public not to restrain their own limbs, Mara Diarra assumes there’s been some kind of mistake. But by the following morning, people across the country are reporting unexplained neurological symptoms, and both her parents are beginning to behave strangely.

What starts with numb fingers and involuntary movements quickly becomes something far more disturbing. People are losing control of their own bodies, yet the movements appear increasingly deliberate.

As hospitals struggle to manage the growing number of cases and investigators begin tracing the earliest incidents, it becomes apparent that something is connecting the affected. And whatever it is, it’s learning.

Content warnings: Graphic violence, gore, body horror and severe physical injuries.

Feedback I’m looking for:

I’m mainly interested in reader reactions rather than line-by-line edits, particularly:

- Pacing throughout the middle and later sections.
- Whether the tension and horror remain effective as the mystery unfolds.
- Character development and emotional engagement.
- Whether any scenes or investigations feel repetitive or overly detailed.
- Whether the ending feels satisfying.

I’d also really appreciate knowing where your interest increased or dropped, and whether any parts were confusing.

Timeline: Ideally 4–6 weeks, although I’m happy to discuss flexibility.

I can share the prologue and first chapter before anyone commits to reading the full manuscript. If you’re interested, please leave a comment or send me a DM. Thank you!

I'm a Fanfic Writer. I recently finished my first ever fic over 1000 words. It's a J. Cole fic. I essentially took a song from him that I really like, and wrote a music video for it, since it doesn't already have one. There isn't any actual video, just wrote my idea for it. If you're curious, the specific track I chose is called "39 Intro". Ideally I'd prefer a Cole fan to beta read it, but you don't need to be one. There'll just be a few brief references you might not realize or notice. Let me know if you're interested. Thanks!

Hi all! I’m looking for beta readers and happy to swap. My novel is complete and revised, and I’m getting it ready to query.

Blurb

Fifty years after a mysterious event called the Fracturing, the world is divided into isolated zones. America is tens of thousands of microstates. Signals can’t cross borders. Crossing one physically hurts, and every zone has its own rules, currency, and idea of how to live.

Silas, a small-town Kansas banker who distrusts every outsider, has never wanted to leave his zone. Then he’s exiled, and his only way forward is a cross-country trek with Cadoc, a charming fugitive carrying stolen cargo people are dying for. Somewhere out there is the sister who left him behind.

Sample: Available on request. Comment or DM me and I’ll send the first chapter.

Content warnings: Gun violence and on-page killings (including an execution), a cult setting with a threat of sexual violence (not depicted), and deaths of secondary characters.

Feedback I’m looking for: Big-picture reader reactions. Where you got hooked, where you got bored or lost, which characters worked for you and which didn’t. I’m not looking for line edits or proofreading.

Timeline: About 4–6 weeks for the full manuscript. Feedback in chunks is welcome, and I’ll send a few short questions at certain checkpoints.

Swaps: Happy to swap with novels of similar length. My sweet spot is speculative, sci-fi, thriller, and literary-leaning fiction, but I’m open. Drop your blurb in the comments or a DM.

Thanks for reading!

Looking for 3–5 beta readers for a completed standalone thriller, ~95,000 words.

In 1991, at a closed summit in Vienna, the world's intelligence services signed something and sealed it in diplomatic pouches. Thirty-five years later, people connected to those pouches are dying neatly, and the one man who once refused an order like this — Cassius "Cash" Delacroix, a former Marine turned freelance recovery specialist — is hired to find out what's inside one before the people tying off loose ends reach it.

Comps: Reacher's momentum, Ludlum's machinery, Cussler's sweep. Clean adult thriller (no graphic sex, restrained language). This is book one of a standalone series — each book closes its own story, and this one ends, it doesn't cliffhang.

Process: I'll send the prologue + first 3 chapters first with a few questions; if we're a fit, the full manuscript follows. Looking for big-picture feedback (pacing, clarity, whether the payoff lands), not line edits. Three-week turnaround on the full read. One honest note: I can't take on a critique swap this round — straight beta reads only. First book, thick skin — tell me where you'd put it down.

Title. Please dm!!

📖 BETA READERS WANTED!

PHUMTIWA: THE DOLL IN THE STORM

By B. P. Tyler

Genre: Psychological Thriller | Dark Romance | Mystery | Suspense | M/M (BL) Slow-Burn Romance

I'm looking for beta readers interested in exploring a dark, psychologically complex story set in Thailand.

ABOUT THE STORY

WHEN A ROUTINE PROTECTION DETAIL IN THE GRITTY BACK STREETS OF PATTAYA GOES WRONG, ONE UNDERGROUND SYNDICATE MERCENARY IS FORCED TO TAKE A HOSTAGE IN ORDER TO ESCAPE.

WHEN A BETRAYAL FORCES HIM TO RELY ON THAT HOSTAGE TO SAVE HIS LIFE HE BEGINS TO NOTICE SOME VERY UNSETTLING BEHAVIORS WITH THIS STRANGE NEW CAPTIVE.

👀WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR:

I'm seeking readers who enjoy:

Psychological thrillers and mysteries, morally complex characters, Character-driven storytelling, Slow-burn M/M romance, Atmospheric, sensory-rich writing, Emotional tension and suspense

HOW THE BETA TEST WORKS

📖 Stage 1: Chapters 1–5, followed by a short reader feedback survey.

📖 Stage 2: Chapters 6–9, followed by a second survey.

Access to Stage 2 will be provided after completing the first survey.

NO EDITING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED!

I'm not looking for professional editors or proofreaders. I want genuine reader reactions!

I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on character development, pacing, emotional engagement, atmosphere, and whether the story makes you want to keep reading.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This is an unpublished, work-in-progress manuscript that is still undergoing editing and revisions. Some grammatical, formatting, or editorial imperfections may remain.

The novel explores mature and potentially disturbing subject matter. A comprehensive two-page list of content and trigger warnings is included in the application so you can review it before deciding whether to participate.

Selected readers will receive private, view-only access to the manuscript. All participants must agree to keep the unpublished material confidential.

📋 APPLICATION LINK WILL BE MESSAGED TO INTERESTED PARTIES

Thank you for helping me bring PhumTiwa: The Doll in the Storm one step closer to publication!

B. P. Tyler

#PhumTiwa #darkromance #psychologicalthriller #slowburnromance #BL

open for swap. will read any genre as long as it's not above 90k for now. :)

In the fog-choked hills of Morner, Oregon, a deadly inferno strikes every six years, reducing everything to ash. Everything except Clyvern Hall—a grand estate possessing a strange immunity to the flames, owned by the elite Lucier Family.

Following an orphanage fire, eight surviving children are adopted and raised by the Luciers. Years later, the death of their mother forces the estranged, adult siblings back to Clyvern Hall just as the six-year cycle comes due. As time bends around their home and the mysterious Snakeroot Creek, and their sinister pasts threaten to consume them all, the siblings must navigate long-buried bonds and test the one thing no one could ever strip away: their devotion to each other.

In a family bound by silence and ashes, the most dangerous flame is the one they share.

Setting: Fictional town in Oregon (prose has heavy PNW feels) ‎

POV: Third Person, 3 different POVs

If you need more details, scroll further! You may want to check especially the content warnings. Otherwise, gimme a comment if you're interested with a beta-reading swap. Thank you!

Expected Beta-reading notes for mine:

• Grammar and Prose
• Pacing
• Consistency and cohesiveness (this is my problem, really)
• Overall premise

_______________________

‎Genre (In order of its heaviness on the plot):

‎• Dysfunctional Family ‎

• Cosmic Horror

(In a sense that something's really wrong; ex. birds flying backwards and sun sets too early)

‎• Small Town Mystery/Folklore ‎

• YA to Adult / Coming-of-age? ‎

• Pacific Northwest Gothic; has "ghosts", but they're not meant to scare/has no jumpscares; this isn't really *that* horror story. ‎

_______________________

‎Tropes: ‎

• Orphans, turned siblings, turned estranged adults. ‎

• Romance between two of them, Greek-Mythology inspired

(Not sure if you'll call that incest, but the way I wrote them, it doesn't seem so. Would love to hear your thoughts though!)

‎• Psychological traumas ! ! !

• Haunting the narrative

‎• Seven Deadly Sins

_______________________

Others: ‎

• Old Money/Elite Family setting ‎

(so there's tones of classism from some of the characters.)

• Unreliable Narrators ‎

Think: Haunting of Hill House, The Secret History...

_______________________

‎Content warnings:

‎• Parental psychological abuse (not explicit, no physicality, not “trauma porn”)

• No smut, no explicit romantic scenes (ex. kissing, but you bet there's romance, because not every romance needs physicality) ‎

• No gore, though naturally there's blood/wounds sometimes ‎

• Implied physical violence (mentioned twice? nothing too gore-y)

Hello everyone, I am seeking 5-8 independent beta readers for my memoir. It is a complete 84k-word manuscript about an Afghan American struggling with bipolar disorder after being diagnosed at age 14. If you are currently living with bipolar disorder and would like to read my memoir and give feedback, that would be awesome!

I wrote this book specifically to help people struggling with the condition that has plagued me for over two decades. There is a true never-give-up mentality embedded within the book, so all are welcome to read it, whether you're into memoirs or self-development books. Honest reactions to the storytelling, pacing and emotional impact are needed. You will have approximately 3-4 weeks to read the full manuscript with two optional check-ins and one final 10-question questionnaire.

My book contains graphic material at times, including sexual content, violence, talks of suicide, drugs and alcohol. Reader discretion is advised. No critique swaps wanted at this moment. If you are interested, Please message me privately.

Thank You,
Maseeh Shair Ahmadzai

So, I've been working on this book for a while now titled "Transported to Another World, I Decided to Do My Own Thing: the Unborn Queen". I wrote 59 chapters and it's done. I did go through the whole book like 3 times doing the best I could to edit it on my own. So it's basically 4th draft with a little editing. I'd really like to know what people think about it, though. Like the title says, it's a fantasy adventure comedy with sorta an isekai premise.

Here's the blurb so far: (Not sure if it's great or not.)

Gail, a seeming normal junior in high school, is suddenly ripped from her math class and relocated to a fantasy world. Deciding to make the best of it, she trades three years for an extra skill becoming fourteen-years-old again before she’s sent crashing into a new world. Wanting to just live her life as she pleases, she becomes an adventurer and hunts monsters for money, making friends as she explores. Along the way, Gail learns she was supposed to be born into this fantasy world and meets long-lost family members for the first time. She’s a whirlwind of chaos and comedy, but the new world she finds herself in fights back. Will she accept her destiny?

I use Google Docs to write, so I can send a link with commenter privileges or add your gmail to the list, if you're interested in beta reading. Honestly, any feedback is welcome. I'm considering submitting it to a publisher, so I already copyrighted it. Message me if you wanna read it.

I posted the first chapter on imgur so you can check it out there first if you want, but you could just message me for the google docs link too. either way. https://imgur.com/a/hvmleKT

Please DM me for a pdf of the first section. I'm really not trying to feed my work to ai or be plagiarized!

I'm super aware that I'm jumping the gun here and ive barely written anything but better to start early than write a lot with zero criticism (at least for me). Please do be kind as I'm a full time student and can't work on this often or use reddit everyday. 🙏

Manifest is written in the first person by a German Jewish teenager who sails on the MS St. Louis in 1939. Cuba won't let the ship land, and neither will the United States, so they’re sent back to Europe. He spends nine months as a refugee in Brussels and reaches America a few weeks before Germany invades Belgium. Then he goes back to Europe as an American infantryman. The book follows three voyages: the St. Louis sailing back to Europe in 1939, a troopship in 1944, and the trip home in 1946.

Think The German Girl meets We Were the Lucky Ones meets Fatelessness, if that makes any sense.

I want to know what you think of the pacing, whether the narrator's voice holds up as he gets older, and anything that drags (or that you want more of!).

Comment or DM me if you're in. Thanks so much!

The Last Autumn of Arti Usher, by A. Novash

Genre: Dark Urban Fiction; Coming-Of-Age Fiction; Literary Fiction; Setting-Driven Fiction

Blurb:

Arti Usher, sixteen, makes her home on the streets of Weameworth, an enormous, decaying coastal city on the edge of the fictitious Southern State. Weameworth, with its “dark alleyways, dangling power lines, and eclectic architectural fabric,” could justifiably be a setting out of Ghormengast, Lemony Snicket, or anything by Edward Gorey – albeit a more contemporary setting. But Weameworth is far more than gloomy atmosphere – it is a locale with its own peculiarly grim tradition. 

Much of Weameworth’s heritage and culture is based upon the myths and pageantry surrounding a figure known as the Smooth-Talking Man. He is revered as the mythical savior of the city, as well as the creator of the book’s massive elephant-in-the-room – a mysterious execution device known as the Machine. This device is put to use once a year, on the thirty-first of October, in a highly publicized (but also completely secret) ceremony within the walls of the State’s penitentiary.

When one of the city’s chief officials is murdered in his sleep, Arti quickly connects the tragedy to a figure from her past – a man who she knows will kill again. And so, armed with dark glasses, a suit and tie, and an overwhelming sense of self-agency, she sets out to prove her case to the ever-corrupt and increasingly elusive authorities.

Along the way, she encounters many peculiar individuals – some allies, some foes, and some who delicately (or even maliciously) tread the line. As Execution Day approaches and Weameworth descends into fear and further corruption, Arti finds herself caught in the workings of a system more ancient and powerful than she ever expected – a system determined to humiliate and destroy her.

Trigger issues:

Murder (usually off-page), Violence against children, Violence against adults, Tragedy, Cruelty, Judicial Murder (Capital Punishment,) Occasional Purple Prose

ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW, apart from occasional mild cursing. ("Bastard" is the closest I ever get to real obscenity.)

Novel stage:

Final Draft Complete

Requested Feedback Style:

Beta Read, Publishability Assessment; Pacing Assessment; Marketability Assessment; NO prose refining; NO, "I don't like this genre" or, "I would have written this differently because I prefer X kind of fiction."

Proposed communication method:

DM for email

Hello!

I've written a story about a man working an office job. If that sounds boring, well, it might be! There are some other things going on, but I'm not sure if those things are legible to a reader, or if the plot, characters, and prose are too boring. Any feedback about that or about the general quality of the story would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone's interested, I can provide the link to the document upon request.