May Book Club!

[Arthur Morgan]

Hello everyone! Welcome to the May edition of the XROADS BOOK CLUB, sponsored by PepsiCo.

We've gathered up some suggestions from you lovely people and we're dropping 'em below. The following threads are yours for the reading and the reviewing. But before we get into it, there's some ground rules:

1. If you're reviewing a thread, please read the whole thread! There are a lot of reasons for this -- you might get a better idea of the whole arc, someone's writing may grow from start to finish, etc. Just as a basic rule, try to read the whole goshdarn shebang if you're gonna give comments.
2. Please make sure to keep your comments constructive! This doesn't necessarily always mean positives (though please do give positive notes when you have them!) but just make sure that you aren't giving people notes like "your grammar sucks." What's a place in particular you can give kind advice on? Also -- keep in mind that there's no reason to come in and rip someone apart.
3. In general, when giving critiques, the most important thing for me to hear from someone is how something makes them feel. If your review is just a paragraph about what emotions the character's journey dredged up in you, that is so helpful to me as a writer. Was it what I intended? How did it differ from what I thought I was doing?
4. Lastly, just a numbers note: try and make sure your reviews are at least a full paragraph of six to ten sentences (or more!). Ostensibly you're getting a 20 token reward if you do all of the threads, so try and put some thought into your feedback. Book Club, at its core, is about helping us all come together as a community and work together to create a world, improve ourselves, and enjoy others' work. Keep that in mind as you approach it.

That being said, your threads are:

“Different World, Same Psycho” - written by Lilith​

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“A Crisis of Aesthetics and Pride” - written by King Ghidorah​

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"Alliances Among the Stars" - written by Marcus Wright​

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"This Place is a Warning" - written by Dr. McNinja​

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"Ryse and Fall" - written by Kain Owen and Maximus​

You can review one, two, or all of these threads, and your Token reward at the end of the month will match accordingly (+20 Tokens for all, +3 Tokens per every thread you review). Reviewing 3 of the threads will waive your Token costs to submit a thread for next month's Book Club.

Happy reading!

 

[Dr. McNinja]

DIFFERENT WORLD, SAME PSYCHO

This was an interesting read. Much like Lilith herself, the story meanders and wanders around. Lilith feels less like a person and more like a feral creature, just being knocked from side to side, until she finally meets a kind person in Bertran. The language is visceral and very well-written. I liked the various fights Lilith has, which was a good way of demonstrating how many threats there are in the jungle for Lilith. Unfortunately, I don’t really know what kind of story you’re trying to tell here. Is this a slice of Lilith’s life; is it just what it’s like? Or is it a build-up to a larger overarching story? I’m sorry to say that kinda took away some of the enjoyment for me: I couldn’t help but ask “What’s the point?” Still, a fun read!

A CRISIS OF AESTHETICS AND PRIDE

Wow, what a thread! From start to finish, the vocabulary used is almost lavish! The way you portrayed how terrifying Ghidorah is at any given moment could have felt repetitive in the hands of the wrong writer, but it always felt uniquely scary. Especially notable since it’s hard to make “big and strong” so consistently terrifying. Just… whoof. I’m taken aback by how good the thread is. I’m particularly taken by the portion where Jewels walks past the bodies of her teammates (lovers?). Spectacular read!