Read it Later (500)

Some time ago, my Read Later list reached 500 stories.

These had been accumulating over the course of a year, and I figured it was high time I started to do something about it. And the only to do something about it... Well, of course, to read it!

To make getting through my list seem less of a chore, I decided to pair it up with something I've wanted to do for a long time: story reviews. That's right, I'm jumping on the bandwagon with so many others, specifically the ones who filled up my list -- I believe about half of my list comes from PresentPerfect, a tenth from Chris, and definitely several from RCL. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.

So anyway, I'll start reading and reviewing stories from my list (found in this bookshelf, or this spreadsheet) soon, hopefully at a reasonably fast pace, starting with...

But first, some statistics. Here's the excel spreadsheet with my Read it Later list, whence these figures are derived:

Romance: 34%
Tragedy: 4.6%
Sad: 21%
Dark: 9%
Comedy: 27%
Random: 7%
Crossover: 1.2%
Adventure: 12%
Slice of Life: 55%
AU: 5.4%
Human: 3.2%
Anthro: 0
Sex: 8%
Gore: 2.6%

Avg. Wordcount (excl. incompletes): 16771
Total Wordcount (excl. incompletes): 7262009

Everyone: 53%
Teen: 43%
Mature: 4%

Incomplete: 13%

I will be judging stories according to these criteria:

Conventions: These are grammar and spelling, plain and simple. ✓ means that errors, when present, are not distracting. 0 means that convention violations are distracting but bearable. N means that the author may as well be writing in a different language.

Style: This includes prose, flow, and atmosphere. Basically, how skillfully the work is crafted, how easy it was to read. Narrative distance, characterization, pacing, tone, all that good stuff is evaluated here. A 0 means that the style is unexceptional. A 1 means that the narrator is exceptionally transparent or witty. A 2 means that the author wields language deftly, and that prose and theme support each other in harmony. A 3 means that the author has crafted an immersive, powerful, nuanced atmosphere, where just reading is an adventure and a delight. N means I could not finish the story due to poor pacing, word choice, or plain boringness.

Theme: The is the message of the piece as well as the tone surrounding it. I am looking for sincerity, applicability, and development. A story that "rings true" will score highly, as will a story that stays with me for a long time. A 0 means that there is no theme that I could find in the story, or that if it exists, it is weak. A 1 means that there is a solid, developed theme. A 2 means that the story either gave me something to think about or that it touched me in some way. A 3 means that a story stayed with me and made me reflect, possibly changing my worldview. An N will be given to stories whose themes I find either offensive or clumsily executed.

My overall score is simply the higher of my style and theme ratings; however, an N in any rating means the story has a significant issue, so I cannot recommend it.

On this scale, a comedy is judged rather harshly. The truth is that most comedies tend to be forgettable material, and there is a surfeit of such works on the site. I think then that it is only fair that I recommend fewer works of this nature.

Anyway, see y'all soon, with my review of Past Sins, by Pen Stroke!

--Bulbasaur

PS: While these are reader-orientated reviews, I would be happy to do a private author-orientated review of your story! PM me (or more than likely, I'll PM you to ask if you'd like such a review).