1 Potpourri of Tales by Cantiara

Cover: On the cover, you can see a girl on a swing and the background is blue. It is an animated cover with the title of the book and the name of the author on it. It is a short and sweet title that conveys the message of your book- that it is a collection of short original stories written by you. It gives me dreamy, fairytale vibes but not all of your stories fall under that category. I think that if you make a collection of tales, then the cover should be suitable for most of the tales, if not all.

Chapter 1: Christmas Rollercoaster

Title: Reading the title the audience can immediately get an idea about the theme of the book. I predicted the book to be about a Christmas filled with emotional rollercoasters. Technically, I wasn't wrong because Nate has gone through emotional rollercoasters due to his medical condition but at the same time, I was not expecting what I read.

Blurb: In the blurb of this chapter, you included a short excerpt from

Plot: This is a short story and the plot is fictional. It mostly follows Nate and doesn't show much about his wife and daughter. I would have liked to read a little more about them. I was a little confused when the first transition from real-life to alternative life happened. The beginning was a bit confusing but it all made sense in the end. I like how the real Nate understands the value of family over money at the end of the story.

Theme: The theme of the book is Christmas, regret, grieve, family, and priorities.

Grammar and Writing Style There were absolutely no grammatical errors that I could find. Your writing style is quite captivating indeed. If you would like to experiment in your writings further, I could suggest using some more jargon words and descriptive words in your story.

Chapter 2: Shining Through His broken Pieces

Title: I figured that it was about a guy whose heart had been broken but the title doesn't give away the plot completely, which is great. It gives a tiny glimpse of the theme of the book but not what the reader would be expecting.

Blurb: The blurb doesn't tell you enough about the story, I think. It has a few sentences from the story but I believe that you should add some more mystery to the blurb and maybe give an abstract introduction to the main character. Leave some room for the imagination of the reader.

Plot: The chapter follows a young man and his story about meeting a girl who breaks down his walls. I think that most of the beauty of your plot was because of your choice to make it character-driven rather than plot-driven. It followed the young man and his emotional journey rather than the events of the story which was a great choice. I would have liked to read more about his childhood and his home. That would have given the reader a better idea about the trauma that he has been through, allowing them to be more connected with the character. I think that it is important for a reader to feel connected with the characters for them to fully enjoy the book. I think a little more detail about the girl would have also been a great addition to the value of the chapter overall.

Theme: The theme of this book is trauma, first-love, emotions, and identity crisis.

Grammar and Writing Style: Just like your previous chapter, I did not find any grammatical errors, but when I tell you that I loved your writing style in this chapter, it is an understatement. The way you described his emotions and his thoughts, is so beautiful and engaging. I couldn't stop reading and how I wish it was a full novel instead of a short story. I also liked how the characters were anonymous like their names had not been mentioned even once.

Note: This was my opinion on your work and the aim of his review was to provide constructive feedback. Please remember that it is just the opinion of one person and these statements are not facts. I know that the word count does not match the promised word count but the reason for that is that I usually review books on Wattpad. The books are usually novels or the starting of novels. I can talk more about the character development, the originality of the plot, and other points in those reviews but since this is a collection of short stories, there isn't much to talk about them individually. If you want me to further clarify any of my statements, please feel free to DM me on Fiverr. I hope that my review was helpful and satisfactory.