Reviewer: Darien Fawkes Signed
Date: May 29 2015
Title: Chapter 1: Bios
I just read the last few chapters in one sitting, since they mainly revolve around Wendy and her character, that will be what I address.
On the surface I'll be honest, her backstory looks pretty generic. Child who grows up with parents who don't want her, and a drunk wifebeater for a father. At first it sounds like every other backstory that's been done before. What makes this different, however, is in the number of layers within this story. The mother not wanting children explains her indifference to Wendy and Alvin (along with the death of Daniel), giving Wendy parental issues. The father beating Wendy gave her a sense of helplessness that she would channel into Alvin, becoming a bully. But what I found even more interesting than that, is how she was beaten during her developing years. This stunned her growth, as well as kept her from developing any imressive curves or muscles. So not only did Wendy grow up being abused, but she also had to deal with self-image issues. Not to mention the bullying at the hands of a bigger Amazon. So she's delt with neglect, abuse, and self-image issues.
Finally, what made this story way different from other generic my-drunk-dad-beat-me backstories, is Wendy's past history with Alvin. It's so refreshing to see that they had a legitimate brother-sister relationship. It's like learning that, when they were kids, Cinderella's step sisters were close friends of hers. It makes their present relationship more interesting, and gives more character and depth to Wendy and Alvin.
I do have one problem, and that is the build up. A lot of people tell me that in my story A New Perspective, they weren't sure how to handle Peter's battle with depression, because they felt like it was too much revelation at once. Some say that they felt it came out of no where, and they had a point. I probably should have dropped a few more hints here and there. This story gave me a new point of view to consider, as the reader. While Wendy's story was great, it felt like too much to learn at once. That story you illustrated earlier, where Wendy erases all of Alvin's contacts? If you had a few more flash back scenes like that earlier in the story, it would have been perfect. Then there would have been that perfect balance between giving a deeper look into a character, while keeping us guessing. Then you tell the whole story when Wendy speaks to Cassie.
My final thoughts: great backstory, very deep with history and experience, and answered some questions. Though there should have been more flash back scenes to show us the past first hand rather than tell all at once. Please don't take that as critisism though, as I'm guilty of the same mistake. Looking forward to the next instalment.
Author's Response: Wow, the longest review of the update. Okay, lets take this in and respond.
You're right, her backstory for the most part is generic and I actually thought it would be enough. I realised after a while some people bully others because they are the victims of bullying and need an outlet to vent their frustrations and/or to feel strong. However I did know that if it was only the father, then Wendy's development into the monster she is today would have been unrealistic because there was nothing to it. So I thought it best she be constantly hit with the idea of how weak and worthless she is, from parents who never wanted her to girls who picked on her. It never occured to me to think this was overkill but it seems to have paid off, a bully created out of a perfect storm.
I think for there to even be a chance of the reader believing Alvin and Wendy could get back together, they had to have some good times, as a base to build on. It would be like Ben reaching out to Amy but without him ever having a crush on her, it seems strange other than to think he is just a saint or something. Whether Alvin and Wendy do get back together, you'll have to wait.
Okay, I never hinted at much was because I thought it would be surprising to the reader to know that things weren't always so horrible with the step siblings, it would be a surprise twist. Downtrodden is essentially based off a very smutty idea I had which borrows from Cinderella, I'll reveal a bit after I end Downtrodden but I'll say Downtrodden is like the grandchild of the Cinderella story I had. So your analogy is quite fitting.
Another thing is that I conceived Downtrodden in the summer of 2014, dusting off an idea while rebooting The Escape and Aftermath, two poorly planned out stories but Aftermath was too draggy. I gave flashbacks liberally but the story seemed to be too slow. vgiv and I worked to make sure this story would have excitement with a little break here and there to allow for some breathing. I thought to give Wendy a flashback would be dragging it down. I was also a little down, wondering why people weren't loving Aftermath as I thought they should be but I learnt a few valuable lessons during that period and am putting it to use now.
For the sake of experimentation, I got one more character to delve into and I'll use flashbacks for that, see which one comes out better. Wendy's or the other person. Then I'll put the lessons learnt from this into my next story in this series. That one requires a good deal of flashbacks.
Thanks for this detailed reviews, really helped.
Also, for the record, I think you did it well on A New Perspective , the battle with depression wasn't totally out there because you kept dropping these little paragraphs hinting at a darker force within. Its just that readers didn't pick up on it too much. Don't be too harsh on yourself, it was a good story.