VeraAnnWolf I really enjoyed the world you built, and thought it was a very interesting and complex concept to tackle. As I said before, your characters are all well developed and ready to create tension, and the plot evolves nicely as the chapters go on.

Want an in-depth analysis? Check out my review below!

Blurb: The blurb of A Maiden's Frozen Heart felt a bit overloaded with information upon first reading it. Moving down, I think the readers should be trusted to ask questions upon reading the synopsis. So starting with questions rather than just "Carina knows the future, but not her own." (roughly speaking) doesn't actually reveal anything to the reader. Stating it in a sentence introduces the character as well as recreates your question about the future.

I also think it would be better to start with Carina's description rather than Maura's since A) Maura is not an actual character but a cover that Carina must take on and B) Carina is the main character. I think by reducing the first paragraph into an addition on the middle paragraph, we can see that Carina is the one we're supposed to focus on, and see that Carina is living a life that is not her own.

Plot/Concept: Your isekai concept was new to me, so while it was extremely confusing at first, I eventually came to understand it as everything progressed. I think the only part of it that I question is when the witch hunt will begin. Since it seems like the inciting incident of the story, it felt odd that I had read nearly 1/7 of the story and still hadn't reached the big point. Because of this, the pacing felt slightly off, which I'll discuss below.

Pacing: Since I had read into the 10th chapter of your story, I was waiting for the inciting incident to occur that would launch the character into the main storyline. Instead, I found myself being caught up on a lot of history and background of not just the main character, but a lot of characters in the story. While I think you managed to build a very detailed world, I think the constant information being given to readers could slow down the story. Your drama and character relationships definitely kept the story going, though it often felt like the drama had nothing to do with the main plot.

Character Development: Again, the characters were great! I've already touched on them a few times, but I think they all have deadly and secret motives that give your story a lot of intrigue. I'd definitely like to see more of Carina thinking about her past life, since we aren't given much about it, or how she knows so much about being an investor (knowing the future doesn't exactly make someone a professional at being clever and persuading those around her to keep quiet). I think touching more on her history would be nice.

Writing Style: I enjoyed your writing, and there were only a few times where I felt something was missing (either a description of an action or a person's purpose for being in the scene). My biggest issue was the amount of information being given to readers in the early chapters of the book. I think that is what bogged me down the most, but when the information was left out I found myself really digging into the story to find stuff out for myself.

TOAST LEVEL:

Overall, due to the interesting plot but often information-heavy chapters, I'm giving A Maiden's Frozen Heart a rating of Lightly Toasted.

For the author: If you would like the notes I took for your review (chapter notes, grading), please DM me.