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A review by lacrimamundi
A Witch's Guide to Business by Alex Evans, Alex Evans
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
This story wasn't half bad. The writing itself was good, the story intriguing, and the characters interesting. After a bit of a slow start, with a bit of info dumping, the story took off and had me captivated. A witchy murder mystery in a fantasy steampunk setting? Hell yes - that's why I picked it up. And Evans delivers on all those aspects quite sufficiently.
But, there are a number of glaring issues:
1) An AI cover with a typo on it for the DRC version, as well as still for the paperback version available on Amazon. Total no-go. The typo as well as the use of AI.
2) Subpar editing. There are quite a number of smaller typos and other editing oddities (missing quotation marks, redundant spaces, misplaced commas, the wrong book title referenced in the Thank You note at the end, etc.) left. Could be down to the fact it's an DRC, could be the published version is the same. Who knows? I am not willing to let this slide, as I have the suspicion it might as well still be, as 1. is still an issue.
3) The worldbuilding is huge - and by far too much for just one story. Which makes the initial info dump - mainly about the different species existing in this world - also a bit pointless. I assume the author might plan to build upon it in the future. Alas, due to the fact that she uses AI heavily for her book covers, as well as all over her Substack, this will sadly be the first and last story I ever read of hers.
Which is a shame, as it was a good story and quite an enjoyable read - which, as far as I can tell, has not been written by AI -, and I would love to read more of her stories. But I refuse to support authors who use AI for their books, be it covers, writing, editing - or whatever else.
Dear author, please reconsider the use of AI "art" for your books (and in general) - and I will gladly give them another chance one day.
Rating:
Story: 3.75 ★
Characters: 3.25 ★
Writing style: 3.25 ★
Editing/Proofreading: 2.0 ★
Cover: 0.00
Final rating: 2.45 ★
(rounded up to 2.5 ★)
But, there are a number of glaring issues:
1) An AI cover with a typo on it for the DRC version, as well as still for the paperback version available on Amazon. Total no-go. The typo as well as the use of AI.
2) Subpar editing. There are quite a number of smaller typos and other editing oddities (missing quotation marks, redundant spaces, misplaced commas, the wrong book title referenced in the Thank You note at the end, etc.) left. Could be down to the fact it's an DRC, could be the published version is the same. Who knows? I am not willing to let this slide, as I have the suspicion it might as well still be, as 1. is still an issue.
3) The worldbuilding is huge - and by far too much for just one story. Which makes the initial info dump - mainly about the different species existing in this world - also a bit pointless. I assume the author might plan to build upon it in the future. Alas, due to the fact that she uses AI heavily for her book covers, as well as all over her Substack, this will sadly be the first and last story I ever read of hers.
Which is a shame, as it was a good story and quite an enjoyable read - which, as far as I can tell, has not been written by AI -, and I would love to read more of her stories. But I refuse to support authors who use AI for their books, be it covers, writing, editing - or whatever else.
Dear author, please reconsider the use of AI "art" for your books (and in general) - and I will gladly give them another chance one day.
Rating:
Story: 3.75 ★
Characters: 3.25 ★
Writing style: 3.25 ★
Editing/Proofreading: 2.0 ★
Cover: 0.00
Final rating: 2.45 ★
(rounded up to 2.5 ★)