Here, I never got any feedback on it, be it on SH or AO3
I want to know if there is a point in continuing writing it.
[#R-18][CHECK THE TAGS BEFORE READING][#SLOWBURN AT START] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eli Navarro was never meant to be noticed. He’s a street-forged survivor with no paper trail, no psychic imprint, and a...
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Hi, I just read your story and here are my thoughts:
- The synopsis wasn’t for me, the repeated “No… No… Not…” felt kind of forced. I actually think your first paragraph in the prologue is way more gripping. You should consider using that instead, it sets the tone so much better.

- [It sliced through buildings, through brick and steel, through people.] The word “through” is repeated three times here. Rephrase to “It sliced through buildings made of brick and steel, exposing the people beneath to the cold.” Also, wind slicing through people sounds kind of odd.
- [Nobody comes down here unless they want something. And those who want something always think they’re owed.] Why is this line suddenly in present tense?
- A lot of the early paragraphs are just description (his bed, the room, the cereal, etc.) and it kind of dragged a bit. It was more telling than showing, and I didn’t feel immersed.
- There’s a lot of backstory dropping all at once across different life stages, which made it a bit hard to follow. It felt more like a checklist than a buildup.
- When the story finally moves to him stealing the wallet and meeting Marcus, the pacing picks up, but the formatting really made it hard to read. Please add paragraph spacing, I was fighting the text more than following it.
- The sentences feel like they blend into each other, and my eyes kept skimming because it got hard to track. Some of the phrasing was awkward too. I won’t list all of them, but there were quite a few spots.
- That being said, your fight scenes are your strongest writing. The moment fists and knives came out, the quality jumped. You clearly have a good sense of movement and tension. So I’m wondering why not carry that same energy through the rest of the story?
- Instead of dumping all the trauma upfront, maybe reveal it slowly through action. For example, instead of him just sipping his coffee and having flashbacks, maybe switch the coffee to a scene where he’s eating cereal, and it triggers a hallucination—bugs in the bowl, panic, he knocks it over, oat milk splashes on his shoes, and the rust smell reminds him of something from the orphanage. That sort of thing. It’ll be more powerful shown than told (And also a chain of events).

- Right now it feels like you’re listing trauma more than letting us feel it. Use the five senses! You’re clearly capable of it based on how you wrote the fight scenes.
- The sentence flow could use some work. Right now I find myself having to pause after every full stop, and there’s not much connection between sentences. A lot of them feel like fillers or repeated ideas (for example his bruises get mentioned quite a bit).
- The hoodie shows up again in Chapter 1, and it feels like a repeat of an earlier scene. Just something to take note of.
- That said, I think the MC’s emotions are clear and land well, especially in the dialogue sections. Those moments helped cut through the formatting issue.
- Overall, you’ve got a solid idea here, and your action writing stands out. You know your strengths—just work on the formatting, pacing, and making the quieter scenes as vivid as the fights. The story itself is followable, but right now the presentation makes it feel congested and a bit overwhelming to read.
