Oct 13, 2025
Nice happy ending. This story has a Disney, I guess, vibe. The times Janessa is with Cassius, there's a Frozen or Beauty and the Beast quality. Other times the tone makes me think of those YA high school romance novels with the bitch girls club like the protagonist fighting against the Heathers. It's strange for me to say, but even though this is a first person perspective, I keep thinking this is 3rd limited. Not sure why. I guess because it kinda moves like one at times. That's not a bad thing by the way, it just means that the identity of the protagonist is clear in all instances.
I guess the one constructive pointer I have, is that I didn't feel the stakes in the story even when Janessa was arrested. They're definitely there, no denying, and people are nice, bitchy, caring, energetic, angry... but, because I'm never quite sure of each character's core motivations, perhaps that's why the stakes don't sink home to me. Don't mind me, chalk this down to reader brain-drain. If anything, your story and mine are similar in tone and vibes, so it's probably why I'm seeing certain things in this narrative to reflect what others see in mine.
Overall, the story is very chic (I say it in a nice way). A different read for the contest. Congrats on making it through to the end.