Jan 28, 2025
Well, that story went in at least two wildly different directions than I expected from the start. Quite an accomplishment for a 17-chapter story.
I'm really not sure how I would categorize the story if someone asked me. At first, I thought it was a sweet slice-of-life story focused on a topic the author was very enthusiastic about, even if it did tend to border on mystic orientialism at points. Then it dropped a sudden romance between two characters who had barely interacted. Perhaps a bit forced, but nothing too unusual for stories like this, but their love—and the story itself—took a sharp erotic turn before being thrust into a darker and slightly bummer-inducing ending.
Not that any of that's bad, per se. You could make an argument that it keeps the reader on their toes, and is thus interesting, but it makes it hard to fit within genre labels.
Anyway, I rambled enough. Congrats on entering the contest and good luck with the judging!
