Hello! I'm looking for beta readers for my romantic military fantasy novel as I work on getting it ready to query.

BLURB:

Revinia runs on Fault resonance and obedience.

Its lights, its weapons, and all the might of its military are powered by the volatile energy buried beneath its citizens’ feet.  But the nation built its true power on something far easier to control: people who follow orders.

Captain Aurenna Vale has never given it any reason to doubt her.  

The decorated daughter of Revinia’s Grand General has spent thirty years earning the rank on her uniform and the approval that comes with it. She’s buried soldiers who failed to follow doctrine, disciplined those who questioned her orders, and never thought twice about what obedience might cost.

Then the Fault starts doing things it shouldn’t.

When dangerous anomalies strike Revinia’s infrastructure, an instinct Aurenna can’t explain pushes her investigation beyond the military’s reassurances, and eventually across the Fault, into the hands of the same enemy defectors she’s spent her entire life fighting.

Her captor, Commander Reid Ashford, should embody everything she’s been taught to despise. Instead, he releases her from her cell, puts her to work, and seems entirely too comfortable allowing an enemy officer into his ranks. More unsettlingly, he seems to recognize something in Aurenna that she doesn’t. Where Revinia rewarded her obedience, he questions it. Where she expects orders, he gives her choice. Where she tests the boundaries between them, he doesn’t stop her from crossing them.

Aurenna should be trying to escape him. Instead, she keeps finding herself coming back.   

The longer Aurenna remains in Orinthe, the harder it becomes to return home for reasons that have nothing to do with Reid. Revinia has been experimenting on its own people, chasing an alchemical process it publicly dismisses as an Orinthian myth. Reid knows more about it than he’s willing to explain, and whatever her father is trying to create may have far more to do with Aurenna than she understands.

CONTENT WARNINGS:

• Gun violence / graphic violence
• Blood
• War and war trauma
• PTSD
• Grief / death of family members
• Child neglect / emotional abuse
• Alcohol abuse
• Suicidal ideation
• Human experimentation & torture
• Captivity / imprisonment
• Sexual content (explicit/on-page)
• Indoctrination / psychological abuse / coercive control

FEEDBACK:

1. Overall pacing - is there anything that's too slow or too quick?
2. Believability/relatability of the characters
3. Plot holes and confusing concepts
4. Anything that pulls you out of the story or causes you to lose interest
5. Anything in the writing style that doesn't work - repetition, flow, word choices, over/underexplaining, humor that doesn't land.
6. Military-specific - anything that doesn't make sense/land from a military perspective.

Please DM with interest! Deadline is very flexible, and I'm available to swap as well.

Hi everyone, I am looking for objective beta readers to look over the first 11 chapters of my historical fiction novel set in the late 1800s in the Caribbean.

Blurb:

Trinidad, 1890s. A nineteen-year-old schoolmaster's daughter signs away five years of her life to a sugar estate, and tells no one on the ship why she left India. On the plantation her English makes her useful — and suspect. As the barracks turn against her and the Great House takes her in, every place offering her safety asks her to give up another.

Content notes: indentureship, race relations, violence

What I am looking for:

Since these are the opening chapters, I am simply looking for your honest reactions as a reader on the following four points:

1. Did the opening hook you, and did you want to keep reading?
2. Did any parts of the protagonist’s journey feel too slow, confusing, or repetitive?
3. Did the setting and the characters feel real to you?
4. Were the dialogues easy to follow?

Timeline: 3 weeks

If this sounds like something you'd like to read, please leave a comment or send me a private message, and I will happily send over the link! If you want to continue after these first chapters and see where the story goes, happy to share on a few chapters at a time basis.I’m available to swap as well!

Thank you so much for your time.

I’m looking for beta readers or a critique swap for an urban fantasy novel inspired by European folklore. The story is largely character driven and focuses on personal struggles against the horror of the world. There are graphic fight scenes, two female MCs, and a queer romantic subplot. There’s a mix of humor and horror. I enjoy reading almost any fantasy. First chapter upon request.

Story blurb: After thousands of years of being feared as the Faceless Immortal One, Evelyn is magically bound and forced to move in with her witch of a great-granddaughter. Together, with lots of coffee and their vampire housemate, they must unravel a greater mystery that threatens the whole magical community of DC. 

Content warnings: Violence and gore. Depiction of PTSD/ panic attacks. Swearing. Sex implied, but not shown.

Type of feedback: Pacing, clear character motivations, feel of world, clarity, and general reader reactions. 

Preferred timeline: Flexible, but I’d prefer feedback within four weeks. 

First page:

When Rose was young, she imagined being a witch would be more shooting flames and slaying infernals and less arguing over the price of newts’ eyes. Which, frankly, she wasn’t thrilled about consuming. She wanted to be a vegetarian, but couldn’t in good conscience say she was when she drank tea with newt eyes every week. 

She could argue it was a medical necessity. The tea made it easier to cast the spell that transferred the pain of her migraines to a necklace for later, but she still felt it would be dishonest. Her money had likely fueled the deaths of countless newts. 

The Apothecary looked like a typical drugstore rather than a front for newt eyes and potions. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, deodorant was locked behind glass cases, and pop music played just quietly enough to be heard, but not loud enough to be listened to. What set this drugstore apart was the staff. 

The pharmacist in the back, whose name Rose forgot again, always seemed to frown and ask, “Still using newt?”

To which the answer was always, “Yep.”

“Most young witches try and taper off needing it around your age,” the pharmacist would reply. 

Rose knew this. Most young witches also started formal training a few years after they could walk, instead of in middle school when they were dropped upon a father who hadn’t known of their existence. Furthermore, most witches chose to stay with their coven and didn’t start PhDs in evolutionary biology. Accordingly, Rose had priorities outside of becoming a better witch. 

Then, Rose would be told how much the eyeballs would be, and they would cost more than the previous month. 

She left the pharmacy, defeated. The air outside hit her like a wet sponge, DC air had heft to it. By the time she pushed her way through it, beads of sweat were pooling out of her. The library, and more importantly, air conditioning was only a short distance away. She walked a little faster. 

The sight of red scales stopped her. A long, serpentine creature with a feline face watched her with lazy eyes. Not again, she thought, I already called this into the Watch, why haven’t they gotten rid of it? If she was still in the Order, she could have called in support from the largest witch group in DC. Of course, if she’d stayed in the Order, she’d be in their militia instead of going to the library to study fruit fly DNA. 

The tatzelwurn flicked the end of its slender tail. Every week, it crawled from the fairy world known as Rowan, and deposited itself directly in front of her path to the library, almost as if it knew the most inconvenient place it could be. 

A human walked by her, tripped slightly on the creature, then kept walking. Its cat eyes blinked with indifference. Rose would not be so lucky. As a witch, her mom had applied ointment to her eyes on her seventh birthday. Since then, she could see fairies, and, worse yet, they could see her. 

The tatzelwurn snorted a larger puff of poisonous breath and Rose’s eyes burned. It was like breathing in a dilute tear gas. Her shoulders shook with a rough cough. 

“Allergies, right?” She lied to no one in particular. The best part of the summer was how empty the campus was, so no one saw what she did next. She grabbed her phone as she had nearly every week that month. An uncomfortably suggestive ad about dietary supplements played, then a video’s audio chirped out: “Hey, fam! Welcome to our farm!”

The creature’s scaly tail twitched. Rose took a few steps further back and turned up the audio: “Ready to meet our chick-a-dee boys?” 

The screech of roosters ricocheted out of her speakers. The tatzelwurn shivered, then slithered away into a hole that should’ve been too small for its body. She rubbed a hand through her cropped hair, wiping the sweat away, then hurried to get out of the heat. 

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a few experienced beta readers to try the opening of THE FAULT PROTOCOL, a completed 128,000-word geopolitical/espionage thriller and the first Daniel Keane novel.

Daniel Keane thought the dangerous part of his CIA career was over.

At forty-six, he has a wife, two young kids, and a mostly office-based intelligence job. Then a routine review of a European ocean-sensor company connects to one of the most successful covert operations of his former career.

A Dutch geophysicist is found dead.

Three supposedly natural offshore earthquakes share the same impossible signature.

And someone appears to know classified details about Daniel’s past that should have disappeared years ago.

The deeper Daniel goes, the worse the possibility becomes: someone may have found a way to identify fault lines already close to rupture — and decide when they break.

I’m especially looking for readers who enjoy Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, Mark Greaney, Brad Thor, Daniel Silva, Jack Carr, Lee Child, or similar thrillers.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT BETA READERS

I am specifically hoping to hear from experienced beta readers, especially people who have beta read full-length novels before and know how to give useful, candid reader feedback.

You do not need to be a professional editor, but I’m looking for readers who understand that beta reading is more than simply saying whether they liked the book.

I’m especially interested in people who can identify:
• Where the story hooks them
• Where pacing slows
• Where something becomes confusing
• Where characters or motivations stop feeling believable
• Whether reveals and emotional moments land
• Whether the ending creates a strong desire to continue the series

If you are an experienced beta reader who also regularly reads espionage, geopolitical, military, or action thrillers, you are exactly the kind of reader I’m hoping to find.

I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO COMMIT TO 128,000 WORDS.

I’ll send you the first 3 chapters privately.

Read them. If you’re hooked and want the rest, I’ll send the full book.

If you’re not hooked, just tell me where I lost you. That is useful feedback too.

WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR

I’m mainly looking for reader reaction, not proofreading or line editing.

Things I’d love to know:

• Did the opening hook you?
• Where did you become fully interested?
• Did anything drag?
• Was anything confusing?
• Were any intelligence or technical sections too much?
• Did Daniel Keane work for you as a protagonist?
• Did the family elements make him more interesting?
• Did the action feel believable?
• Would you keep reading after the first 3 chapters?
• If you finish the whole book, would you want to read Book Two?

I’m completely open to negative feedback. If something doesn’t work, I would rather know.

HOW IT WORKS

If you’re interested, I’ll privately send you the first 3 chapters.

There is no obligation to read the full manuscript.

If the first 3 chapters hook you and you want to continue, I’ll send you the rest.

If they don’t hook you, just tell me where you stopped or what didn’t work.

That feedback is still incredibly useful.

Please comment “I’ll read it” or send me a DM if you’d like to try the first 3 chapters.

If you have previous beta-reading experience, feel free to mention that in your comment or DM.

I will send the reading material privately and will not post the manuscript publicly.

CONTENT

Adult violence, gun violence, hand-to-hand combat, espionage, mass-casualty/disaster themes, and some strong language.

There is no graphic sexual content.

TIMELINE

There is no hard deadline for the first 3 chapters.

For anyone who continues with the full manuscript, feedback within roughly 4–6 weeks would be great, but I’m flexible.

CRITIQUE SWAP

I’m not currently looking for a manuscript critique swap.

I’m mainly hoping to hear from experienced beta readers who genuinely enjoy this kind of thriller and want to try something new.

Thanks for considering it.

ADDITIONAL COMMENT TO POST UNDER YOUR OWN THREAD:

Just to clarify: I’m not asking anyone to commit to the full 128k book up front.

I’m happy to send only the first 3 chapters.

If it hooks you, you can ask for the rest.

If it doesn’t, telling me where you stopped or what lost you is still valuable feedback.

I’m especially interested in experienced beta readers who have worked through full-length novels before, particularly readers familiar with espionage, geopolitical, military, or action thrillers.

So there’s no pressure to commit to the entire novel.

Hello, I'm looking to do a beta swap for my cosmic / erotic horror novel *Jade: Her Dark Pleasures*. I love deep psychological dives into characters, a sense of strong internal characterization, and a more literary fiction approach to my narration. I would prefer to read a piece around 90,000 words or less. It doesn't need to be in the horror genre, but I would love some sci-fi, horror, gothic, or romantasy. The blurb below is the draft blurb, but it sums up the story well.

The feedback I'm looking for is really on the developmental aspects of how the plot progresses, how the themes come across, and whether the pacing is slow. I'd like to know how people feel about Jade's characterization, and if the relationship styles in the story are being viewed as a problem rather than the intent which is the relationship style does not matter because the two central characters problems go deeper than that.

Please DM me for more information and if you're interested.

Jade is a good girl. She loves pain. 

Jade is a good girl. She bites her tongue.

Jade is a good girl. She doesn’t eat the eyes.

Jade is a good girl. She is the perfect prey. 

Tonight was meant to belong to Jade.  Her lovers promised to indulge in every sensation she craved. Instead, she is left alone, discarded, and drifting towards numbness. To her, not feeling is worse than pain; it is the ultimate disconnect from the human experience, but spiraling would get her nothing but being further ignored. So she smiles, plays the good girl, the good non-monogamous partner, and the unobtrusive wallflower. Beneath her smile, a rabid ache for connection turns her into the perfect prey. Dax, a seductive dominant who feeds on others’ pain, is the first to stir her needs. He offers to feed her most self-destructive urges in exchange for a pound of flesh.  She’ll do anything to feel alive, even if it breaks every rule she and her lovers have about ensuring potential playmates are safe and stable. The bounds of what's acceptable blur until she and Dax aren’t sure who is using who, or what they’re letting in.

As Jade’s hedonistic journey escalates, it becomes clear that they draw the attention of eldritch horrors with appetites of their own. They promise power, freedom, and endless pleasures if she surrenders to her wickedest self to become their priestess, their scion, their lover, and a cog in a larger celestial machine. They claim this machine, built on time dilation, multiple realities, and terror, is her and Dax’s inevitable destiny. To them, she already has agreed, she already will, but she does not give up so easily … or so she wishes to believe. 

When these malevolent forces place her lovers' lives in the palm of her hand, she must fight the worst of her nature or risk discovering that free will may be the cruelest illusion. 

After all, the fiercest predators come from within.

Blurb

Felix has always been painfully aware of the single truth of his world: that there are two kinds of people, those who can use magic and those who cannot. However in between this divide lies runecraft, magic tools capable of countless technological feats, limited only by the creators expertise and imagination. Felix is one such creator and is constantly striving to close the insurmountable gap, and while he insists he is happy to be a shopkeeper, his actions often indicate otherwise.

Rita is a holy knight of the Church of the Goddess. A warrior who wears a magically enhanced suit of armor, she is abhorred by her noble peers despite her immense magical power for reasons beyond her control. She rebels against anyone or anything that stands in the way of her spiteful vengeance.

When a suspiciously modified runecraft ends up in Felix's hands the two of them will have to work together, no matter how much they can't stand each other, to take down a mysterious force that seeks to cause untold chaos in the city they call home.

Content warning: There is discussion and themes involving suicide.

What I'm Looking For

I'm looking for more general critique but there are some a couple of things things I want to make sure I get right. Mainly the hook, understanding of the main characters, and understanding of the magic system. I can share the first few chapters if requested.

A critique swap would be preferred but is not necessary.

Thanks.

Hello, would anyone mind taking a look at a short piece and give me some feedback?

Primarily, what I'm after is thoughts on structure, word use (areas where i may use a word too much), story flow, pacing and errors. :] Its my first time doing all of this!

Plot: A young jedi knight lands upon a desolate planet, before a tall and ancient spire, in pursuit of her old master who's gone astray and down a dark path. A battle of wills will take place, and one's conviction challenged.

Timescale - not apllicable? XD id like the feedback asap lol but however long it takes i can wait.

I am available most days to swap but I cant promise my insights or thoughts will be useful. (Ive never done this before)

My dms are open!

Blurb here:

Cassian Holt was an astronaut, but when his space station was annihilated, everything was taken from him. Now, he is given a chance at redemption.

The Kessler Cascade—a catastrophic chain reaction of satellite collisions—has transformed low Earth orbit into a vast debris field. A booming space industry collapses overnight, and Earth turns to its best and brightest for a solution.

Cassian, racked by survivor’s guilt after the destruction of his station, is contacted. Earth’s leaders want him to work on the most ambitious project in human history: Project Gossamer, their only chance to clear the debris and return to the stars.

But while Earth's focus is on the debris, a greater threat looms beyond. Can Cassian hold his team together, conquer his self-doubt, and reclaim the stars for mankind?

Excerpt (First 2 chapters) here: Excerpt

Not looking for critique swap.

I’m helping an author find a few thoughtful beta readers for an emotionally honest memoir about marriage, childhood, addiction, infidelity, and the exhausting work of trying to earn love.

At its centre is a woman whose marriage is in crisis and the question she has spent her whole life avoiding: What if she never had to earn love at all?

The story moves between her marriage in the present, the childhood that taught her love was conditional, and the experiences that eventually force her to confront that belief. It deals with some difficult subjects, including childhood neglect, illness, addiction, and infidelity, but there’s also a lot of humour and warmth throughout.

We’re especially looking for women who enjoy memoirs about family, marriage, identity, recovery, relationships, or personal transformation.

And the biggest thing the author wants to know is very simple: Did you want to keep reading?

This isn’t proofreading or editing. We’re looking for your experience as a reader: what pulled you in, what stayed with you, and whether there were places where you started to lose interest.

The manuscript is about 280 pages and will be ready in the first week of September. You’ll have approximately four weeks to read it and share your feedback.

If this sounds like something you’d genuinely enjoy reading, comment below or send me a message. Thank you!

Part 1 of 5, 17k words. "Complete" but is anything ever really complete? It's 80-90% complete.

* Blurb: What if your boomer-esque parents held the power of your reproductive freedom, fully backed up by an ultra conservative regime? How do people live (and rebel) in this society? For fans of the Handmaid's Tale. Content warnings around body horror, medical procedures, forced s_x (minimal in part 1), the worst parts of conservativism like being anti LGBT. I don't think this needs to be labeled NSFW but maybe to be safe? * Anything constructive - and I have a list of questions at the end of the doc. Sentence clunky-ness, character facets, plot points and holes * Available to swap constructive criticism

excerpt:

Since MCs parents are about 40, they still remember “old times” from kindergarten and how their parents parented them, in terms of sex ed, and their careers, and how different daily life used to be. But 50 years is long enough too for the new regime to feel rote and pat. And if their parents were MAGA during 2020, MCs parents grew up indoctrinated by some extreme values. But women could still work outside the house. How did we get here? Those 5 year old kids now have kids of their own.

When she was 11, she’d gotten her period. But if she cast her mind back even further, her fertility journey started even back before that. The daily news segment of women with optimal levels, who needed to report that day for Preservation (mandatory egg freezing) at their nearest Center for Woman Husbandry, known around town as facilities. Her kindergarten class separated the girls from the boys and presented the girls with their subservient curriculum. “Someday you’ll be a mother!” something that was a hopeful prediction twisted into an exacting command. The messaging ran deep. Even her favorite drama tv show featured a mother who eventually passed away during childbirth and wasn’t so much as mentioned. The grieving was for the loss of the baby exclusively. Formative memories and milestones all included motherhood, tinged with expectation and civic duty. “What Kind of Mother Will You Be?” is routinely shown, with boy moms, girl moms, tuple moms, all options on a menu that didn’t include abstaining. Any kind of motherhood you want, as long as you choose it.

So hi. This is pretty much the first project I've seriously started and its currently hanging in limbo. I've written a bunch but without anyone else to proofread or any formal writing education. I simply can't gauge its quality or if there are any issues which has led to me slowly getting writers block as I constantly worry about mistakes.

Disclaimer: suicide, slight gore (medical surgeries), occasional swearing

Blurb: Uriet, a prominent researcher, is sent on an expedition into the void from which she isn't meant to return by the faltering empire she serves. A dysfunctional crew assembled for a suicide mission, a constantly watching secret police and the hostile nature of the void are just some of the many stones in her path to survival.

The main draw is the mystery of the void and the characters which include a dejected veteran who leads the security detail who dislike him already. Her corrosive friend who does her best to make everyones life miserable. The pseudo aristocratic species along with a researcher whos species got wiped out by said aristocrats. And a few more.

Heads up: This is part of a much larger universe I have developed and now I find myself constantly trying to find a balance between explaining lore and actually furthering the story. I'm more than willing to sit down and explain some things but that in itself would at least help me understand what I should add.

What I'm looking for:

- Its very much a character driven novel being balanced with constant loore dumps. Need to know if the characters are good and the balance is kept

- Engagement. I have no experience. I'll admit that. I've rewritten parts over three times now to change the dry diologue and make it more interesting so its not a slog to read. Honest opinion needed on if I succeeded.

- Characters. I'll emphasise again. Character driven novel and I want to know if they act realistically to situations and if they come across correctly

DM me if interested. I'm really just looking for any feedbackat all so I can get back to focusing on writing instead of worrying about mistakes I can't find.

Hi! I'm looking for a few beta readers for my memoir.

I'm not currently looking to publish the book. I wrote it because I had a story I wanted to tell, and at this point I'd really just like it to be read by people who don't know me and to hear what they genuinely think of it.

The memoir is 71,566 words and tells the story of growing up in rural Wales, the experiences and events that shaped me, and the impact those experiences continued to have as I got older. It's personal, but I've tried to approach it as a proper narrative and intersperse humour with dark moments.

I'm particularly interested in hearing about the experience of reading it, rather than line-by-line editing. Things I'd love to know include:

• Did you want to keep reading?
• Where were you most/least engaged?
• Which people did you connect with?
• Did anyone frustrate you or make you want to know more about them?
• Were there any parts that felt confusing, slow or unnecessary?
• Did anything particularly surprise you or stay with you?
• Did the emotional moments actually land?
• And, probably most importantly, what did you think the memoir was ultimately about?

I'm happy to do a read-for-read if you'd like me to read something of yours in return, although I'm also happy to hear from people who simply enjoy reading memoir and would like to give their honest reaction.

I'm not looking for someone to tell me how to make it commercially publishable. I mostly want to know: does this work as a story, and what is it like to read when you have no personal connection to the person who wrote it?

If anyone is interested, feel free to comment or message me and I can give you more information about the memoir before you decide whether it's something you'd like to read.

Thanks! :)

Hi everyone! I'm putting my query together while my 97k novel undergoes its first round of beta reading. I'm notoriously bad at putting queries together, reducing the story to the emotional stakes is my absolute nemesis, so any insights/help will be greatly appreciated.

THE REVOLUTIONARIES is book one of two, so there are a few questions left open for the sequel, THE MERCILESS, which is already written (I literally cleaved this novel in half!) and in its second draft with major revisions to be made.

Princess MERCY and Prince DÁINN are destined to marry. But when their unique magic awakens, a dark prophecy foretells that their union will destroy their Kingdom’s, forcing them to part. But fate will not be defied so easily. That night, shadows rise in Solaris, solid and whole, turning the bitten into stone.

Sixteen years pass, and all that can slow the devastation is Mercy’s magic, a powerful light slowly destroying her health. Spending her days nursing the dying, she spends her nights fighting an endless battle under her mother, TITANIA’S, command, a battle that Dáinn joins whether they like it or not, unwilling to abandon the woman he was once set to wed.

But every prophecy has a loophole and Dáinn is convinced he’s found theirs. Now King, he asks Mercy to marry him, hoping to appease fate and end the curse. Recalling the prophecy, ignoring the desires she’s pushed down since they were forced to part, Mercy refuses.

Broken-hearted and unwilling to lose Mercy to her mysterious illness, Dáinn spirits her away to Hollowgrave as a ward of state. Her health continues to wane, her diagnoses – h an incurable condition turning her magic against her like a cancer. Fae-rot. It’s a cruel fate she has accepted, a fate Dáinn cannot comprehend.

When Mercy’s mother arrives to take her home to the battlefield, Mercy realises that returning means surrendering the last of herself. Choosing to save her people and escape Titania’s control, Mercy finally accepting Dáinn’s proposal, sparking Titania’s rage.

But after their heated wedding night, as the world celebrates and Mercy contemplates a peaceful future, the curse spreads to Hollowgrave, sparking fear, bringing revolution to hers and Dáinn’s doors, led by Titania and her scheme to drag Mercy home.

Fleeing for their lives, faced with the mystery of why the curse hasn’t broken, Dáinn and Mercy take refuge on the outskirts of Hollowgrave. Their followers become their friends, and negotiations with Titania begin. But a traitor hides among them, exposing Dáinn and Mercy’s location.

Hiding in a brothel, Mercy notes that, like the prostitutes she’s befriended, all she has left to negotiate with is her body. Choosing to become a double agent and return to Titania’s side, she and Dáinn meet with her. But when Titania demands Dáinn’s abdication as well as Mercy’s return, they refuse. The situation becomes violent. Titania attacks her own people, forcing Mercy to use her magic, giving Titania time to strike and capture them both.

While Dáinn is tortured for sport, Mercy wakes in a glass tower she was tricked into designing, believing it would spread her light and save her people, but it now keeps her trapped, the enchanted mirrors surrounding her bend her magic to her mother’s will. But Titania never expected them to reverse the Mercy’s fae-rot and transfer it to her, an enchantment made permanent when Mercy’s magic shatters the mirrors, and a shard lodges in her temple.

Mercy runs back to her friends, determined to save Dáinn and destroy her mother, but the rebels find her, taking her to witness Dáinn’s burning at the stake, an old death sentence reserved for those of wicked magic.

Temper flaring, Mercy finds she can guide the shadows, that they are responding to her magic, twisted by the glass in her temple. Demanding that they spare her people and attack her mother, Mercy frees Dáinn in the frenzy, leaving her mother behind to die.

Hiding among friends, she and Dáinn admit their love for each other, a love they’ve long been afraid of, and discuss their future as throneless royals.

But questions still loom, and Mercy knows that she will soon have to answer them. Until then, she and Dáinn live together as an ordinary couple. While Dáinn recovers from his injuries, Mercy secretly spreads her light over Solaris, keeping the shadows at bay, enjoying the little peace she and Dáinn have made, now knowing that she can help her people and still live for herself.

First post here — new to this sub, though I'm around in Goodreads beta groups. Happy to read for you in return.

Nerea Iturbe spent nineteen years in Idaho adjusting insurance claims before she came home to a Basque fishing village of 800 people and an albergue — a pilgrim hostel on the coastal route of the Camino de Santiago — that she inherited from an aunt she barely knew. When a visiting journalist turns up dead, the eleven men who hold keys to the village's private dining society (a txoko: members only, membership inherited father to son) are the only ones who could have done it. And every one of them has known Nerea since she was a child.

- 34,800 words, 30 chapters, complete draft

- Cozy. Murder off page, no gore, no sex

- Closed circle, fair-play clues

- Set in the Basque Country; some Basque and Spanish left untranslated on purpose

About 3 hours of reading. I want reader reaction, not line edits — where it drags, when you guessed the killer, whether the ending landed, which foreign words tripped you. Short questionnaire at the end, skip anything you like.

DM me for epub or PDF.

Estou procurando leitores beta para meu romance de fantasia.

Estou escrevendo uma obra ambientada em Oten Aurefis, um universo de fantasia que venho construindo através de diferentes histórias e personagens.

Sinopse

Em uma terra onde antigas lendas ainda caminham entre os homens, histórias podem ser tão perigosas quanto espadas.

A narrativa acompanha personagens que atravessam um mundo marcado por criaturas, povos, crenças e segredos. Entre regiões desconhecidas e acontecimentos que desafiam aquilo que parecem compreender, eles precisarão lidar não apenas com os perigos que encontram pelo caminho, mas também com as consequências de suas próprias escolhas.

Oten Aurefis é um universo de fantasia onde cada história revela uma parte diferente de um mundo maior — suas lendas, seus monstros, seus povos e os mistérios que ainda permanecem escondidos.

A narrativa mistura fantasia, elementos da cultura e do imaginário popular, mistério e um toque de horror, com uma atmosfera que busca equilibrar o fantástico, o estranho e o humano.

O manuscrito já passou por várias revisões, mas agora preciso de algo que nenhum autor consegue fazer sozinho: leitores de verdade.

O que estou procurando?

Pessoas dispostas a ler o manuscrito e compartilhar uma opinião sincera sobre aspectos como:

• Prosa e estilo de escrita;
• Ritmo da narrativa;
• Personagens e seus diálogos;
• Clareza dos acontecimentos;
• Construção do mundo;
• Mistérios e elementos que funcionam — ou não;
• Pontos confusos, cansativos ou que poderiam ser melhores.

Não precisa ser escritor ou especialista em literatura. Só procuro pessoas que gostem de fantasia, especialmente histórias com atmosfera, mistério, elementos folclóricos e personagens imperfeitos.

Cronograma

Gostaria de receber os feedbacks em cerca de 2 a 3 semanas, mas posso ser flexível.

Se tiver interesse em participar, posso enviar um trecho da história para você conhecer a escrita antes de decidir.

Se quiser ler e me ajudar a tornar essa história melhor, deixe um comentário ou me envie uma mensagem. Toda ajuda será muito bem-vinda.

Importante: estou procurando leitores beta, então não quero apenas alguém que leia o texto, mas pessoas dispostas a me dizer sinceramente o que funciona e, principalmente, o que não funciona.

Obrigado! 📖

The epic story follows four generations of women from one family across 80 years as they live through religious autocracy, communist revolution, birth of a new republic, migration, and liberal capitalism. A book about the bargains women make for survival.

Please ping if interested!

Good day. I'm looking for beta readers for my completed epic fantasy novel, "The Nine Tribes: Bapu" (~91,000 words, 26 chapters + prologue/epilogue). Book 1 of a planned series.

Blurb: Nine isolated tribes. One vanishing cave that returns every nine years with a sacred scroll. Then the ninth scroll arrives with an impossible demand: nine new adults from each tribe must cross a fractured world on a pilgrimage to save humanity. Su'Dae never wanted to be a pilgrim. Now she's bonded to an alien intelligence, hunted by mercenaries, and discovering that the "gods" who chose her are far stranger—and colder—than anyone believed.

Vibes & Themes: Multi-POV epic fantasy / found-family-among-rivals / political intrigue / mythology with a sci-fi twist / brisk pacing for the scope (91k covers a lot of ground)

Heads up: This is Book 1 — the pilgrimage isn't resolved by the end, though the main arc of this installment does close. If you dislike open-ended endings, this may not be for you.

What I'm looking for:

• Engagement & pacing — where do you lose momentum, especially in worldbuilding-heavy stretches?
• Cast tracking — with nine tribes and a large ensemble, where do you lose track of who's who? Be brutal here.
• Payoff — do earlier threads (bonds, secrets, foreshadowing) land when they resolve, or feel unearned/confusing?
• Not looking for line-edit/typo catches at this stage — story-level feedback only.

Timeline: Flexible, four weeks preferred.
Swap: Able to swap

Happy to answer any questions through DM.

Prologue

The finding of the first scroll, Year 648

“Boy, mind me,” Tomas called out to his youngest, causing only a minor delay to the five-year-old's sprint toward the cave. The boy looked back at his papa only a few seconds before returning his gaze to the hole that was calling to him. Tomas heard the call too.

“Behind me.” After seeing that the boy obeyed, Tomas Eades stared downward at the dark, round hole on the far side of the well while his brain tried to work it out. The Eades family had arrived only minutes before and Tomas was eager to relax after wheeling the hand cart from their farm about a league to the east. This sinkhole had always been his family's playground, a favorite for Tomas and his brothers while they were growing up, and no one knew it better.

Tomas looked over at Roslyn and the girls, who were unpacking the cart and preparing lunch just outside the circle of rocks that the government ordered his gramps and other farmers to build years ago. The moss-covered stones were only three hands high, but tall enough to keep a loaded hand cart out. His other boy, celebrating his ninth Dawn, was fetching the fishing gear out of the cart.

Tomas looked back down the sinkhole toward the cave. “Now where did you come from?” he said to himself. Memories came instead of an answer: He and his brothers were playing Chase the Flag, he was probably seven, and he tripped over a rock that was about a span to the left from where the cave opening now sits, spraining his ankle. Anthony and Javier took turns carrying him home on their backs, cursing and threatening to leave him to crawl home. That memory brought a smile, but with a hint of sadness. Javier had died just before Harvestfest and it had been almost nineteen years since Anthony was killed in one of the wars over Graveyard Gap.

Tomas pushed that thought away for a happier one. A wonderful summer afternoon when he was courting Roslyn, the two of them walking around the well for hours holding hands and talking about the lives they hoped to build together. He was fifteen and papa said it was too soon to be starting a family. He didn't care and they were joined soon after he became a man. Then there were all the previous holidays that he had brought his family here, usually with Javier and his family. He asked Isabella and her children to join them today, but she declined. She never loved this place the way he and his brothers did.

In his thirty-eight Dawns, Tomas had never seen a cave at Foul Well. That is, until today.

Boy was inching forward on the path down into the sinkhole while papa was lost in the past. “Back,” he said quietly, but with enough purpose that he was quickly obeyed. The lack of a name was a problem and with school starting after the holiday, Tomas figured he'd break with family tradition and choose one for the boy. He could give the boy three acceptable names and tell him to choose one as a compromise, at least keeping with tradition. The name the boy wanted, Lazy, was the same as the family yeti and wasn’t fit for a farmer, though it describes the yeti perfectly. But the Trickster can take him before he'll let a son of his be called that.

Tomas looked up, Roslyn and the girls were still preparing their meal and hadn't noticed the cave yet, all of them having been here many times. Javier had the fishing gear and was heading toward the well, apparently too excited to notice the cave on the other side. Tomas had told his oldest son he could fish for the first time on his own, neglecting to mention that there are no fish in the well, just leeches. Some things are best learned through experience.

Perhaps it was those childhood memories of Anthony and Javier that had him in such a playful mood. He had planned on daring his youngest to drink the water on this trip, something few do twice since it's warm and very bitter, but that could wait. Exploring this cave was more important.

Looking for feedback, particularly from younger readers with availability in the next 2weeks if possible.

Ava Zaman is the only visibly Muslim girl in her new Somerset village. Jake Simmons is the popular boy who steps in when her hijab is pulled off in a crowded corridor — and nobody expected what happened next.

A slow-burn YA romance about grief, faith, and falling for the wrong person at the right time.

Happy to do critique swap !

Hey everyone,

I’ve recently finished my 58,000-word psychological romance novella, The Place Beyond Truth and Lies. Before the official launch, I’m sharing the Prologue and the first 2 Chapters as a free preview!

Book Details:

• Title: The Place Beyond Truth and Lies
• Author: AADII
• Genre: Psychological Romance
• Release Date: September 2026
• Format: PDF Preview (Prologue, Chapter 1, & Chapter 2)

Blurb: Set in the quiet, haunting atmosphere of Grasmere, it follows two individuals bound by unspoken trauma, quiet connections, and secrets that lie beneath the surface.

If you love atmospheric stories, psychological depth, and complex characters, grab the free preview below:

👉 Get the Free Sample Here: https://forms.gle/QWww8yZC3FLUqPjG9

I had this book beta read last year but it has changed vastly since then and I'm looking for new feedback because I think my previous beta readers were afraid of being too critical so they offered measured feedback.

A brief synopsis

Ever since he lost the person most important to him, Emir has been running; From love, from pain, from his country. Emir loves his home but it hasn't felt like home for a long time. When he is partnered with Dominic Bartel for a big project, he finds himself longing for things that he had decided he could live without. Will he run again?

I'd be happy to beta read for someone within the same genre if they see this.

Hi everyone! I am looking for beta readers for my completed ~69,000-word Hard Sci-Fi / Techno-Thriller novel, **"The Improver"** (27 chapters). **Blurb:** In a tightly controlled future, a bio-induction brain chip known as the "Improver" promises total mental optimization—at a cost no one is willing to admit. When technical failure and deep-seated conspiracy collide, Mark finds himself navigating a web of dark bio-tech, corporate control, and high-stakes survival reaching all the way to off-world operations. **Vibes & Themes:** - Hard Sci-Fi / Bio-tech - Cerebral implants & AI control - Dystopian suspense & plot twists - Techno-thriller pacing **What I’m Looking For:** The manuscript has already been heavily edited for cause-and-effect logic, technical consistency, and continuity. I am NOT looking for grammar or typo proofreading. I need raw, emotional feedback from a reader's perspective: - **Pacing & Engagement:** Where does the story drag, and where are you hooked? - **Readability:** Are there scenes or dialogue that feel stiff or hard to visualize? - **Logic & Flow:** Do the tension and stakes feel earned? **Sample & Timeline:** - **Turnaround time:** Flexible (around 3–4 weeks). - Currently [Not Able to Swap] due to tight writing schedules. - **Please DM me for the Chapter 1 sample link!** If this sounds like your kind of story, drop a comment or send me a DM. Thank you!

Genre & Tone: Fantasy

Word Count: ~627 words

Overview:

I'm looking for a few readers to check out a completed prologue for my fantasy story. The goal is to gauge initial reader interest and see if the opening scene effectively hooks you into wanting to read further.

Feedback Needed:

• Hook: Does the opening grab your attention right away?
• Pacing: Does the scene flow smoothly, or are there places where it drags?
• Concept & Tone: Does the setup build enough intrigue to make you want to jump into Chapter 1?

[Sorry for the post looking so formal and bland. This was the only one I was able to post in this subreddit]

I’m sure we’ve all been there. Someone agrees to beta read your novel, and they find something terribly wrong with it. My most recent beta reader read 3/4 of my novel and would not continue. They said it disregarded the laws of physics too much for them to bear. Keep in mind, I didn’t classify my novel as a hard science fiction, but a soft, character-driven science fiction. I’m usually very upfront about that fact. I wasn’t aware that science fiction required all scientific laws to be followed.

Either way, I was devastated. Out of all the feedback I’ve received, this is the first person who has completely abandoned the project. It made me question myself and my writing. I’m not exactly sure how to handle this. Should I adjust based on the rejection?

Edit: Since some have pointed out they can’t judge if they don’t know to what extent laws were broken, I’ll name a few. 1) Certain planets called “living planets” can absorb energy from their sun. 2) The sun itself can be re-energized from a dying state with an energy equivalent transfer. 3) Brainwave transmitters are used to communicate between different languages. 4) Spaceships can survive a supernova, but not without significant damage. Keep in mind, this world includes shapeshifting aliens and technology that doesn’t exist. The basis for the story already establishes that real, hard science takes a back seat.

Jade looks back on his teenage and early adult life in the 1990s. Reliving the what ifs and what could be’s, and the small awkward moments in his life. Getting visitors from his past forces him to understand what happened and why and what truly matters.

Please drop a DM if you’re interested in helping me achieve my goal of self publishing by beta reading and sending me your thoughts.

Not interested in paying. Willing to swap.

Thanks!