She, My Memory’s Refrain

Reviewed by: Keleos

URL: http://www.winglin.net/fanfic/jishin6/

She, My Memory’s Refrain – by JiShin

First Impressions

Title ~ 9/10
Well done on the title. There’s nothing much I can say here, except stopping short of gushing about its perfection. I love Literature (not academically, though) and I’m a music person, so this title is definitely something that appeals to me. I don’t want to over-analyse things, but was refrain meant to feature in this title as a double meaning? If I’ve got that right, then I guess this one has both Literature and music elements, which rocks.

Kudos to the melancholic feeling that your title evokes. Melancholic, nostalgic feeling. Excellent.

9 for the fact that firstly, it’s very Korean (not that it REALLY matters, because I later realised your cast is all Korean) and secondly for the fact that I’m mean and I never give a full mark title. :)

Posters & background ~ 6/10

Solid black background, white words, perfectly fine. I won’t say much about it. I have a slight issue with the poster though. Pity about the poster, because the title evokes so much emotion but the poster (being visual and therefore more impactful) doesn’t deliver at all. Purple background, for a start, is already a tad weird, but to add to that there’s the guy in the front (I don’t know who that is) looking utterly out of place. It’s a romance story, and it’s melancholic, so make sure that it stays that way. The poster is just… wrong.

Thumbs up to the thoughtfulness in your content, with your hyperlink going from white to grey upon clicking. I loved that effect.

Foreword ~ 10/10

Brilliant foreword. Like I said, I don’t give full marks, but this one would be too good a foreword to ignore. It’s like… almost a chapter on its own, but it does a lot more than being a normal chapter. It’s got character development, it’s got the starting of a plot, it’s got descriptive passages.

I like. :)

Upon closer examination…

Storyline/plotting ~ 11/15
Yay that the story’s actually complete, so I got to see the whole aspect of it. It’s a drama, and it definitely fulfils that requirement. It’s a tragedy, and it fulfils that requirement as well. I guess this story does what it sets out to do, and the plot is perfectly fine. I loved it; actually, the whole emotional aspect of the plot was handled very well.

I liked the subplot a lot as well; it saves me from having to become entirely saturated by the love aspect of the story.

I suppose, the thing that eventually got me was maybe the lack of planning, a little. I’m not sure if you really did not plan, or it was done on purpose, but I got confused halfway reading about the different characters and the overlapping storylines. It doesn’t help that I’m not familiar with the Korean characters as well, so I got a little confused halfway.

Cast used ~ 5/5
OK. Not familiar with the Korean stars, but I suppose I’ve read a few for reviews here and there. To be perfectly honest, I don’t care who casts who, because at the end of the day, the actors and/or actresses are faces that are all familiar and pretty. Which makes things a little difficult sometimes, because prettiness tends to signal towards stereotype.

Cast, in this case, signals towards the character development, which I felt you handled very well beginning from the foreword. I like it starting from the fact that you used the original Korean names instead of English ones, because it gives characters a personality and edge. Your characters have a life of their own. Entirely believable, and entirely whole as a person. What a great read.

Language ~ 9.5/10
Good work here as well. I’ve spotted no spelling or grammar errors, neither are there major syntax problems, so very, very clean and clear. J

Half mark off for the occasional typo here and there. But otherwise, a sterling command of language.

Readability ~ 4/5
Responsive, well, great! But not entirely frequent on responses, so 4. :)

Overall feel… So far.
Creativity of the story ~ 9/15
No biggie on creativity when it comes to the normal, love story plot, but I like it that it doesn’t come across as clichéd. It brings about a sweet, heart-wrenching story that’s really wonderful, but nevertheless, not the most creative of attempts.

The subplot on the other hand, pretty much balances things out, and well… This whole fic brings about a good balance in terms of creativity.

Overall enjoyment ~ 17/20
In this I’m looking for the X-factor, and this one is packed full of that factor. It’s very Korean drama in its approach, not in the plot, but more in the feel of the entire story, and it gives the fic that sultry, romantic, melancholic feeling associated with Korean shows. And it really works out very well for the whole fic. It’s a very enjoyable and touching read, especially on a Christmas night like this (now you know when I’m typing this. :P), rainy, cold, romantic.

Pity about the poster, though, which is why I scored 17 instead of higher here. It’s a problem that appears on every chapter of the story, which is really sad, because the story is beautiful, but having to see such a sci-fi, slightly disturbing poster gets to me after a while.


Link Back To Us: 0/3
None here, Sowwie.

Overall review scoring: 80.5/100 :)

Comments: This is really one of the best fics I’ve read in a long time, and I guess… Maybe you don’t deserve an 80.5 – you deserve more. I’m terribly sorry that I’m so mean and prissy about fics, but this really is a stellar piece of writing! It’s a beautiful piece, minus the disturbing poster, and definitely emotional and wonderful. I must apologise for the lack of tact for giving you 80.5, but well… These are the standards for judging a fic. Anyway, congrats on the great (in my opinion) result and the excellent story, and I’d be looking out for more of your fics soon. :)