User blog:General Khor/Reviews for Series I Completed Last Year

Hello everyone, this is General Khor. Ok, I said that I'll be doing an end of year review blog on Tuesday, but since I had no time to do it, I decided to tell you my feelings for last year's slate in Jessie's review blog, but I still felt I should do official reviews for the series which I have completed back then. So, before I begin, I'll first go over what I wrote in the comments in J's blog, just to refresh your memory.

Overview
So, as I said, I don't really like how PB made 2019 a year of romance, and last year's slate was ok, at the very most. There are three possible reasons for the whole "year of romance" slate: either they're really on a money crunch (and I guess adventure and mystery books really are expensive), or they just decided to make romance the theme for last year, and they have a theme for every year (hopefully this year's will be adventure and mystery), or they're still using the old strategy of gearing towards the majority which, back then, were appearantly female romance fans, but given that many fans are off put by last year's slate (some even left the Choices community), it's obvious the player demography of Choices is changing. If any of the former two reasons is the case, then I'm sure fans will understand and there will be players returning to the community this year, especially if the answer is the first reason, but if the third reason is the case, then PB must really change their stretegy, or else I really don't know how much longer they're gonna survive.

So, as of December 31, 2019, Red Carpet Diaries, Big Sky Country and Desire and Decorum are over, so are Ride or Die Season 1 and The Royal Heir Season 1, and a lot of books turned out to be standalones, including Passport to Romance, Wishful thinking, Platinum, Sunkissed, Bachelorette Party and others, while America's Most Eligible is on its 3rd season, and so is Bloodbound, and they wrapped up the year with two more romance books, The Royal Masquerade and Baby Bump. While I'm a non romance fan myself, I ended up liking some of last year's releases, which is why I still want to do official reviews for them. So, without further ado, here they are.

The Reviews
Ratings from best to worst:

ELECTRIFYING!!! EXCITING! Meh BOOORIIING! ZZZZZ...

Note: I won't be including reviews for Nightbound and The Elementalists, because I've already done those in earlier blogs. NB is recommended for intermediates as it contains gory and violent scenes which may be upsetting for beginners, while Elementalists is a good beginner book and lets them know what Choices stories are like.

Across the Void
Rating: EXCITING!

As I mentioned in the comments, I'm sure many players expected something out of Star Wars, complete with starship battles, blaster fights, etc (I don't mind if they write it sans lightsabers), and we'll be piloting something like the Millenium Falcon. But then, we discover that our main job is serving snobby passengers as we journey to the capital planet (sigh), which is what turned off many fans. What makes this story exciting, though, is the crises and conflicts that start from Chapter 5. From then onwards, we get to choose to support the Vanguard government, the Jura rebels, or stay out of the war. To me, the Jura aren't exactly evil, but both sides have their own faults, such as the Vanguard poisoning the rebels' water supply, and the Jura bombing a government medical facility. Besides the war, there is also this internal conflict of our own involving our siblings: our government soldier brother and our rebel supporter sister. These subplots were enough to save the story, but things really heat up in the second half, when we are introduced to the true villains of the story: the Void, whose aim is to destroy the galaxy. Too bad we have to spend diamonds to save people (salt to the wound is that most of these people are LIs), but it's worth it, since there's a score system. Finally, there are the endings, and what's good about that is there's one best ending, where we destroy the Void and end the civil war once and for all. We can also choose to let one side win the war if we hate the other, and then there's the worst ending: sacrificing ourselves (that one's a real tearjerker). Needless to say, I chose the best ending, and cheered when I saw it. Overall, a great story. As for the characters, they're also good, and I like the villains the most, followed by Eos and Pax's love interests. I understand why this series ended up as a standalone, and I understand why some players gave bad reviews. Had the story went as I envisioned it, PB would have plans for a Book 2 right now. This book is recommended for intermediates as it contains violent scenes.

Passport to Romance
Rating: BOOORIIING!

Sure, I understand this is a travel and friendship themed book, and they even try to lure us by adding a score system and collectibles, as well as making this book gender of choice, but then I figured out why so many dislike this book, and why it wasn't serialised. Who wants to spend the whole book just hanging out (and probably making out) with LIs? But then again, PB really did try to make this story as exciting as possible by making some incidents happen here and there, especially in the second half, such as Elliot's brother crashing the party, Yvette chasing our friends away for not letting her friend take over Ahmed's football club, etc, but that's not enough. As for the characters, the LIs are sort of dull, because I can't really see their personalities (Well, maybe I kind of like Sumire because of her art talent), but I kind of like the antagonists more: there's snooty Bronwyn, greedy Carlisle (reminds me of the other Carlisle) and of course, selfish Yvette. I can rate this story mediocre, at the very most, but other than collecting photos and buying some exciting scenes, there really is no other reason for me to spend diamonds on this one, which is why I rated is as lacklusture. Recommended for beginners.

A Cortesan of Rome
Rating: Meh

The reason I played this book is that I'm a fan of historical fiction, and I was plesantly surprised when I found out this book cotains a good amount of action. The first strike came in Chapter 5, and from then on we have to outwit enemies left and right, in the end we stab Caesar (which is what this book is all about) in the finale. In fact, I even gave Caesar a photo send off by snapping his famous line (Even you, Brutus...?). What's more, we can also play as the MC's parents, which means we have to deal with their enemies as well. As I mentioned in the comments, the characters are ok, and I find Sabina to be the most interesting LI. After all, she's forced to marry one of our targets, who turns out to be a cruel husband, so how could I not sympathise with her? In a nutshell, not bad for a romance story, still worth spending diamonds on. Another good beginner book.

Platinum
Rating: EXCITING!

Ah, Platinum, one I will remember for a long time. The characters, the papparazzi, the songs... I love everything about it. The characters are great, and I kind of like Raleigh for his uniqueness, as well as his determination to be unique, but I prefer Avery over him. After all, he was the one who mentored the MC, so he's my guy. Then there's Jaylen, who's kind of a frenemy to the MC. If you haven't noticed, PB made us fight her, then in Chapter 12 they made us play nice with her and duet with her, right before we discover she stole our song, and we hit our low point in Chapter 13 (yep, that unlucky number). We then discover she probably didn't know it was our song, and still we come up with a solution and win our fame back once again. Not gonna deny it, but this actually makes the story more exciting. As for the songs, what can I say? This is the part I will remember the most. In fact, the first time I heard those songs, they all got stuck in my head, and I slept so soundly the night I finished this book. Not to mention there's a score systn and collectibles. Because of all this, I spent quite a number of diamonds on this book, so you can guess what award I got (Hint: Three cheers for me!). But then again, I really see no reason for a musical book to be female lead only. I mean, if we can choose our LIs' gender, this book should be gender of choice lead. Also, I understand why this book wasn't serialised as well (It turns out all the songs featured are PB originals, which made this book sort of expensive). Still, this is another book I will play again anytime, and I would recommend this book for beginners.

Bachelorette Party
Rating: EXCITING!

OK, I know some players think this series is sort of weak, but the mafia subplot is what makes this story exciting. So, MC and her gang were off to celebrate one of her friends' upcoming wedding, and one of her other friends has an important case to deliver, but then it gets stolen. Next we find out the case is meant for some Norweigian mob, and after several futile attempts to get the case back, the mob captures the gang and threatens to have them killed, but then they escape, go on a desert adventure, and eventually make their way back to the city.We then discover that the contents of the case once belonged to a famous pop star, and that the mob boss wants the contents for his granddaughter's birthday. In the end, we still have a wedding. I mean, if this isn't an exciting story, I don't know what is. Add a list of special actions and multiple points of view, and you get a story worth playing. Since this book contains mild violece, it is recommended for intermediates.

Sunkissed
Rating: ZZZZZ...

Let's just say, this is the most boring book I've played to date. Not only is the plot uninteresting and the characters dull, there aren't any good diamond choices, and worst of all, there is a forced LI: Nate. Yes, the guy who keeps calling the MC by her last name. Kersey. Kersey. Kersey. Hello? This girl has a name, you know. PB is obviously shoving him into our faces, and I knew this since I found out it's him on the cover. Again, they try to lure us with collectibles, and even those don't seem appealing. *yawns* Thanks a lot for this book, PB. Note: I'm not attacking PB, this is just my honest opinion.

Desire and Decorum
Rating: EXCITING!

The only trilogy on this list, PB did a really good job with this one. The plot was very well written:

Season 1: The first few episodes are sort of boring (I mean, they're just introductions and all), but from Episode 4 onwards, with the introduction of Douchebag Richards, the story starts to get exciting, and by Episode 11, things really heat up. In Episode 13 we hit our low point, then we gather ammunition, and in the last two episodes we use all our power to fight for the estate, only to get a shocking ending. Too bad we can't win the tiara, which is important for the next two seasons, unless we spend a lot of diamonds, especially if we don't want to play nice with His Grossness or Lady Tremaine.

Season 2: This is the best season in the entire series. In this season, we have to fight the Douchebag of Karlington to escape a life of constant sexual abuse, as well as to conquer Edgewater, and great news: we can actually attack Richards all the way, and get recognised as Champion of the Realm without spending too many diamonds! Woo! In the end, we successfully get him arrested (although not for sexual harrassment) and with the Queen's blessing, successfully conquer the estate.

Season 3: Not bad as well. In this season, we have to fight another enemy from the previous season while planning our wedding, and this time I chose to show manners in front of Sir Gideon, because in my opinion, he's more dangerous than Henrietta or even Richards. Luckily, we can choose not to play nice with Lady Tremaine and still unlock the bonus scenes without spending too many diamonds. And in the end, looks like the wicked stepmother always loses.

The characters are also very well developed, with a wide range of personalities: Mr. Sinclaire is a knight in shining armor (which is why most Youtube players chose him), Luke is just as caring, Hamid is adventurous, Miss Parsons is just as strong for a lady as the MC, Henrietta is selfish, Richards is greedy and Gideon is cunning and manipulative. This diversity of personalities really reminds me of Perfect Match. Add a list of collectibles in each season, and you have a must play series. This goes to show that shows aren't always what they seem, in other words, don't judge a book by its genre.

Conclusion
In conclusion, while some of last year's releases really won my favour, I can also see that the Choices community demography is changing, so sticking to just one group of fans is really not a good idea. I hope this year's slate would be more exciting and diverse, so that fans will return in waves to the Choices community. I really hope that by my next birthday/Choiceversary, the Choices Dark Age will be over at last.

That's all for now, thank you for reading.