Final survey (To be completed after finishing the story you are reading)
Name of story: My Safest Place
1) What was the biggest challenge for you when reading this story?
Primarily because it was a Kevin romance and female centered. Two things that tend to take me out of my reading comfort zone. I'm one to enjoy non romance Nick centered fics , but if I picked one of those, it wouldn't have really been a reading challenge lol
2) Did you find yourself looking forward to reading as you were going along or did it feel like homework?
Honestly, It felt like homework.
3) What was your favorite scene/chapter in the story?
When Kevin was saying his goodbyes to the guys.
4) Was your favorite character at the halfway point still your favorite at the end?
I think so
5) Who was your least favorite character and why?
Hands down, Nadine! She was too self involved and too much of an emotional train wreck to even consider volunteering at a hospice, never mind trying to date one of the residents!
6) If there was a sequel to this story would you be interested in reading it?
Not really, because I'm sure it would center around Nadine.
7) Were you happy with the ending?
I thought it had a very appropriate ending.
8) Name the biggest surprise in the story and did you see it coming? (If there was one)
There really wasn't any big surprises
9) What was this stories biggest strength?
It was a great idea!
10) What was it's biggest weakness?
The over all execution of the idea.
11) Did reading this story make you want to try another one from this author?
No, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't read something else by Erika. She has admitted that this is one of her earliest works. I bet she has grown by leaps and bounds by now.
12) Give us one final review that sums up your experience reading this, maybe explain why you gave the kind of feedback you did or if you would have perhaps picked a different story from this one?
As I've told Erika, the premise behind the story was a great idea! You have a dying Kevin in hospice care and then this volunteer trying to learn the ropes on how to deal with that. The idea was one I hadn't really seen before played out in fanfic. Unfortunately, there were a lot of inaccuracies when it came to the hospice part of the story and the actual fact that Kevin was supposed to be dying, that it took away from the entire story itself. I found myself not being able to get over those details enough to want to enjoy what I think Erika's main objective of the story was. I think I would have enjoyed it more if instead of giving him this terminal disease, she had made him paralyzed or something. Knowing how much training real hospice workers/volunteers have and how people really are by the time they hit hospice care made this really hard to read at times. So, yes I think in the end, I would have maybe picked something else from Erika.
13) Did you prefer the way we did the challenge this year or did you like the pairings better?
I enjoyed both ways but I think it was fun to be able to pick and choose what to read and what to submit as well.
14) Did the author respond to your feedback?
Not really. I felt like this was a very one sided thing which is why I stopped giving any detailed feedback.
15) Any final thoughts or questions for the author?
Just wanted to say, I do apologize if this comes across as harsh, Erika. I definitely don't mean it to come off that way. Believe me as I was reading this, I wasn't sure if I was going to be honest or just kind of half ass my reviews and shrug it off. This was a challenge though, and I felt like in the end, I needed to let you know how I felt about the story as a whole. I have a ton of respect for you as a writer and I really am looking forward to reading something else from you at one point. I just hope the things I said were helpful to you, because that was and is my intention.