Introduction
Recently I started publishing on Scribblehub in the hopes of getting more eyes on my work. This has probably been a wasted effort but that’s because this shit is all a lottery anyway. However, there are reams of authors and stories out there, undiscovered and unexamined. I want to learn more about these strange, alien creatures who write things expecting no remuneration.
If you’re wondering if that category includes me, it does not. I expect negative remuneration and have yet to be disappointed.
Before we start, here are the rules.
1: No AI. If your book cover has AI, if your book text is AI, or if you admit to using AI anywhere in your writing process, you go right on the slop heap. The slop heap is worse than the trash heap, because trash can be entertaining, even good, even if it’s trashy. You’re neither. Get the fuck out of here with that.
You do not get anything for tricking me and slipping AI past the radar. This shit is everywhere. However, AI detectors are laughably unreliable, there is no perfect way to catch it. I’ll be pissed if I find out.
2: I will give your work a fair shot. ALWAYS. This does not mean reading the entire thing, it means at least checking out a few chapters in. Tolstoy was long-winded because he got paid per word, and some of these stories make Tolstoy look like a bathroom advertisement.
3: I will leave a review on your Scribblehub page. It’s very difficult to get reviews for anything, good or bad. Most people don’t want to leave them. Well, I will. I will try to be constructive, too. Be the change you want to see in the world.
How This Works
I will give your story letter grades in the departments. These are subjective, which if you’re new to the concept of artistic appreciation, is true for all works of art. Art is a conversation between the creator and the reader, it requires both, it will always be subjective. They are A through F, with A being good, and F being proFoundly bad. I can give out + or – added to the end but not for F, if you get an F reconsider everything. F’s are usually for a lack of eFFort, or perhaps, lack of skill(F).
Which categories get letter grades varies. Not all stories are the same, some have precious little dialogue and must be coddled and kept warm like a baby bird who drinks drinks with a lot of ice in them. I can’t give out a letter grade for dialogue to a story that has little dialogue.
And finally, not all of this stuff is going to be TF based. I know all of you just clicked off this page but that’s okay, I’m used to writing for an audience of zero. You cannot intimidate me.
Story 1 – Sentai: Bug Infestation
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1639956/sentai-bug-infestation
It should come as no surprise that I, one of the two people actually still in the sentai/power rangers genre space, was going to start with a sentai story.
Story Stats:
Two chapters, 5000 words. First published June 3rd, 2025. As of this writing on hiatus.
Dialogue – C
Nothing about the dialogue stands out, it’s largely utilitarian. There are puns, though these are almost entirely just using ANT in a handful of places and they all made my skin crawl. That, however, was the point, puns are supposed to suck. Good job on that one. Otherwise, the character personalities largely fail to come out through their dialogue and word choices.
Characters – C
The leads are, in order: A landlord, a cop, and a student. And a magic owl but don’t worry, I assume all their gear is voice-activated. Their jobs don’t have any bearing on their performances in the first episode but there is room for character growth because Johnny, our nominal hero and the red ranger, begins the story by threatening to kick out a tenant. What a bad guy! I hope he learns and grows.
Otherwise, the characters are largely undeveloped. Nobody learns an important lesson or does something clever, the threat is purely a physical one. Also Kaylee, our yellow ranger, weirdly misgenders a child for no reason. I reread that section a few times wondering if I missed something. I did not miss something.
Overall Interest – C
If the series were to proceed as it has then I would be unlikely to follow it. The action is dull and the most clever bit was using a cheetah as a horse to perform a lance charge. Which was very odd to read as these two humans are nominally about the same size but I’m not going to get too far into the nitty-gritty.
How to improve it:
There is basically zero tension throughout the story. We have three characters in fairly good, stable living conditions so there’s no domestic threats. Their powers are given to them by a magic owl but they come with ready-made weapons and defeat their first enemy without any real problems. The bad guys are uncharacterized, seeming to be just mindless big ants. The gore wasn’t shocking, it was simply some poor bastard getting eaten, and ants exploding.
Very little is done to expound upon interesting moments. If I had just blown up a big ant and my suit was covered in guts, it’d be a great moment to have the characters discuss that. Am I wiping the filth off? Am I standing there, letting it drip, shuddering with disgust? Am I laughing like a maniac? Do I want to smash my spear into a fallen ant and declare victory? These need to be expounded on. I don’t know who the stoic one, the funny one, the practical one, the aggressive one, I don’t know who is who if any of them are.
Final Grade – C
I am interested to see the author continue the series if they improve their writing. Don’t give up. We need more power rangers, damn it.
Story 2 – The Walls Around Me
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/2472873/the-walls-around-me
Story Stats: 41 chapters and an epilogue. Completed and published on June 29, 2026.
I read through the 4th chapter.
Dialogue – D
It’s first-person but since over half of the dialogue is in Japanese and I’m not going to translate it – since the language barrier is intentional – this means there isn’t much to work on. There is lots of body language described but none of it is interesting. It’s largely reiterations of the existing information.
Pacing – C
This is a brutally slow story. Every emotion is stated ten times. There is a, but not the, conflict established in the third chapter when the main character undergoes the transformation/time slip. This means almost all of the setup of the previous two chapters doesn’t matter except for the fact that our protagonist can’t speak Japanese despite living there temporarily on a work assignment.
The wordcount is ponderous. The story does a great job of making me feel helpless and bored, which is what the character is experiencing, so if that’s what you want in a story then dig in. I instinctively began skipping dialogue in the third chapter and then went back and reread it. I didn’t miss anything that I then caught on the second read.
Overall Interest – F
The story would need to massively pace itself up if it wanted to keep my attention. I barely know who my protagonist is other than that he’s an office drone fish out of water. By the 10,000th word I should like to know if the story is going anywhere.
How to improve it:
Get a hatchet and start cutting. There’s a vast amount that can be cut out. It’d be very doable to have the first chapter end with the transformation. Not every single line needs to advance the story, it’s okay to put jokes or character interactions or just details in, but this is straight-up too much.
Final Grade – D
Needs a major overhaul in pacing. Author is good at the other parts. Whatever the adequacy of the other aspects is, the pacing puts such a damper on the proceedings that they don’t matter.
Story 3 – Memoirs of The Last Witch
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/2558086/memoirs-of-the-last-witch
Yes, “The” is capitalized in the official title. I saw this one on the new series tab so this is random selection. Let’s see how it goes!
Story Stats: Prologue and 2 chapters. Began publishing September 20th, 2026
I read through the available work.
“The night had teeth.”
I love evocative writing. This is the first sentence. This is how you catch my attention.
Pacing – B
The story goes places. It opens with a chase scene. Yes, it’s highly cliched, but it’s done well and teaches us about the environment. We get a glimpse of the antagonist, the protagonist, how magic works, and there’s lots of good, quick description that puts me in the scene. This is then followed by magic lessons where we establish the characters, their relationships, how magic works, and the desires of the characters. The second chapter ends with something that’s going to start the plot! Wow, we’re moving along!
World Sense – A
There’s lots of flowery descriptions and interesting events in each action. Everything is lovingly described and it doesn’t even take forever. There is a rich cleverness to the scenes.
How to Improve It:
I can’t give any real, substantive critiques that wouldn’t amount to do “Do this but better than you already did it”. Things happen, characters are characterized, and I fully expect a conflict to develop and have payoffs. Keep going.
Final Grade – A
Keep going. I’m legit adding this to my reading list. Don’t fumble this on me.
Wrap Up
So that was episode one. I don’t know if we learned anything but I read a lot and people say that’s good for you. I think they’re wrong.
I will not be accepting submissions for story reviews except by the authors themselves. If you’re a scribblehub author and want me to take a look then yeah. I’ll do it. If you’re not, then, if you have heard of it – it probably doesn’t need a review!
I’m not going to strictly review only no-review stories, but I will be trying to expose stuff that nobody has seen. For better or for worse.
My Scribblehub is https://www.scribblehub.com/profile/280393/saltyjustice/ if you want to leave a review request. It’s your funeral.
