Critique Partner/Beta wanted for Queer Romantasy
Hunter Gay
I'm looking for a beta reader/critique partner for my completed manuscript, Soulless. My story takes place in 1920s NYC (it's very loose on the historical element, so don't be put off if that's not your thing!) and revolves around a magical crime family of necromancers, featuring themes of identity, gender, and being seen/known. I'm looking to traditionally publish, with the hopes of querying this year, so a 1-2 month timeline would be ideal. If that's too quick, then we can work something out!
I've posted about this story (and others) in this group before and found some great critique partners that offered super helpful advice, all of which has led to several major rewrites and now I'm looking for a fresh perspective. As far as swaps, I'd be the best fit for other fantasy writers, and I can also help with contemp. romance or anything queer.
Feedback-wise, the main thing I'm looking for is flow and coherence. What's confusing, what's convoluted, and how does it all go together. However I'm incredibly open to all sorts of critiques (and also some positivity to help determine if this is the right path for the story).
Here's a blurb of the story that I wrote as a query draft:
Viktor Mrakov has never known how to be anything other than a perfect weapon. A feared necromancer, capable of killing anyone with only a touch, Viktor knows there isn’t a world where he can escape his nature. But he has to try, because the longer he lives like this, the more he loses himself.
Desperate to find a solution to the bloody darkness that follows him everywhere he goes, Viktor escapes his handler who wields him like a gun and runs into the arms of the family he once betrayed. His brothers, who now run a criminal underground for necromancers in New York City. If anyone can protect Viktor from the punishing grasp of his master and put a name to everything wrong with him, it should be his family. But neither one of his brothers can ignore his past. His nature.
Frustratingly, there is only person who is able to see Viktor for who he is, and Viktor just killed him. But when Eddie St. James comes back to life, he shoves his way into Viktor’s and makes him rethink everything he’s known about himself. And if that’s not terrible enough, an army of his resurrected victims surfaces, all of them determined to kill him. All Viktor wants is to live, but he doesn’t know how to do that without being the one thing he’s not: a killer.
Content warnings include: blood, gore, violence, dead bodies, suicidal ideation, brief on- and off-page suicide attempts, death of animals, severe dissociation, gender dysphoria, semi-explicit sexual content - I'm able to expand on any one of these if you'd like more info before reading!
I don't have too many comps, but I like to think my writing is for fans of Casey McQuiston, Freya Marske, and CS Pacat. Some of my favorite books are The Spear Cuts Through Water, The Green Bone Saga, and just about anything by Natasha Pulley. Send me a message if you think we'd be a good fit and we can swap some chapters!