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Smashing is the best exercise one can ask for!
Yesterday I read 'Mask and Memories' by @MarjorieK64. It really has been a long time coming after I had read 13 chapters before (which was all that was available at the time) and now it has been finished.
TLDR; Jane Eyre meets magic mafia.
Overall I'd rate it 4 smashing out of 5. Its strengths are greater than its flaws.
Main Character - Smashing! - What is there to say about the MC... Powerful within subtlety, mysterious despite being open, clever without flaunting it, kindness behind pain and stoicism, endlessly deep no matter how deep you live and likely won't come up for air again. This MC easily gives the story its core strength with nothing but pure grade characterization from start to finish that grows yet never drops out of character or turns the MC into someone she is not. Every thought is revealed yet flows smoothly as water with the narrative, weaving in and out of the action and dialogue with the grace of a dancer that never ceases to keep the tension relevant, active, and beautiful. As a character, not even as a person, she pushes and pulls at the story at the exact right moments, being in the background when needed for other characters to grow like a reactive character and making her own choices as an active character, both within her own control and choice based on the situation, showing a depth of characterization that is rare. Many characters in other stories act yet do nothing, but this MC can be quiet and still yet do everything. She blurs the line between reactive and active with her ability to understand the flow of people and what she wants to do and when choosing when to act and when not to act, which actually turns her own reactiveness into activity by the sheer ability to be self-aware of her body and mind and choose it.
All of which include romance and dramatic tension. For every step forward we have the ever-present reminder of what is at stake. Every interaction is as human and genuine as life. Slow enough to feel like a slice of life, yet the ever-present tension keeps everything feeling tightly packed. I have never been a huge fan of romance. 99% of stories I've come across is basically just an exploration of lust, not a romance in the slightest despite trying to wear the label. But this story is romance and character and people first and foremost, where if you didn't know better, they could marry as virgins.
Side characters - Smashing! - The SCs are never confusing to balance. Their names are different enough to track, introduced a few at a time, only kept around when relevant, given just enough reminder when brought back later if necessary, and almost all of them have the strength to be little MCs of their own. They are dynamic, acting differently, and appropriately to the situation without ever breaking character. They succeed in their primary goal of giving the MC the appropriate partner to dance with from scene to scene and grow as needed, provide tension as needed, to allow us to learn about her as needed, and all without hitting you over the head with their purpose. They just do it because of who they are, making every single scene, and interaction character-driven. Then when things happen it is both as predictable and unpredictable as one could hope for. Predictable because you know the characters involved in the happenings, yet unpredictable because the happenings are providing a new situation the characters might not have experienced before. This combination of predictability and unpredictability is perfectly seamless because they never once break character while being as flexible as any real dynamic person you might know.
