Hello Sam N. Yago
Congratulations on your Writing.com account anniversary this month! I'm sending this review in honor of the occasion, courtesy of the "Anniversary Reviews" activity.
Premise
I loved the premise of this story. As someone who's lost a parent at this point, I definitely identified with Sully's circumstances and all of the emotions that were going through his mind in this story. It's a touching story of loss, and also of the experience of getting to know our parents as people a little more than we thought we did.
Story
Although the story was very well written, I found the scene on the train to be a little long. Especially for a story that's summarized in the intro as being about a character and his father connecting at a funeral (although I loved that you didn't specify whose funeral it was in the intro!), it took almost half the story to get to the actual funeral itself. If the story hadn't been advertised as taking place at a funeral, it's possible that this note would be a moot point, but when the story advertises a premise that isn't introduced until halfway through the story, it does tend to make the opening of the story drag a little bit.
Characters
All of the characters in the story are unique and interesting; Sully and Alice were standouts for me, with Charlie acting as a good foil for Sully. Miranda and her kids on the train were equally well developed, although I wonder if all of that development was necessary in a scene that felt like it went on a little too long.
The backstory for the characters was nicely worked into the story in a natural and compelling way, and the details that you chose to included did give us a well-defined picture of both Sully and his father, and their relationship.
Dialogue
The dialogue in this story was excellent. It really moved the story along nicely at the right times, and felt authentic for each of the characters. It's easy for dialogue to feel stilted or inauthentic, especially in highly emotional stories like this one, but you handled all of the dialogue masterfully.
Structure
As mentioned above, I would have personally liked for the actual funeral to start earlier than halfway through the story because it caused the opening scene on the train to drag a little, but otherwise I thought the narrative was well-constructed and moved along at a brisk pace. I also really liked the note you ended the story on; it was emotional, compelling, and felt authentic for the characters and the journey they're on.
Technical
No technical errors that I could find. The story was nicely laid out with a variety of paragraph and sentence structure, which kept the reading experience feel fresh and engaging.
Overall
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was extremely well-written, the characters were nuanced and believable, and the dialogue was nicely honed and kept the narrative moving along. It's a great story about loss and learning to see one's parents in a new light, and it works really well. Nicely done!
I hope you've found this review helpful. If so, please consider paying it forward by reviewing the work of another WDC author!
Respectfully,
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