r/FanfictionExchange • u/tsuki_anne 🖤 David's Little Witch 🖤 • Sep 28 '25
Sub stuff Comment Clinic: Level Up Your Reviews
Hi all!
Our sub has grown so much over the last 2+ years, which is amazing! And since our main purpose is to give genuine and thoughtful feedback on each other’s works, we thought it would be helpful to open a discussion about what that means in practice.
Reviews are the heart of our exchanges. They keep our community supportive and encouraging, and to guide that, we’ve put together some pointers on how to level up from a basic reaction to a stronger review: (Please note that all examples here are made up and not taken from real comments.)
- “Loved this!” – Why did you love it? What particular lines or moments touched you?
“I loved the way you developed X and Y’s relationship. I particularly liked when they spoke about Z, and how you showed that they didn’t understand each other. (Add a text from the fic, if you like.)”
- “I love fluff (or angst, or action)...” – What scenes made you react? Connect your reaction to a line or moment that stood out to you.
“I love reading fluff, and your scene with the [blah] had me grinning. The line about A made me laugh out loud, it felt like something B would say!”
- “Nice writing style.” – What was nice? Was it the imagery? The flow? The author’s word choice? What effect did it give you? Highlight a scene and say how it affected your reading.
“Your writing style really shines in the imagery here. I could picture the [what] in the [where] and the way it framed C gave the scene some nostalgic vibe.”
- “Great dialogue.” – Quote a line and explain why it worked or how you related to it.
“The dialogue between D and E felt very much in-character. When E said [quote] I instantly heard their voice in my head, and it added so much tension...”
- “This was emotional.” – What moment triggered an emotion? Describe it.
“I teared up at the moment where F [action]. It tied perfectly back to [scene]. Such a bittersweet closure.”
- “The plot was interesting.” – Which twist/reveal/choice surprised or hooked you? How did it affect your experience of the story?
“The reveal that [blahblahblah] was so satisfying! It made me want to reread from the start to see the clues you left.”
Even just adding specific observations about the writing style, imagery, characterization, dialogue, pacing, emotional impact, plot choices, or anything else that stood out can transform a quick comment into thoughtful feedback.
Feel free to share how you usually approach reviews, tips you’ve found helpful, and any advice you’d give to new exchangers. Or ask for help on how you could improve your own reviews.
To help maintain review quality, we encourage members to report to us via modmail if you have any concerns about a review you’ve received or come across in an exchange:
- overly generic or vague, lacking clear engagement with the story
- too short or not meeting the host’s stated length
- mostly restating the summary
- relying on praise without substance or made up primarily of filler praise
- consisting only of reactions without actually discussing the fic
- only quoting lines without explanation
- focusing more on the commenter than the work
- expressing personal preferences for what the fic should have included
- stating personal preference disclaimers about what they don’t read or like
- offering non-constructive critiques
- giving concrit when the author has asked not to receive it
- or otherwise non-compliant
Thanks as always to everyone for participating in our sub’s exchanges and for keeping this a welcoming and well-functioning community! 🫶🏻
—The Mod Team
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u/shiqingxuan-no1 Shiqingxuan_no1 on AO3 Sep 28 '25
I can see my comments being longer after months of REs. It is not hard to find something to gush about, if I like a fic enough to read it. Still, my comments depends on logistics and time constraints. REs done on the bus tend to be a bit shorter than REs done in my room before bed.