In order to support his family, Tobias Kaya enters a tournament where the winner will marry the realm’s ruler and become the soverign. However, things become complicated when he starts falling for the healer.
There are three different types of writers I’m aware of. Plotters or architects outline their stories. They plan every detail of their story before writing it. I once read that one of my favorite authors made 52 outlines before her story was complete.
Pansers, gardeners, or discovery writers just write. They don’t plan anything beforehand. I myself am a discovery writer. I tried to outline before, but it doesn’t work for me. It felt like I already wrote it, so what was the point of doing it again?
A planser is someone in between. They outline and they write. There are different types of outlines out there or you can make your own. Up to you.
Jenna Moreci is a YouTuber who specifically focuses on writing advice. Her videos are in a listical style and they’re short. Her advice focuses on writing basics, publishing, and marketing. However, a lot of it seems to be for plotters. Any writer can learn something from her and it’s always good to go back to the basics. I’m subscribed to her channel and listen to her writing advice most of the time.
I mention this to say that, although I’m familiar with her content, I’ll critique her book the same way I do every book. I think Moreci is a wonderful content creator and offers great advice. However, that doesn’t mean that I enjoyed the book as much as I enjoy her content.
Moreci’s writing is textbook dry most of the time. Considering Tobias’s personality, it sort of makes sense. However, it’s a chore to read. Thank you, audiobook narrator for giving Tobias the personality he doesn’t have.
Moreci has mentioned she’s a plotter in several videos. With any writing style, a very compelling story can be told. However, this story is so focused on plot that it can’t breathe. There’s nothing wrong with following a plot beat by beat. The problem here is that nothing is properly developed.
The characters start flat and end flat. They have no arc. They’re pieces for the author to move around the story as needed.
The story itself has no nuance. If someone is evil, they’re evil. If someone is a bitch, they’re a bitch. If someone is good, they’re good. Because there’s no nuance, the story is not compelling and there are no themes to discuss. If there are any, the lack of nuance and characters cover them up.
This book falls into the same category as reality TV shows. I can put it in the background and do other things. It’s not intellectually stimulating, so it doesn’t matter if I miss something. This is the reason I decided to keep this book. Sometimes, that’s what I need to read.
Overall, this book is not good. A year ago, I rated it three stars. I think I was being too generous. This time, I rated it one star. It’s not well written and the characters are nothing but pawns for Moreci to move as the plot requires it. Also, Tobias has so much plot armor that it’s impossible for anything to happen to him. I would compare these characters to cardboard, but I can’t. I find cardboard more interesting than these characters. It doesn’t help that there’s no world building, the fantasy elements are not well established, and the romance is barely there. The sad part about the romance is that she worked so hard to establish it, but it just looks like Leila and Tobias are doing cute things. They’re not cute
This book is a perfect example that it doesn’t matter whether something is good or bad. As long as it’s marketed well, it will sell. Think Twilight. Fifty Shades of Grey. After. It can’t be denied that Moreci markets her work well. I myself was very interested before the audiobook was available. I was so disappointed. I expected better.
This book also brings up an important question: Should someone give writing advice if they don’t practice what they preach? In her videos, Moreci offers, in my opinion, mostly good advice that may help her viewers write their stories. However, when reading her book, it’s noticeable that her writing doesn’t show what she believes it does. The Savior’s Champion is not as compelling as she claims in her marketing.
It’s very obvious she’s proud of her work. She should be. She wrote what she wanted to write. She published her writing. That’s an amazing accomplishment. It also appears to have been very successful. As I said, she markets her work well. However, once you publish something, it’s out for anyone to critique it. That means readers can see the difference between your advice and your writing if you give writing advice like Moreci.
In my opinion, advice can be given even if you don’t practice what you preach. You can be good at analyzing books, but you may not be the best writer. You don’t have to be good at something to give advice. Not all book reviewers find themselves writing, do they? Not all of them decide they want to write a book.
In my review of the first volume of Overlord, I talked about something I’ve been told in my writing. At the time, I didn’t believe it to be writing advice, but, looking back, it sort of was since part of my review talked about the author’s writing style. In the future, if I give writing advice, it’ll be mainly as a reader. If I talk about writing as a writer, it’ll be specific to things I learned about my own style. I don’t expect my advice to work for everyone, but it definitely works for me and I want to share tips if I have them.
I’m very curious to know your thoughts. If you have time, let me know in the comments.
I’ll be doing a more in-depth review of The Savior’s Champion in my YouTube channel. It will be coming out in August. Subscribe using the link below so you’ll be notified when I release the video.
Anexis Matos 
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