Wasn't The Silent Patient actually a few years old? I remember reading it before the pandemic. That aside, I get what you mean about thin talks. My group did a popular mystery once and we just listed plot holes for twenty minutes. It felt like junk food for the brain.

My old Pittsburgh torque wrench from Harbor Freight did the same thing at 35 degrees last winter. I started keeping it in my house overnight when I know I'm working outside the next day. Letting it warm up in the truck cab for an hour before using it seems to help a lot, the click feels way more solid. It's a pain but cheaper than buying a fancy one that can handle the cold right away.

Honestly that specific kind of critique can mess with your head in a weird way. It makes you chase a single reader's idea of a hook, which might not even be right for your story. Now you've got a crash in chapter one but no plan for chapter three, so the fix was just surface level. Sometimes a harsh note points out a real problem, but the suggested solution can send you down the wrong path. Gotta figure out if the issue was truly no hook, or just setup that needed to be more engaging on its own terms.

Wow, @seth_martinez21, how did your cousin find that specific program?

Totally get that feeling, lilyb27. The rush to fix something can make you skip the basics. Learning to check the simple stuff first saves your reputation in the long run.