[1459] Cursed

Hi guys! I've lurked around this subreddit for a while, and I figured I'd give it a go with a snippet of my own story!

It's a horror mystery book centered in rural Indonesia, where a journalist investigates the disappearance of 847 villagers in the coast of Sumatra. Most of the book takes place in the form of interviews and I consider it an epistolary novel, so take a pass if you hate reading through oodles of dialogue.

The good news this is like, half of the first chapter, so it's a pretty fast read!

Here's the link to the first part: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z78IUY9kaECwMo53ZWNgYN-GsWdRTFS7vGRfsNLbcIo/edit?usp=sharing

Some feedback that I think would be useful:

  1. Does the setting feel realistic/as a non-Indonesian, are you able to understand the story even with the footnotes? Should I dial it back a bit?
  2. Do the characters feel cartoony or are their reactions too strong/passive for their situation?
  3. Was the story interesting enough for you to consider reading, or was the first page too boring? If so, what failed?

My critiques for the mods:

[1040] Touch Grass (title pending)

[2292] In The Beginning

Anyway, I hope y'all have a nice day/night, and I'd love to hear your feedback!