Critique partner or beta reader wanted - historical suspense

I'm looking for a critique partner or a beta reader for my historical suspense with a romantic element. It's about 75k words and you can find the query here: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/sh...t-historical-suspense&p=10587805#post10587805

I'm mainly looking for general feedback on plot, pacing, and characters. There are some dark themes in the m/s and I'd like to know if it's too much (can provide trigger warning if needed).

I'm happy to swap if you have a WIP to beta, now or in the future. I can also send you sample chapters first to see if we're a good fit. I read any genre, but no vampires or religious stuff, please.

Undercover said:

I'm just curious. It won an award and you've been querying it and now you want a beta? You mention you sent out 5 queries, which is barely anything. Did you get a full request from an agent and they rejected you and intend on stopping the querying process until you fix it with a beta?

If you intend to work on your book and continue to query it, I wouldn't recommend it. Only because what if you get a full request while you're working with a beta, will you still send it out? When it's not done with the beta? What if you get an offer and you haven't finished with that beta first? It's unfair to that beta.

If you only got a few rejections from your query and first pages, I would work on that instead. But if you think your book isn't ready to query again and want to work on the ms again, then you should make that clear with the beta.

I hope you find the help you need.

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So this is my second novel that I've queried. My first, I've been trying for a full year and sent out 50+ queries, of which 4 got full m/s and then I never heard back from the agents again. No feedback, no personalised rejection, nothing.

When my first batch of queries on this m/s didn't yield any full requests, I figured I was likely in for the long-haul again and I would rather continue to get feedback and revise the m/s during the months/years of the querying process than just let it stagnate and not work on it.

I don't think that's unfair to the beta. If a beta agrees to provide comments within 1-2 months and I have queries out, chances are that the agents won't even have replied within that time. In the event that I have to send a full m/s to an agent while I'm awaiting comments from the beta, I can still incorporate their comments into revisions and provide a revised version to the agent if they make an offer. But since you've pointed out that some people might feel it's unfair, I will make sure to tell my betas that I have sent out a few queries in small batches, and if they feel it's a problem they will be free to decline to beta.