Novel AI: What Actually Happened When I Tried It

I’m going to be blunt up front: Novel AI wasn’t what I expected.
Not in a bad way,  just wildly different from the “AI writing tools” I’ve used before.

When I finally sat down and spent real time with it (not just the usual 10-minute test I give most tools), I realized something important:

Novel AI doesn’t behave like ChatGPT, Claude, Reedsy, Sudowrite, or DreamPress.
It behaves like an eccentric but incredibly gifted co-author.

It can be brilliant, stubborn, chaotic, graceful, frustrating, and shockingly human.
So this review isn’t a surface-level overview.
It’s everything I experienced, the good, the bad, the confusing, the addictive, after writing nearly 30,000 words inside Novel AI’s editor.

My First 30 Minutes With Novel AI: “What… is all this?”

When I first logged in, I expected something friendly, sliders, simple buttons, big “Generate Story” text.
Instead, Novel AI hit me with an editor filled with:

• Memory
• Author’s Note
• Lorebook
• Presets
• Repetition penalty
• Temperature
• Output length
• Biases
• Context padding

Honestly?
I froze.

This wasn’t the “Casual AI writer” experience I got from DreamPress or Smodin.
This looked like someone dumped tools meant for actual novelists and said:

“You figure it out.”

And for the first half hour, that was exactly how it felt.

But something unexpected happened after I tuned a few settings and wrote my first proper prompt.
Novel AI didn’t give me generic filler or melodramatic clichés.
It gave me a scene, a real one, with pacing, rhythm, characterization, and emotional control.

That was the moment I knew I had to go deeper.

How Novel AI Actually Writes: My Honest, Unfiltered Reaction

I ran Novel AI through every type of writing I could think of:

• slow-burn romance
• gritty sci-fi
• quiet emotional introspection
• horror ambience
• fight scenes
• slice-of-life dialogues
• even a fake Victorian letter

And my conclusion?

Novel AI writes like someone who actually reads books.

The prose isn’t flat. It isn’t corporate. It isn’t robotic.
It feels deliberate. It has pauses, tension, reflection, energy.

The moment it clicked for me

I wrote a prompt about a character sitting in a café after a breakup, a typical emotional test scene.
Most AI tools fill this with dramatic clichés.

Novel AI did something different.
It slowed down.
Focused on small sensory details.
Let emotions simmer instead of explode.

It felt… human.

BUT, here’s the catch:

If you don’t guide it properly?

It becomes poetic gibberish.
It can over-describe.
It can get flowery.
It can derail emotionally.

That’s why Novel AI is NOT a “plug and play” tool.
It’s a knife, powerful, precise, but dangerous if you don’t know how to handle it.

The Memory, Author’s Note and Lorebook Combo Changed Everything

This was the part that made me realize why serious writers swear by Novel AI.

Memory

I put in:

“Aiden is a mechanic who hides his fear of abandonment behind dry humor.”

Novel AI kept that tone consistently for 8–10 generations.
Better than any other tool I’ve used.

Author’s Note

I added:

“Tone: grounded, restrained, realistic human emotions, no melodrama.”

This instantly “corrected” the AI’s tendency to become overly poetic.

Lorebook

This is where the magic really happened.

I created:

• a city
• a faction
• a law system
• three characters
• a rule about forbidden technology

Novel AI began referencing my lore naturally.
Not perfectly, but enough that I could maintain narrative integrity.

This feature alone puts Novel AI above 90% of creative writing tools.

The Presets: I Did NOT Expect Them to Matter This Much

I tested the main presets:

Euterpe

Balanced, emotional, best for character-focused scenes.

Krake

More dramatic, lush, fantasy-tilted prose.

Sigurd

Cleaner, tighter, more controlled narrative structure.

Switching presets felt like switching between different authors.

For example:

• Krake would write a heartbreak scene like an anime drama.
• Sigurd wrote it like a contemporary novel.
• Euterpe wrote it like a diary entry.

I didn’t expect to rely on presets this heavily.
But I did, in fact, presets became one of the reasons I enjoyed experimenting.

Real Talk: Novel AI Does NOT Hold Your Hand

This is the part most reviews gloss over.

Novel AI expects you to experiment.

If you try to treat it like “ChatGPT for fiction,” you’ll hate it.
If you try to treat it like “DreamPress but fancier,” you’ll be confused.

Here’s the truth:

Novel AI is a writer’s tool, not an “AI toy.”

 It rewards control, structure, and detail.

It punishes vague prompts.

It punishes lazy workflow.

And because of that…

 Casual writers will feel overwhelmed.

Beginners may think it “doesn’t work well.”

People expecting instant magic will be disappointed.

But if you’re someone who cares about craft?

If you enjoy shaping a character voice, pacing a narrative, or building a world?

Novel AI becomes a dream.

The Image Generator: Stunning But Niche

I tested image generation like everyone else, expecting mid quality.

But the anime-style art?

Holy.
It.
Delivers.

Highlights:

 Detailed character art
Clean faces
strong lighting control
good prompt accuracy

But,

 It’s NOT suited for photorealism

 It’s not useful if you don’t like anime aesthetics

 The same-face issue exists

Still, paired with fiction writing, the image generator feels like an optional but fun bonus.

Pricing: This Is Where I Had Mixed Feelings

I tried the Opus plan ($25/month).

The writing experience felt worth it for a serious writer.
But for casual writers?
It feels expensive.

Compared to DreamPress ($5–$10), Novel AI is a commitment.
But the depth you get is also far more advanced.

If you’re planning to write a book, a long fanfic, or a full universe, Novel AI is absolutely worth it.

If you just want to have fun with short stories?

Probably not.

What Surprised Me the Most 

The AI actually adapts to my style over time

I noticed that if I wrote a few paragraphs myself, Novel AI began matching my tone.

The emotional intelligence is higher than expected

It avoids cheap clichés when instructed.

It handles subtlety better than DreamPress or Sudowrite

It knows “less is more.”

 It’s less repetitive than I feared

But only if settings are tuned properly.

 Reddit was right: Novel AI has “soul”

It feels alive in ways other tools don’t.

What Annoyed Me 

 It can get too poetic

Sometimes I had to “dial it back” multiple times.

Documentation is weak

You have to learn by yourself or depend on Reddit guides.

The UI hides important features

Lorebook access isn’t obvious for new users.

 It sometimes rejects prompts for no reason

Especially after long sessions.

 Long RP sessions eventually break

Continuity survives longer than other tools, but not endlessly.

Final Verdict

After a week of writing, editing, building characters, and testing edge cases…

Here’s the truth:

Novel AI is the best creative writing AI I’ve used, but only if you’re willing to put in effort.

If you want:

• emotional depth
• narrative flow
• character consistency
• worldbuilding tools
• customizability
• long-term story potential

Novel AI is absolutely unmatched.

But if you want:

• simplicity
• instant gratification
• cheap pricing
• minimal settings

You’ll get frustrated fast.

My Final Personal Rating 

Final Thought

Novel AI didn’t impress me out of the box.
It impressed me when I stopped treating it like a toy and started treating it like a creative partner.

It’s flawed, powerful, moody, brilliant, frustrating, addictive, exactly like a real writer.

And that’s why I ended up liking it more than most AI writing tools.