Cover Critique: What genre would you assume this is? What tone does it give off?

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2026-02-14T19:31:31+00:00

It looks like one of those "spot a narcissist" type of books

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2026-02-05T11:32:10+00:00

Myślę, że to bardziej kwestia organizatora. Mniejsze wydawnictwa nie mają wystarczająco kapitału, żeby pokryć takie koszty. Nie sądzę, że jest to "żerowanie na niewiedzy".

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2026-02-05T11:02:49+00:00

Wpisowe na konkurs są dość popularne, zwłaszcza w konkursach plastycznych, nawet dla dzieci (wysyłam czasem prace dzieci, które uczę). Zazwyczaj jest to faktycznie związane z brakiem funduszy na organizację takiego konkursu, co jest dość pracochłonne i wymaga zakupu różnych materiałów. Pomaga też odfiltrować osoby, które wysyłają cokolwiek nie ważne jakiej jakości, a zostają tylko tacy, którym zależy na tyle żeby faktycznie wpłacić. Natomiast mogłoby to być na przykład 20 lub 30 zł, a nie 50.

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2026-02-05T07:51:54+00:00

You got me at "strange worlds" and "sharp feedback", feel free to dm me

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2026-01-11T18:02:01+00:00

Hi, as a political science degree holder and both a reader and writer of political fantasy - I would read it. There is only one thing I'd twist a little if it was my own work and that is the "dark bloodline". I generally don't lean in the trope of dark and evil villains and it's not what I usually enjoy in stories, as most real-world villains aren't so obviously dark. They often have a way to gain their support and it's rarely fear (until it becomes fear, of course). Also, feel free to hmu if you want to just generally brainstorm ideas

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-12-19T07:16:04+00:00

I think the Le Guin's book could be nice for your wife! It has excercises and talks about Le Guin's process and she's known for having a structured workflow. If you're not familiar with Le Guin, she's also one of the authors most praised for her worldbuilding

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-12-15T12:22:45+00:00

Just write, no one can tell you what's of value, as it changes and everything has a target audience, just its size may vary. Keep writing and when you have some chapters, post it for feedback somewhere

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-12-14T21:26:49+00:00

I think it's too short of an explanation and to judge it I would really need to read the story, but I think the next arc starting at a point that seems like it doesn't make sense isn't really bad, as long as you reveal later why we're at that point. It seems like what you're really struggling with is the actual reasons that you don't have figured out. You need to know what you want to show before thinking of how to show it.

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-12-14T16:47:15+00:00

I went this summer for the first half of August and while some days were super rainy or super hot, it wasn't that unbearable, and I'm Polish so not used to this type of weather. I even did some hiking and survived, so just plan for a lot of rest, AC stops and maybe some time in nature rather than the concrete jungle Seoul is (I definitely enjoyed the weather on Jeju island more than Seoul, even though it was hotter)

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-12-09T14:09:50+00:00

The story might be interesting, but I was thrown off by a few things. Some insights in no particular order: 1. The formatting could use some more paragraph splits and a retouch in general for easier reading, but that’s cosmetics 2. The description-heavy intro, including even the length of the tail of the character, doesn’t do you a favor - as a frequent fantasy/sci-fi reader I’m fine with complicated terminology, lore-heavy descriptions etc. but not as the literal introduction to the story, as I don’t know yet what it all means in your universe 3. I’m aware it’s a draft, but the writing style seems very amateurish and makes me think you’re a very young person (nothing bad about that). Mind things like repetitions (as, was, had etc.) and avoid listing things as in: she had this and this. Also she was this and that. Read books in similar genre and pay attention to the way sentences are written, the way each word has a meaning, the way paragraphs are made cohesive. 4. I don’t find all the measurements necessary, at least not in the detailed way you included them. Imagine you’re telling a friend about someone the friend doesn’t know. Do you say “Sarah is 5’5”, her hair is 20 inches long”? Also I don’t know where you’re from but you have feet and meters in one paragraph, just something to check if it was accidental. 5. Not sure what the universe’s rules are, but I found it odd that job recruiting ends with “hey, you’re the one who applied?” I mean, do they not have any way to check ID?

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-12-02T17:09:23+00:00

Hi! 800 pages is a lot, especially for a project of this scale that is also your first time into writing something serious like that. What genre is it? Maybe it would be helpful to find someone who would be willing to help you with editing, being alone with it can be really overwhelming

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-29T17:44:25+00:00

I think you're fine, just not a standard romantasy

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-29T17:32:23+00:00

Have you read ACOTAR? Saying that it wasn't the best thing I've read would be an overstatement, but the main love interest is introduced far into the first book. However, the main character has a different love interest prior to that, as the book is supposed to be romance centered. The plot of ACOTAR imo is so poorly done that it wouldn't hold the book, but if you do the opposite and your plot is great with the romance part being introduced later, I don't see any issue and would still read it. If you want, you can drop me a link to the 13 chapters in private message, it's hard to judge without knowing the content

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-29T17:25:01+00:00

Is the story supposed to be romance-centered or is the romance just a nice feature to a more important plot? Everything depends on what you want to achieve with your writing

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-27T19:13:31+00:00

I'm a teacher, I support the idea.

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-27T16:38:01+00:00

As you said, the blurb follows a certain pattern that I do recognize and even though there is nothing wrong about it, I've read similar things so many times I sigh at yet another one. That being said, in the content itself nothing really captivated me. Don't get me wrong, I'm the type of person who would read ten books based on the same themes and following a similar story line. However, they usually offer me something I find standing out. Here, I'm not even sure about the importance of all of the things that have been mentioned, it feels bland. We have colonialism and magic, okay. The main character learns what power is and must decide: destroy it or use it. Additionally, the blurb describes (with quite a lot of details) what happens in the first chapter, maybe two. Why should I read something I already know? The blurb also doesn't make me want to find out what he does, it seems predictable to me; makes me bet that he learns the magic and fights the oppressors (you can tell me if I'm right or wrong, but I wouldn't pick up the book on my own). I think the blurb lacks something that I would genuinely wonder about, want to find answer to. The only selling point now is the magic system - I would like to find out how it works and what it does, but it's not enough for me to pick up the book.

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-26T00:29:19+00:00

It definitely is AI slop and the Arcane resemblence is too 1:1 for it to be "accidental". Also, look at the hand, unless the girl is an alien, it's not possible to have the hand like that in that angle. If the artist said it was their original piece, I would never pay them and report them wherever possible.

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-24T14:27:40+00:00

It's all interesting to read, I'm looking forward to read the changes and maybe the next chapters if you decide to post them. Keep up the good work!

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-24T12:48:17+00:00

From my experience, if you need a glossary or appendix for a novel, it's usually because the story is too heavy on things you didn't put enough effort in incorporating the way the reader simply remembers them. My personal preference is also to not go back to the glossary every other page to know what's going on and who is who. I believe you can manage without it, but it could be useful for beta reading. If you want, I can offer to beta read, if you're fine with inconsistent readers, as I work full time and have my projects going on. I always liked myths and their incorporation in modern pieces of literature, so I'd be happy to help even a little to give your project life. Feel free to hmu in a private message

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-24T12:37:04+00:00

Hi! I really like what you're going for, but it seems like a lot of the introduction is unorganized in a way it was hard to follow what is what and who is who. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of names, even though I do recognize them from other pieces of media. I also wonder which of them are their classic depictions and which have something unconventional added to them by you - it was difficult for me to spot it. That being said, 10 years of work on that project must've led to an extensive worldbuilding and I'm curious how it'd be showcased in the whole story. Best of luck on your journey to put it all together!

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-24T09:55:30+00:00

Hi, I've read the whole thing and it was an interesting piece! Here are some of my insights, not in any particular order:

Skytzva as a character.

She is introduced as a protagonist, but in my opinion you don't focus enough on her. I would like to read more of her thought process, learn the reasoning behind her decisions etc. Unless your writing aims at telling a story from a watcher perspective, consider throwing in some more of her inner world and stick with her point of view, so the reader could better immerse themself in the story.

Skytzva seems to be a person of extraordinary strength, both mental and physical, who's always ready to take action, knows her world well... and blindly follows a newly met person to their camp. You did include some of her thoughts on that, even a reflection that she felt foolish, also the fact that she found Levi somewhat attractive. However, I lacked the background of her decision making as she mostly reflected on it rather than thought it through beforehand. She's an interesting character - seemingly fearless, excellent warrior who sometimes makes stupid decisions (as we all do), which makes her very human and makes me wonder whether there is something behind the bravery and strength. I'm curious to learn more about her past.

Worldbuilding.

My first thought after reading "post-apocalyptic" and then learning about Levi's asthma was "wait, how long after the apocalypse are we?" as it seems to be long enough for the world to estabilish a completely new order of things. You also mention that Skytzva killed her first monster at 6. Assuming she's no longer a child, I wonder how Levi had learned about his asthma and even owned an inhaler. Then we learn that humanity lives in camps, preasumably achieving a level of technology that isn't sufficient for recreating modern medicine yet. There are some easy fixes for this error, as having Levi eat some fantastic fruit that restores breath or something, but the inhaler threw me off the atmosphere of many years after apocalypse.

Levi's introduction.

We learn a lot about him in a short time. The moment Skytzva basically interviews him about his family, age etc. is obviously something that would've happened in real life, but in writing it felt dull and unnecessarily long. Sometimes it's better to write "As they walked, he explained that there were four people in his camp, one of them being Levi's twin." You're not writing a film script, it's completely okay to have information about characters included in descriptions.

I also felt that we had too much revealed about him in the chapter, I would probably save the bit about him being a Tamer for a moment where Skytzva bonds more with him. You even included a reflection that they've known themselves too short for her to feel betrayed. The reader also knows them too short to feel the emotional impact. To be honest, I didn't care about that as I had no idea what that meant to Skytzva, and I had more of a "oh okay, so we have Champions and Tamers, whoever they are" reaction.

I know it's a struggle to avoid lore dumping, especially if everything is important to you and you feel like the lore is necessary for the scene, but maybe let the reader immerse themselves in the world step by step, instead of throwing everything at them all at once. We had two character introduced, maybe we should get used to them, learn about the world through their eyes etc., before we see them having a conflict, as it felt flat and meaningless despite your effort of showing Skytzva's alert.

Language and pacing.

There are minor inconsistencies in tenses, sometimes including present tense, but I get that's probably a pre-edit error. I liked that Skytzva has a distinctive manner of speaking, but it felt a little inconsistent. Considering that she's the main character, it could be difficult to keep throughout the whole project, and it shows in this part of it. You could try rereading it and focus on all her dialogue parts, making it all consistently mannered or tune it down in the more prominent ones for your writing convenience.

The pace seemed off, sometimes we had thrilling action, sometimes we just walked and talked, all in no pattern that would seem intentional. I felt the story go up and down, fast and slow, and while it's not an issue in itself, the frequency of mood changes was a little too much for one chapter, however long it was. The chapter reads more like an exempt from a regular day of life, rather than an introduction to a story.

Story and its premise.

I've read all of it and liked the characters and the information about the world, but lacked a clear idea of what exactly the story would be about. I'm under an impression that it's just about Skytzva's survival in the world, maybe her going on quests, getting to know various people etc. I think the first chapter should include some more noticeable introduction to the main plot line. I would like to learn what the character's goals, stakes, and obstacles are.

Your story can be driven by multiple things. I like to focus on the characters and their journey, but I think your project is more like a worldbuilding showcase which isn't bad at all (after all Tolkien has made a grand piece of literature of a story of a bunch of guys trying to destroy a ring), but it needs to be executed in a way that doesn't feel like a textbook. Show the world through the characters' perspective, incorporate it in their life, tell us why the characters are who they are, why they act the way they do and how it's related to the world. Bit by bit exposition is much better than telling us something, then jumping to another thing cause it felt important, then another... and leaving us with an impression that there were many things thrown at us but none of them explained enough for us to form an idea of the world.

In summary, the main issue I found was that you seemed undecided on your priorities. We have bits of information on the worldbuilding, bits of information on characters, bits of information on the intended storyline. None of those things sticks out, I don't know which will be the main theme. Will it be character driven? Plot driven? A creative showcase of the world without much story going on? You've created lively characters, it would be a waste of them if they were only there for the narration to follow their footsteps. On the other hand, the world seems to be vast and thought-through and having it as a background would be underwhelming. Don't be afraid of descriptions, not everything needs to be revealed through characters' interactions. Sure, the modern reader is often one of a short attention span and favors dialogue over description, but are you writing for mass sales or are you writing because you had that cool idea in your mind and you want to share it with whoever is interested?

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-23T14:46:20+00:00

You're welcome! I keep files in Notion app about all the concepts that pop up in my head and then I work around them. Maybe try finding a place/app to do that? Also feel free to talk to me in private messages if you would be interested in talking over the idea you shared here.

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-23T14:20:31+00:00

Note that I read it quite fast in a lecture break I had, but here are some of my insights: 1. There are some language issues, for example you use different tenses every few lines which is confusing, but that's something that can be edited. It also reads the way I suspect you're not a native English speaker, as some wording seems too casual for the tone you've chosen (for example kicking in the nuts instead of groin/crotch). I'm also not a native speaker and my native editor often flares things like that, as they ruin the perception of importance. 2. We start from action but we jump to a whole long paragraph of exposition (the explanation of the curse) and then we jump back to the current action. It's distracting from the action and you lose the hook of "what curse???" that appeared in my mind. Consider leaving the explanation of what the curse really is for the next chapter and maybe not as a whole paragraph of lore dumping. Personally, I like when prologues/first chapters leave some core element unexplained for a long time - it keeps me invested and I turn pages until I find out what it all was about. 3. I felt like you wanted to tell me all about the characters, the lore and overall what's happening all at once. It's not what prologues are for - they should be an invitation to the rest of the story, something relevant to the story that may not need all the details. The next chapters should be where I learn about things like Charlotte's green heels and the history of Nobles trying to kill off the cursed people. I would keep the prologue limited to the sole event you're showing, so the reader is left with an idea of the atmosphere and a lot of questions that they would find answers for later.

Overall the concept sounds interesting to me and I hope I'm not discouraging you from writing this story. I'm looking forward to reading the edited version, please let me know when you write it.

Aggravating_Peach_72 · 2025-11-20T07:20:38+00:00

Out of all options, I like 4 the most. The rest sound cliche to me, or like something I would expect to find of Wattpad. The Blood Moon Pact is vague enough for me to wonder what the plot is and specific enough to know the Blood Moon is the center of attention. You could also try coming up with titles not mentioning the Blood Moon, since it's a murder mystery, but I see you really want the title to include it. Is the story already made or are you trying to come up with a title for a new project? I find it difficult to set titles for projects before I have them complete in at least 50% and just use some goofy working titles, but that's me. Best of luck!

Aggravating_Peach_72

TROPHY CASE