Wasn't sure what picture to choose so take another meme!

I'm sorry this is a little late. I meant to post this two nights ago, but I ended up getting preoccupied.

As you'll notice below, my reviews are starting to get longer than they have been in the past. I used to cut them down to the "important" stuff since I thought no one would want to read all my uncensored thoughts (they tend to be long). This time, I let loose and just let my original thoughts take hold. Please let me know if you prefer it this way or not.

Y'all are insane.

Okay, if I thought the Taehyung category was hard cause all the stories were incredible, then what do I say to describe this?

I knew I was in trouble when the very first story I read made me cry and the second story I read was so good I forgot to judge, and then it just continued and continued more and more with each story.

Every story was so creative and fun to read, and choosing winners was hard.

So, if your name isn't on this list, I guarantee you, your story was fantastic too. Unfortunately, there can only be three winners.

I'm not sugarcoating anything, I'm not just saying this to be nice: genuinely every single story was a banger and a half, and everyone got high scores.

Please do not be discouraged if you don't see your name here. I'll say it as many times as I have to if it means you'll believe me: everyone's stories were incredible.

Message me if you would like to know my thoughts on your story.

3rd Place

Dark Tales by deewiwi

This was the second story I read that I talked about above. Yeah, it's good. It's pretty damn good.

Author is responsible for the emotions I went through while reading. My emotions were a roller coaster.

Characters: 10/10. Every story has new characters to consume and I thought they all had interesting stories. The y/ns are always interesting, which is rare nowadays. The boys are also interesting and the stories with their characters take twists and turns I didn't expect. I appreciate how the author tried something new with their characters. A highlight was the chapter Son PJM, where the characters felt so authentic. Such a heartbreaking chapter.

In general, the author captures relatable emotions in such a captivating way. It boggles my mind how the struggles of real life are displayed through some of these characters. That's why I pointed out the Son chapter: this chap resonated a lot with me not because it's a Jimin chapter, but because of the way the author depicted the struggles of being a mom. Truly wonderful character work. Not to mention Jimin isn't actually in that chap much, he's more of a shadow looming over the main character, which is super effective at selling the pain the main character feels. I love it.

Plot: 10/10. I'll bring it up a couple times throughout this review, but new plots pop up every chapter. Each one is engaging. The author has a keen eye for creativity. I don't have much to say about them since there are so many, but the plots were all unique and felt creative. Even the ones not grounded in reality, like the Duty Of Love chap, have engaging plots that feel relatable, easy to follow (without being predictable), and intense. I'll be honest, even though the book is literally called "Dark Tales," I still found myself shocked by some of the endings. I was warned. I was told by the title that this would be a dark oneshots book, but the way the plot was written made it feel super engaging to the point where I couldn't predict how the stories would end. Great job.

Worldbuilding: 8/10. The stories do an exceptional job establishing characters and plot. I do have to take off points because some chapters don't have much world at all, but I'm not going to take off much because the stories have such exceptional writing that I feel it's unfair to take off too much. For example, the Duty of Love Tae chapter had solid worldbuilding, but there were also some chapters that could have benefitted from even a sentence or two of some worldbuilding, like the Ugly Truth chapter. My recommendation: when she's out on the terrace, that was a good opportunity to take a moment to describe her surroundings, even for one sentence. Not too much as to not bog the pacing, but just one or two sentences could have done the trick, if that makes sense. The characters already feel super authentic, so I would suggest adding just a sentence or two here and there, nothing too much, to give more weight to the world around them. 

You do this sometimes so you already know this technique, but I will suggest using the world as a reflection of who the characters are. Maybe mention ripping wallpaper, or cracked paint, or dirty carpets. It makes the environment feel more engaging while also reflecting what the characters are feeling in a unique way, if that makes sense. And again, you do this already, but there were some chapters (like the Ugly Truth one I mentioned) that could have benefitted from more of that. I hope that makes sense. I type these while I read so I understand if my thoughts seem jumbled.

Pacing: 9/10. Pacing was overall pretty good. Some chapters had pacing that was too slow and could have benefitted from some cutting of some sentences (for example, the Infatuated KNJ chapter felt a little slow in the beginning and could've been tightened a bit by combining and deleting sentences). But that's a small thing so I won't take off much for it.

Themes: 10/10. The themes vary depending on the oneshot, but all of them have emotional weight. All of them feel like a gut punch that deeply impact the reader. It's incredible, really. As I mentioned in the characters section, some of the endings caught me off guard, which caused me to have an emotional response. This author is very talented with their themes and characters, that's for sure.

Consistency: 8/10. Minor tense issues. The POV is sometimes off where it'll say "you" even if it's in first-person. Unless I'm misinterpreting something, but it just feels a bit jarring. If the author was going for an all-seeing eye narrator with the "you" being the reader and the all-seeing narrator being there with us as the "I," I would say it's a bit unclear. If the author was going for something else, it was also unclear. I would love to hear the author's thoughts on that; maybe I'm missing something.

The dialogue formatting is a bit inconsistent (will explain in the grammar section). Otherwise, the stories are all consistent. I noticed no plot holes, OOC moments, etc.

Creativity: 8/10. The author has such a descriptive style that when they use telling over showing, it's jarring. For example, "Taehyung's words carried a touch of melancholy, as he revealed the harsh reality that bound their love." The whole second part isn't necessary since the dialogue before implies it. There are other moments like these throughout. There is also an overuse of fancier dialogue tags (tags that aren't said or asked) that can be distracting at times. That's another example of telling over showing. Otherwise, the oneshots are all unique and have their own storylines. The author has a very creative mind.

Grammar/Spelling: 8/10. Occasionally, author bunches dialogue together. Every piece of dialogue spoken by a new person should be given its own paragraph. By that I mean, if two characters are speaking, their lines should be separate, not together.

For example, author occasionally does this:

"Hi," Raven said. "Hey," Jimin said.

It should be:

"Hi," Raven said.

"Hey," Jimin said.

Some comma splices and occasional dialogue tag errors (author sometimes capitalizes dialogue tags even if they aren't proper nouns, like "Hey," He said instead of "Hey," he said). Otherwise, grammar is good.

An example of the comma splices would be that example I gave earlier with Taehyung in the creativity section. The comma before "as" is a splice and isn't needed.

Cover/Blurb: 10/10. Cover is beautiful, I love the pictures and the font. Blurb is very creative. It's also vague but since it's a oneshot book I'm not taking off for that; I actually think it fits the story well.

Total: 81/90

Letter Grade: A

Additional Raven comments:

This is the second time this author has taken third-place in my awards, and for good reason. This author has so much talent and a strong understanding of storytelling. This author is quickly becoming one of my favorites on Wattpad, and I can't wait to read Take My Hand In Yours for the Jin category.

2nd Place

Narcus by ellaoraios

Probably the funniest story I've read out of every book I've ever judged; not just for this contest, but for all of them. Jin is literally incredible and I died laughing at some of his lines in his head. This author better write more Jin stuff cause man do they have it down!

I'm not surprised this author won; in the Jungkook category, this author scored an A and narrowly missed the top 3. Once again, this author scores an A. Fun fact: this score is one of the highest ones I've ever given. Congrats, author.

With that being said, here's my review:

Characters: 10/10. Live, laugh, love Jin. The way the author wrote his personality and was able to translate it so smoothly into words was impressive. His POV was hilarious and I audibly laughed a few times, which is rare. I never laugh when I read. Jimin was a standout as well. Eros definitely fits that man 💀💀💀 Jungkook wasn't as prominent as the rest, but he was so precious and his limited screen time worked well for me.

Plot: 10/10. The plot was easy to follow and had no plot holes I noticed. It was a fun, unique plot as well. It's inspired from mythology but also tweaked by the author's mind to make something incredible.

Worldbuilding: 9/10. Worldbuilding was overall solid. I'm only taking off a point because I felt we could have benefitted from more of their backstory with their family. It feels like it comes and goes very quickly, and some more time to linger on their relationships with people like Yoongi would have been very beneficial to the worldbuilding. And I'm not talking a lot, maybe an extra paragraph or an extra few lines of dialogue? Those are just some recommendations, though.

Pacing: 9/10. Pacing is mostly good with a couple of tweaks I'd recommend. The beginning is perfectly paced; the writing introduces us to the story and gives us the worldbuilding rules. The only thing I would say is there's a section in the middle where it's almost all dialogue and it's a bit fast. Not only do I not know who is speaking cause there are no tags at all (which is something I'm normally in support of, but it was a new scene and I had no idea which characters were even in the scene yet, y'know?), but it's all short dialogue that naturally makes the pace feel faster. I was a little confused during that part. They were saying each other's names; I assume this was the author's way of keeping the scene mysterious while also giving the audience a hint at who's in the scene. I appreciate the risk and I like how the author is stepping outside of the box. I think that, in general, this idea does work, but adding just one sentence of clarity about who's saying that first line will go a long way, or even a dialogue tag. I'm not saying add a bunch of dialogue tags. Please don't, I try to convince authors to use less dialogue tags since they shouldn't be overused, but I would recommend a little clarity to help us [the readers] understand the scene more. It's one thing to be mysterious, and it's another to be vague. This leans a little more toward vague, and I suggest just one sentence or one tag to add a hair more clarity to put it back on the mysterious side. I hope that makes sense.

Themes: 10/10. I have no issues with the themes and I think they were executed well. I swear I never have much to say about themes, I'm sorry-

Consistency: 9/10. Like I said, no plot holes. There were no OOC moments. I only took off a point for tense issues (tense sometimes flip flops between past and present incorrectly). Like, there was a time in the third-person portion of the story where I believe the line was "the taxi driver announced." Since this is a present tense story and the "taxi driver announced" is being used as a dialogue tag, it should be "announces." I hope that makes sense.

Creativity: 10/10. The creativity is off the charts. The concept behind the story is incredible and I think it flows smoothly. The word choice and sentence structure is unique.

Grammar/Spelling: 7.5/10. THIS AUTHOR DOES DIALOGUE TAGS CORRECTLY 🥹🥹🥹🥹🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭💜💜💜💜💜✨✨✨✨

Comma splices. For example, "Taehyung, and Jungkook, opposite to each other." Neither commas are required and it should be "Taehyung and Jungkook were opposite to each other," it's an incomplete sentence otherwise. There's also a lack of commas in some areas. "After their break-up, she got really insecure and severely depressed especially with a child." A comma needs to be put before especially.

I tend to be more relaxed with grammar/spelling for stories with lots of comedy since the grammar/spelling is often purposefully stretched or blatantly wrong to add to the humor. There are cases where the author uses techniques I wouldn't approve of that I think actually work here, like doing a little :3 emoticon while in Jin's POV. Objectively, it's not a very good idea, but since it's Kim flipping Seokjin's POV, it works and actually adds charm to it. I really enjoyed some of those moments and they were refreshing to see. It's so nice to see an author take creative risks!

With that being said, there are some grammar issues that cannot be excused by the genre or POV. Author should not use all caps; it's hard to read. There's also an overuse of ellipses, the three small dots (...). It can feel a bit much at times since it's hard to read.

I don't want to deduct from creativity because I think your mind is extremely creative. I will deduct it here instead: be careful about switching between first and third-person. In my opinion, you could have stuck to first person, except first-person alternating. Switching to third-person for the last part of the story didn't really work for me since the last segment wasn't too long and you would have had the same effect if you did first-person except from Hwayoung's POV. I'm only going to take off 0.5 for it since the POV is still written well, but I didn't see the point of switching to third-person for that small remainder of the story, if that makes sense. I would be curious to hear the author explain why they chose third-person for the last part.

Cover/Blurb: 9.5/10. I love the cover, I think it's super cute. Blurb is great too. One minor suggestion is "One of them, falls in love with a mortal." The comma is unnecessary since it's a comma splice. I feel like such a jerk for taking off 0.5, but since the blurb is short, grammar errors are noticeable and carry more weight. But since it's an overall good blurb, I'd feel like an even bigger jerk for taking off a full point, y'know?

Total: 84/90

Letter Grade: A

1st Place

That Mystical Night by butterflys_effect

Welp, I can't even bring myself to censor it: I sobbed like a bitch.

Here's the review, and I apologize for writing an essay for the character section:

Character: 10/10. Okay, so, I'm not even going to hide it: I am biased when I say I relate extremely hard to Aera. I have chronic lower body issues. As many know, I had two massive reconstructive surgeries on my left foot that left me bedridden (and I am still in recovery from the second surgery). I couldn't walk for 6 months and was stuck on crutches with a right leg in pain and a left leg I couldn't walk on. I was born with terrible lower body issues, and I will continue to suffer from that for the rest of my life, and there are more surgeries yet to come. There will never be a day in my life where I walk normally. I will never feel what other, able-bodied people can. The author captured that pain perfectly. The wishing you could be someone you're not, the watching with envy as others do the things you can't do, the wondering if people will love you the way you were, the terrible thoughts as hope dwindles from your body. It was almost painful to read because of how accurate it was. It was like looking into a mirror. My God, I'm tearing up while writing this because of how incredibly detailed Aera's character is. The pure agony written into her, the hopelessness, the struggle; dare I say it's perfect. I cannot recall the last time a story made me cry, whether it be a book, TV show, movie, etc. This story has me tearing up because of how relatable it is. And to top it all off, the other characters are great too. Jimin is described perfectly with such a keen attention to detail down to his very scent. Lia is a great supporting character, and I love the small interactions with Namjoon and Hobi. I love the author's decision to limit how many members of BTS are in this, deciding to instead focus on the few here. It was a great decision I respect. Wow. Just wow.

And I know I am biased with that, but I'm also transparent about my judging: I don't judge solely on number scores. Stories that move me, such as this one, come once in a great while. I have to give the author props for that. Author, I read your a/n, and if this is seriously your first attempt at a oneshot, holy McNamtiddies do you have a bright future.

I cannot praise Aera enough. The bitterness she carries toward the very concept of walking hits so close to home that it reopened memories of my terrible January, when my doctor increased how long I couldn't walk for. I was in college at that time. I couldn't walk during college, and it mentally destroyed me. But, despite how I couldn't walk then, eventually I would be able to walk. And the ending of this story felt like the author was describing my personal 2023 character arc. It felt so real. The tears on my face are real, so that's a good indicator.

Okay I'm rambling, but the author did a perfect job of capturing Aera's pain. It was scarily realistic.

Plot: 10/10. It's straightforward and acts as a vessel for the characters and themes. There were no plot holes. The plot feels a hint fantastical, which gives it a certain spark of uniqueness I wasn't expecting.

Worldbuilding: 10/10. I have no complaints. The world is described well and has cute little intricacies for the reader to pick up on. Prom was described well and the setting was clear.

Themes: 10/10. Good lord does this theme make me cry. I can write a 50-page analysis paper on it, but I practically did that in the characters section. The hope and enduring the pain... it's beautiful. Mixed with the descriptive writing style, the theme is strong and carries the story's emotional beats.

Pacing: 10/10. I have no complaints, it moved perfectly and never felt too fast or too slow.

Consistency: 8.5/10. Some tense issues. Some inconsistencies with the dialogue I'll explain in the grammar section; sometimes dialogue spoken by new characters is given its own paragraph, other times it's not. Otherwise, the story is consistent.

Creativity: 8/10. I don't quite understand the choice to make this second-person when the female lead isn't a Y/n. When you name the female lead and give her a specific appearance, she's no longer a reader or Y/n character. It's a little jarring to hear "you" then see the characters call the "you" a name that isn't y/n, y'know? It's definitely weird to read. I'd be curious to know the author's thoughts and I'd love to know why they made it second-person.

Also, there's too much telling over showing. The author's style is very good, but there were some blatant moments of telling that were unnecessary. Like "She sure seemed angry" was unnecessary since the red face and yelling already implied that.

With that being said, I really like the writing style and word choice. I think the author did a great job overall and deserves a high score.

Grammar/Spelling: 8/10. There is a lack of dialogue tags, which normally I'd be in support of, but sometimes it looks like the dialogue is bunched together in the same paragraph. Like this: "Aera?" You looked up to Namjoon, "You sure you want to go tomorrow?"

See what I mean? It looks like Namjoon said "Aera" and Aera said the rest. So that's why it's confusing. As much as I 100% support the lack of tags, to lessen the confusion, author should make sure every piece of dialogue spoken by a new character has its own paragraph. Or, if the "You sure you want to go tomorrow?" is spoken by Namjoon, remove the comma because it looks like "you" is speaking (you is the subject of the sentence, so it's implied the subject is talking AKA Aera).

There are also spelling errors and misused terms. Like "How were you moonlight?" As cute as moonlight is, it should be "are," not "were."

Otherwise, grammar is good. 

Cover/Blurb: 8/10. Jimin looks a lil oversaturated, especially his lips. Otherwise, the cover is good. I love the font and the color. Blurb is very confusing but definitely eye-catching.

Total: 82.5/90

Letter Grade: A

Additional Raven comments:

I don't think I've ever read a story, both on Wattpad and in the real world, that moved me quite like this one did. Good lord author, this was the FIRST story I read. The FIRST.

Like I said before, I don't judge solely on number scores. Number scores are used as a universally recognized system, but I also judge based on how a story makes me feel. There is no number score I can put on the tears I shed while reading, or the way I felt so drawn to the world I was reading. I mean, I guess there is a way to put a number score on it: 1 point per every tear shed (the author would have a score over 100 at that point).

What I'm trying to say is: this story moved me in a way I was not expecting. There is truly no number I can put on that. I actually hate putting numbers on any book, which is why my review book doesn't do number scores. There is no number or letter I can give this story that will accurately describe what I felt while reading.

I hope this author keeps writing for a long time. If the author keeps writing like this, more and more eyes are going to shed tears.

TL;DR: You nice, keep going.

Honorable Mention:

Most Creative Concept... Caught In A Lie by taetebts with a B letter grade.

- Comments: Jimin was an extremely engaging protagonist surrounded by an incredibly creative idea. The storyline was very fun to read and was unpredictable; I had no idea where the author was going next, which kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The narrative was a strong concept that was my favorite out of all of them.

Thank you guys for submitting such awesome stories! I loved all of them and you deserve so much love and support <3

Every author, including the honorable mention, will get a follow!

This is an over 4k word chapter and 90% of it is me simping for characters 💀💀💀