Hello, everyone! Welcome to the results for the Experimental category!

Let's get into these reviews!

If I make a suggestion you do not want to use, simply ignore it. You don't need to go out of your way to tell me how much you dislike and disagree with the suggestion. That's a slap in the face to all the time I spent making it. I won't be offended if you don't use the suggestion and/or ignore it since it's your work and you should absolutely do what's best for your work, but blatantly disrespecting it is rude. I get it; everyone has their own style, and my suggestions won't work for everyone and that's 100% okay, but please just ignore them if you don't want to use them instead of arguing with me about them.

For an additional prize of 10 votes on any book of your choice, guess the word count of the reviews (excluding the intro and outro notes; just the raw review word count).

Leave your guesses here --->

Please use only whole numbers and not ranges, so instead of 10k-11k, please put either 10k or 11k.

Last category, the word count was 30,830, or 89.8 pages. Screenshot below! The word and page count are in the bottom right hand corner.

That means the person closest to guessing it was thedevilstwin100 with a guess of 30k! That was right on the money! Great guess! That means 10 votes are yours! Please let me know which book you'd like me to vote on either here or anywhere on my profile!

The second-closest was QuinceArchFortes with a guess of 27k! You also will receive 10 votes on any story of your choosing!

Categories being judged: Disco, Pop, SOTY (doing it in the background)

I anticipate Disco will be the next one I finish.

Categories to be judged soon: K-pop, R&B, New Artist

These six are the last categories in this awards, so we're close to being done!

Now, let's get into the results. There's third, second, and first place along with two honorable mentions.

3rd Place

Letters Across the River by Mochi711

Review:

*Caution: All of my reviews contain spoilers, though this one talks about a major, deeply spoiler-y element in this story. If you would like to read it blind, please do not read this review and go read the story first!

Creativity: 8.5/10. This is a hybrid story between epistolary and narrative format, where the majority of the work is in epistolary form, and then the epilogue explores Hoseok's visit to Essie in a more narrative form. I think this is a creative idea that fits in well with the experimental category. It has pretty good execution, too, with there being clear structure I'll talk about later along with good flow I'll also talk about later.

Hoseok as a character works, and I appreciated the BTS references sprinkled throughout, such as the dog being named Mickey and, of course, the legendary dumpling fight. So those little references are great for fans, but they also weren't distracting. Hoseok feels very unapologetically Hoseok, and I think he was a good choice for a lead for this since his personality is extremely distinct with his speech style, so translating that onto letters was a smart move that led to humorous moments and moments that make you think, "Wow, that's so Hobi."

As for the twist, the twist was predictable to me, but I also acknowledge that's likely because I'm very familiar with your writing, and the two works I read most recently by you had twists, and predictability is not inherently a bad thing. It's a relatively familiar twist as well, the whole "the person the main character is talking to was dead the whole time" twist, but I have no issue with the twist because I actually like how it was written. It wasn't trying too hard to be a twist, and it wasn't a twist for sake of a twist. It was there with the fact that we only ever saw his perspective, but it wasn't intentionally deceptive where Hoseok was thinking and saying things where it's 100% clear Essie is alive. So, essentially, it was more casual. Readers could figure it out, but it wasn't like it was so obvious or so deceptive that it toyed with readers. For those reasons, I think the twist is fine as well.

Suggestion-wise, I don't have much, as you can probably tell based on the high score. The only thing is something I'll talk about more later where the epilogue started to get a bit over-explanatory, which took away a bit from the emotional impact and overall intrigue for me. But like I said, I'll talk about it more later since future me already wrote an explanation. Or... is that past me? Oh well, you get what I mean.

Overall, the creativity of the piece is pretty good, with there being a strong idea and formatting along with strong execution that makes it an engaging read. I didn't have much in terms of suggestions, so I'd say this section deserves a high score!

Timelessness: 8/10. This is the emotional takeaway and memorability section of the review, and I'd say there is a good emotional element to this story that makes it memorable. The unique formatting and the fact that it goes narrative at the end makes it stand out, and I think having a tale about grief and using different coping mechanisms (in this case, writing letters) was engaging and made me more invested in the plotline as a result.

Hoseok's personality and charm is easy to get invested in as well, and the way his voice dominates the narrative is memorable and adds to the emotional quality of the piece. The epilogue is where all of the emotions come to their peak and come flowing out, though I'd say the memories sprinkled throughout the letters were nice touches as well and acted as good build up to what was eventually the climax of the narrative. I think readers will remember this story after experiencing it, which is the key thing I'm looking for in this section of the review.

Suggestion-wise, since this is like an accumulation section, I don't have much to say here that hasn't either already been said or will be said in the next two sections. I'll only briefly summarize here. There could be some tweaks to some of the sentence structure, as there were some confusing moments and long-winded sentences that could have been trimmed, but those are things I'll get into later.

Overall, the emotional takeaway is good, with there being a good protagonist who will do a good job getting readers invested. It's also good that it's a short story, with there being enough time to flesh out what's happening without overstaying any welcomes. All in all, it's a good read.

Structure: 8/10. The structure of this story is good, with there being a clear format that's consistently written. The funny sign-offs work well for the structure since readers come to expect them, and they clearly signify the end of the chapter/letter, so that was smart structure-wise, that way the letters always felt complete, and readers felt it was good pacing.

The creative side of the structure is good, too, with the ideas feeling fleshed out and not rushed, but also not too short. Like the letters, when the story ended, it felt like it ended right where it needed to.

The letters themselves are well-structured, with them only ever being a few paragraphs long at most, making them feel like real, written confessionals rather than overly long entries that start to feel too much. When the technical structure is good, there isn't too much to say other than it's good, so good job!

Suggestion-wise, like I said earlier, as you can probably tell based on the high score, not much. Really, there are just some sentences that could use some restructuring that I'll go over in the next section. There are a lot of missing commas in the letters. It's not a huge deal since I'm okay with the letters having grammar errors (they're letters, after all). Though, that said, it could still be beneficial to add commas here and there since there are some long-winded sentences and awkward sentences that could benefit from some commas being included.

Overall, the structure of the work is good, with the letters being well-paced and the story being easy to follow from a structural perspective. There are some grammatical things to take into consideration, though I'll talk about it more in the next section since I wrote that section first, so basically most of my thoughts were put there.

Flow: 7/10. The flow of this work is pretty good, with the actual narrative flowing from beginning, middle, and end smoothly. The epilogue feels like the natural progression of plot events, and the letters weren't dragged out. As I said in the previous section, the structure was good, and part of that is due to the flow being good both technically since there weren't any spelling errors I noticed and also creatively.

None of the letters were weak and all had something engaging to say. Of course, I enjoyed Jimin's introduction in the second letter, but all of them were good regardless of if Jimin was mentioned or not (though I especially enjoyed the ones where Jimin was mentioned).

I liked the second letter a lot since Hoseok was reflecting on his college experience and how fast time flew by. Whenever he reflected on his university experience, I enjoyed it. Those little sprinkles into Hoseok's current life do a good job contrasting the current life he has with the memories he had with Essie. Those moments of contrast flowed together nicely and, upon rereading, creates an interesting dynamic within the reader where we can see how he's coping with both lives. He has a more humorous tone when reflecting on his current life, which all flows well technically and creatively, and he has a more serious, sentimental tone when reflecting on his memories with Essie (not that there isn't humor in there because there is, but it tends to be more serious), and I thought those moments were great!

Suggestion-wise, there are some moments where the sentences were a bit long-winded and/or confusing. Example from the Epilogue: "Herbie here used to pick flowers from his mother's garden every week and got his poor mother so exasperated that she gave him a plot so he could grow and pick his own flowers," she said with a laugh in her voice. This part is a bit long-winded and could potentially be broken up. Maybe: "Herbie here used to pick flowers from his mother's garden every week. His poor mother was so exasperated that she gave him a plot so he could grow and pick his own flowers," she said with a laugh in her voice. It's a bit easier to engage with since there is a break halfway through.

Another example is this: I was so surprised when you went into an alcove and pulled out a pair of sandals from your purse and put your heels in cause your feet hurt (26 February). This sentence is both a bit confusing and long-winded. I think the confusion comes from its length. The confusion mostly stems from the "and put your heels in case your feet hurt." I think it may benefit from some restructuring here. Is it meant to say she put her heels inside? If so, it could be beneficial to restructure the sentence.

I mentioned the epilogue earlier and how it started to over-explain. By that I mean the second half with Hoseok visiting Essie. It could potentially be toned down a bit where maybe there isn't as much explaining. Simply saying "chemo" is enough for readers to know what happened to her, and I kind of liked not knowing how she passed. So it could potentially be downsized to simply mentioning "chemo" to let readers know what happened without going too overboard with details, as the focus should be on Hoseok's emotions. For me, I didn't need to know all those details about how he stayed strong for her and things like that, if that made sense.

Similarly, 14 February's entry felt a bit over-the-top in comparison to the rest of Hoseok's writing style. I understand it's Valentine's Day, but it could potentially be toned down a bit language-wise as well since it teeters on over-explaining in that section as well.

Overall, the flow throughout the piece is pretty good, with the ideas in particular flowing from letter to letter, and while they're all individual letters, they all build to a larger point I thought was well-made. I had some suggestions regarding sentence structure and general execution, but I still all in all thought the flow was good.

Album Presentation: 7.5/10. The title is Letters Across The River, which sums up exactly what the story is going to be about, and it's also eye-catching. The only thing is I would recommend spelling it as Letters Across the River due to Chicago formatting (and this is also how it is spelled on the cover, so I would recommend it for consistency, too), but it's otherwise a good title.

As for the blurb, the blurb is as follows: In the cold of winter, writing letters to his best friend across the river warms Hoseok's heart as he waits patiently to meet her. Spring will surely come; but will he be ready?

This is a fine blurb since it sets the premise for the story, though it could be potentially smoothened. To begin, the semicolon in the second sentence is incorrect, and I would recommend a comma. As for the first sentence, it has a bit much packed into it and could potentially be condensed to maybe: In the cold of winter, Hoseok finds warmth in the letters he writes to his best friend across the river. Or if the patiently waiting to meet her is vital, maybe: In the cold of winter, Hoseok finds warmth in the letters he writes to his best friend across the river, even as he waits to meet her. It's very similar to the first sentence but has an additional pause to allow the information to come out a tad smoother. I hope that makes sense!

As for the cover, it shows Hoseok holding a paper plane, which is often seen as a letter, and sitting under the sky. I think this is a simple but effective cover for that reason. It's simple but works, is the simplest way to put it. It could be interesting if the saturation was turned down a tad, or if the sky was a bit less bright while the paper plane had the most saturation to emphasize the coldness around Hoseok and the warmth he gets from the letter, but that's not a must by any means and just a random idea. All in all, the cover works for the story.

Total: 39/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) Lover, You Should've Come Over by Jeff Buckley

- I think it goes without saying that this is a classic sad song with a slow but catchy beat and depressing lyrics. If that doesn't fit this story, then what does? But either way, it's a gorgeous song, and I think the beautiful melancholy of the song fits into your work perfectly.

2) Champagne Coast by Blood Orange

- This song is pretty popular, but I think for good reason. It has a nostalgic feel to it, and the longer you listen to the song, the better it gets. It's a song all about the concept of longing in love and intimacy, so I think that reflects Hoseok's feelings perfectly. Plus, it really is a beautiful piece of art, hence why I think it belongs on this playlist.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

2nd Place

UNWAVERING SPIRITS by GoldenieTwilightie

Review:

Creativity: 9/10. Something I appreciate about the poems is how they have more length to them. A lot of poems I read are only a handful of lines, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's nice and a bit refreshing to have a collection where the poems have that length. Many of them are two or more minutes long, and I liked that. It almost made it feel like I was going on a mini journey with you, the poet, since I have more subject matter to read.

Another thing is something I'll talk about in the structure section (as it relates more to that), but I enjoyed the experimentation. Every poem has a new theme and structure along with it. Some poems, like Fine Art, even play around with the alignment, and it has this back and forth between left-aligned and right-aligned. The fact that it's themed around "Mirror Mirror on the wall" makes the structure feel super poem-specific, like every right-aligned stanza is a reflection of the left-aligned stanzas. I love it when the structure of a poem matches the themes and what the poem is trying to say.

I also appreciate that you gave brief topic descriptions at the end of every chapter and also the poem-specific header graphics to introduce the poem. Those are both small details, but they make each poem feel more like individual experiences. I really enjoyed my read, and this was a very creative piece!

Suggestion-wise, as you can probably tell based on the near-perfect score, I don't have much. I don't feel it'd be fair to take off much from a very creative collection like this one, so the only suggestion I have is sometimes the poems can be a tad repetitive and/or have cliches that feel unneeded. I.e., some of the poems include things about "mirrors," "beauty standards," and the familiar "fight then cuddle" storyline. Your work shines the most when there's specific, surprising images, like paper planes, flamingos, etc. So diversifying more from some of those familiar images could be interesting to see.

Overall, the creativity is great throughout this collection and is one of the core highlights. The structure of the poems and the ideas presented throughout are all different and make this collection feel like a real journey!

Timelessness: 8/10. This section refers to the all in all emotional takeaway and memorability of the collection, and I'd say it has a good emotional takeaway and memorability. The reason is because every poem has a new theme that appeals to a wide audience. Everyone can read this collection and find something to attach to!

Another thing is I think there are a lot of unique images throughout the entire collection, like flamingos, scrubbing brains, fires of passion, and far more. There is also a lot of interesting personification throughout, which I'm partial to since personification is my favorite figurative language, but even with my personal bias aside, I still think the personification was great for this story (even on the cover itself, the parrot feels personified and feels like a symbol of courage).

And one other thing worth mentioning is how you really capture the feeling of encouragement and positivity throughout the poems. This whole collection seems to be centered around the journey of life and how we're unwavering spirits (hence the title), and each poem builds on that central theme while also having their own stories to tell. In short, they work in the collection, but they also work as individual poems. Every piece is written with some kind of encouragement, even if it's a poem about something as simple as a first date, which all ties into a stronger emotional pull the entire collection has.

Suggestion-wise, since this is like an accumulation section right in the beginning of the review, I don't have much to say that wasn't already said or won't be said in the next two sections. I'll still briefly summarize, but future me will explain in more detail. There could be some tweaks to the structure and flow, as there are some awkward moments throughout that can potentially disrupt the lines/stanzas, and tweaks to these moments could help with the general emotional takeaway and provide a more fluid reading experience. I'll get into that, though, in the next two sections. Overall, the emotional takeaway of the collection is great, and I know I'll remember this one!

Structure: 7/10. I mentioned in the creativity section that something I appreciated was how the poems had length to them, and another thing I appreciated was how the structure is played around with and isn't just all the same. I see quite a few collections that will stick to similar structures, and while there isn't anything inherently wrong with that, this is the experimental category, so I'm really looking for works that push the boundaries and aren't afraid to take those creative risks. Here, the poems play around with themes, structures, flows, and even the basics, like how the text is aligned and formatted. Sometimes the poems are center-aligned, sometimes they're fully italicized while other times they're not. These things make each poem feel more unique, and I appreciated the attention to detail in that regard since that gives the structure more engagement and freshness.

So, all in all, the structure was pretty good from both a creative and technical standpoint.

Suggestion-wise, not too much, just a few things. One is there are some lines that may benefit from being restructured. For example, from poem 12: Today, sun in the morning was shining too bright. It could potentially be: Today, the morning sun was shining too bright. It's a small change, but it could help the flow be a tad stronger. Another example from Fine Art is: The hair that are gorgeous. Here, "hair" is singular, so I would recommend making it "is" instead of "are." It'd become: The hair that is gorgeous.

While on the topic of Fine Art, some lines could potentially be tweaked a bit just for sake of fluidity. Example: Why is inner beauty always so overlook-ed? Maybe a slight downsizing of the line could be beneficial, such as: Why is inner beauty always overlook-ed? Very small change, but potentially impactful.

Similarly, from From the Present to the Past, there are a couple lines that could also potentially be restructured. Example: When amidst a vast chattering crowd, all the feelings went number. Consider: Amidst the vast chattering crowd, their feelings went numb. And: Seems like they were on the giving up verge. Here, this line is a bit clunky due to the "giving up verge" part of the line. Consider: They seemed on the very edge of giving up. Lastly: This changes their expression showing they had the best emotional resurrection. This could potentially be downsized and maybe made a bit more flowery, considering it's a resurrection and emotional high. Consider: Their face lit up—a small, miraculous resurrection.

However, those are all just recommendations and not musts by any means, and those potential tweaks are one way to take those lines, but there are plenty more ways to take them, so I encourage you to play around with the lines!

Overall, the structure is very good throughout. It plays around with different styles, and I appreciate the dedication to experimentation with this piece! I had some suggestions regarding restructuring some lines for sake of fluidity, though I still all in all liked the structural direction of this piece both from a technical and creative standpoint.

Flow: 7/10. When it comes to the flow of this piece, it's good! There are a lot of memorable ideas and lines that make it stand out from other collections on the site. For example, the entire concept of Immaturely Mature is fantastic with a catchy title, and it features many interesting moments through rhetorical questions like: "What is maturity if we are not half immature?" That's a great line that adds quality to the flow as well! Or other moments where there is warm, fun language, like the "paint the town indigo" from Fine Art. That's a unique image that stood out to me!

On the opposite end, there are also interesting emotional punches that will stick with the audience. I already mentioned the rhetorical question above, which applies here as well, but there's also other lines throughout, like the ending of From the Present to the Past being: "I shall not let anyone suffer...". It's a solid ending line that packs an emotional punch!

There are also quite a few catchy lines throughout, whether that be because of rhyming, alliteration, or just the general word choice being good and memorable. For example: I should swallow the hollow. That's a funky line that caught my attention and also acted as a nice repeated line throughout without becoming too repetitive. In fact, every poem has at least one memorable moment, but normally far more than one, which ties into the emotional takeaway in the timeless section earlier and also the flow here since it makes each stanza read more emotionally.

Suggestion-wise, the main thing is some of the lines could potentially be tweaked since the grammar/syntax is a bit awkward. To be fair, poetry is all for breaking grammatical norms, so that's not to say you should always be within the confines of grammar since that's of course not true, but there were some moments it was a bit awkward, and tweaks to those awkward moments could be potentially beneficial.

Example from poem 9: That how people's minds are fickle and how they change so fast. I like the "fast" here since it rhymes with the previous line, and I think the flow being set up at the start of this stanza is a good idea, though the way this line is structured could potentially be tweaked to something like: That people's minds are fickle and change so fast. Or: That people's minds are fickle and that they change so fast. The "how" being there twice is a bit awkward, especially the first "how." Trimming the line a bit may help with clarity and flow.

To put it into context, the entire segment with the new line would be:

The person I see was feeling like an outcast,
I wished I could tell them my story, my past,
That people's minds are fickle and change so fast

Poetry tends to thrive with lines having less words in them since it can risk losing flow/rhythm, and it can also risk over-complicating things, so my general recommendation would be to be on the lookout for any potential fluff words and/or moments where the flow might be disrupted. From the same poem, a more minor example is: I am sure I could tell them that it's okay to not be fine. Here, the "that" can be removed. It's a common thing I see in many works where the word "that" is used unnecessarily. In most cases, the word "that" is a fluff word. It can be removed unless the sentence wouldn't make sense without it. So if you read a sentence out loud without the "that" and it makes sense, then it's fine to cut. It's a small thing, but those small things do add up. Without the that, you may see it flows smoother. This is it without the "that": I am sure I could tell them it's okay to not be fine.

One last example from that poem: For one day you will shine and those that doubt and laugh at you will be at the very backline. Here, the "that" could flow smoother as "who" since you're referring to people and not things, so when referring to people in this context, we typically use "who." It'd become: For one day you will shine and those who doubt and laugh at you will be at the very backline.

Overall, the flow of the piece is good, with there being many memorable lines that stand out for their strong syntax, emotional punches, and relevance to the piece you're writing. I had some suggestions regarding grammar and word placement at times, but I still all in all enjoyed the flow of the piece.

Album Presentation: 8.5/10. The title is UNWAVERING SPIRITS, which is clearly capitalized purposefully for stylistic purposes. It's spelled correctly, and it has a passionate feel to it that fits for a poetry collection. For those reasons, I think it's a good title and have no critiques for it.

As for the blurb, the blurb is as follows:

× The Amby Awards 2024 Round 3 Qualifier
× WIN - @WattpadPoetryIN for 2022 October prompt {WINNER} 🏆
× FEATURED ON
Poetry (Romantic Woes Reading list)
@AmbassadorsIN Poetry (Reading list)

Let yourself shine too, amid others' darkness and light!
Poems to recognize your true worth, true love and achieving it all!

I think this is a fine blurb for the story since it is a poetry collection, and mentioning poems and what the poems are going to be about is pretty straightforward and easy for readers to understand. It's a bit vague and could potentially try more techniques to enticing the reader to click, but it's a fine blurb as is. That said, I would recommend rearranging it so the actual core of the blurb (the "Let yourself shine..." part) is first. Having all the achievements first can be distracting and actually turn a reader off, as it can come off more like bragging rather than further reason to read when it's the first thing readers see rather than the blurb itself. Though, all in all, the blurb is good.

As for the cover, it's nice! I like how there's the parrot on the cover that's flying free. That really matches with the title, and it's also a pretty, unique visual since that's not a bird I see often on covers. The coloring is nice, and I like the red with the darker accents near the bottom and how it gets lighter toward the top. I like the font choice, too, same with the placement of the text since it all looks visually cohesive. For those reasons, I have no critiques for the cover.

Total: 39.5/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the story:

1) Heart Upon My Sleeve by Avicii, Imagine Dragons

- Say what you will about Imagine Dragons' modern music, but they have a lot of bangers, this one included. This one feels adventurous and like a whole journey, and that when mixed with the string instruments gives it an elegant feel. I think the way the song moves through different themes and beautiful lyrics reflects this poetry collection, hence why I selected it for this playlist.

2) Sacrifice by Alan Lennon

- This instrumental is a beautiful piece to continue the adventurous momentum from the first song. It captures that feel of exploration, and I feel like since this is titled UNWAVERING SPIRITS, it makes sense to have songs that feel free and fun!

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

1st Place

Excavations by SeraDrake

Review:

Creativity: 10/10. There are many creative elements to this collection. I'll start small and work my way up. For one, I like the titles of the poems. It may seem like a small thing, but honestly, I don't think titles are that small in poetry. It's not the same as chapter titles (if writers choose to have them). There are many great poem names here, such as Death of a Muse and Sonnet for Marie. It adds to the creativity when the titles are inventive and fun to read.

I'll talk about it more in the structure section, but it's also good that the structures were diverse and didn't stick to safety. You experimented with new styles, even having some prose and epistolary sprinkled throughout as well that made this collection feel like far more than just one thing. It's a true collection, and I appreciated that.

Another thing is many of the poems themselves have great ideas, such as Orphic Hymn being a mythical rework. It has a classical register and powerful, vivid images throughout that give it such memorability and creativity.

In general, the collection is ambitious and never plays it safe. That when matched with the technical quality makes for an engaging, creative read that I enjoyed. For those reasons, I have no critiques for the creativity, and I think this fits well in the Experimental category.

Timelessness: 8.5/10. This section refers to how memorable and emotionally powerful the collection is, and I'd say it's very emotionally powerful with its strong word choice, good technical writing, and interesting themes and ideas that I'll talk about throughout the review.

I don't want to go into too much detail since the poem has a tw in place, but Elegiac was a wonderful poem. The unique structuring broken into Roman numerals, the intriguing epistolary form in number II, and the visceral usage of exclamation marks throughout make it stand out, and it's also one of the most emotional poems in the collection, in my opinion. I wanted to at least mention it since it's very powerful, and it has many emotional lines throughout that impact this section.

Every poem, even when they're being more humorous, like On A Theme by Jaufre Rudel, have strong emotions and memorability. For example, there is quite a bit of fire imagery throughout, such as the "firey wings beating" in Fallen Angel, same with the "sun scorched my flesh" line, and these types of lines evoke strong emotions. You do a good job choosing visceral, sometimes even brutal images to hammer the themes home. I think if people engage with this work, they're going to remember it.

Suggestion-wise, since this is like an accumulation section, I don't have much that won't be said throughout the review. I'll only briefly summarize here. I have some suggestions regarding structure that could potentially help with strengthening the emotional takeaway in certain areas. I also have some flow suggestions that could give some lines a little more punch. Both of those things I'll go over in the next two sections. All in all, though, the emotional takeaway and memorability is high for this collection.

Structure: 7/10. The structure throughout the piece is good, with there being a good level of creativity and experimentation. The poems try new things, never staying the same in terms of their foundation. For example, for On A Theme by Jaufre Rudel, the poem has almost a monologue-esque feel to it, which makes it fun to read. Many of the poems here are slow and sad, and this one is more energetic and almost self-mocking. It provides an interesting contrast to many of the other pieces.

In general, the structure is good both creatively and technically. The poems always begin and end where needed, and they have powerful lines that make the transitions feel generally smooth. The figurative language all flows together and stays under the same general umbrella (i.e., there are many moments of fire imagery, or some poems lean more into seasons like autumn), and if they ever stray from that umbrella, there's a reason for it. So, from both a creative and technical standpoint, the structure is good.

Suggestion-wise, I don't have much. One commenter mentioned that your work tends to read better with spaces rather than in one paragraph/stanza, and I'd agree with that, but that's not a big deal by any means since there aren't many poems where it's all one paragraph/stanza.

Another thing is sometimes it feels like the exclamation marks get a bit much. Many poems if not most of them have at least one line like "and yet!" or something similar, typically in brackets. Downsizing on how often they are used could potentially be beneficial, or maybe utilizing them in different ways.

The last two suggestions I have are about On A Theme by Jaufre Rudel and Orphic Hymn. For On A Theme, sometimes the poem moves sharply between the almost archaic language and the bluntness with lines like "tempted my pants to wet." This isn't inherently a bad thing, but these blunter moments could feel out of place to some, at least in comparison to the poem's otherwise lyrical tone, and it may be worth considering more tonal consistency in that regard.

As for Orphic, I mentioned earlier the transitions in the poems are generally good, and they are, though some passages could potentially be tightened since some transitions, such as going from the ferry to the labyrinth to the ascension, felt more episodic, and trimming could potentially heighten the emotions.

Overall, the structure of the piece is good, with there being strong technical writing free of SPAG errors, which impacts both this section and the next one. I had a few suggestions, but I all in all enjoyed the structure of this piece.

Flow: 8/10. There are countless moments of good flow present throughout the work. One of my favorites from the collection is The Bind of Flow, and I think that's because rereading the collection now has made me appreciate things I didn't notice before. Let's look at this line, for example:

It is the darkest blindfold
that covers the eyes of my sight

Normally, I'd say something like "the eyes of my sight" seems redundant/repetitive, but looking (pun intended; haha, get it, cause eyes and looking- okay I'll shut up now) at it from new eyes (haha- okay, I really need to stop), there are countless meanings you can pick apart from this. The most obvious being the "sight" isn't actual viewing sight but rather a different kind of sight. Maybe like Emerson's all-seeing eye that transcends the body (Raven try not to make an Emerson reference challenge: impossible). Or maybe it's an emotional sight. These meanings are only amplified later with the line "I am a silent goddess," which is in itself a beautiful line, and the meanings that can be taken from this are wide, too.

And, also, there is good imagery throughout, featuring many unique phrases that I think will stand out to readers, not to mention they flow well. For example, in the same poem, the phrase pomegranate tattoos. Or from Sonnet for Marie with the phrase "fragility of feeling." The repetition of the "f" sound had great flow, and it elevated the emotions of the piece.

Another thing is there were many interesting moments of repetition. Writer's Block was another one of my favorites, and that's because of the repeated gerunds (such as rocking, biting, groaning, and forcing). It almost adds a musical quality to it (fits in well with the WHO Awards, seeing as it's all music-themed) that makes it fun to read.

Suggestion-wise, I don't have too much, as you can probably tell based on the high score. There are only a few moments throughout where it felt like some lines could potentially be tweaked for slightly stronger flow. For example, from Writer's Block, the line "Words trickle from my mouth only barely" could potentially be slightly downsized to something like "Words trickle from my mouth, scarcely" (or the punctuation could be removed or even an em dash). I only say that because "scarcely" is a slightly stronger adverb, and it may potentially punch a bit harder.

Another thing is for Orphic Hymn. I mentioned earlier that it could potentially be downsized, though when it comes to flow, the tone occasionally slips and feels more down-to-earth, or I suppose colloquial is probably the better term. I.e.:

the ferryman shakes his head:
the last ferry has already been made

Of course, this is not wrong by any means, but it may be beneficial to have the language consistently be more mythic rather than domestic, if that makes sense. Or maybe even more foreboding and punchier to hammer home the emotion.

Overall, the flow of the collection is great, with there being many fantastic lines, and all of the concepts are executed well. There are plenty of memorable stanzas that will stick out to the reader. I only had minimal suggestions, and the flow was all in all good.

Album Presentation: 8.5/10. The title is Excavations, which is an interesting title that is spelled and capitalized correctly. It's a one-word title, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that (just look at Dune... one of the most iconic books out there), so I think it works for the... well, work. It feels like the title is saying these are the poems you excavated from the deepest parts of your mind. For those reasons, I have no critiques of the title.

As for the blurb, it's good! It features a poem in the intro of the blurb, and then it goes more matter-of-fact to say what the collection is, so it has a balance between the pretty and the practical. Everything is grammatically correct, so that's another bonus. For those reasons, I have no critiques of the blurb, too.

As for the cover, it has a nice color scheme and an interesting (and also high quality) photo at the forefront. I like the placement of the Amby's banner, and it's nice how it fits in with the general color scheme. The cover also gives a sense of history with the background image and the unique texture. It's a pretty visually consistent cover, so that's great. Suggestion-wise, I don't have too much other than the text feels like it could potentially be tweaked. The title font is nice, though the tagline feels a tad small and cramped, especially considering it is a long text. Increasing letter spacing or using another method to give it more breathing room might help it feel more individual and impactful. Along with that, the title and author's name feel a little crowded as well, especially since the box is tall. The spacing between the two could also potentially be adjusted for vertical balance. Overall, though, the cover works for the collection, and I love the colors and general atmosphere it creates.

Total: 42/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) Hold Your Breath by Ruelle

- Ruelle is one of the most underrated artists I listen to. Her voice is incredibly elegant (and strangely reminds me of Ellie Goulding), and her music is very detailed and emotional, focusing heavily on piano and drums. This song is just that, and the whole concept of the song is how the singer is sensing danger (obvious through lyrics like "I feel it coming" and the whole concept of holding your breath to brace oneself). I think it's a gorgeous song and one that represents how the deeper you go (whether it be with a person, yourself, a place, or anything), the more you need to brace yourself for inevitable danger and disappointment. Or maybe I'm just being a nerd. Either way, I think the atmosphere of this song is perfect for the collection (I actually was listening to it unintentionally while reading Excavations, and it worked very well).

2) Tempest by Ethel Cain

- I've been waiting to give Tempest to a special story, as Tempest is one of my favorite songs, and... to put it frankly, it's also not for everyone, seeing as the song is 10 minutes long. It's honestly more art than a song, I'd say. I think the entirety of the album, Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You, is perfect for this collection. Ethel is a storyteller through her music, and Tempest is the climax where it's called Tempest for a reason: it's a storm of all the struggle shown throughout the album, consisting of love, pain, and the deep desire to find an escape. Seeing as you frequently write about similar emotions, I feel Tempest is a good fit for this collection's playlist. The entire song is good, but the 7 minute mark onward is where the song really explodes. Ethel is the queen of build up, using the length of her songs to slowly build your anticipation until it becomes an intense journey and snaps at the end through songs like this one, Family Tree (one of my favorite Ethel songs), and Strangers (my favorite Ethel song). I also love how these "snap" moments are long and aren't over within twenty seconds; the last three minutes of Tempest are the "snap," giving strong pay off to all that set up. I can yap about Ethel all day, but these two music recs are already longer than any other explanation I've given in this category, so I'll stop for now to simply say Ethel is one of the best songwriters working today, in my opinion, and this song is a true masterpiece that I think works perfectly for the emotions you write about.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

Honorable Mention

Recreating life by Sohinigoswami

Review:

Creativity: 8.5/10. Something I've always appreciated about your work is how you're not scared to try new things. The entire concept of this collection is that every poem is its own challenge, and I think that's beautiful. It shows dedication to the craft along with risk, and risk is a big factor in this category and this specific section of the criteria.

Generally, the collection is pretty creative. There is interesting word choice throughout, good endings to the poems (I'll talk about this a bit more later), and the concept behind it being "recreating life" is intriguing and kept my attention. All of the titles are good, too, which adds to the creativity since there are like 80 poems in this, so having all 80 have unique titles is impressive. It's also impressive how these poems cover such a diverse range of emotions, so all in all, good job.

Suggestion-wise, the main thing is while I appreciate the diversity with the writing challenges, it could be interesting to see more expansion on some of your topics, as the majority of the poems are quite short. Like Haven, for example, feels like it could be expanded upon. Sometimes the poems do fall into the four line stanza pattern as well, so some expansion could be interesting to see. It could also be interesting to see more imagery, but I'll get into that in the next section.

Overall, the creativity in this collection is good. It's a risky, experimental collection that fits perfectly in this category, and it was an engaging, entertaining read.

Timelessness: 7.5/10. This section judges the emotional takeaway and memorability of your collection, and I'd say it's good! There are many things to enjoy here, like the Despised poem (probably my favorite one) since it pulls the unique angle of telling a story from the perspective of the clouds. It was well-written and featured a lot of fun language!

Another thing is I enjoyed the onomatopoeia in Noise of deafness, as I thought that was a unique touch that made the poem stand out. I don't think any other poem up until that point had such strong onomatopoeia, if any at all, so that made it creative and fun to read. Not to mention the title is also great and is one of my favorite titles in the whole piece.

To put it simply, the collection is experimental, uses good titles, and has great figurative language throughout. I also like it when you leaned into rhymes, like with the Busy bee poem. Your rhymes always stood out to me, and I really liked that poem. It stuck with me, hence why I'm mentioning it here in the memorability section.

Suggestion-wise, since this is an accumulation section, most of my suggestions will be explained throughout the review, though I will summarize. There could be some tweaks to the structure and flow to strengthen the overall emotional impact. There could also be more detail with the imagery, as many of the lines are clipped. By that I mean they're only a few words long, which isn't inherently a bad thing, but it's rare a scene or environment is established. For example, maybe Silhouette could have potentially been more cinematic with more concrete images and descriptions of the shadow to further personify it.

Overall, the emotional takeaway and memorability is strong in the piece. Your poetry collections are always engaging and experimental, and while I had some suggestions, I still think readers are going to remember it and feel a lot of emotions while reading.

Structure: 7.5/10. The structure throughout, as I mentioned briefly in the creativity section, is good. It plays around and typically doesn't stay the same, and the concept of the collection being about challenges and trying new things is what makes this piece stand out.

So, from a technical standpoint, the structure is good. For the creative side, it's also good since every poem starts and ends with engaging, original lines that make them feel individual, fresh, and fun to read. When the structure is good, there isn't too much to say other than it's pretty good, so nice job!

Suggestion-wise, there is a frequent error where there are extra spaces between commas and the words they're supposed to be next to. Spacing errors are normally not a big deal, though when they're too frequent, especially in short works that can be read in less than a minute, it can become distracting.

Example from Obsession: It doesnt matter. Needs a '. Other contractions have them, but that one doesn't. Later, there's this: It doesn't matter ,

Here is what I mean where there's an extra space between the matter and comma. This happens a few times throughout. It happens again in Imagination with the line: You will know ,

I'm not taking anything off for the doesn't thing, though, since it was a collab and that part wasn't written by you. I thought I'd mention it nonetheless, in case it was something you wanted to edit while observing the spaces between commas.

There are also grammar errors throughout that I'll go over in the next section, but I wanted to briefly mention it here since it impacts structure as well.

One last thing is what I mentioned before in the creativity section where it could be interesting to see some expansion on some of the ideas and more experimentation with length and imagery, seeing as many of the poems are very short, and it could also match what the blurb says where it states some are long, but the long ones are very few and far between.

Overall, the structure is good, with there being interesting, experimental structure throughout along with good creative structure, though there could be some tweaks to potentially strengthen the structure further.

Flow: 7.5/10. When it comes to the flow, it's good! There are many memorable moments and intriguing lines throughout. For example, from Angel of dust, there's this:

Call her angel of dust
If you must.

I love that rhyme and how well this flows off the tongue. Seriously, just read that out loud, everyone reading this. Doesn't that flow off the tongue super well? Plus, it's the closing line of the poem, which makes it even more interesting. The poems always end in such interesting spots, so, in general, you do a great job closing your works out!

There are also a lot of clever moments throughout the story. By that I mean, the poems feel smart and like they have unique "gimmicks" (for lack of a better term, but I don't mean it in a bad way) to them that make them stand out. For example, Surreal is reliant on the picture in order for the poem's context to make sense, which I thought was clever, and as a result, it made the poem's lines feel engaging. The lines themselves are good and flow nicely, particularly the last line.

To do today. was another interesting one. I'd say that one's probably one of the strangest in the collection, but I mean that in a good way. The fact that it's about finger and toenails was eye-catching, to say the least, and the lines used to describe what was happening were well-chosen and written, so all in all, good job with the flow in this work!

Suggestion-wise, there could be some tweaks here and there to smoothen the flow at times. As I mentioned earlier, there are semi-frequent spacing errors that aren't big deals but can sometimes be distracting, and there are also other errors throughout that could be edited. These individually aren't big deals, but the shorter the work, the more noticeable and distracting errors can be, hence why I recommend considering some tweaks.

From Angel of dust: Untill she had no more. I would recommend spelling until with one L instead of two.

Another example, this time from Juvenile: Does it makes chocolate fall.... I would recommend tweaking it so "makes" is make.

Another example, this time from Surreal: Can you hear it's grunt? I think it's meant to be "its" here.

So all of that is to say there are errors throughout that could be smoothened to aid the general flow of the piece, but, overall, I think the flow is pretty good, and there are many memorable lines throughout.

Album Presentation: 7.5/10. The title is Recreating life, which is a good title for a poetry collection. Poetry, in a way, is like a bridge between our lives and art. Poetry is a form of living, if you will. Maybe that's dramatic, but I think it's true. So, I think it works. The only thing, though, is that the title is spelled as Recreating Life on the cover yet spelled as Recreating life in the official title slot. I would recommend more consistency with how it is capitalized. I would recommend Recreating Life since the capital L looks a bit more aesthetically pleasing, in my opinion (and is also more grammatically correct, though grammar doesn't matter as much in poetry), but that depends on what your aim is with the title.

As for the blurb, it's okay. It's a poetic way of saying the reader is going to read varying forms of poetry, and it's done in what seems to be a technically sound way, at least to me. It could potentially be a bit expanded upon and more concrete to set readers up for what they're about to read, though that's not a big deal. The blurb is technically well-written and has an experimental style by being in poem form, so for those reasons, I think the blurb is fine for the collection.

As for the cover, I love the concept behind it and how there's a purple theme. The little sun sticker in the top left is cute and not distracting and actually enhances the color scheme. The picture is of good quality, and the text is placed well and with a good font. The only thing is the Wattpad on the bottom right is very distracting since it's drastically different from the color scheme. Since it's already posted on Wattpad, I don't think the logo is necessary, however, if so, I would recommend considering just the W Wattpad logo instead of the whole word so it's less distracting and takes up less space on the cover. All in all, though, the cover is nice.

Total: 38.5/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) Myst by Agustin Mantaras, Bergi

- This beautiful, elegant instrumental is emotionally powerful and feels like the perfect track to listen to while reading your work. It's not distracting, but you know it's there nonetheless, and it enhances the themes of your work, in my opinion.

2) Spiriteaux by Tony Anderson

- This is another instrumental, though it has a strangely similar yet different vibe from the previous song. The first track feels depressing, to put it frankly, and this one almost feels like longing and staring back after completing a long journey. It takes a hot minute for the track to pick up volume, though when it does, it almost feels like floating, hence why I think it's a good fit for the journey you're taking us on in this collection.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

Honorable Mention

Dear Journal by VeraChendra

Review:

Creativity: 8/10. The creativity of this piece is good! It's an epistolary story, and it does a good job staying in the epistolary genre. It's basically a purely letter-based story along with a news report/journal at the end, so it has strong consistency. I think this is a neat idea to have a fashion designer's new muse (May, in this case) be the plot of the story. The letter format was a great choice to present this idea, and I enjoyed my read.

Epistolary is a very creative venture for writers since it's so difficult to tell a tale with simply letters. It's a risk, but that's exactly what this category celebrates, so this section deserves a high score. I encourage you to continue taking creative risks like this, as this one paid off. I enjoyed reading Alex's character, and he also has a very clear (and creative) personality that readers will pick up on by chapter one. So, all in all, good job with brainstorming your core idea, and great job executing it through a creative avenue like epistolary.

Suggestion-wise, as you can probably tell based on the high score, I don't have much. The main thing I have is sometimes there was cliche language, which isn't a big deal, but seeing as Alex's core character trait is how prose-y and creative he is, the presence of some of these cliches felt out of place. Here are two examples from the first entry:

She moved through the crowd with an ethereal grace, her presence commanding attention without demanding it. (Like Moses parting the Red Sea.)

And: We spoke for hours, her voice a soothing balm to my troubled mind.

The "Like Moses parting the Red Sea," the "her presence commanding attention without demanding it," and the "her voice a soothing balm" are the cliche bits, especially the first one. These on their own aren't inherently an issue, and, in general, using cliches isn't inherently an issue (in fact, I'm of the opinion that cliches can be very effective when used right), though it may be beneficial to tweak one or more of these moments to be more original to Alex, if that makes sense. There are also occasional moments where the same words are repeated in close proximity to one another, but I'll get into that later since future me already wrote an explanation in another section.

Overall, the creativity in the piece is top-notch and deserves a high score. The idea behind it is good, and the execution is good, too, making this story a perfect fit for this category.

Timelessness: 8/10. This section refers to the emotional takeaway and general memorability of the work. Here, I'd say there is good emotional takeaway and memorability. The risk factor comes into play here, with the story's bold epistolary format making it memorable. The bite-sized chapters make it a relatively quick read, and I think that adds to the impact since the chapters are well-structured and pack just enough in that they feel like whole chapters but also not so much that they feel too long.

I also really like how May is treated in Alex's POV. The way he talks about her is interesting to read about, and the longer the story goes on, the more fascinated by Alex's POV I became. It's unique and fresh, and it stands out on Wattpad as a result. I think this really impacts the emotional takeaway because Alex's unique way of speaking makes the reader feel quite a bit. Humor, surprisingly deep self-reflection, surprising tears and relatability from his story with his ex, admiration for his strength to turn Emily down near the beginning of the work, and more.

Suggestion-wise, since this is like an accumulation section of all my thoughts regarding emotions, my suggestions that impact this category have either already been said previously or will be said in the next two sections. I will only briefly summarize but otherwise will let future me explain. There could be some tweaks to the flow to help strengthen emotional clarity and impact, and as I mentioned in the previous section, it could be interesting to diversify some of the expressions used to better match Alex's personality, though all in all, the emotional impact and general memorability of this piece is high!

Structure: 8.5/10. This story follows the epistolary structure, and as I mentioned earlier, it is consistently epistolary, therefore making the technical side of the structure good. We're never left confused by where you're going structure-wise, and there were no formatting errors that I spotted (i.e., extra spaces, missing end punctuation, awkward formatting, etc.). So, for those reasons, I have no critiques for how the epistolary side of the story is handled.

Along with that, the creative structure is good, too. The story flows out at a good rate and doesn't leave the audience feeling confused or overwhelmed. Alex's adoration of May is clear as early as chapter one, making his motivations clear (establishing this as early as possible is strongly recommended, so good job there), and it all naturally progresses up to the ending with May's POV (which I thought was well-written and a nice contrast style-wise to Alex's POV) along with their marriage. The little news report/journal at the end was also a nice touch to show their story from an outside perspective without straying from the epistolary genre, which impacts both the creative and technical side of the structure. So, for those reasons, I think the structure deserves a high score.

Suggestion-wise, I don't have too much. The main thing is there are frequent grammar errors throughout that impact the structure, especially regarding punctuation, as there are frequent punctuation errors. Some chapters, like chapter two, could benefit from editing since they have frequent errors. I'll explain more of what I mean in the next section, though, as I already wrote an explanation there.

Overall, the structure is good throughout the story, with there being consistency with how it's formatted along with good pacing for the creative side of the story. I only had very minor suggestions, and I otherwise think the structure is great.

Flow: 7/10. The flow of the story is good, particularly with the general idea. As I mentioned, the story/plot moves along at a good pace, and it doesn't feel like there's much filler/fluff that holds the story back. It progresses at a clear, good rate, and I think that will keep readers engaged.

In general, the letters are written well, have a fun sign off from Alex, and show Alex's personality well. Alex's POV does teeter into purple prose territory more often than not, especially the longer the story goes on, but even though I'm typically an avid purple prose hater, I actually didn't mind it here. If anything, I thought it fit. But I think that's part of the beauty of writing: even the things we may not typically "like" we can like if it's written in a way that makes sense. Here, Alex is a fashion designer. His writing style makes sense, hence why I enjoyed it here as opposed to when I read it in other works where, quite frankly, it can come off as trying too hard to be pretty. It's also clearly a purposeful style choice, seeing as May's POV toward the end is completely different and never risks being near purple prose territory.

All of that is basically a long way of saying your writing made me enjoy something I typically do not enjoy, which is, of course, a very good trait of the work.

There are grammar errors throughout, but even within that, there are strengths with the technical writing, such as the spelling. I don't know if I noticed any spelling errors throughout. I typically follow the three strike rule where if I notice an error more than three times, then I mention it in the review. Here, I don't recall seeing any spelling errors, so either there were so few it didn't alert me, and/or any errors were minor enough to go unnoticed, so great job with that, too!

Suggestion-wise, as I alluded to above, there could be some tweaks to the grammar, as there are frequent grammar errors throughout. Most notably, punctuation errors, but there are some general awkward moments that could be tweaked, too. I'll start with an example of that, and then I'll move into punctuation.

From chap 1: Emily—my wonderful ex who—has left my heart in shreds and my ambition nothing more than an ember in a once bright pyre.

Here, the "who" is what throws it off and makes the sentence a bit awkward. Consider: Emily—my wonderful ex—has left my heart in shreds and my ambition nothing more than an ember in a once bright pyre. All I did was remove the "who" but otherwise left the sentence unchanged.

Moving into punctuation, I'll provide some examples and then brief explanations for what could be tweaked.

From chap 2: I need her in Haus of Lyon, she and I could be unstoppable.

Here, the comma is incorrect because it is attempting to join two independent clauses incorrectly. I would recommend considering a semicolon, as that would make the sentence grammatically correct. It would become: I need her in Haus of Lyon; she and I could be unstoppable.

Also from chap 2: Emily was happy to see me, smiling as if she had done nothing wrong but my heart felt as if she had taken a thousand needles and drove them straight into my heart.

Here, this is an example of the most common error: comma errors. I would recommend: Emily was happy to see me, smiling as if she had done nothing wrong, but my heart felt as if she had taken a thousand needles and drove them straight into my heart.

Another thing to keep in mind is the "drove" verb here. Every grammar checker I plug this in to says it should be "driven" due to the "had" at the beginning of that clause, though "drove" does sound a bit better flow-wise. It may be beneficial to use a different, stronger flowing verb there to remain grammatically sound and keep the flow strong.

Also from chap 2: I kissed her well manicured hand and I smiled as I stepped away from her. (I'm not in the business of poisoning myself.)

Here, there is another comma error. I would recommend: I kissed her well-manicured hand, and I smiled as I stepped away from her. I added a hyphen between well and manicured since it's being used as a compound adjective. Another alternative would be: I kissed her well-manicured hand and smiled as I stepped away from her. Having the second "I" after the "and" is what causes a comma to be needed, so if you remove it, you're now making it a compound predicate sentence. The first "I" would be seen as doing both actions, therefore it's a compound predicate sentence type.

There are some small, additional errors throughout, like the compound adjective thing I mentioned along with other minor inconsistencies.

Also from chap 2: After a while of one sided small talk, She stepped into my personal space, her hands on my chest as she stared into my eyes.

The she is capitalized incorrectly, and one sided is a compound adjective. Consider: After a while of one-sided small talk, she stepped into my personal space, her hands on my chest as she stared into my eyes.

Moving away from grammar, I mentioned earlier that there were some moments where word choice was repeated. I'll leave an example below.

From chap 2: I hate that she lingers around me like a ghost. A box of her things is still in my apartment, her perfume lingers in my closet, and sometimes I feel my heart squeeze when I see her photo frame on my desk.

Here, the word "lingers" is used twice back-to-back. This is not a big deal by any means, but it might be worth considering changing to keep the word choice as fresh as possible.

Overall, the flow is good throughout the story, with there being clear creative flow from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. The epistolary format is consistent and well-structured. There could be changes to the grammar to help with fluidity, though it is still an all in all well-flowing story.

Album Presentation: 7/10. The title is Dear Journal, which is a nice title! It says exactly what the story is going to be about, and it's catchy with proper capitalization. For those reasons, I have no critiques for the title!

As for the blurb, the blurb is as follows:

Dear journal,

I found something interesting today. A met a wonderful, beautiful, talented little thing named May. She's as short and sweet as the month she's named after. She's everything the Haus of Lyon needs but I don't know how to get her on my side. I think I've finally found something that makes my life worth something.

Much to do,

Alexander Lyon

This blurb is done in an interesting style, being a journal style (and the title is Dear Journal... makes sense to me!), and I like the "Much to do" sign off, though there could be some tweaks. To begin, I believe the "A met" is meant to be "I met" in the second sentence. Secondly, and probably more importantly, it's a bit difficult to judge since this isn't really a blurb and more like an excerpt from the story. I haven't read the story yet, so I can't confirm that for sure (I like to do these sections before I read to give a proper review of my first impression), but it seems more like an excerpt. Having a more concrete blurb summarizing what the story is going to be about could be beneficial. It does give a general rundown, and I do think the style is interesting, though it is a bit hard to judge as a result. So, I'll essentially boil my review down to I think it's an interesting style that fits the spirit of the work, though it could potentially be more concrete, and the error in sentence two could be tweaked.

As for the cover, I really like the font and color scheme. I'm a sucker for black and white with splashes of red. I think it's like the best color scheme ever. The font of "Dear Journal" is also really well done, and I could stare at it all day. The only suggestion I have is the subtitle is very hard to read, and increasing its font size or brightness or something to help with clarity could be beneficial. Otherwise, though, I like the cover.

Total: 38.5/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) might be love by Dean Griffin

- I love this song. I recommended this to someone in the previous category, too, and for good reason: this song reflects, of course, feelings of love and feeling confused about the "pressure in your chest" that "might be love." I think this perfectly reflects Alexander's character and what he's feeling, especially during the beginning segments of the story. For those reasons, I think it's a great song for the playlist!

2) I'm God by Clams Casino, Imogen Heap

- This song, as the title implies, comments on the god complex and the complexities of the human psyche. It uses its instrumental to create a dreamlike atmosphere, and I think this reflects how Alex feels whenever he thinks about May. I also think the song's depth reflects Alex as an artist. So, for those reasons, I think it's a good fit for this playlist, too.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

ALL REVIEWS:

Phantasmagoria by Seamlesslove

Review:

Creativity: 9/10. The creativity of this piece is good so far, with there being an interesting premise with the day structure, leading to intrigue with what you're cooking up. The fact that "Jungkook" the chapter is an actual chapter and not simply a divider of POVs is another interesting element, and it also means readers are going to see that and cling to every chapter, even if it's not a "Day *insert number here*" chapter. So when it comes to inspiring intrigue, you do a good job building it up.

From what I remember based on my previous read of this story last year, the days formatting was super unique, and the way you played around with POVs was fun, fresh, and engaging. So, when it comes to both the creative and technical sides of the story, it's very creative.

The only suggestions I have revolve around some technical writing things that could help flesh out the ideas. Some restructuring here and there along with some tweaks to the grammar could help the concepts feel more fluid and engaging as a result, which in turn would make the story feel even more creative. So not a big deal, hence why a near-perfect score is warranted, though something worth mentioning nonetheless.

Overall, the creativity of this piece is strong and does a good job hooking the reader in. It has a unique format, interesting moments thus far, and a nice premise!

Timelessness: 7.5/10. This is the emotional takeaway and memorability section of the review. It's a bit difficult to judge since, at the time of judging this, there are only about three chapters out (Prologue, Jungkook, and Day One). I understand this is a repost, and I have read the story in the past, but it has been nearly a year since I've read it. It's difficult to judge without the story in front of me, and I also feel it'd be unfair to judge based off something that could have been edited between when I last read it and now. Though, that said, I still remember parts of the story with Yasmine, the Y/n character, and Jungkook, and if I'm remembering it despite reading literally well over a thousand books between the last time I read Phantasmagoria and now, then I'd say it has a strong memorability factor. It is impressive if you manage to make me remember your work and specifically feelings I had while reading your work simply because I read so freaking much I must go through over a dozen books per week.

That said, it's a bit difficult to assign a proper number score to this category given the full story has not been reposted at the time of reviewing. Based on what I remember, it is a nice, memorable story, though it's hard to get into the specifics of the emotions without having the source in front of me. I still think it's interesting thus far and will have strong memorability and emotions as it carries on, but it's hard to judge without much context or the ending. There could also be some tweaks to the grammar errors and general structure to help strengthen some emotional beats, but I'll get into that in the next two sections.

Overall, the story is off to a good start and will definitely evolve into one very emotionally engaging. From what I remember, it's a memorable story that does something really cool with its formatting, and that's something worth highlighting.

Structure: 7.5/10. The structure of the story thus far is good, with there being only a playlist prior to the prologue, meaning you aren't dilly dallying and wasting readers' time with a crap ton of unnecessary information just to read the story. The day structure is very nice, and from what I remember, it was executed quite well in the long run, but even now, it looks good and has strong organization that makes it easy to follow.

Creatively, so far the ideas are flowing out at a structured rate. Nothing's going too fast or too slow. We've met the protagonist, established his motivations, and showed the female character who he is going to become infatuated with. We established character traits of Jungkook as well, so everything feels fluid. That means from both a technical and creative standpoint, the structure is good!

Suggestion-wise, there were some areas where the sentences could have been tightened. For example: I was searching for an inspiration to write a story (Jungkook). The "an" can be removed to help with sentence structure. I actually naturally read it without the an the first time I read the sentence, hence why I recommend considering removing it.

From Jungkook: I just wanted my journey to transform from a good author to a great one. This sentence feels a tad awkward and could potentially be restructured to something like: I just wanted my journey to transform me from a good author to a great one. Adding the "me" gives the second half of the sentence more direction, if that makes sense.

From Jungkook: I sat down under a leafless tree, the chills of wind made the leaves on the ground shuffle and swirl. Here, this is also a little awkward. I would recommend tweaking it so the "made" is making, otherwise the comma is incorrect and would need to be a semicolon.

From Day One: She adorned a floral blue frock, that flew with the wind while her standing figure remained stoic. Here, there is a comma error, and adorned could potentially be tweaked. It's not really a "wear" verb but rather a way to describe beauty, so a wear verb could work stronger here, especially since it's used again right after this with this line: They were a million twinkling gems that looked all the same, hanging in a cluster all together above our heads; adorning the sky like jewels on a crown. There's also a semicolon error there.

Consider: She wore a floral blue flock that flew with the wind while her standing figure remained stoic. And: They were a million twinkling gems that looked all the same, hanging in a cluster all together above our heads, adorning the sky like jewels on a crown.

Overall, the structure is good throughout the story and features a unique element with it being about days from different points of view. The creative side of the structure is good, too, with there being clear progression for Jungkook's character. That said, there could be some tweaks to potentially strengthen the structure from a technical standpoint.

Flow: 6.5/10. The flow is good throughout the story. As I mentioned in the previous section, the pacing is good, and having good flow is a strong factor in why it's good. The first three chapters (Prologue, Jungkook, Day One) all feel cohesive and flow well from a transition standpoint. Nothing feels out of place conceptually, and it's a solid start to the story that sets up intrigue.

There are also good lines and moments throughout. For example, from the prologue: I watch her, from afar. I fall in love, from afar. These are two nice lines that set the premise for the story well while also remaining pretty.

Another example is from Day One: Because I was low on cash. Or low on the adrenaline rush that writing a book gives you.
Maybe both.

I like that a lot. It made me snort when I read it. The humorous moments aren't often, but when they're there, they're nice and give the story a good moment of pause.

All in all, the flow so far is good, with there being solid word choice that made it fun to read!

Suggestion-wise, the main thing is there are frequent grammar errors that could be tweaked. I'll leave some examples below, though the most common error is punctuation. There are other errors as well, but punctuation is what I will be focusing on.

Example: I love selflessly, as I watch your growing fondness for somebody who's not me, I love relentlessly, even if it hurts me, doesn't even spare me sleep (prologue). This could be a structure thing, too, but I think flow-wise, this could flow stronger if it were split up, as it's grammatically incorrect and also a tad awkward. Consider: I love selflessly, as I watch your growing fondness for somebody who's not me. I love relentlessly, even if it hurts me and doesn't spare me sleep. I only tweaked it slightly so everything flows just a tad smoother.

Also from prologue: And all I've ever wanted is for you to forget her, all I've ever wanted is for you to fall into me. Similarly, this could be tweaked so the two parts flow together stronger. Consider: And all I've ever wanted is for you to forget her; all I've ever wanted is for you to fall into me.

Also from prologue: We were inseparable, there was nothing that could pull us apart. Here, this sentence needs a semicolon. Consider: We were inseparable; there was nothing that could pull us apart.

As for other errors, there were occasional awkward moments that could be tweaked. From Jungkook: The kind that scarrs your soul forever, leaving you wondering if love like that could ever be yours. It seems like scars is spelled wrong here, and I would recommend removing the second 'r'.

Overall, the flow throughout the work is good and has memorable lines and moments I think will stick out to the audience. There could be grammar tweaks, particularly to punctuation, though, to smoothen the flow further.

Album Presentation: 7.5/10. The title is Phantasmagoria, and I've been on record saying it's a nice title. I still hold that opinion! It's spelled and capitalized correctly, and it's a pretty, eye-catching title that fits in perfectly with the story. For those reasons, I have no critiques of the title.

As for the blurb, it's an okay blurb that says a bit about what the story is going to be about without giving much away. It sets the premise that this will be about two artists falling in love, but it won't be the beauty most would imagine. For those reasons, I think it's fine. Technically, I only have two critiques. One is this sentence: Because love isn't all about love itself, if it doesn't come with a million other emotions, is it really love? I would recommend a semicolon instead of a comma for the first comma. Also this sentence: To love an artist's art is to love them, for their art is their expression; a piece of their sanity. I can understand using a semicolon here, though I'd recommend a comma nonetheless.

As for the cover, it's nice! I like the pictures chosen and think they're good quality, and the title card has an interesting font and font color. The page tears have a nice effect, and it's a visually-appealing cover. The tagline is a tad hard to see, and turning down the brightness on the Jungkook photo might aid with that, but otherwise, it's a nice cover that reflects what the story is going to be about well.

Total: 38/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) run for the hills by Tate Mcrae (Explicit)

- The vibes of this song feel good for this story. This is one of Tate's best songs, in my opinion, and considering this story is about the feeling of love, this song makes perfect sense. Besides, it's a banger, and we love to hear bangers. For those reasons, I chose it for the playlist of this story.

2) Paradise by Coldplay

- I feel like Jungkook's emotions about needing inspiration and exploring to get it matches Paradise perfectly. It's also just such a nice song with beautiful vibes and lyrics. For those reasons, I think it matches Jungkook and the story quite well!

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

FIRM by WHITELION692

Review:

Creativity: 7/10. This short poem is an anti-bullying message to raise awareness about how victims are treated and what can be done to stop it, contrasting what should be joy in a fun school environment with the terrifying realities that kids can be really mean to one another. It's a noble message that deserves spotlight, and there are truly not enough poems out there that are anti-bullying poems. I don't think you could ever have too much anti-bullying material since bullying is a major problem all over the world, and giving it a voice like this is admirable. It's also interesting because it's done in poetic form rather than a narrative story, which makes it more unique in that regard!

I also like how you brought up ragging. Believe it or not, I didn't actually know what that was prior to reading this despite going through high school and college, so you definitely raised awareness about this practice, making it educational. This is exactly what an anti-bullying message should be like, so good job with that.

Suggestion-wise, the imagery could be potentially sharpened to include more unique metaphors. The message is strong, though it can come across more like a speech or PSA in rhyme rather than an immersive poem, so having some more vivid metaphors and language could potentially help with the creativity. By that I mean instead of "words like daggers" and "monsters," maybe some more vivid metaphors and similes. I'll provide some examples later on in the review.

Overall, this is a very important message that needs to be written about, so I admire you for taking the leap and presenting it in a new format (poetry). It's an admirable poem with a nice format, though there could be some tweaks to the word choice and metaphors to potentially strengthen the emotional punch.

Timelessness: 8/10. This section refers to the emotional takeaway and general memorability of the piece, and here, I'd say it is emotional. It talks about a tough topic, and the emotional intent is strong since it clearly shows encouragement for things like courage, empathy, and solidarity (the last two stanzas especially call for solidarity and making victims feel heard). I like how you give victims proper voices and make the focus be on overcoming these challenges. The bullies and their sides of things feel purposefully small, where they're there like shadows looming over the poem, but the spotlight is on courage and growth, making for an emotional read. It's also, in general, an emotional topic, so it's a good choice for what to write about!

Suggestion-wise, since this is like an accumulation section where it's basically like my overall thoughts on the work, there isn't much to say here that I won't say in the next two sections or haven't already said in the previous section. That said, I will briefly summarize. There could be some tweaks to some structure and flow things to help the emotions hit hard. There could also be some tweaks to some of the metaphors and similes as I mentioned before to make the poem more experimental. That said, I still like the emotional goal of the poem, and I encourage you to keep experimenting and writing pieces like this!

Structure: 7.5/10. When it comes to the structure of the poem, it's good! It has a clear beginning, middle, and end, making it technically well-structured, and the creative sides of things are handled well, too, with the ideas coming out at a good pace and placed where needed to emphasize different elements of the theme. It also contrasts the creative poem with a call to action by the end, which I think is interesting and different from what I see in most poems. For those reasons, I think the structure is good both from a technical and creative standpoint, though I do have some suggestions regarding fluidity I'll leave below.

Suggestion-wise, there could potentially be some restructuring to help with the fluidity, as there are some spacing errors throughout where when there are commas, there are no spaces.

Example:

In the hall of school, where monsters may all, laughter should roam,
There lurks a bully,making others feel alone.

The "there lurks a bully,making others feel alone" is the part where there needs to be a space after the comma to become: "there lurks a bully, making others feel alone."

This part could also be restructured to potentially evoke more emotion. For example, maybe:

In crowded halls where laughter should sing,
A shadow waits, a bully's sting.

It keeps the rhyme you're going for while also adding a bit more vivid language to add to the creativity. It's not a must by any means, and poetry can be written endless different ways, but I thought I would provide a potential restructuring anyway, in case you were interested.

There are a few times throughout where there needs to be a space after the comma, so I would recommend tweaking that for future works. There are also some other errors I'll talk about in the next section. I hope that makes sense!

Overall, the structure of the poem is good, with there being a clear beginning, middle, and end, and the poem's narrative is easy to follow both from a technical and creative standpoint. There could be some tweaks since there are some errors throughout that can disrupt the flow and structure, but I think it's still all in all good.

Flow: 7/10. When it comes to the flow of the piece, it's interesting since it's all centered around school and familiar imagery of halls and encouragement. It'll probably be nostalgic for people who are graduated. I'm graduated from both high school and college, and it was intriguing reading this piece and being reminded of the past, as, of course, most schools deal with bullying, and students see it all the time.

I said it before, but I'll say it again because it ties in pretty deeply with the flow here: the focus on encouragement and positivity gives this piece good flow, as it allows it to flow from point A to point B in a narratively satisfying way. So, when it comes to the flow, I think you did a good job and deserve a good score!

Suggestion-wise, there could be some tweaks to the flow to make it more fluid. For example:

But let us stand together, untied and strong
Against the darkness we'll prove them wrong.

Here, there is a typo. I believe "untied" is meant to be "united."

Consider:

But let us stand, united and strong
Against the darkness we'll prove them wrong.

It could also potentially be:

But let us stand together, united and strong,
With light in our hearts to prove them wrong.

That small flow tweak may potentially sharpen the emotional punch and also fit more into the positive side of the narrative by emphasizing the "light" inside their hearts.

This line as well: In our school, let kinds be the rule. Maybe it was meant to be "kindness" here? It may flow better that way, as "kinds" feels a bit awkward in this context.

There's also what I mentioned in the previous section where tweaking the comma errors could be beneficial to help with both the structure and flow, but since I already detailed it there, I won't go into it again here.

Overall, the flow is good throughout the short, and it does its job to bring us to the conclusion and call to action. It focuses on encouragement and positivity, giving the poem an emotional weight. There could be some tweaks to the lines at times to tweak some comma and spelling errors, though I still all in all enjoyed the flow.

Album Presentation: 7/10. The title is FIRM, which is spelled correctly and clearly capitalized for stylistic purposes, therefore I have no critiques of the technical side of the title. It's one word, but that's not a bad thing by any means. I haven't read the story yet (I judge this section prior to reading to give a proper first impression review), but it seems like it will likely relate to the fact that you need to stand firm in your opposition to bullying or something similar, so it looks like it fits the story well, too. For those reasons, I have no critiques of the title.

As for the blurb, the blurb is: Bullying and Ragging should stop. It's a simple blurb, and it leads me to assuming the story is an anti-bullying one. Assuming it is, that's good! That said, it could be beneficial to give the blurb more detail, and I believe ragging should be lowercase in this scenario. A blurb I always reference is The Hunger Games. That has a fantastic blurb with a catchy tagline at the top and then a detailed explanation of what happens, setting the stakes and why we should read. Your work is a short oneshot, so I don't think you need to have whole paragraphs or anything, but a tad more detail about what the story is going to be about could be beneficial.

As for the cover, based on the blurb, it looks like a perfect fit for the story, showing a dark color scheme and a unique art style that's visually appealing. The scribbles of words like depression and sadness are a nice but sad touch that definitely set the tone for what the story is going to be about. The only thing is it could be beneficial to have the title on the cover so it feels more book-specific and eye-catching for anyone scrolling by seeing it in their recommended feed. Otherwise, though, the cover is fine for the story.

Total: 36.5/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) I Bet on Losing Dogs by Mitski

- I feel like this song has to be on the playlist. It's a sad, slow song that feels like it fits the tone of the poem. In general, Mitski's portfolio fits this poem, and I think it's a good track to start the playlist off on.

2) worldstar money (interlude) by Joji (Explicit)

- The lyrics themselves do not have any swears in them, though it sounds like the background noise might, hence why it's marked explicit, but it's not a very explicit song and is a pretty sad interlude, hence why I think it fits the playlist since it continues that slow theme, and this song is experimental and plays around with background noise and intensity while also keeping the song calm, in a way. Joji's work is beautiful, and I think it deserves a spot on this playlist.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

Letters To No one by ivyb4winter

Review:

*Note: unsent 110124 - 240524 were requested for me to judge

Creativity: 8/10. The creativity in this piece is great and deserves a high score! This is about unsent letters that could be meant for anyone, and it's up to the reader to determine what they want to take from it. That's actually one of my favorite parts about the piece: the interpretation. Everyone who reads this is going to have a different experience with this piece, and that's admirable. It inspires imagination, which is a key element of emotional takeaway (which I'll get to in the next section), but it also shows creativity since the way these are written from a creative standpoint evoke deeper thoughts.

When it comes to the entries in specific, I liked how you compared the seasons to a person in Unsent 110124 (the second one), where the seasons are stated to be predictable while the person (or maybe the "person" is the narrator talking about themselves) is unpredictable. Like I mentioned in the previous point, everyone can interpret it their own way. Maybe someone sees that entry as the narrator talking about a past version of themselves and missing that past version that used to comfort them and bring them positivity. Almost like missing childhood, in a way. Or it can be interpreted as missing a loved one. There are countless ways to interpret this.

I also think it's interesting how each entry has its own voice. The third one has an intimate and almost urgent voice to it that makes it feel like some late-night confession, and that immediacy is interesting and separates it from the others. There are also strong images with things like "A coffin filled with dreams and promises" and "a well of your happiest and most hurting images." You do a good job showing these intriguing images and emotions.

When it comes to suggestions, I don't have many, as you can probably tell based on the high score. There was some repetition throughout, since most of the entries had rhetorical questions, and a lot of them, too, like the third entry having a lot of questions and phrases (like who, why, when, how as questions) repeated. This isn't inherently a bad thing by any means, but considering most of them have many rhetorical questions like this, downsizing could be beneficial to give these rhetorical moments more impact. There could also be some tweaks to some areas of word choice to make the sentences have more punch, but I'll get into that in the flow and structure sections.

Overall, this is a very creative piece that will inspire the reader to look inward and truly think. It's a risky piece since it involves strong emotions and doesn't hold back. It's brutal with its language, in a way, and I think that works well for the intended emotion of the work. I'll get into it more in the next section, though. All in all, it's a good read.

Timelessness: 7.5/10. This is the emotional takeaway and memorability section, and for this section, you also score highly due to how raw the emotions of this piece are. The last entry, for example, is almost like an interrogation revolving around heartbreak and exhaustion, and it uses vocabulary with images of hope crashing and burning, featuring a lot of the narrator's physical sensations of pain and weight. It's almost like a confessional, and it's beautiful in that regard. Especially the images of paper/rose/tearing skin. It's visceral and raw, which adds to the emotional takeaway.

There are also a lot of beautiful lines I'll highlight in the flow section, but I wanted to mention it briefly here because they add to the emotional punch of the piece.

Another thing is it is memorable because it's so real. Nothing feels held back, and I encourage you to keep writing these kinds of emotional works since they will stick with the reader the same way they stuck with me. Not a single one lacked emotional depth, which I found interesting. Even entry 240524 number one has a lot of intrigue to it despite being only one sentence, and I admire that about the piece. I'll expand more about the specific things I enjoyed in the flow section, but I still wanted to yap a bit here since this work is very emotional.

Suggestion-wise, since this is kind of like an accumulation section in the beginning of the review, I don't have too much to say that won't be said later, but I will briefly summarize nonetheless. There could be some editing to the grammar quality of the piece, as there are frequent errors. I'm okay with errors, especially in experimental works since it can be an intentional way to make a piece feel more raw, though there are some moments throughout I would recommend editing for sake of clarity, which I'll go over later. I also have some other flow and structure suggestions that can help with the overall emotional takeaway of the work. Still, though, I think this is an admirable piece

Structure: 8/10. The structure of this piece is interesting since it plays around with the prose genre. Sometimes, like with the first entry, you go short and sweet and choose to highlight beautiful lines, like the comparison between hope and fickle wings, which was beautiful and concise. Then you have longer, almost rant pieces like the second entry, which was the most emotional piece in the collection. There are also the super small ones, like the fourth entry being a single sentence. That means the technical structure of this piece is great since you don't play it safe. You toy with not only different ideas but also different ways to execute them, and I strongly encourage you to keep doing that!

Creatively, the structure is also good and tends to have a clear point A, B, and C. In other words, there's a clear beginning, middle, and end. The first piece says what it wants to say without dragging it out by any means. It's short and sweet, and it moved me in many moments. The tone of entries one and two in particular are consistent and structured well, so all around, you have good structure!

Suggestion-wise, there are some moments that could potentially be restructured to help even out the pacing and potentially bring out more emotions within the reader. For example, from the first entry, the ending has familiar language with the "I pray the odds..." line, and while this isn't bad by any means, it could potentially be slightly tweaked to have more finality and punch.

Maybe: May chance be gentle with you, and time keep you safe.

That's just a random idea and nothing I'm saying is groundbreaking, but it does flow okay and might shake up the ending a bit.

There are some grammar errors throughout I alluded to in the previous section, but I'll talk about them in the flow section. I wanted to mention them here as well, though, because they do factor into the structure score and general structure of the piece.

Overall, the structure is pretty good and deserving of a high score as it has clear beginnings, middles, and endings, though there could be some minor tweaks to strengthen the structure further, and more of that will be explained in the next section.

Flow: 7/10. When it comes to the flow, it's good! There are many memorable lines throughout, and each entry has something unique to offer. For example, from 210524: If something very tear-worthy happens, and I can't make myself cry... Am I just not sad, or am I too sad? This is a wonderful line that stood out to me the first time I read it. It manages to say a lot with only a few words, and it has relatively simplistic language, too. It doesn't try too hard to go all abstract, and it packs a powerful punch many, many people will relate to.

And in the same chapter, there are more beautiful lines. For example: Why do you only feel for the sun once it starts to snow? This is a great line that flows super well and will stick with the reader. And also: Tonight, my clouds are sad from 240524 (the second one). All of these lines have good flow and memorability, adding to the emotional takeaway of the work. Also in that entry, the portion starting with "How do you live, my little poem?" was excellent. Those rapid-fire questions were impactful and flowed off the tongue well.

So, overall, the flow is good throughout the work, and there are countless lines that were strong and stuck with me. Every entry had more than one line that stood out to me, and to have that many memorable lines shows this is a great, creative collection!

Suggestion-wise, there could be some tweaks to some lines to help with the grammar and fluidity, as there were some times where the grammar interrupted flow or there were small tweaks that could potentially benefit the story. I'll provide some examples below.

It takes and takes you high somewhere... (Unsent 110124 1). There's nothing really wrong here, though for flow purposes, it may benefit from a slight tweak. Maybe: It takes and takes you somewhere high. It's just a tiny rearranging of the words, but it may flow off the tongue a tad stronger.

Another example is also from the first entry: ...but ends have and will, always signify the rise of the new. This is a good line, though the comma after will and before always is not needed, and I would recommend removing it.

From the second one: Why do I hope you;d change? Consider: Why do I hope you'll change? Or if the past tense is the original intention, then consider: Why did I hope you'd change?

Another thing is sometimes contractions are given apostrophes while others are not. I.e., you'll is spelled that way while don't is spelled as dont. I would recommend more consistency with how you're formatting them. It's okay to break traditional grammar rules for experimental works, of course, though if that's the intention, I would recommend having it be more consistent is all.

There are also some spelling errors throughout. From Unsent 110124:

Kill me please, I dont want to leave this way. i wasnt to die! Why do you keep me alive? KILL ME dont let me live

It seems like "leave" is meant to be "live," and "wasnt" is meant to be "want," and there is also no end punctuation in the final sentence, so I would recommend a period/full stop after live. Another example is "realtions" in the first entry. I believe it's meant to be relations.

Overall, the flow throughout is good and will stand out to the readers. It was engaging and featured many emotional highs that resonated with me, though there could be some tweaks to the grammar to help with the general fluidity.

Album Presentation: 7.5/10. Starting with the title, I love the title! The title is Letters To No one, and I think that's a beautiful title with good intrigue. It also perfectly sets up what the story is going to be about. The only thing is I would recommend spelling it as Letters to No One, but otherwise, it's a great title!

As for the blurb, the blurb is as follows: There is nothing to say, the title says it all.

This blurb is only one sentence and doesn't exactly tell the reader what the work is going to be about, but I strangely like it. Normally I'm against vague blurbs since I believe blurbs are the one part of your work that should be very clear, but this is one of the rare cases where I think the vagueness works here. I mean, technically, the blurb isn't wrong: the title says exactly what the collection is going to be about. So even though I'm normally against these kinds of blurbs, this one is alright to me! The only thing is I would recommend a semicolon or a sentence split since they're two independent clauses. Maybe: There is nothing to say; the title says it all.

As for the cover, it's a collage of images all in similar theme, and I think this works for the collection since this is a collection of letters, so it's almost like a collage of letters is the actual cover itself. So, for those reasons, I think the cover thematically matches the story. I like the images chosen, though it could also be interesting if there was more letter imagery to reflect the title (i.e., maybe the BTS photo is something more letter-related, as the BTS image was the only one where I struggled to see the correlation, as much as I like BTS and am happy seeing them). The title card could also potentially be tweaked since it says Untitled rather than Letters To No one. It could also be potentially positioned lower to be more in the middle, though that depends on your vision with the cover. All in all, the cover is nice and reflects the themes of the collection well.

Total: 38/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) missing life by QKReign, gabriawll

- This song is more laid back and has melancholy vibes, yet it has an electronic, thumping beat underneath it to give it a stronger sense of emotion and maybe even anger. For those reasons, I think it's a perfect fit on the playlist.

2) Sonder by Niall Byrne

- This instrumental immediately reminded me of this collection due to how it also has melancholy vibes, making it fit in tonally with the last song, but it also feels... nostalgic? I'm not sure how to describe it, but this instrumental just kinda feels like it fits this collection, if that makes sense. It's a really good instrumental, and I think it's the perfect background song to have on while reading.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

Oblivion: A Wave Of Poems by wenshi_nykx

Review:

Creativity: 8/10. The creativity of this piece is strong! I'll talk about it more in the structure section, but I really like how the poems here are organized! The way they're split into their own sections within the chapter list, and they're clearly labeled with what they're going to be about. It's more a structure thing, but I wanted to mention it here nonetheless since it factors into creativity.

Moving more generally, the topics chosen to cover are unique, too! I love how there's a whole section dedicated to the afterlife, and also how there's a whole section dedicated to the beauty of art. These are all great concepts for a poem collection, making this collection very creative, in my opinion.

Another thing is many of the poems themselves are creative, like Nothing Is Left Behind is one of my favorites since it has such a strong grasp on its idea. Forlorn is another one I want to mention since it has some of the most vicious, raw language of the entire piece, and I thought that was an interesting contrast to many of the other poems in the collection that are far softer and beautiful, meanwhile Forlorn is full of pain. Yet Forlorn still felt like it fit in with the collection perfectly, so great job there.

Suggestion-wise, there were some areas throughout that could have potentially been sharpened by more concrete images and also stronger flow, but I'll talk about the flow later. As for images, for example, for Sound Of The Waves, it could be interesting to have one or two sharper, more concrete images, like a single scene of a memory from the beach/shore, to anchor the otherwise abstract piece, especially since it's the first piece in the collection, and many of the other poems have those sharper images. Though, that said, that's just a random idea and not a must by any means, so it depends on your vision for the piece.

Overall, the creativity of this piece is strong, with there being interesting concepts throughout executed in interesting ways. It kept my attention, and I hope you continue this collection at some point!

Timelessness: 7.5/10. This section is the emotional takeaway/memorability section, almost like an accumulation section right at the beginning of the review. For the emotional takeaway of this collection, I'd say it's good. It has many striking images and moments of description that stand out, such as, from Fallen, "Crimson carpets" and "decaying symphony."

As I mentioned in the previous section, I loved the concepts and how you organized this collection (it's super unique; I haven't seen many collections go this route before), and that makes it memorable! It also adds to the emotional value since many of these topics are rooted in strong emotions, such as the afterlife and feelings of death, or Forlorn with its intensity. I'll highlight more specific lines I enjoyed in the flow section, too.

Suggestion-wise, since this is like an accumulation section, I don't have much to say that either hasn't been said already or will be said in the rest of the review, but I'll briefly summarize nonetheless. There could be some tweaks to the spelling in particular to help with the emotional flow of the piece, and there could be some tweaks to some of the structuring of certain areas to make the poems pop more and again have stronger emotional takeaway, but I'll explain this in the next two sections. All in all, though, the emotional takeaway is good.

Structure: 7.5/10. Something I immediately appreciate about the structure is how the poems are broken into their own little themes within the collection, like Nature's Lullaby or Blooming In Love. Not only is this creative (so bonus points to the creativity section from before!), but it's also easy to navigate and makes the collection feel more purposeful. A lot of collections just put all of their poems or short stories in one place, which isn't a bad thing by any means, but it's nice to see a collection that has clear intent and moves from point A to point B clearly.

Another thing is many of the poems have clear creative structure, such as Fallen having a clear progression from sorrow into almost a rebirth with the seasons. It's a unique way to present the ideas, and I enjoyed that very much.

I'll mention it again in the next section, but there is also good structure with how the poems within the sections themselves are structured, with them feeling like they all connect and flow into each other, making each section feel narratively consistent.

Suggestion-wise, the first thing is something I'll talk about in the next section, but there are frequent spelling errors, and tweaking those could help the poems feel more structured, though I'll go over that in the next section since I think it impacts the flow more.

Moving more structure-specific, some lines could potentially be shortened at times for certain poems. For example, for Melody of Dusk, there are a few long sentences throughout that aren't inherently a bad thing by any means, but they could potentially be broken up (i.e., the "With my body..." line is a standout in terms of its length) for sake of stronger musicality and structure.

Another thing is some of the lines could be tweaked with words rearranged for a stronger impact. For example, also from Melody of Dusk: Nor I've my golden sun, nor my silver moon. This part could potentially be: Nor have I my golden sun, nor my silver moon.

Overall, the structure is pretty good throughout the collection, with the general organization being creative and well-structured and there also being good creative structure within the poems themselves. I had some suggestions regarding potential tweaks to the structure, but I all in all enjoyed it nonetheless.

Flow: 6/10. There are quite a few lines throughout that have great flow and a strong emotional punch, especially during the afterlife section. For example, from Melancholy, there's this line: A hundred dried roses,

I think this line is great, especially since it opens the poem. It sets the tone immediately, and it's pretty imagery. Everyone can immediately picture a hundred dried roses, so it's a great grounding point to start off the narrative of this poem. I'd say Melancholy was my favorite in the entire collection, and every line in it had good flow and hooked me in. The line "A forever slumber of peace for me" also attracted me in particular.

In general, the flow between poems is pretty good. This is both a structure and flow point, but each set of poems in each section almost feels like a suite where they build off of one another. The lyrical language in the nature portion especially makes everything feel connected and makes this collection really feel like a purposeful, well-crafted work of art!

I also love the little details with things like your adjective and general word choices. For example, from the Withered Roses poem, you open it with "The lost eyes of mine...". The use of "lost" is so simple since it's just one word, but it gives the line more weight. Those small details add up to make strong flow and a strong execution of the ideas!

Suggestion-wise, the main thing is there are frequent spelling, punctuation, and grammar (SPAG) errors that could be tweaked, particularly spelling errors. I'll provide some examples below.

From Sound Of The Waves: The aroma that equivalents thr fountain of blood;

It seems there is a spelling error here where "the" is spelled as "thr." Consider: The aroma that equivalents the fountain of blood; Or even: The aroma that echoes a fountain of blood; That second one may help its fluidity, as the "the aroma that equivalents" is a tad awkward.

From the same poem: The aroma that heals every wounds;

I believe that's meant to be "all wounds" rather than every, as it is a bit awkward otherwise. Consider: The aroma that heals all wounds;

One last example from that poem: What is it called like? The "like" is what makes it a bit awkward, but it's otherwise okay. Consider: What is it called?

An example from May I! is: May I never visualizes earthly pain again;

I actually really like this line and how you use "earthly" in front of "pain." It adds a nice detail to it. The only thing is I would recommend making the visualize singular instead of plural, so it'd become: May I never visualize earthly pain again;

Overall, the flow is good throughout the collection, featuring many interesting lines that fit the themes of the work well; however, there could be edits made, as there are frequent spelling errors in particular that could potentially distract from the intended emotional takeaway.

Album Presentation: 8.5/10. The title is Oblivion: A Wave Of Poems, which is a nice title. It has a unique word (Oblivion) along with the "A Wave Of Poems" part to say what the collection will be about. It's eye-catching and interesting. From a technical perspective, I would recommend Oblivion: A Wave of Poems, though the title is otherwise great!

As for the blurb, the core of the blurb is as follows: OBLIVION is a wave of emotion which comprises Grief, Ecstasy, Allure and Intimacy. OBLIVION is an ocean of beautiful genres of Poetries comprising Nature poem, Death poem, Love poem, Illusionistic poem and many more.

This is a fine blurb. Unlike a lot of collections, it actually tries to tell the reader specifically what to expect. A lot of collections have vague blurbs, so I appreciate that you actually gave the reader more to work with. I would recommend lowercasing the various words like grief, ecstasy, etc. as they are not proper nouns, though I still like the blurb overall.

As for the cover, it's gorgeous! I love the color scheme and the atmosphere it creates. The art on the cover is beautiful and visually appealing, and the font is beautiful, too. This is perfect for a poetry collection, and I have no critiques for it. This might be one of the most gorgeous covers I've ever seen, to be honest.

Total: 37.5/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) Deep by Peter Sandberg

- I believe this instrumental is perfect for this collection due to how... well, deep it is. It's a powerful, emotional instrumental that feels like it relates to the afterlife and beauty of art sections particularly well. It was used in Stranger Things season 3 during an emotional moment that relates to the afterlife in a way, so I think that's another reason it fits so well.

2) Recurring Dream by Symmetry

- Symmetry continues to be one of my favorites when it comes to instrumental work. Recurring Dream is a prime example of why since it's a beautiful, almost heartbreaking track that focuses on a lighter sound with a strange sense of melancholy behind it. This is a short track, but it's gorgeous and fits the tone of the playlist and the collection, in my opinion.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

overreacting or okay? by hanaonthenet

Review:

Creativity: 9/10. The creativity in this piece is pretty good! I'll talk about it more in the structure section, but one thing I wanted to mention (since it impacts creativity) is how the structure varies depending on the poem. The poems are all presented differently and have their own unique touches to them. I don't want to say too much here since this is just the beginning, and I already gushed over the structures later, but I wanted to mention it nonetheless.

I also like the idea behind the collection, which I'll get into more in the next section, but it factors into the creativity as well since it means the concept behind it is great and engaging!

In general, the creativity is strong and has good word choice, engaging topics, and unique structures. I can't think of any suggestions that could potentially bring out more creativity other than tweaking some of the grammar to help with the fluidity and impact of the emotions (which I'll talk about throughout the review), though otherwise, I think the creativity is very good here!

Timelessness: 7.5/10. This section refers to the emotional quality and general memorability of the collection, and I'd say this collection is emotional and memorable! It has many great lines, a few of which I'll point out in the flow section, and it has high creativity to make it stand out from other poem collections on the site.

There are many poems throughout that stuck out to me. One of which was Happily cursed, as that has a phenomenal opening stanza packed full of meaning. It touched me as soon as I read it, and I honestly took it more like a poem on grief or sonder, where your heart is heavy with lives you either will never know or lives already lost, and I thought that was beautifully written. I also liked the repetition of the word "cursed" throughout that poem, and it was, in general, very emotional.

The goal of this collection seems to be appealing to those who are looking for validation of their emotions, and to see their emotions expressed through poetry (hence the title overreacting or okay?). I think you accomplish this goal since there is such a wide variety of topics covered and also covered effectively, so I think readers are going to walk away with this with strong emotions, and I also think they're going to remember it. Seeing as those are the two key elements of this section, it's safe to say this section earned a good score.

Suggestion-wise, since this is like an accumulation section, I don't have much to say that I haven't either already said or will explain throughout the review. I'll briefly summarize here, but future me will talk more in detail about it. Mainly, there are frequent spelling errors that can sometimes distract from the emotion. Most of the poems have one or more spelling errors in them, and I would recommend considering tweaking them. There were also some formatting errors throughout that I'll get into in the next section. Overall, though, I liked the emotional quality of the work, and I think it's a good collection.

Structure: 7/10. When it comes to the structure, it's good and deserves a good score. Something I admire is how you're always experimenting with the structure. For example, a midnight convo (poem three) is right and left aligned to match the flow of a conversation, and then there's the added touch of the descriptions being center-aligned. That's a great touch that makes that poem feel alive. It does really feel like a conversation.

Creatively, the ideas flow out at a good rate, too, with them feeling structured as needed. Every poem has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and I particularly like how you open your poems. I pointed out Happily cursed as one with a phenomenal opening, but the majority of the poems have very strong starts that hooked me in immediately. I also like many of the ending lines/stanzas, like the last stanza in Shipwreck hammers home the message of the poem in a pretty way.

Suggestion-wise, there could be some tweaks to some of the presentation. For example, from the third poem, there seems to be a slight structure error here:

the clock ticked the moon glowed,
b
ut they still continued

What I mean is the "b" of but is separated from the word, so it should be:

the clock ticked the moon glowed,
but they still continued

This happens twice in the poem, so it's not a big deal, but something worth considering tweaking since there are small structural errors like that throughout. Another example is from idontwannabeme, where this line is: If I was just you. The first "I," the one in if, isn't italicized. These things are not big deals, but these small tweaks can help with stronger fluidity with the structure.

Another thing is while I do like the capitalization of certain words (will mention this again in the next section), there are some moments where it felt like some words were randomly capitalized and did not elevate the emotional takeaway. For example, from the girl I was, "Miss" is capitalized in the line: And I Miss those vibes. Capitalizing it there felt a tad random, and this happens a few times throughout the collection where some words will be capitalized, though I was unsure if they needed to be.

The last thing is there are frequent spelling errors throughout. This is more a flow thing than a structure thing, but it does impact the general structure of the piece as well. I'll explain in the next section, but I wanted to mention it here regardless.

Overall, the structure is very diverse and makes for an engaging read, though there are some tweaks that could potentially be made to strengthen the fluidity.

Flow: 6/10. There are strong moments of flow throughout the piece. As I said in the previous section, the structure experiments and tries different things, which factors in here, too, since it means the reader is gaining a new experience every time they click on "continue to next part." It makes for a fun reading experience, and the poems all flow well within their structures.

Throughout the specific, individual poems, though, there is also good flow, with there being many interesting concepts and lines presented. For example, from the monster of the dark, I love the line, "A guide? Or lure in disguise?" It almost reminds me of the old tales of the sirens at sea, and considering poems are forms of art that tend to be quite lyrical, I thought having the whole "lure in disguise" bit was a nice, almost musical detail.

Another thing is I like how guilt was capitalized in My old friend. While I did think there were some moments of random capitalization, I also think there were strong moments of purposeful capitalization where it gave the poems additional punch. Giving the grief more weight by making it a proper noun, almost like grief itself is a character in the poem (or maybe even the narrator), makes it more emotional and engaging.

One last thing I'll mention is also from the monster of the dark. I really liked this whole excerpt here:

Was always scared
Of the dead of night
Dark and deadly
Where Demons reside

This is an excellent excerpt that perfectly reflects what the story of the poem is about in a pretty but concise way. In general, you did a great job with the monster of the dark, and it's one of my favorites from the collection.

Suggestion-wise, there could be some grammatical tweaks to help the flow feel more fluid. There are frequent spelling errors that can make lines feel a tad awkward at times, and I would recommend tweaking them. I'll leave some examples below.

From the second poem: to breath or to die.

I think this is meant to be: to breathe or to die.

From poem four (Monachopsis): I thught I knew how to heal.

I believe this is meant to be "thought," so: I thought I knew how to heal.

From sweet lies, bitter truths: But thruths however.

I think it's meant to be truths here. Consider: But truths however.

From My old friend: It will dragg you alone.

Here, it looks like there's an extra letter. Consider: It will drag you alone.

One last example, this time from waves of longing: longning comes in waves

Like the last example, there seems to be an extra letter there. Consider: longing comes in waves.

So, overall, the flow is good throughout the collection and has many strong moments that hooked me in, though there could be some tweaks to the technical quality, as there were frequent spelling errors.

Album Presentation: 8/10. The title is overreacting or okay?, which is clearly purposefully lowercase and therefore fine to not have capitalized according to Chicago standards. The title sparks intrigue and is short but catchy, with it rolling off the tongue nicely and feeling like it fits a poetry collection well. It may be beneficial to have it be overreacting, or okay? or have the cover say overreacting or okay? since the cover has a comma while the official title does not, so some more consistency there may be beneficial. Still, though, it's a good title.

As for the blurb, the blurb is as follows:

For the ones whose feelings are too loud-
so loud they drown out thought,
yet somehow stay silent to the world.

This is a blurb in the form of a mini poem, seeing as it's a poetry collection. It's an okay blurb. It doesn't say too too much about the collection, so there could potentially be more fleshing out done, but seeing as it's a poetry collection, I think this is a fine blurb for the collection, and I don't have too much to say other than it works.

As for the cover, it sets the mood for the collection quite well and features a visually-appealing background image that's also of good quality. I like the font of the title, too. In general, it's a nice cover that shows the reader what they're about to engage with. The only thing is it feels like the title could potentially be moved over a bit, or maybe the comma is removed (since the title doesn't have a comma in it) since the title overlaps a bit with the person's head. It may look a tad neater if the comma were removed or if the title was moved over a hair. Otherwise, though, it's a nice cover.

Total: 37.5/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) For the First Time by Mac DeMarco

- I try not to include super popular songs in playlists too often since I want to increase the odds of recommending a song the writer's never heard, but sometimes the super popular songs are just really good and deserve spotlight, too. Here, For the First Time is a gorgeous song packed with beautiful meaning, and I think the atmosphere/vibe of the song reflects the vibe of your collection very well, hence why I added it to this playlist.

2) One Hundred Strings by Secession Studios

- I've been a fan of Secession Studios for a while, and this track is one key reason why. It's a beautiful, powerful string instrumental that I feel reflects the emotions of this poetry collection well. It's reflective yet not distracting, so it's easy to listen to in the background while reading this piece. For those reasons, I think this track works perfectly on this playlist.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

Withered Roses by Sahityasikharghosh

Review:

Creativity: 8.5/10. This is a very creative idea. This is a poetry series, but it's all one connected universe where Shekhar is our protagonist and the one narrating the story for us. It's split in two kind of formats where there is the diary entry/journal at the start of each chapter, and then there is a poem to cinematically show what the entry was telling us about. It's a unique blend of styles that felt fun to read. This is the experimental category, so to see experimentation with the styles here was interesting. It definitely fits in with the category well.

I also liked the general story idea and how it's a narrative broken into 10+ parts. It's told from a future perspective with Shekhar reflecting and showing the build up to he and Evelyn's ultimate future. It's an interesting way to go about telling this tale, and I thought it worked effectively!

Suggestion-wise, not much, as you can probably tell based on the high score. I wrote this section last, so all of my suggestions regarding ways the story could be expanded upon (emotionally) to bring out more creativity are listed later, though to give a brief rundown just to state them early on, there could be some tweaks to the structure and more experimentation depending on the emotions you're trying to convey and to further strengthen the creativity of the sentence structures, but I'll go over that in the structure section in far more detail.

Overall, the creativity of this work is high and was a highlight of the piece!

Timelessness: 8.5/10. This section refers to the emotional takeaway and general memorability of the work, and I'd say it executes its emotions pretty well and is pretty memorable. It tries something different and succeeds at doing so, with the emotions feeling interesting to read and topped with good lines that made me want to keep reading. I'll give some examples soon in the flow section, though just know there were a lot of lines and chapters I enjoyed!

In general, the emotional takeaway is high since this story is all about heartbreak and learning from one's mistakes. It shows a realistic take on how long-distance relationships can start strong but fizzle away due to reasons often beyond their control. They have disagreements and arguments, sometimes even over the silliest things, and it's a slow, painful descent that tears them apart. Both of them. Though, there are learning opportunities in there. College students are learning more than just about their fields of study—they're learning about who they want to be. This explores that concept, especially through Shekhar and the personal look we get at his changing mental state and his overall conclusion about his relationship with Evelyn.

I think this was a great direction to take the story and a poignant exploration of how those young adult years can really change you. That's when the most change will happen, in fact, and I'm glad you chose to write about it, as that made for a memorable and emotional read.

Suggestion-wise, not much, and most of the suggestions I ever have for this category are either already explained in creativity or will be explained throughout the review. There could be some tweaks to the flow to help bring the emotions out further, and there could be some more experimenting with the individual poem styles to further emphasize the emotions, though I'll talk more about these things in the next two sections.

Overall, the timelessness of this experimental work is high and had great emotional moments that were written well.

Structure: 7/10. The structure of the poems throughout is good. Like I mentioned in the creativity section, I thought it was an awesome idea to split the story up into two unique structures: the diary entries and the poems. It made for a unique reading experience that ended up being executed well, too, and fun to read.

I also thought the rhyme scheme was done well and was satisfying to read, as I mentioned earlier. The language was well-placed and made sense for what you were going for, so that was another great element of the structure!

When the structure is good, there's not too much to say other than you did a good job, so good job!

Suggestion-wise, just a couple of things. One might be more of a personal thing, but I wasn't a huge fan of the cursing that happened throughout the novel. It didn't happen too often, but a lot of the f words didn't feel needed and a little random at times. My characters curse like it's going out of style (I've written some appalling sentences...), so I'm not saying don't write curses since that would be a really silly suggestion, but here, I'm not sure if the story needed it. I'm not sure if that makes any sense since I can't really describe it in a more objective way, hence why I said it could be just a personal thing here, but I wanted to mention it nonetheless.

Another thing is it could have been interesting if the structures of the poems changed with the emotions. For example, maybe when he's nervous to propose to Evelyn, the lines are far longer, have little to no punctuation, and feel like a cluster of words to reflect his thoughts. Or if a poem is more lovely, then it can be a bit flowery and maybe even over-the-top. Or maybe even general different poetry formats, straying from the four-line stanzas and rhyme scheme.

There were some flow issues that occasionally impacted the structure, but since I felt they were more flow things, I'll talk about it more in the next section but just wanted to mention it here as well.

Overall, the structure works for the story and provided a satisfying read, though it could be interesting to see a bit more experimentation to match the emotion being described.

Flow: 6.5/10. The flow throughout the story is pretty good! The poems have consistent rhyme schemes, making for a fluid reading experience. I liked the rhyme schemes and thought that made it fun to read. I don't know why, but I just love rhyme schemes like these, so they were satisfying for me to read. I had a blast with this story.

I also like in the intro journals/diary entries when Shekhar in the future talks about Shekhar in the past, like talking to himself with sentences like "...the open-minded, unscathed Shekhar..." (chap 7; You are mine forever). This was a nice detail that gave Shekhar more depth and added an entertaining layer to the narrative!

There were also plenty of lines throughout that I thought were great. Also from chap 7:

My heart dropped as I heard silence on the other side,
Truth be told, deep in me, the confessor just died

In the context of the story, this is a crushing line, but even without context, it's a pretty line that uses its language effectively to convey the desired emotions of the scene. Chapter 7 was probably my personal favorite overall, as it had many memorable lines like that. So, all in all, you had awesome lines and cool ideas!

Suggestion-wise, there were some areas the lines could be tweaked both grammatically and creatively to help emphasize your ideas. I'll give some examples below.

Trust me, waking up before everyone and getting ready for a new phase of life feels amazing as if I had won the coveted Olympic Gold medal. Here, the sentence is overstuffed (chap 1, Souls Meet). By that I mean the "amazing" and "coveted" aren't needed and could flow smoother without them. The reason I say that is because the "as" clause (as if I had won...) feels a bit interrupted by the "amazing" adjective before it, and the "coveted" is unnecessary since that's already implied based on the comparison being to an Olympic award, so the "coveted" is implied based on what it is.

Another example:

"I guess not", I said, it seemed as if she was trying to unwind,
"Huh, interesting", she exclaimed...

(Chap 1)

Here, I italicized the unwind to emphasize it since it's important to the point I'm about to make: be careful with what dialogue tags you're using for what dialogue. In the context of this situation, exclaimed doesn't make sense. Keep in mind to "exclaim" something means to suddenly cry out or yell. If she's trying to unwind, then why is she now suddenly crying out? See what I mean when I put it like that? So I recommend tweaking the verb here to be a different tag.

"As in?" she asks... (chap 1). This is a small thing, but here, this is a tense issue, and the "asks" needs to be "asked." Small thing, but still worth mentioning.

While we were talking about our first meeting, I asked a question I wanted to ask,
I felt it was time for my feelings to unmask.

(chap You are mine forever).

Here, I wonder if it could just be "I had something I wanted to ask" instead of doubling the "ask"? I say that because the rhyme would be the same, just a tad smoother without the doubling of the ask. It's a small change, but it could be beneficial to the flow.

The other thing is what I mentioned I believe in my previous review for your work that the punctuation could be tweaked where the commas are inside the quotation marks instead of outside them. I won't talk about it again here since I did last time, but since it does impact the flow, I thought I would mention it.

Overall, the flow throughout the poems is pretty good and has solid moments, though there could be some tweaks to potentially elevate the emotions.

Album Presentation: 7.5/10. The title is Withered Roses, which works for the narrative. Even without knowing the story, you can take a gamble at what the story is going to be about since Withered Roses can mean quite a few things, so it inspires intrigue. It's also spelled and capitalized correctly, so that's the cherry on top. For those reasons, I have no critiques of the title.

As for the blurb, the blurb clearly states who the two main characters are. Evelyn and Shekhar are our two leads, with Shekhar being the narrator, so establishing that is crucial. It also establishes the time period, stating it will be taking place during the college years, and that gives the readers a general rundown of what they can expect: a college love story between Evelyn and Shekhar that doesn't go as planned. You did a good job establishing those core elements!

Also, the grammar is very good. It looked good when I read it, and after running it through two grammar checkers, both came back with no errors, so good job with that, too!

Suggestion-wise, I would recommend switching the blurb around so the actual blurb comes first and the achievements after. It's not a huge deal, but it does make the blurb look a little cluttered, and most readers want to see what the story is going to be about before any potential achievements.

The other thing is the blurb is a tad over-the-top and feels more like an external summary from a reviewer than a cinematic blurb of the story. When it comes to blurb writing, I recommend being more specific and concise, as the language in the blurb is pretty flowery and vague, speaking of things that might happen but not giving much in terms of specific details, hence why it reads more like an editorial review than a blurb. I guess the simplest way to put it is instead of telling readers they'll be on the edge of their seats, consider making them on the edge of their seat with the blurb itself. Consider implementing more of the plot and themes and focusing on them more simply, as blurbs are meant to be more simplistic. The reason I say this is because the purpose of a blurb is to clearly communicate what the book is about and who it's for. Having overly flowery language can risk confusing potential readers. I hope everything I said makes sense!

Overall, the blurb establishes who the main characters are clearly and gives a general idea what the story will be about, though it could benefit from being rearranged and downsizing on the language.

As for the cover, the cover is nice. I like how the stickers are small and subtle but still there in a row across the top of the cover. The color scheme is pretty consistent and looks nice, fitting in with the title of the story. I like the picture of the roses chosen and how you can see a tint of withering on their leaves. It could be interesting if the wither was more apparent on their petals, especially the front rose, but other than that, I overall really like this cover. It has a great color scheme, a great and high quality image, and good text placement!

Total: 38/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) Bix's Message by Brandon Roberts

- This beautiful instrumental is from the hit Star Wars show, Andor, and it's one of the most gorgeous instrumentals I have ever heard. It's a score, so it's dramatic and emotional, and considering the song, in context of the show, is about love and the things we would do for love, I think it's a perfect fit for this story's playlist.

2) Fairytale (Violin) by Dramatic Violin (cover of the song by Alexander Rybak)

- I specifically chose a violin cover of this song because I think it matches the vibe of the playlist and the romantic atmosphere of the story. The violin is emotional and powerful, and it's also fun to listen to while reading! Especially when the story is poetic!

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

An Online Mystery by aweirdoonearth01

Review:

Creativity: 8/10. The creativity in this piece is good! This is a solid idea for a story, and I think posting it on Wattpad, where there are a lot of younger people, was a good idea. This is a great concept, and there can never be too many stories raising awareness about predatory behavior online. I really respect the fact that you chose to write about this topic, so thank you for giving me the chance to read it.

So, to summarize all of that, the story idea is creative and lays a good foundation for what's to come. Rose is also a good choice for a protagonist since she has a lot of personality and spark to her, and her presence in school is nostalgic and will make a lot of readers smile, in my opinion. All in all, good job!

Suggestion-wise, I don't have much, as you can probably tell based on the high score. There are some suggestions I have that I'll get to later about how there could be some flow and structure tweaks that could potentially help show the creative sides of the story more, but as I said, I'll get into that later.

Another thing is the conversations themselves could be expanded upon, as many of them include similar things, like "Had fud" and "Wyd" and things like that. It could be interesting to see a deeper connection based on more unique topics. Of course, it's expected for young teens to talk about the typical teen stuff, like crushes and competitions, though they're also growing people growing into their core beliefs. They don't need to be Socrates or go super deep or anything, but having some conversations earlier on in the book that speak on their feelings regarding covid, asking more questions regarding personality (i.e., talking more about likes/dislikes and general opinions on various things; this could also help with removing some of the exposition in the beginning where Rose thinks about her personality rather than sharing it more with lolguy), and other more unique topics could be beneficial. There is some of this throughout, of course, but I mean a bit earlier on since many of the earlier conversations can get a bit repetitive.

In general, I would not call this an epistolary work as I believe you've classified it as. Maybe epistolary-inspired or even pseudo-epistolary, but the work is not document-only storytelling like epistolary tends to be (epistolary narratives are typically revolving around letters). In other words, in epistolary stories, all the material usually feels like it's in-world evidence (letters, journals, messages, transcripts, etc.). In this narrative, the reflective narration blurs that line and makes it lean back toward standard storytelling. So if you want to go full epistolary, I totally support that and think that's great since it's a fun genre, though I'd recommend considering making it more letter-focused, especially in the beginning since the first few chapters are very description and exposition-heavy, which makes it feel more like a traditional story for a while before it gets more text-focused. I hope that makes sense.

Overall, the creativity works throughout the story, with there being a strong concept that will resonate strongly with readers. I like the decision to make this revolving around Instagram chats, too, as it fits the theme of the story well!

Timelessness: 7/10. This section refers to the emotional quality and general memorability of the work, and for those two things, I think the story is good. As I mentioned in the previous section, I think the concept is great and does a great job immediately investing the audience in the story. Wattpad is full of a lot of young people, and having a cautionary tale about the dangers of the internet and what to look out for if someone is messaging you (to see if they're a creep) is vital, so thank you for writing this. I think this story is going to stick with many people who read it since it's so real and relates so closely to things many young girls especially deal with every day, so props to you for writing about a difficult topic and still managing to slip in some fun moments.

Suggestion-wise, since this is kind of like an accumulation section, I don't have much to say that won't be explained throughout the review. That said, I will briefly summarize and then let future me explain in more detail. There are grammar errors throughout that could be tweaked to help with the fluidity, and this can also strengthen the emotional takeaway. There are some moments where the paragraphs were a bit chunky and could be downsized, and I also have some general flow and structure suggestions I'll get in to in the next two sections.

So, overall, I think there is intrigue and emotion present within the idea, and there are a lot of cool concepts about online safety that are extremely important to talk about on Wattpad, though there could be some tweaks to the presentation.

Structure: 6/10. The structure throughout the story follows a pretty familiar storytelling format, with it being chapters with description and dialogue along with some text messaging. The texts look exactly like Instagram dms (I haven't used Instagram in a while, but they look exactly like how I remember!), so that's another good trait. They're formatted in pictures that are shown almost like screenshots in the text, making for interesting structure.

Creatively, the structure works too since it starts by introducing Rose and giving the basic premise of the story with the guy messaging her on Instagram and thus kickstarting the core of the book. For those reasons, I think the structure is pretty good, and when the structure is good, there isn't too much else to say other than it's good, so great job!

Suggestion-wise, the main suggestion I have is to consider breaking up some of the paragraphs more. For example, from chapter one, the paragraph in the beginning starting with "Some posts included only adults..." could be split up, as it takes up a full page. The issue isn't long paragraphs since there's nothing inherently wrong with long paragraphs; however, if there is more than one main idea in a paragraph, then I recommend breaking it up. The long paragraphs throughout often have multiple main ideas in them, hence why I recommend splitting them up. So, to summarize, it's not inherently a bad thing to have long paragraphs, though two things to keep in mind is how paragraphs can feel too long if there is too much information in them, and since Wattpad is an online reading platform, most people use their mobile devices, so long paragraphs can mean walls of text for the phone users.

Another thing is there is a lot of exposition between when she gets the message and when she actually replies to it (in the beginning). Something to keep in mind about exposition is you have the entire story to give it, so the recommendation I always give to authors is to give as little exposition as realistically possible in your first chapter. Readers want to know why we should read first, and normally that "why" is in the form of the characters and plot, but mainly plot to begin with. Of course, some exposition in the first chapter is natural, but I would recommend downsizing it to only what the reader needs to know to understand chapter one. Otherwise, consider sprinkling the exposition throughout the story rather than all at once, as Rose exposits a lot of information about herself in chapter one. This could also potentially be unengaging because we want to see Rose's traits and background in action, not be told everything we should know, if that makes sense.

One last thing is very small, so not a big deal at all. The chapters start with chapters one, two, three, and four, then afterward, the "Chapter 1: *insert title here*" stops and it becomes simply the chapter names. It's no big deal, but I would recommend removing the Chapters 1-4 title cards in the chapter titles (chapter four also does not have an official title, it seems), that way, structurally, it looks a bit neater. I hope everything I said in this section made sense.

Overall, the structure of the story is good and has interesting formatting with the text messages along with a nice introduction to the premise of the story. There could be some tweaks to some of the presentation, though, to help with fluidity and structure.

Flow: 6/10. The flow throughout the story is good, and there are many highlights! I like Rose's friends and how they speak to her in the gc. It feels very reminiscent of my old high school days (makes me sound old even though I'm only in my twenties, lol), and I think you did a good job writing the group of friends.

As I mentioned earlier, I also like the overall story idea and think it's an important one to talk about. The concept behind the book is admirable and flows out well in the text, where we see the online identity of Rose and how the internet directly impacts a young kid's life. It was a good choice to make the main character on the younger side, that way we can see firsthand the impacts of technology and online predators.

Another thing is I liked the pranks that occurred throughout. First with the fake cousin prank, and then the second prank later. You do a good job creating the high school environment. Those high school moments flowed nicely, and I'm sure they'll captivate the audience.

Suggestion-wise, there are frequent grammar errors throughout. I'm not talking about the texts since of course it's okay to have those errors in texting, but in the general story there are errors. For example, the story often says "Like I told," which is being used in context to refer to something the narrator said in the past. I would recommend using "Like I said" instead of "Like I told" since it's more grammatically correct and sounds less awkward. I would recommend considering a grammar checker and/or reading the text out loud (or plugging it into a text-to-speech generator (TTS); I personally use TTS, and it's the only thing I use to edit since it helps me so much). Grammar checking and editing can help with the overall fluidity of the story.

Another thing is there are frequently pictures of the text conversations the characters are having, and there's nothing inherently wrong with this, but since the text conversations are also explained in detail in the actual story itself, having the pictures felt redundant. I would recommend going with one or the other (the pictures or the descriptions) since if you're having both, you're repeating information and therefore slowing the pacing unnecessary, especially since it switches to primarily pictures later in the text.

And the last thing that also relates to the previous point is the text has a tendency to over-explain things. We're in Rose's thoughts a lot, which there's nothing inherently wrong with, but the story explains almost every detail and thought she has, leading to the chapters being probably around 4-8 minutes longer than they need to be if it were downsized.

For example, in the first chapter, I mentioned earlier that there is a lot of exposition, and downsizing on that and sprinkling it throughout the story instead of all at once could be beneficial. Though when it comes to the over-explaining, Rose goes into detail clarifying the specific ages she wants to talk to, stating she wouldn't talk to anyone unless they're two years more or less than her age. Then, the sentence after goes on to restate that but slightly differently by saying she means talking to kids aged 11-15. There's no need for both sentences since they both say the same thing, so only having one is effective enough. So that's what I mean when I say much of the text is over-explained and could benefit from being downsized on, thus smoothening the flow a bit.

Overall, the flow has good moments and intrigue that makes it fun to read, and the concept is great and inspirational, so I encourage you to keep writing edutainment-esque content! There could be some tweaks to strengthen the flow, but it's still all in all good.

Album Presentation: 7/10. The title is An Online Mystery, which sums up exactly what the story is going to be about, so hey, that works, right? A title is meant to reflect the story, after all. It's spelled and capitalized correctly, so it's fine! It could potentially be more vivid since An Online Mystery is very straightforward, but I think it's fine nonetheless.

As for the blurb, the blurb breaks down what the story is going to be about, setting up who the main character is and the general premise of the work. For those reasons, I think the creativity behind the blurb is fine. That said, the grammar could use some tweaks since it is a bit hard to understand in some areas.

Consider:

In today's virtual world, where everything happens online, there are just as many kinds of people on the internet as there are in real life. Rose, a blooming teenager who has met all these kinds of people, labels herself an 'internet vigilante' and hunts multiple social media predators and bullies for her own satisfaction.

But one day, a guy who claims to have seen her at school messages her, although she doesn't remember seeing him. He's not flirty or creepy, but at the same time, he comes off as a mysterious person whose motive is still unknown. Lots of drama occurs all through just one social media app, and Rose's friends get involved too. A plethora of fake account drama, blocking, stalking, and anonymity occurs—most of them being Rose's plans themselves. In between this, she still finds time to do her usual hobby of hunting predators.

At the end of all this, is he who we all think he is? Is he just a random online friend, a predator who failed at his plans, or someone beyond all of this...? It's hard to say, honestly—everything happens online.

That's strictly a grammar check where I added commas and changed some words to agree with the rest of the sentences, but I otherwise didn't make any changes to the direction of the blurb or full sentences. I hope that makes sense.

As for the cover, I like the concept behind it by showing the text bubbles as a way to introduce the title and author's name. The technology on the cover also fits, and showing the girl and boy shows the opposite side of the coin where there's the stranger and our protagonist. So I think the concept works well. Suggestion-wise, though, the cover could benefit from some tweaks. The black borders around the cover could potentially be removed, and the watermark over the girl is a bit distracting. I would recommend looking on Unsplash for copyright-friendly images, as many of them do not have watermarks. The images and text could also be less pixelated, as they are a bit blurry, which could be fixed potentially through Remini or another photo editing platform. I hope that makes sense as well.

Total: 34/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) Pretty Little Lies by Desi Fain

- This is one of the best songs I've ever heard. The production quality is insane, and the vocals go hard, too. As the title implies, it's a song about lying, particularly to a man. Considering what Rose is doing online, I think this song is almost like her theme song and what she'd listen to while pranking lolguy. For those reasons, I think it deserves a spot on this playlist.

2) On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz

- Gorillaz is such a good band, and this song is another great addition to their discography. People are divided on what this song is truly about, with some speculating it's anti-consumerism, others speculating it's about unrequited love, and others speculating it's about settling down. Either way, I think the themes regarding love are clear, and considering Rose's views on soulmates and love, I think this is an interesting song to include here, hence why I think it fits.

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

I SAW YOU WITH MY EYES CLOSED by TEJALKAUR4554

Review:

Creativity: 8/10. This is a creative poem! I love spiritual poems, and this was a nice one to read through since it had interesting word choice and a clear overall theme. Something I really appreciate is how the word choice is more experimental, which fits the category well. It's the opposite of cliche since it plays around with new metaphors and words, such as "comb jellies," "dove captured by the eagle of dismay," and fireflies versus tenebrosity. The fireflies are the most "common" on this list, and they're still used in a creative way, so I appreciate the experimentation here.

Suggestion-wise, not much, as you can probably tell based on the high score. I'm only going to go briefly over some thoughts I had since the structure and flow sections will explain the majority of my suggestions. But to briefly go over it, sometimes the poem mixes higher vocabulary with either odd word choices or more simplistic vocab. For example, there are words like tenebrosity and coruscant, and then words like cwtch (if it's being used as slang and wasn't a typo) and shake. There's nothing wrong with using more simplistic/straightforward words like "shake," but considering much of the poem has the more elegant words and metaphors (i.e., the comb jellies, "hinder," "cherish," "tranquility," etc.), it could be interesting to see either more connective tissue between these images (i.e., doves/eagles, Mars, bombs, comb jellies) and/or a clearer tone with either a lyrical, elegant tone or a more simplistic, conversational one, though I believe a more elegant one would work here considering the poem is mostly elegant and features a spiritual idea.

Overall, the poem is very creative and features a lot of unique metaphors and uses of words that make it stand out. It was a fun read, and it's clear there is a lot of ambition and passion put into it, which I'll talk about again in the next section!

Timelessness: 8/10. This section refers to the emotional takeaway and general memorability of the piece, and as you can probably tell based on the score, I think it's good! It fits in perfectly in this category, making it a good match for this contest, and it is what I was looking for when I first thought of the Experimental category. It plays around with its word choice and tries new things, such as going from more intimate moments with closed eyes and questioning to the grander scale of things, such as through bringing up Mars and the future. A lot happens in the course of this relatively short poem, yet all the elements feel fun to read about, making the piece memorable.

It's also clear how passionate the speaker is. The longing the speaker feels is genuine and is presented in a sincere way through the unique words and wonder presented throughout, which gives it a nice emotional touch, too. It's ambitious and passionate.

Since this is almost like an accumulation/overall section right in the beginning of the review, I don't have much to say here in terms of critiques other than things that either have already been said or will be said, so I'll only summarize here. There could be some tweaks to the flow since there are some moments that were hard to follow from a grammatical perspective. I'll also talk about a few structural things that could potentially be tweaked in the next section. These tweaks could potentially help with fluidity and general emotional takeaway. Overall, though, the timelessness of this piece deserves a good score since it has great moments and a lot of ambition behind it.

Structure: 7.5/10. The chosen structure of the story is line storytelling, where the poem is told in individual lines rather than big stanzas or anything similar, which I think is fine. This poem is almost like individual discoveries, so having it be more broken up makes sense.

Another thing is I like the creative structure and how the eyes are a frequent visual of the piece. This when combined with the fact that the poem ends in a "true abode" makes it feel well-rounded and engaging. Along with that, there is also the element of the repeated questions related to the unnamed "he/him" who we know is God. It gives it that searching/adventure feel that gives it a nice atmosphere while we're reading about your passion, giving the poem several layers. So, from a creative standpoint, I don't have any critiques for the concepts and how they're arranged here.

Suggestion-wise, there are some moments throughout that could potentially be restructured to help with both understanding and flow. I'll talk about some of the spacing issues in the next section, though here, I'll provide some examples of ways to potentially tighten the word choice.

Example: "dreams come true" has a lot to be faced.

Maybe consider: "Dreams come true" — a phrase that demands to be faced.

This tweak could potentially heighten the tension a bit with more dramatic phrasing and call to action.

Example: If my life is a sea, your existence in it is like the coruscant Comb Jellies in the marine mass,

Maybe consider: If my life is a sea, your presence is the coruscant comb jellies—

It's slightly shorter by removing the "in it is like" and condensing it. It may help with the flow if it were slightly shortened.

It could also potentially be interesting if all this imagery was broken into clearer stanzas. Maybe one stanza for anything night-related, like the darkness and fireflies, and then one stanza for the speaker's longing, and then one for the grander scale, etc. It could also be more than one stanza for these things, but organizing them into specific stanzas may help with the structure and pacing of the piece.

Overall, the structure is okay for the poem. it's straightforward and is mostly lines as their own little stanzas/paragraphs, so there isn't too much to say regarding the structure other than it's okay for the poem. It could potentially be made into longer stanzas depending on what's being described, but that's not a must by any means.

Flow: 7/10. This section refers to the flow of the piece as a whole, and I'd say it's good, starting with an interesting opening line and ending with a very nice ending line. I like the "inside your true abode" since the use of "true" makes it feel more definitive and detailed. We're now truly home, is essentially what's being said, and I think that's a great touch that all comes from one word. But when writing poetry, every word counts, so this may seem like a small thing, and maybe it is, but it stands out in the grand scheme of things.

I mentioned earlier that I like how you choose more abstract, unique descriptions and metaphors rather than sticking to anything cliche, and that applies here, too, as it factors into the flow.

Another thing is a lot of the smaller moments of word choice add up to elevate the poem. For example, small moments like "exasperated existence" give the poem weight, and I also like the repetition of the "e" sound here.

Suggestion-wise, a couple things. One is sometimes commas are spaced out from their words while other times they're not. I.e.: In a scene ,where.... Or: A well known phrase , brimmed with grace.... I would recommend some more consistency with how the commas are structured. So consider: In a scene, where.... And: A well known phrase, brimmed with grace.... I hope that makes sense.

There are some other errors throughout, such as "catch" being spelled as "cwtch" toward the end (unless this was meant to be used as slang, though it feels a bit stiff and may benefit from being reworded either way), or in a similar vein as the previous point, there's this: But who is he ? Consider: But who is he?

Another thing is there are some lines throughout that may benefit from being reworded. I mentioned a couple of potential restructures in the previous section, though I think this line makes more sense in the flow section: Deserved Mind relaxation faces there resistance. Here, this line is a bit confusing with what it's trying to say. Maybe something like: Well-earned peace meets stubborn resistance. Or something of the sort to make the meaning a bit clearer. It's okay to be abstract in poetry, of course, though the original sentence is a bit hard to grasp from a grammatical standpoint, not a concept standpoint, hence why I recommend considering tweaking it. Or maybe: Tranquility faces its resistance. Those are two random ideas, but it depends on your intended meaning and voice.

One other thing is just a random suggestion, but it could be cool to capitalize He and Him throughout the poem (same with You and Your). Not a must by any means, but it's just a random idea that might appeal to you.

Overall, the flow is good throughout and has clear direction for where you want to take the themes. It has interesting lines and memorable moments that made it stand out to me. There could be tweaks to the grammar and some of the presentation, though, to help smoothen the fluidity.

Album Presentation: 7.5/10. The title is I SAW YOU WITH MY EYES CLOSED, which is clearly purposefully all capitalized for style purposes. For those reasons, I think the technical side of the title is fine. The title fits the narrative of the poem and uses the all caps to make it stand out, so for those reasons, I have no critiques of the title.

As for the blurb, the blurb is simply this: POEM DEDICATED TO THE LOVE OF GOD

I think the blurb says exactly what the poem is going to be about, so can't really fault it for that. I would recommend having it in normal case instead of all caps since the title already being all caps is eye-catching, and too much could potentially risk coming off as a bit strong or too much. I would also recommend adding a period/full stop after "God" to end the sentence there. Otherwise, even though the blurb is short and only one sentence technically, I think it's fine since it fits the poem.

As for the cover, it has a nice image that's a good quality. The poem is about seeing and eyes, so it makes sense that an eye would be on the cover, right? So I think that side of the cover is nice. The text is okay, though the bottom part which looks to be a kind of transparent brownish bar covers part of the text, and the bottom part felt a tad unnecessary and like it could have been removed since it covers some of the text. The text could potentially be stronger with that clarity. Still, I really like the image and think it reflects the meaning of the poem well.

Total: 38/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) Arabesco by Lorenzo Fiore

- I feel like this work needs piano music. Is it just me? It feels like a peaceful, calming playlist would fit this poem best due to how it's written and its intended message. This relatively short (two and a half minutes) track is tranquil, won't distract from the reading experience, and sets the mood for what readers are about to read!

2) Light by Tankeflukt

- Similarly to the previous song, I feel this playlist needs piano music to properly reflect what the readers are engaging with. For this song, it sounds very hopeful (that and the fact that the title is "Light"), and I think that fits in with the theme of your work. It's also a very elegant, pretty song that's worth a listen!

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

Queen by EsmeraldaDryden

Review:

Creativity: 7.5/10. I think the idea for this series is excellent. The whole point is it is a series detailing an unnamed queen's life, and I think using a poem series to capture that was a unique spin on the genre. I don't think I've ever seen a poetry collection focused on detailing a royal's life before, so it's safe to say this is a fresh idea.

The poem Beauty in particular tries something unique and is the only poem that isn't only four lines long. It plays around with the structure more and has an interesting usage of repetition with "her beauty."

Another thing I particularly enjoy is the fact that this piece almost feels like a mythos at times due to the way we're watching this queen's tale unfold. It not only adds a unique layer to it where it feels like we're reading ancient poetry, but it also makes it more engaging as a result!

Suggestion-wise, I don't have too much aside from a few things. One is something I'll expand upon in the structure section, but it could be interesting to see more experimentation with the structure and formatting of the poems themselves, maybe in terms of more punctuation experimentation or different styles, as Beauty seems to be the only one published at the time of reviewing this that breaks from the normal four-line stanza structure; however, that's a relatively small thing, and I'll talk about it more later.

Another thing is lines like "She wore her pain like a silken gown" and "lioness watches her cubs" are okay but also relatively simplistic and familiar lines compared to some of the others. Your strength is when you really surprise us with things like the imagery in Scarf or the beauty seen in slumping shoulders. So some more diversity in those moments could potentially be beneficial as well.

Overall, the creativity is one of the highlights of the piece, featuring a strong central idea that I think will sell readers on the idea of the collection and get them to want to read more. This is an entertaining collection, and I hope you continue it in the future.

Timelessness: 7.5/10. This section refers to the overall emotional takeaway from the collection, and even though it is not complete yet, I think so far there is a lot of intrigue here that works well to craft a compelling, emotional tale. It fits in extremely well with the Experimental category in particular due to how it plays around with the queen concept. These experimentations with concept are what make this piece memorable, which is a key part of this category, hence the good score.

Something I appreciate about this collection is how the pieces work together to make a specific image of this queen figure. It almost builds an admiration in the audience for this figure despite her not having a name (if there was and I missed it, I apologize). We see her as an archetype of the queen figure but also as a human, which is a very interesting and emotional part of the work.

Suggestion-wise, since this is like an accumulation section, I don't have much to say here that hasn't already been said or will be said in the next two sections, so I'll only briefly summarize. There are some structural suggestions I have that could potentially help with the overall emotional takeaway, and also some suggestions regarding flow and potential tweaks to some lines that could potentially smoothen some of the emotions, too. So, all in all, the emotional takeaway is good and has interesting concepts and execution of said concepts.

Structure: 7/10. When it comes to the structure, aside from Beauty, all of the poems follow a four-line stanza structure with relatively simplistic language to make it easy to access for most audiences. This familiar structure is fine and works, especially depending on your intended message with the collection. It's a bit difficult to come to a for sure conclusion since it is still marked as ongoing, so a conclusion to the series is unknown currently, but if there is meant to be a concluding poem at some point, I think that's a great idea to make this poetry collection feel like its own little novel, in a way. It seems like that's what it's setting up so far, and if that's the intention with the structure, I think that's a great idea.

So the creative side of the structure is good with the concepts and how they're presented, and the technical side is fine, too. For those reasons, I think this deserves a nice score since it's off to a good start structure-wise.

Suggestion-wise, only a couple of things. For Fortress, I do like the idea presented, though this feels more like an ending poem considering it ends with a definitive "forevermore" moment of the gates being closed, which seems to contradict with the next two poems and how she watches over and invites sin in. It could potentially be rearranged structurally so this is an ending poem that concludes the whole collection, or maybe the ending line is more open to the future, like: Her gate stands guarded, for now. Or: Her gate stands guarded. Or even: Her gate stands guarded, forevermore. The forevermore here is a little more open ended since instead of the gates being closed, they're simply guarded, still leaving room for something or someone to come inside. I hope that makes sense.

Another thing is it could be interesting to experiment with the style more in future installments, as the style is all free verse, it seems, and the structure is similar throughout except for in Beauty. I'm okay with that since it can almost symbolize how the queen is trying to fall into routine and have a practiced, perfect elegance, thus rarely straying from the course of what's "perfect" (so the repeating structure almost represents that), but if there is going to be a fall from grace like it seems there may be in the future, it's something worth considering to have these structures be broken up and show cracks and flaws the further it goes. This is all determinant on how you envision the rest of the collection, though.

Overall, the structure is good throughout the collection. It's typically a four-line stanza, aside from Beauty, which has a unique structure. The creative side of the structure is good, too, with the concepts being interesting and presented in equally interesting ways. There could be some tweaks to some of the experimentation with the structure, though, to make each poem feel more unique, or more unique in the future of this collection.

Flow: 7.5/10. When it comes to the flow of the collection, I'd say it's good! It has clear direction with what kind of story it wants to tell, and in the process, it drops some banger lines. Scarf is one of my favorites along with Beauty because of their powerful lines and how they manage to paint pictures. Scarf being able to do it in just four lines is particularly impressive. For example: "A moat filled with unshed tears" and "pearls ride on waves of black" (both from scarf). These are both beautiful lines with powerful imagery that made them stand out to me.

The entirety of Scarf, as I mentioned, is great. There isn't a single line out of place in that poem, and it reads beautifully with good flow. Beauty also has gorgeous imagery that makes it so memorable. It flows extremely well with lines like "The way her figure slumps with the weight of the world." This image of the slumping body contrasting the "beauty" of the queen's exterior is wonderful, and it also flows well conceptually and technically.

In general, the actual grammar/technical writing of the piece is good. I may have word choice suggestions, but the actual grammar and spelling is all good, so that's yet another plus!

When it comes to suggestions, there are some moments where the word choice could potentially be tweaked.

First poem:

She wore her pride like a velvet cloak

Her very presence inspired decadence

There are conflicting definitions of decadence (it's a word I typically advise against using for this reason) where one is luxury as you cited in your comment, though another prominent definition is the exact opposite where it means decay or falling from status, which may work as a great double-meaning in later poems if we're following her fracturing hold on power, but this poem is an introduction that seems all-powerful, so the word also having that prominent meaning of decay could potentially be an unintended double-meaning that doesn't fit with the powerful feel of the poem. It could also be interesting if a word rhyming more with "cloak" were included since the previous two lines rhymed well, but that's also dependent on the tone you were going for with this and not a must by any means.

A potential different phrasing could be: Her very presence demanded reverence

There are also some moments throughout the poems where it felt like the lines/word choice could have had more punch to them. For example, for the second poem, having a stronger, punchier ending line could potentially be beneficial and more emotionally resonant. The ending line is: All that she was meant to be. This is fine since it's a poem about destiny (hence the title), though maybe it could have a stronger punch as: All that destiny carved into her being. Or maybe something similar without mentioning the word "destiny" directly in the poem.

Earlier, in the structure section, I mentioned potentially tweaking the wording of Fortress to mention her gates being guarded rather than closed. A way this could potentially come full circle is if, in the "Watching" poem, there was a line to bring it full circle. This is one line from the poem:

She who can forgive all her enemies
Except those who harm what is hers.

This part is relatively straightforward, utilizing the lioness imagery to give a maternal feel to it. It could potentially have more of an emotional punch and also a full circle moment, though, if it were phrased something like this:

She forgives enemies, but never the hand
That dares to touch what she guards.

It's a bit punchier and adds to the lioness imagery with that more threatening language ("daring" to "touch"). Though, if the possessiveness of the "what is hers" is the punch you're looking for, it can also replace the "guards." That's just a random idea and not a must by any means, but I thought it was a way to potentially bring past language to the future poems (by connecting the "guards").

Overall, the flow of the collection is good so far and has potential to become even grander when/if this collection is continued. It has an interesting central idea with unique execution. There could be some potential tweaks to the word choice, but I all in all liked the flow of the collection.

Album Presentation: 7.5/10. The title is Queen, which quite literally sums up what the poetry collection is about: a queen. It's capitalized correctly and fits in with the story, so, hey, can't go wrong with that, right? For those reasons, I think the title is fine and works for the story, therefore I have no criticisms.

As for the blurb, the blurb is: The story of a Queen.

This quite literally says what it's going to be about, so, again, can't really fault it too much, right? It says what the readers want to know, and it fits in with the cover to make it cohesive. It could be interesting to have more detail about what exactly we can expect from this series. Maybe an indication of the tone or the poetry style (in your case, free verse). Not a big deal, and it may not end up working, but it's worth mentioning either way. Overall, the blurb says exactly what the series is about, so not much to say other than it sums up the story.

As for the cover, it's okay and sets up what the collection is going to be about, just like the title and blurb. It's a crown with the text "queen" on it along with the author's name. I like the font and think it fits the elegance of the queen narrative. The only thing is the crown is not fully on the cover, as the sides of it are cropped out by the limited Wattpad dimensions. A cover where the whole crown is visible may be beneficial to be more visually satisfying, and the font may benefit from being a bit larger as well, since it's kind of small on the cover. Otherwise, the cover fits the collection.

Total: 37/50.

Songs chosen to reflect the work:

1) La petite fille of the sea by Anajay

- Maybe a bit of an obvious, low-hanging-fruit choice, but this elegant, siren-like track is perfect for the collection. It has a beautiful feel of elegance while also sounding like it's drawing the audience in with every pretty note. For those reasons, I think it fits right in on Queen's playlist.

2) The Promise by Secret Garden

- This track almost feels like sitting on a balcony and overlooking everything you've built, kind of like the queen in this collection. It's elegant, it's simple, and it's reflective, making for a perfect follow up from the last song and a great addition to this playlist!

Link to playlist --->

Album scorecard:

~End~

Thank you for participating in the Experimental category! Or if you're just passing by, thank you for taking the time to look through the reviews! These authors/poets deserve support!

The next category I'm working on is Disco, though I'll be working on the Birthday Bash before the Disco category comes out since the WHO Awards got two sets of results and Birthday Bash has been on pause. I'll keep you guys updated on my progress!

Thank you again for reading, and I'll see you soon for the Disco category!