In My Opinion

The Council of Gods by Dark_Ghostie

Title: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐬 by Dark_Ghostie
Source: ELGANZA, INC. | AWARDS by TheCieloCommunity
Category: Fantasy
Mature: N (moderate swearing, violence, mentions of death, kidnapping, war)
LGBTQIAP+: N
Status: Complete
Special note (judging): I had five books from this category, and the other judges (HavvySnow, silksutra, _p1nk_tr4sh_) had six, five, and five books, respectively.
Score: 65/100

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*****

Rubric:
- Title: 5
- Book cover: 5
- Description (blurb): 5
- Plot & storytelling: 15
- Character development: 10
- Writing style: 10
- Grammar: 10
- Originality & creativity: 10
- Emotional impact: 10
- Pacing & structure: 5
- Accuracy (if non-fiction): 5
- Overall enjoyment & engagement: 10
Total: 100

*****

Total: 65/100

Title: 5/5
Mythology, fantasy, all good with me. Yes. Love this title.

Addendum: Adding the series title and book number would not be a bad idea so readers can clearly see this is where to start if they want to get into this series (especially if they start with a later book and then realize they need to read book one first).

Cover: 4/5
The first issue I see with this cover is the font color for your name. I think sticking with gold would work much better with the black and gold theme. It's actually not much of a problem in the smaller image on the table of contents page, but the white really stands out in the larger image when I click your book title on your profile (and that's the reverse of what I usually see, which is that the larger image looks better than the smaller image). I think the placement of your name is fine. It's just the color that's an issue. And, after sitting here, staring at this cover for a while to analyze it, I realized the corner frames are off. Parts of the frames are cut off, and that may be due to image cropping to fit Wattpad requirements, but they're not symmetrical, either, and now that I have noticed that, it really bothers me.

Blurb: 4/5
This blurb runs a bit long for my taste, but it's probably fine in that regard. I just like shorter blurbs. Ending with a question is a great way to hook in readers, and even though you've provided a lot of information, I get the feeling you're withholding a lot, so it's not like you've spoiled the story by saying too much.

There are a few editing suggestions I'd recommend. In the fourth paragraph, I'd change "may" to "will," and "trails" should be "trials." The next paragraph has more stuff going on. In the first sentence, I'd add "already" after "sister" to improve the flow, and I'd probably change "raised" to "high." "Raised" isn't wrong, but "high" feels more natural to me. The next sentence is a bit convoluted because it's so long. I'd cut it in half with a period after "Eden," and change "had always" to "has always" for tense consistency. Also, where you have that single hyphen, I'd add spaces on either side ( - ) to make that sentence division clearer. As for the new next sentence, just swap "that" for "An Eden," and I'd swap the two "hads" for "has always" to tie in nicely with the previous sentence. Lots of "always," yeah, but it works to add even more emphasis to what she wants and how important this is to her.

Addendum: Adding a note in the blurb about this being the first book in a series would be a good idea.

Plot & storytelling: 5/15
Well, the plot is definitely unique, and huge kudos on coming up with all the trials. I wouldn't know where to begin with those, and I certainly can't decipher a riddle without assistance, so there's no way I could create riddles. But...there's a lot promised in the blurb that never happens in the story, so I'll start by going through that, and then I'll transition into some thoughts and questions about the story in general.