Genre: Fantasy, specifically a fairytale retelling
PRESENTATION ✿✿✿❀❀
Your cover is stunning, absolute perfection, and I am in no way biased.
Unfortunately I do have to take a point off for the extras. 5 chapters before the book begins is really too much. You've got to consider the fact that a lot of people are reading this on their phones, and Wattpad likes to stick ads in between chapters, so that's an added hassle if they just want to skip straight to the story. I would suggest putting the dedications, cast, and playlist at the back of the book. The dedications won't mean anything to new readers, and there are readers like myself who don't want to be "spoiled" by associating the characters with certain actors and actresses. That way, the cast is an option for people who like them, but is more easily avoided for those who don't.
Also, the playlist. I don't understand the playlist. It has country. I listened to the first one and now I need a therapist. Why. WHY.
It is worth noting that I hate country music.
In general, I think the music you've chosen throughout the book doesn't suit the tone of the story very well. I understand the Cinderella theme, but the music in the first chapter is too pop-y and upbeat, and the second one is too whimsical and childish (it is from the Cinderella cartoon, after all). Obviously you know your book better than anyone, so feel free to disregard, but it really didn't get me in a "pirate Cinderella high fantasy" mood. It also directly contrasts the formal way the characters talk.
HOOK ✿✿✿❀❀
I like your blurb, very clean and short, and you do a good job of summing up the book's conflict in two sentences. The opening line is a good hook, and then we have just enough information to give us an idea of what the book is about without spoiling anything.
I'm in a unique position with the first chapter because I read it before this version, and I have to say I don't love the edits. I don't know the overall plotline of the whole book so there's probably a reason for them that I just haven't figured out yet, but the new info really drags the first chapter. I love the twist of "beautiful girl at the ball actually enchanted everyone and kills the prince", so with that you have me hooked. However, I feel like the first chapter would be a hundred times better if you trimmed it way down. Paragraphs like this, for example, serve no discernible purpose in furthering the story:
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You don't have to have all the world-building in here. You don't have to introduce all the major characters. You don't have to talk about the Viridian traditions of marrying their cousins or break the focus of the chapter to talk about Nevae or go into Peder's reasons for mistrust. The first chapter should hook us. I liked it a lot more when it was just Ashen showing up to kill Emlen, rather than bogged down with the exposition. Sure, it left questions, but the next chapter answered most of them, and the questions kept me interested.
