Wow, it’s a really detailed review, thanks for that!
Some comments
Plot: I’m that kind of author who loves to show something new in every chapter, to surprise her readers, to add some twist and maybe some cliffhanger(ish part)s here and there. And sometimes I act on a whim, so I even surprise myself (and sometimes I wonder if I’m sane, but that’s another story
).
I purposely didn’t tell any deep details and background story since I plan to gradually unfold the plot (this way I can lure back most of the readers, haha ). I’m glad that it seems to work.
I try to avoid clichés, yup, as much as possible, but a bad boy(-looking guy) is a must.
Grammar: I’m not a native speaker, I just prefer to stay silent about it. Emphasising it is not a good PR!
Anyway, I kinda use a dictionary and grammar guides for even an “a” (lol), and I also have some friends who do some spellchecks for me and give me some advises. Now, let’s get serious: I’m not saving time on creating my dialogues, I spend a huge amount of time on writing them to reach the best possible result (and besides Google, thesaurus, merriam-webster dictionary, urbandictionary and other useful sites are my best friends). I also improve myself this way, and it’s a must, because it can be so frustrating when you can’t express yourself the way you could in your native language (for eg. the new word I learned today is shillelagh, lol xD).
Directing: I’ve already made some changes based on two reviews and the new things I learned, thus my directing is not that terrible anymore, but still, I’m a bit lazy to fix some scenes, even though I know I could do better. I rather focus on making more enjoyable animations hereafter.
Choices: Dunno if there is any “standard” on how many choices a chapter should optimally contain, but I rather add less to avoid mistakes like refering back to something that hasn’t happened in your version of the story (for eg. You choose to eat an apple instead of a peach, but then in the next chapter I accidentally write that you ate a peach, because I forget about the choice… if you know what I mean; I always have to pay full attention to the details, and sometimes it’s hard if you have a toddler around, so the less choice, the less chance to break the space-time continuum :D).
The CC is also something I added after publishing the 5th chapter. I might try to figure out how to alter the relatives’ features based on the readers choices. I thought I could skip this part if the mother has light skin and the father has a darker type.
Diversity: You will see more in the later chapters.
Cover: Let’s not talk about that. XD I can sing and play some instruments, but I have no talent for arts. Maybe some day someone will take a pity on me.