love the comparisons on style and polish! it's really interesting to think of them as opposites on a spectrum, with stylishness coming from those rougher edges. that last point & the card on succeeding as a contemporary artist is inspiring me to make something worthy of a 1-star review...
(and i'm cosigning your ire on star ratings - quarter-stars are just ridiculous, why is that an option on storygraph, what are we doing. and why are we making rating rubriks!!!)