POW Yeah, I can't really justify the exposition in the first chapter, but where else was I going to put it? Like I said in my review, exposition isn't bad, it just needs to be taken in moderation. Relegating it to the first or second chapters of an arc is about the very most you can do without making it too tedious, which is what I tried to avoid. It may come off as tedious, but as you mention, it set up for a nice punch line.
Indeed, I did model Travis's character after my boy Hikigaya. To some degree. I didn't make him the fish-eyed cancer wart that he is, instead, I tried to work some of the better points of his sarcasm into Travis' experiential wit about the field of writing.
Sorry, but I don't give full five stars unless they deserve it. If you feel cheated, feel free to retract yours.
I make it a point to give completely honest thoughts about my and other people's work. I get your point about support and that, but that's just dancing around the true purpose of reviews. They're meant to signify quality, not the reader's support. A guide, as it were, to understand whether the content within the novel is interesting and well written and whether new readers should take it up based on the evaluation it provides. 4.2 is quite generous, in my opinion, and more than enough to get the casual reader into it, especially based on the content of the review itself.