Good luck with the new project. I have following few points regarding the questions you asked

• You should have an attractive logo for your website.
• A Writing & Review website should have featured posts as it's primary content. But a section should also be available for W&R News.
• Animations may be used for the homepage, but once a user wants to read a post, a separate page might open with simple elegant layout, but without animations, as they might prove to be a distraction or disturbance for someone who just wants to read an interesting article. (I am sorry if I am being too technical here 😬)
• Three (or more) different posts with preview is a good idea, rather than user having to scroll down to see the next post.
• You might also like to consider different sections for different languages on your website.