Ben
Ten thoughts on this book:
Kaoru is a delightful protagonist.
J-Novel Club refers to this as #potionloli
I found it utterly engrossing after part 2.
Kaoru is as OP as Kirito
The world is not particularly fleshed out.
3.5 vignettes make the story feel fragmented.
Watching Kaoru outfox the competition never gets old.
Her potions are the definition of deus ex mockingjay.
Best line: “Um... Why are Celes's boobs so big on that statue of her?”
Verdict: I will eagerly anticipate the sequel.
Funny story, I was all excited to recommend this to people at work who were wondering what they hype was about Stephen King.
No monsters
Nothing scary
Important life lessons
Good ol' Stephen King prose
Oatmeal for brains got eaten by an alligator
Well, there goes that plan.
Seriously Stephen there were 5 minutes left, we could just be vague. sigh
However the first story revolves around acceptance of a lesbian couple and magic weight loss. 100% does not feel like virtue signaling. I was a little murky on why becoming BFFs was super important to the MC, but it felt very earned as the story brings its resolution.
I'm totally going to go fill the holes in my Stephen King reading. brb.
Ten Thoughts About This Book
1. Don't worry. It's better than the anime. (Much better)
2. Yes the father / daughter / sister / brother thing gets incestuous.
3. The internal monologue explains tk decisions very well.
4. The battle scenes lack intensity.
5. Very charming on the whole.
6. The harem has distinct, if cliched personalities.
7. Engineer-kun is bae.
8. The threats to the wolf clan seem far off in the first volume. -> Thus this volume is completely set-up.
9. Best line: “Hm? I just thought I'd take a selfie with this divine object. Oh, speaking of which, do you think using a front-facing camera counts as an opposing mirror?”
10. Verdict: I liked it a lot despite my criticisms.
Technically it was just as savage as the Manga... (but secretly that's a lie). The novel gets quite hand-wavey about the violence and cruelty of the goblins, which lessens the reason I adored the manga.
The perspective goes bouncing around between characters (important or otherwise) but they stand apart. Mostly because of what they're talking about more than any tonal differences.
The final arc seems very rushed and the setup seems to come out of nowhere. I expected some cause / effect but at the end of volume one it just seemed like “A” plot got resolved but my publisher wanted more pages, so here's another “A” plot with no emotional resonance.
I will definitely read volume 2.
It took a surprisingly long time to get to the actual murder, and I'm not quite sure there was much detective work actually done. The characters were shallow, and I would emphatically recommend not starting with this one, because it operates under the assumption that you've read the other 19 and little in the way of character development or explanation is provided herein.
A quick vapid read, that I guess got me in the spirit of Christmas?
This is amazing!! I am totally going to never read the first two volumes of the main series. This is the way that Aincrad was meant to be experienced. I am totally a huge fan and this completely lived up to my expectations. The only complaint I have is that the story “The First Day” from volume 8 leads directly into this but that isn't explained until the author's acknowledgement page at the very end of the book. So start there folks!
A feel good story with an absurd amount of virtue signaling by the author. Colfer wants you to know just how much of an ally he is at every turn. The characters, though, are easy to root for and the story doesn't require much commitment. The plot keeps up at a steady clip. Yet the writing often feels a little stilted and forced. On the whole, I certainly didn't mind my time with it, and found it hard to put down despite its flaws.
Tough and timely. Platt calls into question our desire to avoid conflict and avoid fighting against the decline of modern civilization.
