Disciple of the Lich: Or How I was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped into the Abyss! (Vol 7) So many of these stories end up abandoned, needlessly padded with filler, or continued long past the obvious end point. I really appreciate it when one actually comes to a satisfying conclusion.
The final fights were enjoyable and consistent with the nature of the established world, the epilogue was fitting. Major plot points resolved. All in all a very satisfying end to the series. 4/5
Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super CheatPowers (Vol 1-2) The anime was enjoyable and J-Novel club has this on catchup, so when the anime hit a cliffhanger I picked it up.
Vol 1 was fine at first. A hint of a plot, world development and character introductions, etc. But the epilogue pretty much ruined it for me. (maybe the first time I’ve seen a chapter start with a trigger warning.) 2/5
Vol 2 was kind of dull. I guess this is supposed to be a slice of life comedy, but I don’t find any of the characters particularly funny or entertaining. 2/5
The Apothecary Witched Turned Divorce Agent (Vol 1-2) Another J-Novel Club catchup. I enjoyed this one more than I expected. A fair amount of the plot is predictable, but it is reasonably well written and “flows” well. I was actually shocked when I reached the afterword in Vol 2 because it was moving along so well. 4/5
Deathbound Duke’s Daughter - Vol 1 & 2 - I liked it. Some nice and easy villainess isekai, but not actual romance but adventure with a lot of friendzoning. MC is a little dum dum with total lack of self preservation. All the male characters are obsessed with her for one reason or the other. I really enjoyed the wild names and rich world building. The magic system, world history and politics are really nice to read about as it feels like the author really enjoyed himself. The story isn’t just an exposition so it can deliver the world in an uncomplicated story.
6/10P.S Who wouldn’t want to cast The Urðr-Sight?
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 5 Avatar of a Goddess Volume 10 - Might I remind everyone that this is a cute isekai story about a girl wanting books :D It’s the “Hodor moment” that especially blew my mind. The conclusion of some throwaway world-building element introduced aaaalll the way back in the first volumes that allowed for some 4D chess moves by the Lord of Evil here almost at the end. I am in awe and I can’t can’t can’t wait to see this animated at some point with all the production quality this deserves. Miya Kazuki was the Avatar of a Goddess all along. - 11/10 (only two more volumes left and with that comes all the existential dread that entails)
Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole Volume 7 - Last volume it looked like there was going to be some kingdom-building elements in this one but there was nothing to be found of it. Early on there was a dungeon master trope introduced but this didn’t go anywhere. It felt like the author had the idea and then lost interest and dropped the thread 3 chapters later. In general the series feels quite aimless for the last couple volumes. In the early volumes each one was a complete self-contained arc but that is completely lost by now. Now it’s trying out a plotline here, then dropping it for another one, and then starting another one. - 6/10
The Unwanted Undead Adventurer: Volume 12 - OMG that constant wallowing in self-pity is unbearable. “I’m so weak”, “Everyone else is better”, “I don’t deserve what I have”, “Humans will hate me”, “My divinity is meager”… I have zero tolerance for such characters and I don’t understand why there is that shift in his character. Rent was never a wellspring of confidence but he never was that pathetic. And to top it off the side chapters from another character’s POV have them neck-deep in the same low-confidence mindset. And they’re really riding that self-pity wave. Page after page after page of that is exhausting to read. At least the side-MC pulls herself out of it after a while. Otherwise, I think I would have dropped the series. 4/10
“Aimless” is the perfect way to describe that volume Making Magic. I’ve generally enjoyed the series despite its flaws, but that volume felt like it was slowly walking in circles.
What’s the throwback 4D chess moment in bookworm?
I think I missed it. I can’t think what it could have been.
I am talking about
P5V10
the registering of the citizen coins, which so far is nothing more than some world-building element in the story without any real purpose, but here it allowed Ferdinand to ignore the god-given task to play his own game and trap Gustavio. And this didn’t feel unplanned at all. The coins get mentioned throughout the story again and again so we don’t forget them. And I believe the first time they are mentioned is in Part 1 during her sister’s baptism or at the very latest during her own.
We also get shown Ferdinand’s MO of letting people play by the rules of one game while playing himself a completely different game entirely when he had his Ditter game against Dunkelfelger. I have to re-read those parts but if memory serves he pulled the same stunt by having Dunkelfelger think they’re playing Speed-Ditter while he started to make Treasure-Stealing-Ditter moves. Or he turned it into the latter. Either way his move in this volume was foreshadowed and not an ass-pull.
I think he talks about [P2V2] mind reading scene. I don’t think Ferdinand predicted that far. More like story had a checkov’s gun planted all the way there.
Miya Kazuki planted so many Checkov’s guns that she could win any ditter match.
P5V10
Then he didn’t have the full G-book and that part of the knowledge went to Rozmyne about dying her mana, and that she can’t recover her color naturally.
I am still missing something.
Tap for spoiler
What’s the importance about her being dyed in this volume? Or is it just that she is now stuck with the goddesses colour.
A few volumes back Hirschur mentioned that children with the devouring / children of Ewigeliebe are born without colour. As a result Myne was having a crisis in that scene as she got dyed by Ferdinand in the mind reading. And it was important for her to be a zent candidate, etc.
Also any idea about what Sylvester, Karstead and Ferdinand were going on about at the end? Or was it just implying that something happened between Myne and Ferdinand because she added him to the Ahrenbach foundation which is for the archducal family.
The answers you seek are in volume 11.
Spoiler for P5V10 logical conclusion for the content in V11 (I am reading pre-pub)
In Volume 11 They all need to do post war clean up and all the politics that are tied to running a country.
We had 2 volumes of straight action and now we will get to usual slow pace for some long awaited worldbuilding.
So the long wait for me…
If only I could invent time travel. Forget fixing the worlds problems, I could use it to read bookworm sooner.
There is a way but the price to pay is your sanity.
I had sanity?
As long as I can still read it. It would be horrible to go through with it and find I can’t read it.
I’ve been killing slimes for 300 years - Vol 02 to Vol 03
Caught up to where the Anime ended, so I am looking forward to the new content ahead.
Ascendance of a bookworm - Part 5 Vol 10
More bookworm perfection. Just concerned it’s getting close to the end of the series.
