NineSwords

See, see? I told you that it's Average Abilities cosplaying as Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle.

What's so frustrating is that I cannot find any info on a second volume.

Both sound good to me. Especially Who Killed the Hero? sounds like something fresh.

<Mercedes and the Waning Moon: The Dungeoneering Feats of a Discarded Vampire Aristocrat Volume 2> - Lots of political meneuvering in this one. The author also is rambling and repeating the same things again and again. I think they explained 3 times in this volume that in the vampire society night is like daytime for humans. We've got it the first time. The same goes for the personality of MC's father. Yes, we get it that he is ruthless and calculating. There is no reason to explain it to the reader for the 7th time. Both story and prose are in general very unstructured and random. I don't think the author has much of a plan laid out while writing this. I like MC though and the dungeon master aspect is interesting. I wish there was more of that and less of the random rambling.

<The Mythical Hero's Otherworld Chronicles: Volume 6> - I really dislike this type of writing style where the story is written from a dozen POVs instead of following a main character. I find myself skimming entire chapters here because I cannot find it in me to give a shit about most of the POV characters. And by the time the shocking cliffhanger at the end happens I didn't gave a shit about the supposedly main character either.

I can't think of any right now with the exact same mix of tropes (timid, overpowered, school setting) but there are several with shy but overpowered main characters and a similar general "vibe". "Lacey Longs for Freedom: The Dawn Witch's Low-Key Life after Defeating the Demon King" and "Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters" are the first that come to mind.

Also related to timing, shorter release times!

Man the release times of some en publishers are atrocious. A year between Overlord releases, for example. By the time the next volume is out I have forgotten that the guy is a skeleton.

Sidenote: What do you think about Abducted Princess so far?

I did not think that through. As an e-book reader, my page count does not necessarily mean anything to someone else. But in general, I don't want good books to end and bad books are drawn out way too long.

Thanks for the info. I think I'm okay with that and will continue watching.

No, only watched season 1 of the anime. Why? Something coming up that I should be aware of? If this is a Usagi Drop situation, I'd rather know beforehand.

Oh, yeah. I remember now. Well, I give it at least one episode and see what impression that scene makes to me and how much I like the rest around it.

Summer season is deadly for me. In the last couple of years I have only time and drive to finish a hand full of shows each season and this time around there are way to many for me that I consider "must watch" (Grand Blue, City, My Dress Up Darling, DanDanDan, Boxxo, Call of the Night 2). Then there are a bunch that I read the source material of and want to see how it gets adapted (Water Magician, Silent Witch, Apocalypse Bringer, ). And then there are the shows that just seem to be made for me going by the synopsis (Solo Camping, Ruri Rocks, Food Court, With You and the Rain, Outcast Restaurant, Fragrant Flower). It's going to seriously eat into my other activities. It's a first world problem, but a problem nonetheless.

Lots of stuff for me. By the Grace of Gods, Dahlia in Bloom Side Stories, 8k Gold, Lia Niston, and after gods knows how long, a new Skeleton Knight. I thought that series was dead. (edit: take this date with a grain of salt. The publisher doesn't even have volume 11 on their website, and amazon has volume 12 listed for December)

Good week.

<The Blessing of Liefe: Leave This Magical Letdown Alone! Volume 1 > - Interesting series. It starts with the typical trope setup and gives the impression MC is going to be your typical woobie, but the moment the typical school bully scenes come up, MC breaks the mold by standing up for herself and giving the bullies their comeuppance. In general, Yui is a great character. Not shy but also not overconfident. Just someone with enough self-esteem not to let people trample all over them.

The Blessing of Liefe: Leave This Magical Letdown Alone! Volume 2 - I feel like there are a lot of plot holes introduced in this volume. For example, everyone is looking down on her for being someone who cannot cast elemental magic, but in this volume, there are suddenly high-ranking people trying desperately to scout her. There is also now talk about fellow students throwing in the towel in a tournament just so they don't have to go up against her. So, at least in high-ranking circles and the student body, it should be known that she's a powerful force. Yet in the plot, people (including her own father) are looking down on her and acting like she is useless. So when it fits the narrative, everyone thinks she's "useless and incapable" and then flip-flops to "god, she's a monster and I'm scared" in the next chapter. And then she gets a cute and fluffy monster pet, but there isn't a single illustration of it anywhere, and that can't be right now, can it?

<They Don’t Know I’m Too Young for the Adventurer’s Guild: Volume 2> - Great second volume. It introduces two new characters with one of them grating in the beginning, but through chapters from their POV where the readers get to know their inner thoughts and through their personal growth throughout the volume, they managed to make me come around about them. Now I hope to see more of them in the next volume. The series has real potential to become a favorite.

<Welcome to Monstrous Miss Sophie’s Enchanted Salon of Healing Volume 1> - The opening hits like a truck. And then it goes into reverse and hits right again. Just to make sure. Always double-tap. The book reminds me of Lucia and the Loom or Violet Evergarden, with each chapter being its own and separate emotional mini-story of a new character. This volume was surprisingly good, but since every chapter follows the same general script, I'm not sure if this can be kept up in the next volumes before feeling too "same-y". I think there is room for a second volume, but everything after that would need a break from- and restructure of the formula.

<Welcome to Olivia’s Magic Jewelers Volume 1> - Yet another type of story where an evil stepsister and step parents make Fiancee-A™ break up with a hyper competent MC by telling obvious lies, while everyone around fully believes those lies as if they were brain-dead NPCs. The light novel industry should just collectively agree to have a collection of pre-written setups to use. So an author can just skip the prologue chapter by calling it "Generic Cindarella Variant 2" instead of making me read through the same shit for the millionth time. The rest of the volume was okay after the generic prologue.

<Management of a Novice Alchemist: Volume 5> - The series stays mostly the same as always. The thing that sticks out the most is that the conclusion to one of the most important decisions of the series so far is done in the short story bonus chapter. I've never seen this done before.