This novel cost me many almost sleepless nights. Each evening, I would plan to read a chapter of so before falling asleep. Each time, I would suddenly come to senses after finishing a volume and realizing it’s around 3 A.M.. I would not learn from this and I would do this mistake again and again. This should already speak tremendously about how catchy Ascendance of a Bookworm is.
Isekai is a genre that at this point feels like an overused old rag that is more likely to dirty the floor more than to clean it. Yet still, once in a while there is a gem that
...
makes it worth trying out all the various titles to find it. However, Honzuki excels not above the isekai genre alone, but above the light novel medium in general. Truly, reading through it made me realize again just how much the usual LN lacks in writing department – having only the barebones content, barren dialogue and not much to lead the reader’s imagination through. Honzuki is the direct opposite to that, the scenes and situations are so vividly and colourfully written I was simply lost in the fantasy world in portrayed, as if I was actually watching in, perhaps even as if I was actually there. This really is one of those amazing books that just transport you inside them. It’s quite fitting that a book about bookworm offers such genuinely nice feelings towards bookworms, offering them exactly one the ideal fantasy book should do.
At the core of Honzuki is its protagonist Myne, and she serves as a good example how well the characters of the novel work out. Being isekai’d is not just a plot device to transform a relatable protagonist into a fantasy world, no, it’s a major plotpoint thanks to which Myne is able to function in the new world as more than just commoner. She doesn’t get some superpower or cheat items handed out though, no. She doesn’t even get an explanation about what is going on and has to put it all together herself. On the contrary of getting a cheat item, she straight out receives a debuff, being reborn into a weakly body. So while she can use her knowledge of our world to gather profit and status in the new world, she’s definitely unable to do it on their own, and has to depend on others to do the work. Of course, others won’t do what she says simply because they sense out her being a protagonist, she actually has to earn the trust, loyalty and resources. This works so much better than an universally likeable MC by anyone else than the obvious villain, which is the usual case. It also gives the secondary characters a chance to shine, as they have their own goals and motivations and stand out as actual people, not just background cardboard cut-out.
Even Myne’s ability to be able to actually recreate items from our world is explained (as a reminder, average person from our world wouldn’t know how to make everyday items despite using them), and this serves not just as an excuse for the plot to work, but also as a writing tool to deepen and showcase her relationship to others. Later in the story some might claim that Myne Is turning into an overpowered Mary Sue, but I’d have to heavily disagree with that. Firstly, her abilities were once again not simply handed out to her, but mostly earned through her actions and decisions, even is sometimes unintended by Myne. Secondly, considering the situations she finds herself in and her already existing debuffs (or perhaps at this point one could call them well written character flaws) makes it that the current Myne isn’t OP – it’s more that she has the bare minimum resources to be able to survive, both socially and literally.
This ties in to the main themes of the novel, as some might be surprised this is mainly about business and politics. Again though Honzuki stands out by doing things differently – the protagonist isn’t a genius ‘I’m already 500 moves ahead of you fool” protagonist. She simply has her goal and being involved in business and politics was a by-product of trying to achieve it (thanks to which the inclusion of these elements feel completely natural) and has to take literal lessons to be able to navigate through those unfamiliar systems. Honzuki isn’t the type of novel where you see clever schemes and plans and execute them to the reader’s satisfaction, although you might observe the other characters doing exactly that. No, rather than that, Myne is an oblivious but resourceful girl that serves as ball of unintended chaos wrecking plans of others and not even noticing it many times, to reader’s great amusement. So while Honzuki might not be so great for readers who seek mainly action based series, I would suggest it even to those usually not fond of politics-based series as it has quite unusual approach to it. And fear not, there are action scenes here too, and when one comes, it gives some really nice thrill. Both the politics and the battles are written in exciting way that really describes the tension well and you are celebrating the victory or mourning the losses together with the characters.
Regarding other characters, I’ve already mentioned how they actually have their, well, characters. This I can prove by me actually remembering the names even of minor ones despite Honzuki having a huge character cast and despite me usually struggling with remembering names – though that usually being caused by the non-main characters being boring, and this isn’t the case here. Honzuki is even the rare occasion for which I would absolutely recommend reading the side stories too (which are thankfully included in the English licensed volumes), as they delve even more into the side character side of thins and actually complement the main plotline greatly. I’m usually inclined to skip side stories, but those here are delightful to read, and it’s also fascinating how much more can you learn about characters when told through non-protagonist point of view and how much depth that can add to both the characters, the story and the worldbuilding. As an additional note about characters, Honzuki also has amazing villains, the type that you just love to hate, trust me.
And yes, finally the worlbuilding, the other biggest strength of Honzuki next to the characters. I’ve already mentioned how you can imagine the world really well while reading this series, and this is thanks to not only to how it’s written, but also thanks to it consistent worldbuilding that just keeps making sense. This isn’t just medieval Europe with magic thrown in like with most fantasy worlds, this truly feels like other world and even makes it a point multiple times how our common sense simply doesn’t apply – point so big you could even call it a plotpoint, considering how this affects Myne’s behaviour and progress. Indeed, Myne has to consciously try to not come off as, using her own words “creepy little girl that knows too much” to others that actually have common sense of the new world, not of our. Also, any “infodumping” is not done through a narrator but through the characters themselves in a way that feel natural (although situations of apprenticeship and scholarship do help with adding a natural infodumping). And it’s not always “this Is what you should known Protagonist”, sometimes we learn things about the world because same as us, the protagonist did not know something, made a mistake do to that and only came to know the information as a way to learn from her mistakes. Again, she is far from being a Mary Sue.
I could point out much more specific scenes that made me love the novels, but this review is already long enough and I would also like for you to discover them themselves. I of course recommend this series without a hesitation, though I should also warn you it might become quite addictive, and you might be even become desperate to seek and wish for new content, especially after you finish reading the series.
All (21)BadgesFantasy Anime League Olympic Sports A Bookworm's Haven Fantasy Anime League You Should Read This Manga Fantasy Anime League MALoween Mansion (Trapped Soul) Fantasy Anime League All (289)FriendsEinShinigamiRadenCZJhidaypurplepinapplesPxHCKwanthemastergauravb28DangDuckyPapa_DragonBorderlineCaseA4
Also Available atRSS Feeds |
Sep 9, 2024 Recommended Well-written 
This novel cost me many almost sleepless nights. Each evening, I would plan to read a chapter of so before falling asleep. Each time, I would suddenly come to senses after finishing a volume and realizing it’s around 3 A.M.. I would not learn from this and I would do this mistake again and again. This should already speak tremendously about how catchy Ascendance of a Bookworm is.
Isekai is a genre that at this point feels like an overused old rag that is more likely to dirty the floor more than to clean it. Yet still, once in a while there is a gem that ... 
Jun 28, 2024
Sakamichi no Apollon: Bonus Track
(Manga)
add
Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to read this side story collection years after finishing the original manga. Or maybe it was. You see, I believe side stories should still have some merit on their own. Something more than just „oh yeah I recognize those characters from the parent work“.
Bonus Track is, in its core, just a mild melodramatical brief look into selected characters life. Slightly better than the more tame of Harlequin’s romances, but not by much. The last chapter is technically speaking a sort of epilogue, but doesn’t really do much more than the original epilogue of the original work. So, it ... 
Mar 30, 2024
Ore dake Level Up na Ken
(Anime)
add
To give proper justice to Solo Leveling anime, the animation must be top notch. The action scenes are the main attraction here and one would it’s the only one.
So the first episode set quite a rough start. Somehow, A-1 Pictures managed to turn everything more… bland. And I’m not just talking about how they Kiritoized Jinwoo. The whole setting just screams generic, the lightning is all wrong and dull. And it’s not just the first episode, the fights aren’t engaging for a good half of the series. Now to give credits where due, the fight against Kang had a few good moments and the ... 
Mar 24, 2024
An existential crisis and questioning of what it even means to be a human within the first pages, now this is what Ghost in the Shell is truly about.
In this collection of stories you get the good old mixture of action and philosophy, the cyberpunk techtopia mystery the franchise is known for. Despite each part being by a different author, the stories feel quite consistent in its word and writing, and while they range in quality, the quality range keeps within good to great. While we see some familiar characters from Section Nine, most of the protagonists are new, which is welcomed as it explores new ... 
Mar 23, 2024
Hyouge Mono
(Manga)
add
Hyouge Mono is the kind of work that’s just so unique for it to be no real equal. It’s a combination of a niche topic and a quality writing you just won’t see elsewhere. It is pieces like this that make me glad I started reading manga, as otherwise I’d completely miss out on this.
The protagonist s delightfully relatable. He’s simultaneously self-centered and human-like greedy, and looking for a bigger purpose in his life. He lives, learns and adjusts accordingly. Furuta molds the story and the story is molded by him, the complete opposite of a one-dimensional character. The stormy youth, the midlife crisis, the ... 
Mar 16, 2024
Note that this review is mainly for the first 5 novels. While that might sound like a tiny portion out of the over hundred ones, this is because only those are properly translated. The rest is currently only available through machine translation.
When I picked up the first volume, I was a bit disappointed at first. It felt just like a very generic fantasy novel with nothing much interesting. However, after the first third or so of the volume, the more intriguing part of the story and worldbuilding started coming. So at the very least I would suggest finishing the first volume if you ... 
Mar 15, 2024
Chocosanji
(Anime)
add
„We have Holo no Graffiti at Home“
The Hologra at home: Look, I get that it’s poor manners to center a review around comparing the work to some other work, but in this case it’s just a straight up blatant rip-off. The execs saw the success of the Hololive shorts and set out to imitate it. And it’s a mild, low-hanging imitation that utterly fails at what made the original great. It’s tame, the jokes don’t land and it *really* hinges on you already liking the characters instead of featuring comedy that can stand on its own. This feels like one of those bootleg movies from $1 ... 
Mar 10, 2024
Mozou Oujo Soudouki: Fake Fake
(Manga)
add
The usual unexpected girlfriend trope, this time with an „android substitute princess inseki fantasy“ twist. Well, I say twist, but the content is really mild. Don’t expect some deeper themes or engaging dialogue from this one.
Fake Fake princes is simply some daydream content with light comedy to it. It doesn’t do much, but it also doesn’t attempt to do much. I’m not really hating on it as it doesn’t pretend to be better than i ti. It’s simply the sidedish of the medium, a non-heavy non-pretentious piece of fiction to lend few glances to. It’s not bad, it’s not good, it just is. Were ... 
Mar 5, 2024
Under the guise of night, a poorly drawn handjob is being given in a car. A few sentences that try to have a deeper meaning, but only serve as a background to bishounens kissing so the readers wouldn’t feel embarrassing that they are reading simple pure porn. A hint of possible story, but nothing specific enough to actually make the character stand out. Guns on the cover and badass poses which are both just a clickbait and wholly irrelevant to the few pages of content this doujinshi actually has.
Well, basically just another bl one-shot in long line of meaningless fanservice bl one-shots. 
Feb 18, 2024
Lord El-Melloi II-sei no Jikenbo
(Manga)
add
Lord El-Melloi II Case Files is not a traditional detective novel, and it is open about it. Self-admittedly, you can't really properly solve whodunit and howdunnit in the context of magecraft that throws casual logic out of a window. Instead, the refined focus is whydunnit, resulting in an interesting modification of the usual crime novel structure.
This structure is also mixed with magical lectures that are basically an in-universe lore dumps (non-derogatory). You could say that El-Melloi is something of a supplementary material which happened to have a story through it and you wouldn’t be exactly wrong. This I’m not pointing out as a bad ... |
