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This series is great! But it definitely flows better as a visual medium like the manga or anime. Many, many words are spent in the novels describing the visual appearance of entities they encounter in the Otherside or choreographed action scenes. It's a very difficult balance to strike when including supernatural entities that require long descriptions to be imagined but not being too bogged down in the details to tell the story. An increasingly common thought during reading was "man, I wish there was an illustration of this spectacular sight that's being described," that rarely was fulfilled. The novels are probably best used as an ... introduction to the series or reading ahead after watching the anime or reading the manga.

This review is based on the first three novels released in English. I have read through the fifth novel since writing this and none of the issues I have with the series have gotten any better.

I really, really want to like this series. Dahlia is a fascinating protagonist with a lot of chemistry with the supporting cast. The world building is great. The isekai element is pretty unnecessary but leads to entertaining commentary.

But if you want anything aside from conversations over dinner or in-depth descriptions of how magical appliances work, turn away now. What irritates me the most is the complete lack of any progress ... in Dahlia and Volf's relationship. This series does not pretend to be about romance but spends a lot of time having the supporting cast talk about Dahlia and Volf getting married in the future. Meanwhile, the couple themselves only rarely express any feelings hinting at affection. They're painfully chaste with each other, even factoring in the noble/commoner dynamic. Dahlia also takes any chance she can to say she doesn't ever want to be married and wants to be single forever (usually in Volf's presence, ouch). Again, this would be fine if there wasn't a conversation between supporting characters every other chapter about how obviously in love they are.

A big problem with this series is pacing. About midway through the third book, the main characters mention that they've only known each other for a month. This would be fine if a lot of impactful things happened in that month, but the author seems bent on writing every single interaction the cast has with each other. I don't know how else you can spend approximately 900 pages depicting the dinners and business meetings of a single month.