R.C.

So Many Plot Holes, I Tripped

Revisado: 05-05-25

I like the series, but at the same time, everything about it feels rushed.

There are some amazing plot setups and moments that genuinely got me excited—only for them to go completely unused.
For example, in a previous book, there was a mention that one of the titans could be considered the MC’s mother… and then nothing ever came of it. I was really looking forward to that interaction.
Then there’s the MC’s little sister—she gets a ton of defensive enchantments and a literal book golem to protect her. Even brings her to school, where enemies could try something... but again, nothing happens. That cool enchanted book? Totally unused.

The end of this book does set up a new series in the same universe for later, which is neat, but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed.
I was really hoping to see the MC end up in a full-on war with the other universe—that plotline had a lot of buildup and foreshadowing that just never paid off. It honestly feels like the author got tired of the current series and wanted to start fresh somewhere else.

It’s still good overall—I just wish we’d gotten closure on the few things I was actually excited and curious about.

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Betrayed. Imprisoned. Out for Revenge—Bring it on!

Revisado: 05-03-25

What can I say other than—I loved it.
It’s a fantastic story with a few reminiscent moments and themes that reminded me of The Count of Monte Cristo.
If you’ve read the book or seen any of its many film adaptations, you’ll get what I mean.

I highly recommend this book.
And if you’re a fan of He Who Fights With Monsters, you’ll be happy to know the voice actor, Heath Miller, absolutely knocked it out of the park.

Full stars all around!

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Evil Genius Energy—And I’m Here For It.

Revisado: 04-19-25

This was an amazing novel—and it's over 26hrs!
I was a little worried it would be another action-packed, nonstop fighting story (I’m getting pretty burnt out on those kinds of tales), but this—oh, this—was perfection.

The story isn’t about being the hero fighting monsters; it’s about the manipulation going on behind the scenes—the organizations controlling superheroes, supervillains, corporations, and governments. I love it. I love how the main character feels like Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, and Tony Stark all rolled into one.

If I had to nitpick one thing, it’s that whenever the MC wears her helmet, the narrator tries to mimic a synthetic voice—which for me, sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I wish they had used an actual synthetic voice effect instead. Still, to be fair, the author did describe her voice as unsettling... so, top marks? Either way, I love this story!

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Hooked, Frustrated, and Begging for More!

Revisado: 04-18-25

I’m in love with this series, and I’m frustrated to no end that I have to wait for the sequel. I would read ahead, but again, I have to wait—since the book version releases on the same day as the Audible version. At least, that’s how it worked for books 2 and 3.

So, as you can tell from my griping—I’m hooked and just want more.

I do have one complaint: a good portion of this book felt more like a continuation of the main story arc from book 2, making me wonder if it should’ve just been included in the last one. Still, if I didn’t have to wait so long between books, I probably wouldn’t be complaining.

That all being said, book 3 wraps up book 2’s story arc—and my new favorite vampire (besides Ariane from A Journey of Black and Red) returns to save her little humans and battle a few vampires.

Ugh, I want more.

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Brooding Orphan? Sure. But I’m Hooked.

Revisado: 04-15-25

I was a little hesitant at first—the main character didn’t seem to have much personality and spent a lot of time brooding, throwing herself a pity party about being an orphan.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating her quirks a bit.

But as the story played out, I actually grew to like her—and her standoffish personality. The book drops plenty of hints about her lineage, and I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to wait for a sequel to get answers. You learn what’s going on and why her upbringing was so rough—though not everything is revealed, which is fine. Gotta save some mystery for the sequels.

And yes, there are sequels! At the time I’m posting this, I know of six books in total. Shame book one is the only one with an audiobook… guess it’s time to dust off the old Kindle and start reading ahead.

Yes—I enjoyed this series enough that it’s worth reading manually.

There’s loads of action, which is fun—though I’ve been feeling a bit burnt out on books with nonstop fight scenes lately. I’ve started to enjoy world-building, dialogue, and character growth more, and this story does a solid job balancing all of that… even if it leans a bit heavy on the action. That said, the action-forward pacing probably won’t be a drawback for most listeners.

Don’t be fooled by the earlier chapters—this book is about a magical academy… it just takes FOREVER to get there. If I had one complaint, that would be it. But hey, it’s all about the journey, not the destination—and I still really enjoyed it.

I did notice a few small performance quirks, like swallowing sounds during the narration, but with noise-canceling headphones, I’ve picked up on similar things in audiobooks I’ve re-listened to before that I never noticed the first time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and honestly don’t have anything too negative to say about it—at least, nothing I’d knock a star off for.

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This Shouldn’t Work—But Somehow, It Does

Revisado: 04-04-25

I like it—yet I’m often annoyed by it… and still, I like it? Huh. Am I a masochist?

The majority of the theme is heavily influenced by gender politics—not modern-day stuff (that would be a hard no, and I’d be asking for a refund. Nothing against it personally, I just don’t want to deal with divisive topics in my mental escape that audiobooks and novels offer me)—but more of a historical women’s rights angle. Think male dominance and control over women, just with a magical twist thrown in. Normally, I hate these kinds of stories.

Well—hate might be a bit strong. It’s more like... deep, persistent irritation. I mean, if this is supposed to be a world full of magic, and magic users are practically unstoppable compared to your average “big strong man,” then why is there still such a hierarchy and power dynamic over women? Strength is meaningless when magic exists—so logically, that should bring equality, right? At least, that’s how I see it. Hence, my usual frustration when stories try to insert real-world gender dynamics into fantasy settings. It just doesn’t compute for me.

That being said… this story actually compensates for that. The world-building makes it so that your magical strength and influence are tied to either your bloodline or successfully entering a magical circle. You can only enter it once, and if you leave too soon, you’re weak forever. So power remains locked with those who already have it, and suddenly, the gender stuff does make sense.

I still find the theme annoying and it’s not something I typically want in my stories—but in this book, it works. So I’ve gotta applaud the author for managing to keep me engaged with a topic that would usually send me running for the refund button. Full stars for that. Although, I’m still on the fence about picking up the sequel when it comes out.

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A Rushed Epilogue in Disguise

Revisado: 02-08-25

The novel starts by quickly wrapping up several major story arcs (much to my sadness), then progresses in bursts of shorter stories spanning the years.

As a whole, this book feels like one long epilogue—a farewell to Melody of Mana. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice conclusion to a series I love, but I expected more from the main arcs involving the Prince and his loyalists. I'm sad it's over, but the first two books will always be among my all-time favorite reincarnation stories… even if the ending left me feeling a bit cheated.

If the author had combined books 5 and 6 into one longer volume, maybe it wouldn't have felt so abrupt. But no, the main arc was rushed far too quickly, leaving me in tears that it ended so suddenly after all the buildup.

I'll miss this series.

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Performance Issues, but still fantastic

Revisado: 01-31-25

I'm a bit biased—I’ve read all available books in this series multiple times and absolutely love them. It’s easily in my top three all-time favorite Isekai/LitRPG series. That said, I recognize that the first book is a bit short, and I’d probably be more critical if I didn’t already know what’s coming next in Book 2. Honestly, Books 1 and 2 probably should have been merged into a single novel, but that doesn’t change the fact that I adore this series and can’t wait for the next audiobook to drop—just for an excuse to dive back in.

That said, there were some performance issues, mainly with a specific sound effect. Whenever the MC has private thoughts, the narrators use an echo-like effect, which they seem to apply even when she isn’t having those private thoughts. It became a bit distracting and, at times, annoying. Not sure if that was intentional or just an editing quirk. I was listening with my AirPods Pro using noise canceling, so maybe it stood out more in that setting. Perhaps if I had listened on a car stereo, it wouldn’t have been as noticeable—but as it was, it really stuck out to me.

Echo effect aside, I still highly recommend this series—especially because I know how much things keep escalating with every new book. The stakes just keep getting higher and higher, and it only gets better the further you go. So yeah, I can’t wait for the next one!

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The Dark Lord... is a Healer?

Revisado: 06-13-24

This story has a couple of tropes that, if advertised, I think could bring in a lot more readers. First, the Dark Lord is a Healer! People love Healer Isekai stories; there aren't enough of them. Second, the main character is the Dark Lord, which you can figure out from the summary of the story.

That aside, I love this story, and the voice actor totally had me glued. It's nice having someone actually act out the story and not just read it to me—the difference between a voice actor and a narrator, I suppose.

As for the story, it kind of reminds me more of an isekai mafia-like trope, even though it has elements of everything you'd expect. Mostly mafia, though. To overturn the world, his great plan is to introduce Earth social concepts—feminism. Yeah, I rolled my eyes and laughed at that one a bit too much. Still, this entire story takes place outside a single city within a magical realm, unraveling the city’s (or kingdom’s) social structure from the very bottom to topple the top—through the power of healing and prostitutes. Albeit, he may sometimes imbue the most powerful healing spell with a fire spell, acting like an absolute sadist to those he’s healing, eliciting agonizing screams. However, we do get references about how horrible that makes him feel, and eventually how horrible he feels for no longer feeling horrible about it. lol

As for the main character, well, he's a sarcastic smartass, which I personally got a kick out of, but may not vibe with everyone.

In any regard, I loved it, and it feels like a fresh take on a repetitive trope that seems overused. Can't wait for the sequel!

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Ascent? More like, Dark Descent

Revisado: 06-03-24

I have to admit, I was initially worried as the story began, with the main character (Elania) appearing timid and reluctant to fight. Given the title "Demon," I was expecting a touch of darkness and sinister behavior, and thankfully, the story delivered. I wouldn't call the main character truly evil, but as she develops, she isn't afraid to do what needs to be done, and at times, she even enjoys it—which I found quite satisfying. It's all too common to see a dark character archetype that shies away from doing the necessary (evil) deeds. That said, the main character still tries to act the goodie-two-shoes, but this often ends with her consuming someone—or five. Additionally, the story introduces a girl-love theme later in the book, which might appeal to some readers and displease others. I, for one, am curious to see how Elania's relationship develops in Book 2.

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