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本好きの下剋上 ~司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません~
772
33
Finished
Jan 25, 2015 to Dec 9, 2023
10.0/10
Average Review Score
100%
Recommend It
6
Reviews Worldwide
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 than to clean it. Yet still, once in a while there is a gem that makesit 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.
Urano Motosu's lifelong dream to become a librarian comes true. Luck is not on her side, however, as a plethora of books falls on her during an earthquake. On the verge of death, she begs God to be reborn surrounded by nothing but books. Her wish is fulfilled, albeit not how she expected: Urano is reincarnated as Myne—a sickly five-year-old child with an ardent desire to read—in another world where the upper class controls knowledge, and only the privileged have access to written works. As a commoner, Myne is distraught that she will never be able to find what she is yearning for. To obtain books, Myne decides she should make them herself. Currently, she is but a kid thrust into an unknown place—but nothing will not stop Myne from achieving her goal. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
I just finished reading it a long time ago and I hope this review helps you decide whether to give the LN chance or not :P - Story ★★★★★ - We follow Rozemyne and her "adventures" in this unknown world, starting simply with her obsession with reading and everything that moves her is simply "I WANT TO READ FOR THE LOVE OF GOD", but as the story progresses, political plots, love plots, etc. are inserted. And the author leaves this, in my opinion, well explained and not very confusing, except when they start talking about the Gods then you don't understand anything HAHAHA, but overall it's agreat story. - Character ★★★★★ - It's understandable that you don't like Myne at first, especially because of her obsessive personality when it comes to books. This develops over time, but the best thing about this work, in my opinion, are the characters around her, reading their POVs, their problems, what worries them, etc. This makes the story richer without keeping everything from Myne's point of view. - Enjoyment ★★★★★ - You can laugh, cry, be happy, cheer, political plots as the story progresses you discover how that society works, its intricacies, everything is rich in detail without leaving you overloaded with information. - General ★★★★★ & 10/10 - I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys good word-building, unfortunately the story doesn't have many moments of heavy action, when it does they are good but it's not the focus of the work, if you enjoy this style more you might end up being disappointed. - If you read this review thank you very much and may God bless you!
Other people have described the plotline and its pros/cons already. Here's why I think this stands out from other light novels. As someone who has primarily read highly-regarded natively English fantasy books, the translation is incredibly well-written and the series itself holds up amazingly. Unlike many animes/mangas/ln, it's obvious that the author has carefully thought out and designed the overall story and world before even beginning the novels. Instead of appealing to power fantasies and other dopamine-dumping trends prevalent in anime, this focuses on steadily developing a good story yet still being interesting and exciting to read consistently throughout. I think this means that thereare going to be some people who would find the series boring, but those are mostly people who are less inclined towards actually reading stories and more into instant gratification. I think people who are constantly reading the instant gratification content popping up all the time are basically little cocaine gremlins chasing after increasingly smaller dopamine rushes. Probably 80% of the negative reviews are from cocaine gremlins while the rest are genuinely just uninterested in this kind of story.
Ascendance of a bookworm is by far the most enrapturing story I have ever witnessed, read or otherwise. This might well be the first book series I have actually had the patience to see to completion despite it's apparent lenght. That alone should speak volumes of how much I adore this series, for it is by no means lacking content-wise, spanning 33 volumes. I sincirely recommend giving this book series a try, especially if you liked the premise and plot of the anime release. Anime watchers could even start reading at part 3, if you find yourself to be a poor reader or just dontwant to repeat the story. It matters not if you have less than favorable experiences with reading as long as you are able to, so did I. Truly, I cannot put to words how much I adore this story and consequently, how much money I invested in process of obtaining the books... Praise be to Mestionora, the goddess of wisdom, for allowing us the chance to witness the story of Myne in all it's glory.
Well, that was a great LN series. A protagonist with a passion for books who stopped at nothing to make her dream come true. Along the way she got a top tier husbando and (potentially) the biggest library there is. It is kinda isekai, but there is no heavy focus on that trope and thankfully no stupid game-like system of any sorts. Very interesting blend of magic and exploration of the power dynamics between the have and have-nots ( in terms of wealth, magic and status), as she gradually rises from peasant to nobility. Author also did some good writing on the transformation of morals whenyou live in this kind of world. Some casual peasant genocide is just like another day, value of (mostly peasant) life is extremely low here. It saddens me that the last book felt more like a wrap-up than a logical conclusion. It left with some storylines unfinished (especially with those left in her home duchy) and we did not get to read about how she would use and abuse her new status (only the epilogue, measly ~20 pages). Sad, but author probably had her reasons for cutting it off at that point.