RavensDagger

I knew this book was going to be wild when I spotted a few reviews mentioning the book was all degrees of insanity. In that respect, the reviews are 100% correct. So, readers have been appropriately cautioned.

The beginning is very cool. A supreme being from another dimension that can alter time and reality is summoned by quite an average-looking teenage witch named Abigail. For unexplained reasons, she waited until this precise moment to summon a familiar to enter a private magic school now show more that she could afford the tuition. The moment this supreme being (with an insanely long name) gains sentience of the limitations of its mortal body that looks like a human child (and octopus tentacles on her back) was handled very well.

And I really feel torn about this book because the beginning was quite good. Will this supreme being named Dreamer turn against her weakling summoner because she never wanted to become a familiar? Oh, wait... killing Abigail is soon off the table. Why? Apparently, Dreamer likes being hugged by her summoner.

With the threat of killing Abigail eliminated, Dreamer starts getting used to this life of following Abigail around. She also tries to understand why Abigail does boring things like work in a magical ingredients store or do other very boring human things. Readers seem to love the Lovecraftian influence of this book, and so they completely ignore its shortcomings. Since I don't come from a cultural background where those books are known (I never quite understood what a Chutulhu is nor grasped the hoopla over it), I always felt a sort of disconnection to the kind of humor in the book.

That doesn't mean I disliked it or anything, because I thought Dreamer was very endearing in her very overpowered state. More like being unable to connect to some aspects of the book made me less forgiving of some issues in it. Apparently, the book was written as a sort of writing experiment where the author had friends vote on where to carry the story next on a discord channel. While such an unorthodox writing convention helped the book garner hype and sell plenty of copies, it made the book meander without a true purpose. I got the impression I was playing one of those RPG games where you could just go on side quests. At first, this felt ok, but the book was reaching a point where I was already very versed on Dreamer's impossible super abilities and felt I knew far too much about her at the cost of never getting to know Abigail at all.

We never discover if Abigail has some secret hidden magical talent that summoned such a powerful familiar. Or perhaps this was a situation of either bad luck, random selection from the universe, defective magical ingredients, or something that went wrong with the summoning spell. Abigail lives alone and we never know if she has a family (only that she has a childhood friend Dafne). Heck, does she even have hobbies? The book tries so hard to pass the Bechdel test that it seemed to forget female characters need to be... well... relatable. Outside of her mild temper and slight nervousness, I never knew anything about her despite being the coprotagonist. At least we know she wears glasses. What did Abigail want anyways? I would have felt curious if she started having second thoughts about going to an expensive magic school when she discovered Dreamer can steal magical ether from the planet (which is used as her world's currency). Would she have wanted to overcome the magic tithing because it affected the poor and magically disadvantaged? Buy the influence of the Inquisition and pretty much rule the world? I felt this book would have given me a more lasting impression if I had sat down and thought about the endless story possibilities.

Due to the non-linear writing of the book, other potentially interesting side stories are never developed. Ok, so now the lesser worm god Pou-tine is trapped in the body of a teenager. And... well, he never appears ever again in the story. I didn't quite understand that.

Worse, I made the conclusion that the reader could skip every chapter after Pou-tine obtains a human body until the last 3 chapters, and the book would not be affected at all. Each of those connecting chapters which were around 4 of them has zero implication in the story. You could skip them and still understand the ending without any problems. Worse, I found those specific chapters to be a tad bit boring and skimmed through them. Had I known there would be no issue if I skipped them, I would have done it and probably enjoyed the final 2 chapters a bit more. Instead, I felt like I was skimming through just to find out what happens at the end. If the book had been another 50 pages long, I would have DNFed it because I felt like I wasn't enjoying it that much toward the end.

All in all, I like Dreamer, the initial worldbuilding, and the tiny traces of Abigail's personality beneath the Mary Sue veneer. If the book had been written differently with greater emotional stakes regarding what Abigail could do with Dreamer's immense power, the possibilities would have been endless.

Still, I don't regret reading the book and I bet plenty of readers will enjoy it. show less

The idea for this books is so insanely funny and very interesting. Sadly the core idea can't carry the rest of the book when there isn't really an overarching plot or tension. I think it would have been stronger as a long short story than as a book.

Dead Tired 1
By Ravensdagger
This is a hoot! This made me snicker, giggle, and laugh out loud. It made me doubt my ethics since I laughed at parts that were a bit evil, but boy, it was funny.
A skeleton named Harold. He is a wizard who had gone a round of some kind with Death. He picks up a butler that is beyond unusual but my favorite character. Then they pick up their test subject, a little girl.
They have quite the adventure! Can't wait to read book 2. Great narration.

The end of book one ended mid-scene, which is one of the reasons I just slide directly into reading this book here. Which picks up the scene the prior book ended with.

So - the 16 year old earthling continues on her adventures on a different world, a world other than Earth, and a world where people can "level up" "classes" and "skills" and stuff. Broccoli, the main character, continues with the friend she picked up, adds a few more along the way, and remeets other some of the characters she show more briefly meet in book one.

For reasons that escape me, I ended up liking this book more than I did the previous book.

Another addictive read I needed to continue gulp down over a short period of time.

I'm not sure if it's because the main character is 16, or they are just naive and clueless, but there's an underlying lesbian story/plot/vibe going on in this story that Broccoli is completely ignorant about. Which would normally be fine, of course, to overlook such a vibe/etc., except that Broccoli is one of the people involve which would make it be a lesbian relationship. There are broad hints by others, but I am not actually 100% sure the others really are pointing out the subplot-line. Though I know Broccoli herself is 100% unaware of the situation. It's vaguely uncomfortable to read, as I feel like we are building up to a massive misunderstanding/blow-up. On the other hand, Broccoli goes out of her way to tell any and everyone that her ultimate dream involves living in a small fenced house in a calm peaceful location with two kids and a handsome husband. Sooo . . . it'd be harder for . . . anyone confused . . . to . . right, I don't know what's happening, or why there's this vague undercurrent going on. Reminds me of that Sophie Fouriner series wherein Sophie just doesn't realize she's an asexual, or that there's a woman that fancies her . . . and stuff.

Where was I? What was I attempting to write? Bah, I'll move on.

Rating: 4.45

March 14 2021 show less