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A review by jayecard
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 1 Volume 3 by Miya Kazuki
4.0
tl;dr Series continues vastly the same, the emotional development is nice, the final plot part comes out of seemingly nowhere.
For the most part, this was the same as volume 2. The plot for part 2 (note that this series has parts, so vol 1-3 = part 1, the next four are part 2) of the series was introduced quite suddenly, it feels a bit out of nowhere, but it works to make part 1 end on a climactic moment. This volume very nicely showed Myne's emotional development as a character and how coming to a new world has changed her, however, it doesn't seem to show much or any development in her skills. I was a little disappointed in that, but I liked the development they did show, so it was alright. Bonus points too for having one of my absolute favourite and potentially the single funniest scene in the entire series.
Overall, I have to say, I greatly enjoyed part 1 of this series. As awkwardly written and translated as it is, there is something unique about it, and once Myne's strengths are balanced out and she stops feeling too op in volume 2, it's a highly enjoyable series. The characters all grew on me despite some of their dialogue suffering from the writing/translation, I feel like the creator must have had a thorough image of them and even with the struggles in putting those images into an English text (at whichever step that happened), it shone through. The side stories that aren't from Myne's POV help a looot with that, and are generally some of my favourite parts. They give every character their own story and their own place in the world and it makes everyone feel like they are real people that don't just exist to accommodate Myne's story. I mean, even the chef that works for a friend of Myne has a backstory. Even Benno's butler has a backstory. And Benno's backstory really made him an interesting character for me. I'm looking forward to part 2!
For the most part, this was the same as volume 2. The plot for part 2 (note that this series has parts, so vol 1-3 = part 1, the next four are part 2) of the series was introduced quite suddenly, it feels a bit out of nowhere, but it works to make part 1 end on a climactic moment. This volume very nicely showed Myne's emotional development as a character and how coming to a new world has changed her, however, it doesn't seem to show much or any development in her skills. I was a little disappointed in that, but I liked the development they did show, so it was alright. Bonus points too for having one of my absolute favourite and potentially the single funniest scene in the entire series.
Overall, I have to say, I greatly enjoyed part 1 of this series. As awkwardly written and translated as it is, there is something unique about it, and once Myne's strengths are balanced out and she stops feeling too op in volume 2, it's a highly enjoyable series. The characters all grew on me despite some of their dialogue suffering from the writing/translation, I feel like the creator must have had a thorough image of them and even with the struggles in putting those images into an English text (at whichever step that happened), it shone through. The side stories that aren't from Myne's POV help a looot with that, and are generally some of my favourite parts. They give every character their own story and their own place in the world and it makes everyone feel like they are real people that don't just exist to accommodate Myne's story. I mean, even the chef that works for a friend of Myne has a backstory. Even Benno's butler has a backstory. And Benno's backstory really made him an interesting character for me. I'm looking forward to part 2!