What's up bookwyrms. I didn't write last week because I was too busy reading Ascendance of a Bookworm. Oops.

Anyway, over the past two weeks I finished Part 2 and up to Part 3 Volume 3. I started Volume 4 this week and preemptively ordered Volume 5 already.

I know I said before that the book felt like an Extended Directors Cut considering all the extra content that wasn't in the anime but WOW it really exploded at the end of Part 2. Just SO much extra stuff happening. Even the final blessing before Myne becomes Rosemyne. In the anime it was like "oh hey, that's kinda neat" but in the book it really dives into the significance and the impact it has on everyone and everything. I knew that Myne had a lot of mana but I initially just thought she had as much as like, a higher level noble. The anime didn't really emphasize just how much mana Myne had (which is a stupidly humongous amount).

The anime also made the end of Part 2 seem like a final farewell between Myne and the rest of her family, but no. She still gets to see them and interact with them, just that they cannot acknowledge their relation.

Speaking of the final farewell, I knew it was coming. I KNEW it was going to be sad. I thought I was prepared for it. After all, I've watched the entirety of the anime numerous times.

I was not ready.

I cried like a teenage schoolgirl at a Taylor Swift concert. And the tears just would not stop.

And all that was JUST finishing up Part 2! I'm three volumes in on Part 3. It's all new content for me. And I've absolutely loving it. I love how Rosemyne is fitting in to noble society. She's following all the rules and mannerisms but also skirting the edge of what's appropriate at all times. But because she's so freaking AMAZING by nature of having been trained by Ferdinand she's able to pull everything off. I definitely enjoyed it when she finally got to mingle with other noble children and she realized that she was leagues ahead of everyone. Definitely a typical Myne Moment.

Speaking of typical Myne Moments, can we talk about her highbeast? Everything about it from its design to how she impossibly fixed it was just nuts. I can't wait for her to enter the academy to see what other shenanigans ensue.

The one thing that I found a bit off was how she dealt with Hasse. Yes, it was in line with Myne's values and yes, it was Ferdinand testing her, but I half wanted her to pull a Leon Bartfort (from Trapped in a Dating Sim) and just CRUSH her enemies. Still, the trap she ended up setting was pretty good even if it was seemingly haphazard.

And on the topic of new content and challenges for Myne, I love that we learned part of the reason why Myne is always so sickly. What a massive revelation that was!

Anyway, I'm going to continue reading more Bookworm. Apologies in advance if I go AWOL again.

Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Vol. 18

Rating: 11/10 Definitely not biased since this is certainly not my favourite series ever. Nope not at all.

Obligatory curse the editor for forcing this highly misleading title. Obligatory curse the author for introducing plot conveniences just to forbid us from enjoying more sugary Bell x Aiz scenes. I want more stuff like their dance.

That aside I'm not the biggest fan of the familia conflicts, I just wanna see my boy Bell survive some dungeon adventures. Not that the familia conflicts are badly written, I just don't really get the same enjoyment reading them. The volume was iirc the longest we have got so far which was kind of needed, imo there wasn't really a good spot where the story could have been split cleanly into two volumes. There are a lot of "side" stories going on with Bell taking a bit of a step back for the first half of the story. Despite not going where I initially thought it was going the Freya arc was sort of neatly resolved, the outcome is just a bit unexpected. The climax fight against Ottar feels a bit weird, I would have liked to see Bell dominate a bit more in his first challenge as a Level 5 but the story doesn't allow for an "easy" fight right now and having Ottar be an obstacle far more insurmountable than anything before feels fitting. Unsurprisingly Haruhiume's level boost comes in clutch to win that fight along with a very brief glimpse at just what it means for Bell to only ever level up with S and upwards stats. 2 Levels difference should be an insurmountable difference yet Bell managed to narrow it down to a surmountable one with his stats accumulation.

That's that regarding the plot of the volume, I want to use the end of this "review" to mourn every Bell x anyone-but-aiz shippers some of whose ships were sunk with multiple broadsides by Bell refusing both Syr and Lyon's confessions. Poor Syr, she even got rejected twice. Lyon also joins Hestia familia as their first and for now only Level 6 adventurer. Bell's insane growth continues to force additions to the familia with higher Levels since no one can even hope to keep up with his desire to stand next to his crush. With the distractions out of the way I hope the way is finally paved for an unfolding of the long teased Bell x Aiz ship. Surely the author won't throw us another curveball. Right? Right??

starts reading Volume 19 Oh ffs...... I just want my ship to set sail already.

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 2

No idea why I dropped this series previously, but for whatever reason I'm really enjoying it on this read through. Maomao is already growing on me as a lead, and the novels have made me want to catch up to the anime (no small feat, considering that's thirty episodes to binge, of which I've completed the first sixteen). I'd love to know what alloy can be melted by mere sunlight through a keylock, but the mysteries continue to entertain, and here's to volume 3 as soon as I'm off of work today.

Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City Vol. 4 - I'm still creeped out by the way MC always thinks of himself in the third person as "wee little Van". But in general I like novels where someone builds something up (books, cities, nations or even just their own character build) the most, so I can look past the creepy MC in a story that centers around building.

Record of Wortenia War: Volume 14 - While reading Territory Defense I thought that I could pick up Wortenia again since it's always sitting there in my "Continue Reading" list. It's been years since I last picked up this series and I remember now why I stopped reading it. The constant history tangents and the terrible chakra power system. I had volume 14 still sitting at 12% read and thought I could finally finish the volume now that Unrivaled in Another World reset the scale. And it works. While it was bad enough to drop it back then, it now doesn't feel so terrible in comparison. Maybe I should pick up Der Werwolf: Annals of Veight again as well. The nation-building in the series seems to be pretty much done here in volume 14 and it looks like only continued war is on the horizon so I'm not that interested in picking up the next volume, but at least I was able to finally finish this one.

Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace Volume 6 - What should have been a fluffy iyashikei has devolved into frustrating romance with drama tropes build on stupid misunderstandings.

Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance! - vol 1 - Bland and dull as ditch water. It couldn't keep my attention. MC is a sheltered princess that goes back in time. The time stuff doesn't have any serious consequences for the plot. The romance doesn't have any time to flourish and instead is hand waved by time skips. And this is supposed to be a romance novel.

Terrible novel. Would not recommend.

Ascendance of a Bookworm - Part 3 - Volume 04

Finished the epilogue and extra chapters of volume 4 that I had waiting for a while.

I am currently reading the OSHI NO KO manga so I have not been reading LNs, but it’s Average Abilities week so I will try to pick it up.