- #1
TL;DR : Good read if you have patience to slog through some useless pieces of filler slapped randomly within the novel. Have a good atmosphere and Character but suffers from badly designed progression. You'll be scrolling down quite frequently and just glancing through large chunks of texts maybe even whole chapters. We might as well start on the positive because it is easier. There is a great deal of focus character development (somewhat incessant and obsessed at some point). The characters have some unique qualities to them if you don't look past to other novels. The theatrical tragedy kind of atmosphere is choreograph quite well within the course of novel as well to blend everything to create a very imaginative world of sword and magic. The novel is far from perfect after that point is established though.Don't get me wrong, the novel is great when everything lines up to a T. It does deliver a sense of excitement and thrill but unfortunately it also builds up anticipation; something this novel massively fails in fulfilling time and time again-- All because of something called "pacing".I've read other reviews, both the good and the bad, and I rarely gets discourage when someone say a story is "slow". However, this novel is beyond just a problem of being slow because it is not sluggish because of content but by design. What do I mean by "design"? Just breeze through a few dozen chapters and you'll encounter something you can call "POV chapters". This chapter can be relevant if it is really necessary to provide a broader spectrum of understanding of the undercurrents that is happening in the story away from the original perspective of the Novel-- but MY GOD this novel sucks at using POVs. Seriously, most of the Perspective change chapters are either redundant or just plain obscured that it ruins the mood you develop when you read from chapter to chapter. Then there is the Arc progressions chosen by the author.I won't go too much into details because I don't want to be a massive spoiler C*%$ but one arc is already discussed by other reviews anyway and I also think think this particular arc hit this problem right in the head--The School Arc. This novel is really good at delivering a dark and gritty world full of social injustice, depravity, atrocity, and everything in between that induces an inner moral dilemma for readers then out of nowhere "this" rear its ugly head. I know some people would think "Its for character development because MC wants to get stronger" to that I can only say "f*ck THAT". A trail-by-fire kind of strengthening would have been better at that point you can also use a God damn training montage arc and it would have infinitely made a lot more sense. Sadly, you had to slog through one chapter after another that breaks your immersion to the dark would of Kurono Maou.This really turned into a rant-- I apologize. However, I only sound "ranty" because this would have been a really good novel and it is if you skip a chapter or two (maybe an entire arc) and I really wanted to like it. Dejectedly, I concur that I cannot at best I can give it a passing score but I cannot recommend.