This is more like the list of books I’ve read in the past two weeks which is why there are so many.

The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time - A revenge isekai + time loop story comparable to “Redo of Healer” without the sexual assault. If its what you’re looking for its enjoyable. There is an interesting magic mechanic where characters can vow revenge together and their hatred towards a target is shared. Sometimes I felt it was a bit too convenient. For example the protagonist wants to kill a former party member for betraying him. It then comes out that the person is also a pedophile. To me, I was already on board and adding reasons why revenge is justified brings me out of the story. Finally, I can’t say more without spoilers, but the author uses the fact it is an isekai to do some interesting things in the later chapter that I haven’t seen done before.

The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices - Surprisingly good. I was not expecting much going in, but enjoyed it a lot. I’d recommend to anyone interested in fantasy political intrigue or romance. It takes place in the world of a BL novel, but is not a BL novel itself. The main character is a straight woman. The story deals with the main character being a fan of BL stories in the “real world” versus being a person being forced to actually live in that situation. The lore of the world is interesting as well. I’m not sure if this should really be marked as spoilers since this is only my speculation and not confirmed, but

The main inciting incident of the plot is the protagonist claiming to have a boyfriend, and then needing to back up that claim by finding a partner in a world where 90% of the available men are gay. Its both funny, but also serious.

Kunon the Sorcerer Can See - One of the least ‘trope-y’ fantasy light novel’s I’ve read recently. I liked it a lot. The world building and magic system is consistent. There is a cool twist in the book that I would not have thought of. Highly recommended. Its one of those stories I wish I hadn’t found so soon so that I could binge more of it at once.

The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend - They can’t all be winners. DNF. This is one of the most straightforward, cliche romance stories I have read. Incredibly dense protagonist, childhood friends, forgotten promises, the works. I normally enjoy romance, but there has to be some twist to it. Comparing this to “The Angel Next Door”, in that story the protagonist’s reluctance is explained by is trust issues due to being betrayed by his friends in middle school. This story has no such justification. Maybe I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve read to many of these books, but I really did not like this. If this was your first light novel/anime style romance story you’d probably enjoy it a lot more than I did. The one good thing I got out of this story was it made me re-read the Nagatoro manga to experience a good high school romance story.

Maiden of the Needle - Technically I have not finished this story yet. Its a good rags-to-riches type Cinderella story with a cool magic system where people weave spells into clothes. My biggest complaint is that there is a hard tone shift at about 80% of the way through the story where there is suddenly a lot of action and a lore dump out of no where. It seems like this story needed a better editor.

Neither here nor there, but my spouse and I have an inside joke about calling everything a “little lady”. I’ve been wanting to read “The Invincible Little Lady” for that reason lol

I remember dropping this series after the first volume. Honestly, your review is not making me regret that decision.

Making Magic: Vol 1 to 3 - I am really enjoying this series. It has wholesome, cute vibes. There are also some kingdom building/ecological reclamation aspects that were interesting, but only really get focused on in the third volume. The third volume also has an interesting mother/daughter relationship which I don’t see written in light novels as often.

Two problems I have with it is that there is a lack of a strong central conflict/through-line. Although, a lot of light novels suffer from this due to it being a serial medium. Technically reclaiming a large wasteland is the through-line, but the sub-conflicts of each book rarely tie into that conflict. The other problem is that this is one of those, “why is this an isekai?” stories. The character’s memories are wiped after reincarnation, so there isn’t any character implication for having come from modern day japan. There is some plot/worldbuilding justification for it, but the author could have easily written a similar plot without invoking reincarnation.

Overall I recommend if you’re looking for a fun, cheerful read with some action.

Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up: Vol 1 to 3: - A series I liked more than I thought I would. Based on the title, I thought it would be more of a generic power fantasy system/lit-rpg type story, but actually has some interesting kingdom building aspects. It is still a power fantasy, but I get the impression that the author has considered the relevant power levels. While the main character is OP, there are still legitimate threats to him in the world. One aspect I don’t like is that all characters have a “martial” stat that represents fighting, and a character with a higher martial stat will always beat a character with a lower one. I’d recommend Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World for a story that still has RPG elements, but without the “my number is higher so therefore I win” aspect. I’ll probably continue to read for the politics and kingdom building aspects when I don’t have anything else I’d rather read.

The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows: Vol 1 - Another series in the “restarting my life after being expelled from my party/job” fantasy sub-genre. The protagonist’s earnest desire to help others without being naive made me like him. I plan on reading the next book in the series when it is translated. The harem romance in this book is really forced and unnecessary. That’s coming from someone who will admit to liking harems. Three characters in particular seem to be emotionally and professionally fulfilled, so throwing them at this random guy is unjustified by the character’s emotions. The guy himself seems to have no romantic desire/libido which further adds to the confusion of “why did the author add this to the story”. In story its justified by them being grateful for the healing he does, but gratitude and respect is not the same as romance.