naivette

1. Open up an empty google drive document
   
2. Navigate to the J-Novel prepub you want to read
   
3. Set the reading settings on J-novel to "scroll"
   
4. Enable the "Absolute Enable Right Click and Copy" extension
   
5. Highlight the text using your cursor, then use CTRL + C to copy the text
   
6. CTRL+V paste it into your blank google doc
   
7. Share your google doc with link sharing
   
8. append the end of the google doc share link with /mobilebasic, your url should look like this https://docs.google.com/document/d/[really long document ID]/mobilebasic
   
9.  Add the document to your Pocket as an article
   
10. It will show up on your Kobo ereader if you are signed in with Pocket.
    
11. If you don't have Kobo/Pocket, you can simply download it as an epub from the google doc, and sideload it to your preferred device.

The Apothecary Diaries Volumes 1 and 2 by Natsu Hyuuga, Illustrations by Touko Shino. Published by J-Novel Club.

I watched season 1 of Kusuriya as it was airing, and waited to read the novels until I had completed the 24 episodes. As a result, I noticed two things:

First, that the 1st novel is actually a standalone. I did think it was weird that Maomao was suddenly removed from the Rear Palace, but it makes total sense if you think of it as a standalone ending. The first book basically ends with a sequel hook anyways.

Two, the writing in these novels is pretty dry. I’m not sure if this is part of the original text, or if the translator happens to have a dry writing style. From what I’ve read, the manga done by Nekokurage adds in a lot of charm and humor, which the anime took and expanded on even more. The light novels meanwhile, are truly from Maomao’s perspective, and have her sarcasm and wit.

That’s not to say that it wasn’t enjoyable, but it was a little shocking to find out that some of the beloved slapstick elements were purely made up for its subsequent adaptations.

Because of this, certain key moments hit a little differently.

It’s still early in the series, so I wonder if these aspects of the storytelling will change. Only time will tell.

Maomao is still one of my favorite main characters that I’ve read in light novels, however.

The Apothecary Diaries Volumes 5 and 6 by Natsu Hyuuga, Illustrations by Touko Shino. Published by J-Novel Club.

Volumes 9 and 10 kick off “Western Capital, part 2”. There is a lot going on here politically since it is the region that Gyokuyou is from, and there are plenty of enemies with unknown motivations.

In Volume 9, Maomao has basically become Jinshi’s personal doctor for [spoiler] reasons, so she must go though as much training as possible before they set off for I-sei province.

For those in the know, it’s an open secret, but it puts Maomao in an even more precarious position, as there are no female doctors at all, due to the cultural stigma. This brings her into conflict with her peers, but she does her best to navigate it. Also, since this is at Jinshi’s behest, and she is the daughter of Lakan and adopted daughter of Luomen, there’s little that anyone can do to stop her. She has already proven that she has the skills, and now she has the motivation to study as hard as possible.

I liked learning about how even though doctors are revered, the training they have to go through is considered blasphemy, since they have to study corpses of animals and people through dissection. I really enjoy anything to do with medicine and biology, so it was super interesting to find out that the method of teaching is the same. Anatomy dissections are incredibly difficult since the structures are hard to identify (personal experience OTL), so the narrative introduces a proper foil to Maomao who has the same level of skills, but in surgery. Tianyu may be annoying, but he’s the first peer of hers to be on the same level of knowledge in a related field, so Maomao’s begrudging respect makes for an interesting dynamic between the two.

Volume 9 also contains their journey to I-sei, which includes some funny mysteries and side quests that I won’t spoil here.

Volume 10 is basically all about farming and further political maneuvering. The narrative has been building towards an insect plague that they have to prepare for, and this book is all about their massive effort to save the province from famine.

They introduced a new character, “Lahan’s Brother” who is a dispassionate but highly serious farmer. He’s forced by Lahan to further the La clan’s potato agenda, and unfortunately Maomao prevents anyone from ever knowing his name lmao. Poor Lahan’s Brother, I hope we find out your name one day!

There’s not a whole lot I can write about Volume 10 that wouldn’t spoil the outcome of the plague plotline, but I CAN say that I liked the expansion and exploration of the side characters, including the Ma family. I’ve always been curious about Gaoshun’s family, and this arc gives us plenty of screentime for Chue (wife of Gaoshun’s 1st son, Baryou), Basen (Gaoshun’s 2nd son), and even Taomei (Gaoshun’s wife).

As always, it’s a fun read, and I’ll be sad when I catch up the most recent volume.

The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life as a Noblewoman Volume 1 by Kamihara, Illustrated by Shiro46. Published by J-Novel Heart (J-Novel Club).

When I first saw this cover among the new licenses by J-Novel club, I didn’t think much of the series. A lot of the newer female-centered isekai novels play with tropes related to Otome dating games, like “My Next Life as a Villainess”. I’ve watched and read a few series here and there that piqued my interest, but I haven’t gotten too deep into the genre. And even if it’s not isekai, “noblewoman” series might as well be a genre itself. Even in western literature, regency fic is super popular.

However, while looking at the forums, I saw it mentioned that the author of Ascendance of a Bookworm, Miya Kazuki, actually recommends this series! I couldn’t find proof of this anywhere, but that plus the other fans who have hyped this series up have definitely marked this as a series to look out for. I also noticed that this book is also extremely long for a light novel (Kobo reports this book as being 180k words long!!).

Given all the buzz around the series, I had to give it a chance!

Right at the beginning of the story, the main character Karen is disowned from her noble family due to being the product of adultery. However, her siblings still care for her, and just a few years later, her older sister has managed to negotiate a comeback for Karen with the condition that she re-enter noble society through marriage!

Since the main family dislikes her (Karen is from a branch family), they present her with two options. An old margrave on the frontier, or a young, handsome knight from a prestigious family? Everyone assumes she’ll pick the knight, but Karen has her own goals and picks the older man!

This is just the starting premise, and it’s already a fantastic one. This book is a wild ride; the “Trials and Tribulations” in the title are not for show. The Japanese title, 転生令嬢と数奇な人生を| Tensei Reijou to Suuki na Jinsei wo, roughly translates to “The Reincarnated Noblewoman’s Misfortunate Life”.

Karen goes through it, and there are many harrowing scenes that follow. It’s not all torture, but this book may as well be otome isekai x game of thrones. There’s a lot of disparate “bad” events that piece together to make up a larger political environment that Karen has to navigate. Notably, the main character doesn’t have any remarkable skills. Even when she tries to do the typical isekai thing of introducing “inventions”, it simply doesn’t work because she doesn’t have the necessary expertise. Other than her previous life experience, Karen truly is just an ordinary woman who wants to live an ordinary life.

Because the book is gigantic (for a light novel), there are many twists and turns in the plot. It feels like 3-4 books were condensed down into a single volume, as so many things just occur, with no discernible reason in the beginning. However, by the end of the book, you start to get a feel for what’s about to occur.

This is just the first novel, and in Japan, there are 6 books total for this series (and another spinoff series ongoing). J-novel Club announced that they were going to start splitting up future novels due to their length, so there’s probably 10 volumes left to read.

I’ve certainly decided to stick with this series, and I recommend it! However, there are definitely some trigger warnings required for this book. It doesn’t linger on it, but the scenes are there.

Agents of the Four Seasons, Dance of Spring Part I and II, Written by Kana Akatsuki, Illustrated by Suoh. Published by Yen Press. Translated by Sergio Avila

Agents of the Four Seasons is a fantasy series written by Kana Akatsuki, who is well known for the Violet Evergarden series, which is highly regarded. I haven't watched Violet Evergarden yet (the novel hasn't been licensed, though there is a fan translation), but I know that it's a well-regarded as a highly emotional and beautiful series, and worth the watch.

I really liked the art on this once, so I decided to pick it up physically. Dance of Spring Part I and II are one complete story released in two parts. In Japan, they were released simultaneously, but their release was split up by Yen Press. 

The story is about a world similar to our own, in which natural phenomena like the four seasons and the day/night cycle are managed by people (agents) with god-like abilities. The main character for these two books is a girl named Hinagiku Kayo, a 16 year old girl who is the Agent of Spring in the country of Yamato (Japan). She is recovering from a traumatic incident involving her kidnapping, and the same thing happens to another agent. The characters band together to save the other agent, and reconcile their past differences. 

Lots of trigger warnings apply to this series, as the characters are dealing with some heavy emotions, such as feelings of inadequacy, abandonment, confinement, suicidal ideation, etc. Despite all this, and while it may be a tear-jerker of a story, it's still one of hope and determination. Of moving past trauma, and letting love into your heart again. 

And there's a lot of love to be found here; Love between Agent and Guards (like Hinagiku and her Guard Sakura), love between parent and child, and love between family members. And of course, there is also a romantic love between the Agents of Spring and Winter. 

I wouldn't say that this is a romance driven series, as it focuses primarily on the plot, but since these feelings are integral to the character's motivations and their development, it feels included naturally. 

And I can't lie, there were several moments that brought me to tears. The traumatic backstories of the characters are recounted through harrowing flashbacks, and some truly terrible stuff happens to them. But it's not just the what but the how the story is told, and Kana Akatsuki's writing truly delivers that emotional journey. 

This felt wonderfully complete on it's own, and the next books focus on other characters. Although it's a hard read at times, I really am looking forward to continuing the series. The next books will cover the Agent of Summer, who I really liked in this book, so I'm excited to see where the story goes next.

• Atelier Ryza 1: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout
• Bear and Breakfast
• Giraffe and Annika
• The House in Fata Morgana: Dreams of the Revenants Edition
  
• Live a Live
• Moonglow Bay
• Schim
• Shadows Over Loathing
• Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley
• Toem