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Sowing Season #1
Casual Farming
Embrace an adventure in the magical world of "Casual Farming", a wholesome and captivating young adult fantasy romance book set in a slice-of-life LitRPG world of farming.
Join Jason Hunter on his journey of self-discovery as he inherits an old farmstead outside of Summer Shandy. He'll face the challenges of taming the overgrown fields and fending off field monsters, all while finding a way to balance his duties, his chore-list, build his strength, and navigate the complexities of relationships if he wants to live the quiet life for himself in the country.
Experience the nostalgia and coziness of farm life while being swept away by a fantasy romance that will leave you breathless. This book is perfect for anyone who loves a good love story, adventure, and a touch of magic.
Join Jason Hunter on his journey of self-discovery as he inherits an old farmstead outside of Summer Shandy. He'll face the challenges of taming the overgrown fields and fending off field monsters, all while finding a way to balance his duties, his chore-list, build his strength, and navigate the complexities of relationships if he wants to live the quiet life for himself in the country.
Experience the nostalgia and coziness of farm life while being swept away by a fantasy romance that will leave you breathless. This book is perfect for anyone who loves a good love story, adventure, and a touch of magic.
570 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 13, 2022
967 people are currently reading
329 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
June 10, 2022
Pure fluff. Fine for some light reading.
Rife with problems. Money makes zero sense in this book. Stoves automatically cook as long as you have a recipe. It cost action points to do some things but not others.
Characters are cringe worthy. Just everything about the story came out off. No real work needed for anything from cooking to relationships.
4/10 Would make a decent bathroom book for when you are stuck on your throne.
Rife with problems. Money makes zero sense in this book. Stoves automatically cook as long as you have a recipe. It cost action points to do some things but not others.
Characters are cringe worthy. Just everything about the story came out off. No real work needed for anything from cooking to relationships.
4/10 Would make a decent bathroom book for when you are stuck on your throne.
June 11, 2022
DNF
It's too much like the author played Stardew Valley and just tried to slightly modify what happened to write a story without copyright issues ...
The stilted writing style didn't help either.
Give this book a pass and read Blue Hills instead.
It's too much like the author played Stardew Valley and just tried to slightly modify what happened to write a story without copyright issues ...
The stilted writing style didn't help either.
Give this book a pass and read Blue Hills instead.
July 15, 2022
Although I enjoyed the farming aspect of the book, I found several problematic and disturbing things about the book that really soured me. First of all, the girl love interest has no problem hitting the main character in the face with armored gloves. Repeatedly. And this is how she shows her affection? I can't get behind this because it reminds me too much of the sexism of DV. Had genders been reversed, it never would be included.
Aside from this, the same romance arc was agonizingly written to the point where it was reminiscent of a middle school fanfiction.
Despite this, I finished the book and started the 2nd book. Immediate DNF for me because in the first chapter or second chapter, the girl love interest is again punching the main character in the face. It's 2022. Let's be better.
Aside from this, the same romance arc was agonizingly written to the point where it was reminiscent of a middle school fanfiction.
Despite this, I finished the book and started the 2nd book. Immediate DNF for me because in the first chapter or second chapter, the girl love interest is again punching the main character in the face. It's 2022. Let's be better.
July 21, 2022
3/5 I enjoy LitRPG and the colorful cover and the plot synopsis reminiscent of the Harvest Moon (Story of Seasons) video game series or Stardew Valley caught my interest so I decided to give this one a go as I’ve been playing more and more of those style video games over the last few years.
This is gamelit so game mechanics are involved. The MC Jason only has a certain amount of “actions” he can perform per day and harvesting crops, building fences, etc all play out using them just like a game which is silly but fun. Crops sprout in days not seasons and store nicely in inventories to be taken to market. Monsters roam the farm until properly fenced. The town has a dungeon that plays a large part in the story as well. But the neatest thing for me was how the characters and relationships kind of progressed like they would in this style of life sim.
Overall the story was fun and very breezy. However there isn’t a whole ton of depth and there are a couple of characters that had changes toward the end of the story that just didn’t feel right to me. The story is very self contained and can absolutely be read stand alone but the author has stated that it’s a planned 7 book series of which the 2nd is already out.
This is gamelit so game mechanics are involved. The MC Jason only has a certain amount of “actions” he can perform per day and harvesting crops, building fences, etc all play out using them just like a game which is silly but fun. Crops sprout in days not seasons and store nicely in inventories to be taken to market. Monsters roam the farm until properly fenced. The town has a dungeon that plays a large part in the story as well. But the neatest thing for me was how the characters and relationships kind of progressed like they would in this style of life sim.
Overall the story was fun and very breezy. However there isn’t a whole ton of depth and there are a couple of characters that had changes toward the end of the story that just didn’t feel right to me. The story is very self contained and can absolutely be read stand alone but the author has stated that it’s a planned 7 book series of which the 2nd is already out.
June 17, 2022
An odd but rather entertaining read
The world in this book is very game like, seasons change on a specific day, cooking something after learning the recipe is basically instantaneous, you and your house have an inventory storage system, and money and goods transfer just by acceptance. It sort of feels like you are watching the NPC’s in a slice of life portrayal. The MC is your typical hard working good guy who is somewhat slow in the understanding relationships department. He moves to a small town from a large city and changes his class to Farmer level 1. I hope you enjoy him farm building while interacting with the local residents like I did.
The world in this book is very game like, seasons change on a specific day, cooking something after learning the recipe is basically instantaneous, you and your house have an inventory storage system, and money and goods transfer just by acceptance. It sort of feels like you are watching the NPC’s in a slice of life portrayal. The MC is your typical hard working good guy who is somewhat slow in the understanding relationships department. He moves to a small town from a large city and changes his class to Farmer level 1. I hope you enjoy him farm building while interacting with the local residents like I did.
May 19, 2022
Gentle story good fun
I really enjoyed this. It is not like most other litRPG books in that the mc is a farmer and used very few skills. Also there is (and this may scare some nerds) relationships which mostly don't go well. Lots of humour as well, which always helps.
I really enjoyed this. It is not like most other litRPG books in that the mc is a farmer and used very few skills. Also there is (and this may scare some nerds) relationships which mostly don't go well. Lots of humour as well, which always helps.
August 15, 2022
I've read some Wolfe Locke books before, but not anything from the other author.
Farming is the new LitRPG hot theme. We've seen a bunch of books come out, some good and some not so good. This one is good, but as the title states it is very light.
Jason inherits a farm in the tiny town of Summer Shandy. It's eighty acres overrun with monsters and a house filled with mice. All the stores, as well as the adventuring guild outpost are staffed by young women Jason's age. Not that it helps him in any way.
The most interesting part of the story for me was the system the authors came up with. It's action based, where each person has a limited number of actions to get done that day. Sometimes other people will share their actions, or earn bonus actions for accomplishments. It's a simple but effective in limiting how quickly Jason can get his farm up and running again.
This is very much a slice of life novel. The double spacing threw me off, and I almost gave up on the book five pages in. I'm glad I stuck with it, as things do pick up. There is some action, most of it minor as Jason fights back against the small monsters in his field, but sometimes it is larger.
The editing... is bad. Either it wasn't edited, or the authors themselves tried to edit it. Either way, the editing isn't good. There aren't any stat sheets to speak of here, only actions.
Despite all that, I enjoyed it. 5/5*
Farming is the new LitRPG hot theme. We've seen a bunch of books come out, some good and some not so good. This one is good, but as the title states it is very light.
Jason inherits a farm in the tiny town of Summer Shandy. It's eighty acres overrun with monsters and a house filled with mice. All the stores, as well as the adventuring guild outpost are staffed by young women Jason's age. Not that it helps him in any way.
The most interesting part of the story for me was the system the authors came up with. It's action based, where each person has a limited number of actions to get done that day. Sometimes other people will share their actions, or earn bonus actions for accomplishments. It's a simple but effective in limiting how quickly Jason can get his farm up and running again.
This is very much a slice of life novel. The double spacing threw me off, and I almost gave up on the book five pages in. I'm glad I stuck with it, as things do pick up. There is some action, most of it minor as Jason fights back against the small monsters in his field, but sometimes it is larger.
The editing... is bad. Either it wasn't edited, or the authors themselves tried to edit it. Either way, the editing isn't good. There aren't any stat sheets to speak of here, only actions.
Despite all that, I enjoyed it. 5/5*
April 7, 2023
Sowing Season: 1
First chapter is set in the future once the main character has leveled up and become successful and the next chapter starts back at the beginning where Jason is first starting out and trying to get his bearings, getting advice similar in gaming from NPCs, but here are treated as real characters. This is not a transmigration/isekai story, though it starts off feeling like one, but more like a slice-of-life version of a cozy mystery - low drama, low stress, barely a hint of plot and somewhat boring. It felt like the authors had decided to document a farming sim that they were playing, like Stardew Valley. Many story elements are straight out of gaming which is initially somewhat delightful, but non-sensical for a non-gamer.
First chapter is set in the future once the main character has leveled up and become successful and the next chapter starts back at the beginning where Jason is first starting out and trying to get his bearings, getting advice similar in gaming from NPCs, but here are treated as real characters. This is not a transmigration/isekai story, though it starts off feeling like one, but more like a slice-of-life version of a cozy mystery - low drama, low stress, barely a hint of plot and somewhat boring. It felt like the authors had decided to document a farming sim that they were playing, like Stardew Valley. Many story elements are straight out of gaming which is initially somewhat delightful, but non-sensical for a non-gamer.
January 21, 2025
Got about 40 minutes into the audio book and had to stop when his crops grew overnight. Seriously? Lol.
November 4, 2022
At my request I received a copy of this audiobook in order to give a fair and unbiased review
Genre: LitRPG fantasy Farming Slice of life romance
LitRPG system: level and skill based, but not dominant, the focus is on the financal game aspects
Explicit content: No adult or explicit content.
Jason inherits his uncle's decrepit farm. He works to rebuild it while defending it from monsters, hiring adventurers to help him and builds relationships with his new neighbours.
Narrator
- Pacing and intonation: Ashlinn Romagnoli did an excellent job at engaging the listener with passionate use of intonation and narration speeds.
- Voice diversity: The characters do not have distinct voices, instead the narrator relies on contextual cues and pitch indicating gender of the speaker.
Ashlinn Romagnoli is a good story teller and I was fully immersed and taken away into Jason's life.
Overall: 4/5 stars
The book’s strengths.
- Fantastic premise. For me this is a fresh new take on LitRPG and I love that it is not all combat
- The story is will written and especially Tess is a memorable and interesting character
- The narration
The book’s weaknesses.
- More time could have been devoted to making the initial Paulina arch less abrupt.
Overall: 4/5 stars
Recommended. An engaging story that can stand on its own, but leaves me wanting to dive straight into the next of the series.
That and start up the game stardew valley. It scratches a lot of the same itches.
Genre: LitRPG fantasy Farming Slice of life romance
LitRPG system: level and skill based, but not dominant, the focus is on the financal game aspects
Explicit content: No adult or explicit content.
Jason inherits his uncle's decrepit farm. He works to rebuild it while defending it from monsters, hiring adventurers to help him and builds relationships with his new neighbours.
Narrator
- Pacing and intonation: Ashlinn Romagnoli did an excellent job at engaging the listener with passionate use of intonation and narration speeds.
- Voice diversity: The characters do not have distinct voices, instead the narrator relies on contextual cues and pitch indicating gender of the speaker.
Ashlinn Romagnoli is a good story teller and I was fully immersed and taken away into Jason's life.
Overall: 4/5 stars
The book’s strengths.
- Fantastic premise. For me this is a fresh new take on LitRPG and I love that it is not all combat
- The story is will written and especially Tess is a memorable and interesting character
- The narration
The book’s weaknesses.
- More time could have been devoted to making the initial Paulina arch less abrupt.
Overall: 4/5 stars
Recommended. An engaging story that can stand on its own, but leaves me wanting to dive straight into the next of the series.
That and start up the game stardew valley. It scratches a lot of the same itches.
August 2, 2022
I'm giving 2 stars solely cause of Travis Baldree; great narrator.
I thoroughly enjoyed BEWARE OF CHICKEN By the "REAL" CasualFarmer, Battle Mage Farmer by Seth Ring, Oh Great I was reincarnated as a Farmer by Benjamin Kerei, Morcster Chef by Actus, Jake's Magical Market by J R Mathews, The Trilogy is Broken by J P Valentine, and Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, so I picked this one as it was narrated by Travis Baldree.
They say, never judge a book by it's cover, but sometimes you must. MC is a MALE and there's no ambuity about it, then do pray tell why is there a female farmer on the cover???
I normally make a point to never read books with covers like these, as I do (like almost every single person) Judge a book by its cover. Although, this book didn't have the annoying unnecessary over sexualized scenes, but this wasn't the book that I was looking for. Could have been great slice of life, like aforementioned books, but at the end it falls flat on its face. If it was a movie it would comparable to made of DVD HALLMARK movie, or a CW a show. Biiiiggggg romantic gestures and sappy 'ol love triangles and gets cancelled mid-1st-season. Nothing original here. For the price of 1 book, you don't only get 1 triangle, but 2...but wait there's more if you buy this book right now the author will throw in a extra love entanglement ABSOLUTELY FREE. Needless to say I won't be bothering with the sequels or this author anymore.
I thoroughly enjoyed BEWARE OF CHICKEN By the "REAL" CasualFarmer, Battle Mage Farmer by Seth Ring, Oh Great I was reincarnated as a Farmer by Benjamin Kerei, Morcster Chef by Actus, Jake's Magical Market by J R Mathews, The Trilogy is Broken by J P Valentine, and Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, so I picked this one as it was narrated by Travis Baldree.
They say, never judge a book by it's cover, but sometimes you must. MC is a MALE and there's no ambuity about it, then do pray tell why is there a female farmer on the cover???
I normally make a point to never read books with covers like these, as I do (like almost every single person) Judge a book by its cover. Although, this book didn't have the annoying unnecessary over sexualized scenes, but this wasn't the book that I was looking for. Could have been great slice of life, like aforementioned books, but at the end it falls flat on its face. If it was a movie it would comparable to made of DVD HALLMARK movie, or a CW a show. Biiiiggggg romantic gestures and sappy 'ol love triangles and gets cancelled mid-1st-season. Nothing original here. For the price of 1 book, you don't only get 1 triangle, but 2...but wait there's more if you buy this book right now the author will throw in a extra love entanglement ABSOLUTELY FREE. Needless to say I won't be bothering with the sequels or this author anymore.
April 4, 2023
Casual Farming has far more combat than I was expecting. Crabgrass and other weed monsters attack the farm constantly until Jason builds a fence. As the farm grows, it attracts more interesting monsters, but the first half of the book is lots of boring critters.
The first chapter is six years in the future, so we already know who Jason will eventually marry. That sucks the tension out of all romantic relationships and rivalries. That's a shame because only the first relationship chronologically has any chemistry and we know it's not going anywhere.
Things I like:
- Every chapter is one day and starts with the same wake up text. It cements the "farm game" feel.
- The nearby dungeon functions similarly to one in an adventurer based gamelit story but it's not Jason's career so the story doesn't focus on it too much.
Writing could really use an editor but is fine by gamelit/KU standards.
The first chapter is six years in the future, so we already know who Jason will eventually marry. That sucks the tension out of all romantic relationships and rivalries. That's a shame because only the first relationship chronologically has any chemistry and we know it's not going anywhere.
Things I like:
- Every chapter is one day and starts with the same wake up text. It cements the "farm game" feel.
- The nearby dungeon functions similarly to one in an adventurer based gamelit story but it's not Jason's career so the story doesn't focus on it too much.
Writing could really use an editor but is fine by gamelit/KU standards.
July 7, 2024
I stopped reading at 25%. I tried really hard to continue, but that authors made that too hard. I have so many problems with this book.
TLDR: Good concept, poor execution. Bad writing, bad plot, bland characters.
1. The repetition.
The main character (and some of the other characters every now and then)
sighed 110 times
out of that they sighed deeply 33 times
held their breath/took a deep/long breath 90 times
and as a little extra they also exhaled and inhaled 6 times
That is 206 added together. That is an average of 0.6 per page if we take the 306-page long pdf. If you don't think this is bad there are literal paragraphs with 2 sighs/breaths:
"“No, it’s okay.” Jason took a deep breath, then snapped the
reins. Lady began to trot along faster, and he glanced at her. There
was a bit of a pause, and he took a deep breath."
It almost makes me think that the air in this world must be oxygen deficient if everyone basically pants like they just ran a marathon. There is more word repetition, but I couldn’t be bothered to find it all. (he also blinked 64 times and made his way 77 times) There are also typos like saying “me” instead of “him”. The book reads like it’s completely unedited.
2. The lack of descriptions
You want to know what a Crabgrass monster looks like? Me too, because there was no description of it in the book. You want to know how the inventory system works/looks like? Does it appear in front of the person, is it just a voice listing off items or just text? I have no idea. This is one of the main selling points of this book and they couldn’t even bother to describe it.
There is constant telling and not showing. He goes into someone’s office. Do we get to know what her office looks like? No. There is an assortment of interesting fruit at the shop. Do we get a description of them? No, just use your imagination and come up with your own, I guess. He keeps talking about how splendid the dinner he spent at another farmer’s was. Too bad the writers skipped the whole scene. This got a bit better as I was progressing, but the descriptions never got to a level where I would have been at least not annoyed with them.
3. Inconsistency/plot holes
Jason, the main character, comes from a nearby city. He is not teleported from another world; he is not even from another country. Yet he seems totally clueless about everything. I would understand if he only had lacking knowledge on farming, but he is totally oblivious about levels, skills, seasons and more. He didn’t think to check his farming level until he was told to. He acted all surprised that the way you get more actions was levelling. He has never heard of the basic repair skill. Apparently he also never cooked in his life, nor did he see anyone cook. This would make sense if this was a portal fantasy, but it’s not. He had a cast before he came to the farm and I assume he also consumed food and had a social life. His behaviour makes no sense.
However, he knows that adventurers don’t have their own horses, because they can’t take them into the dungeons. How does he know this and at the same times has no idea about basic things?
There are smaller ones like him saying that he still has not found use for the monster meats when someone already gave him a recipe that uses it.
4. The characters and romance
All the characters are bland and cliché. We know nothing about the main character other than the size of his family. It seems like he has no past, no family left behind, no friends, no partner. He is in his twenties and not once does he mention anything about his past. He is only there to farm and romance, he doesn’t have to have a personality. The rest of them are walking tropes. The always angry tsundare guild mistress, the empty-headed gigachad adventurer, the infinitely kind and generous neighbour and the yandere shop owner.
And don’t even get me started on the romance. You couldn’t make it more obvious that this book was written by men.
Why does the mc like the love interest? Because she is nurturing and caring. That’s it, that’s all he knows about her. It’s enough for him though, because he regards her as an object to be claimed and she is just the embodiment of all the services she will provide when they get married.
“Well, Jason was going to show him that being a farmer was just as virile of a profession as adventuring. He would be the one to claim Paulina….”
This is so problematic for two reasons. It implies that all she cares about is how much money he makes. And we do not ‘claim’ women, they are not objects or prizes. This wording deeply disgusted me.
I am sad the book turned out to be like this, I was very excited to read it initially as it falls exactly into my niche.
TLDR: Good concept, poor execution. Bad writing, bad plot, bland characters.
1. The repetition.
The main character (and some of the other characters every now and then)
sighed 110 times
out of that they sighed deeply 33 times
held their breath/took a deep/long breath 90 times
and as a little extra they also exhaled and inhaled 6 times
That is 206 added together. That is an average of 0.6 per page if we take the 306-page long pdf. If you don't think this is bad there are literal paragraphs with 2 sighs/breaths:
"“No, it’s okay.” Jason took a deep breath, then snapped the
reins. Lady began to trot along faster, and he glanced at her. There
was a bit of a pause, and he took a deep breath."
It almost makes me think that the air in this world must be oxygen deficient if everyone basically pants like they just ran a marathon. There is more word repetition, but I couldn’t be bothered to find it all. (he also blinked 64 times and made his way 77 times) There are also typos like saying “me” instead of “him”. The book reads like it’s completely unedited.
2. The lack of descriptions
You want to know what a Crabgrass monster looks like? Me too, because there was no description of it in the book. You want to know how the inventory system works/looks like? Does it appear in front of the person, is it just a voice listing off items or just text? I have no idea. This is one of the main selling points of this book and they couldn’t even bother to describe it.
There is constant telling and not showing. He goes into someone’s office. Do we get to know what her office looks like? No. There is an assortment of interesting fruit at the shop. Do we get a description of them? No, just use your imagination and come up with your own, I guess. He keeps talking about how splendid the dinner he spent at another farmer’s was. Too bad the writers skipped the whole scene. This got a bit better as I was progressing, but the descriptions never got to a level where I would have been at least not annoyed with them.
3. Inconsistency/plot holes
Jason, the main character, comes from a nearby city. He is not teleported from another world; he is not even from another country. Yet he seems totally clueless about everything. I would understand if he only had lacking knowledge on farming, but he is totally oblivious about levels, skills, seasons and more. He didn’t think to check his farming level until he was told to. He acted all surprised that the way you get more actions was levelling. He has never heard of the basic repair skill. Apparently he also never cooked in his life, nor did he see anyone cook. This would make sense if this was a portal fantasy, but it’s not. He had a cast before he came to the farm and I assume he also consumed food and had a social life. His behaviour makes no sense.
However, he knows that adventurers don’t have their own horses, because they can’t take them into the dungeons. How does he know this and at the same times has no idea about basic things?
There are smaller ones like him saying that he still has not found use for the monster meats when someone already gave him a recipe that uses it.
4. The characters and romance
All the characters are bland and cliché. We know nothing about the main character other than the size of his family. It seems like he has no past, no family left behind, no friends, no partner. He is in his twenties and not once does he mention anything about his past. He is only there to farm and romance, he doesn’t have to have a personality. The rest of them are walking tropes. The always angry tsundare guild mistress, the empty-headed gigachad adventurer, the infinitely kind and generous neighbour and the yandere shop owner.
And don’t even get me started on the romance. You couldn’t make it more obvious that this book was written by men.
Why does the mc like the love interest? Because she is nurturing and caring. That’s it, that’s all he knows about her. It’s enough for him though, because he regards her as an object to be claimed and she is just the embodiment of all the services she will provide when they get married.
“Well, Jason was going to show him that being a farmer was just as virile of a profession as adventuring. He would be the one to claim Paulina….”
This is so problematic for two reasons. It implies that all she cares about is how much money he makes. And we do not ‘claim’ women, they are not objects or prizes. This wording deeply disgusted me.
I am sad the book turned out to be like this, I was very excited to read it initially as it falls exactly into my niche.
January 7, 2023
Aiming at the "slice-of-life" LitRPG farming genre, but has juvenile prose, a juvenile plot, cardboard characters, and absolutely no tension. It's not even really complex enough to even be considered bad. It's sort of a sketch of a journal that's like "harvested some beans today," or "like a girl, but I waited too long to say anything."
Gave up after about 20%.
Gave up after about 20%.
suspended
August 12, 2022I'm struggling with this one because of the little attention to internal coherence the author is displaying. I wanted some light easy-going adventure, but this is just a bit on the idiotic side for me right now.
I'll give it one more try. Maybe. Later.
I'll give it one more try. Maybe. Later.
May 27, 2023
Sorry when he went full Simp I just quit.
Like I said when he went full Simp on Pauline or whatever I wanted to throw up and I was just done. I don't even think that's who he ends up with but it was just over for me at that point.
Like I said when he went full Simp on Pauline or whatever I wanted to throw up and I was just done. I don't even think that's who he ends up with but it was just over for me at that point.
December 14, 2022
Boring and a pathetic Waste of Time
A loser of a book. I got to chapter 10 and I was done! Seriously this novel is beyond boring!
A loser of a book. I got to chapter 10 and I was done! Seriously this novel is beyond boring!
January 20, 2023
I just cannot get into the story. The story is awkward
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2023
Jason has inherited a dilapidated farm of 80 acres near the village of Summer Shandy and has moved from the city to make his fortune in the countryside.
Every day starts with a comment stating something along the lines of: [Jason awakes to his alarm at 6am...]. This is the start of EVERY chapter. Gets annoying. There are passages from Tess' Almanac too but, at least, they're relevant.
Jason starts as a newly minted farmer and has to contend with low powered monsters as he tries to tackle planting and harvesting. We see very little of his farming skills being mentioned but we often get a pointless list of his pantry contents. I don't really care how many tomatoes Jason has available to cook each morning but I would like to see his farming skill stats grow (alas, we never do see this).
Most of the story seemed to revolve around Jason being enamoured by one lady in the village after another. In fact, the writing style seemed rather juvenile in this regard. And the number of times Jason got punched on the chin by lover and enemy alike is ridiculous. Whilst an enemy punching you is understandable; who wants a lover who hits you too? (That's just abuse in my book, regardless of the gender of the person throwing fists).
There was some drama about a nearby dungeon but the side characters seemed to deal with this more than Jason, although he did shine from time to time.
There was a dire need for proofreading (especially the first half of this book). There were problems of spelling, grammar, and tense. Typical issues for the genre but I wish new authors would spend some time polishing their work before publishing it.
This was a simple story, simply written. In fact, it reads like a teen fantasy with very little understanding of true relationships. Whilst I enjoyed reading this story for its characters there were many flaws in addition to those mentioned above, therefore, this book only just scraped 3 stars. Since this could be read as a standalone book, I don't think I'll be bothering with the rest of this series.
Enjoyed it - 3 stars
++++
MY STAR RANKING SYSTEM:
- 5 Stars - Personal favourite
- 4 Stars - Loved it
- 3 Stars - Enjoyed it
- 2 Stars - Found it lacking
- 1 Star - DNFed / Hated it
Every day starts with a comment stating something along the lines of: [Jason awakes to his alarm at 6am...]. This is the start of EVERY chapter. Gets annoying. There are passages from Tess' Almanac too but, at least, they're relevant.
Jason starts as a newly minted farmer and has to contend with low powered monsters as he tries to tackle planting and harvesting. We see very little of his farming skills being mentioned but we often get a pointless list of his pantry contents. I don't really care how many tomatoes Jason has available to cook each morning but I would like to see his farming skill stats grow (alas, we never do see this).
Most of the story seemed to revolve around Jason being enamoured by one lady in the village after another. In fact, the writing style seemed rather juvenile in this regard. And the number of times Jason got punched on the chin by lover and enemy alike is ridiculous. Whilst an enemy punching you is understandable; who wants a lover who hits you too? (That's just abuse in my book, regardless of the gender of the person throwing fists).
There was some drama about a nearby dungeon but the side characters seemed to deal with this more than Jason, although he did shine from time to time.
There was a dire need for proofreading (especially the first half of this book). There were problems of spelling, grammar, and tense. Typical issues for the genre but I wish new authors would spend some time polishing their work before publishing it.
This was a simple story, simply written. In fact, it reads like a teen fantasy with very little understanding of true relationships. Whilst I enjoyed reading this story for its characters there were many flaws in addition to those mentioned above, therefore, this book only just scraped 3 stars. Since this could be read as a standalone book, I don't think I'll be bothering with the rest of this series.
Enjoyed it - 3 stars
++++
MY STAR RANKING SYSTEM:
- 5 Stars - Personal favourite
- 4 Stars - Loved it
- 3 Stars - Enjoyed it
- 2 Stars - Found it lacking
- 1 Star - DNFed / Hated it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2025
Casual Farming invites readers into a seemingly idyllic, yet unexpectedly challenging, RPG-infused world. The story centres on a young protagonist who inherits a neglected farm from his uncle, starting his journey from a humble Level 1 farmer. The initial atmosphere is one of quiet beginnings and the potential for growth, quickly colored by the kindness of the community. Key figures like a supportive neighbour and a helpful shopkeeper woman emerge as early pillars of aid, establishing a tone of gentle camaraderie and the promise of simple, rewarding labour. The narrative immediately presents the core hook: will our protagonist succeed in cultivating his land and find his place in this world, or will unforeseen circumstances disrupt his peaceful aspirations?
The heart of Casual Farming lies in the sudden, dramatic shift from bucolic existence to desperate survival. The introduction of a newly opened dungeon spewing forth monsters plunges the town into crisis, threatening its very existence. In a profound act of sacrifice, the protagonist destroys his meticulously cultivated fields, the fruits of his labour, to produce vital medicine for a spreading sickness. This pivotal event tests his resilience and the bonds within the community, pushing him beyond his initial farming ambitions. The narrative explores themes of sacrifice, community resilience, and the courage found in unexpected heroes as the townspeople rally to confront the monstrous threat and its source.
Ultimately, Casual Farming concludes with the successful destruction of the dungeon, bringing an end to the immediate peril. In a heartwarming resolution, the protagonist confesses his love to a warrior woman, a sentiment that is reciprocated, suggesting the beginnings of a new chapter for him. Furthermore, the intervention of the government, recognising the injustices suffered by the town, promises much-needed compensation and repair, offering a sense of hopeful renewal and stability. The ending feels satisfyingly resolved, providing closure to the main conflicts while hinting at future possibilities, leaving the reader with a sense of quiet triumph and the enduring strength of community and love.
The heart of Casual Farming lies in the sudden, dramatic shift from bucolic existence to desperate survival. The introduction of a newly opened dungeon spewing forth monsters plunges the town into crisis, threatening its very existence. In a profound act of sacrifice, the protagonist destroys his meticulously cultivated fields, the fruits of his labour, to produce vital medicine for a spreading sickness. This pivotal event tests his resilience and the bonds within the community, pushing him beyond his initial farming ambitions. The narrative explores themes of sacrifice, community resilience, and the courage found in unexpected heroes as the townspeople rally to confront the monstrous threat and its source.
Ultimately, Casual Farming concludes with the successful destruction of the dungeon, bringing an end to the immediate peril. In a heartwarming resolution, the protagonist confesses his love to a warrior woman, a sentiment that is reciprocated, suggesting the beginnings of a new chapter for him. Furthermore, the intervention of the government, recognising the injustices suffered by the town, promises much-needed compensation and repair, offering a sense of hopeful renewal and stability. The ending feels satisfyingly resolved, providing closure to the main conflicts while hinting at future possibilities, leaving the reader with a sense of quiet triumph and the enduring strength of community and love.
July 27, 2022
Because of the DRM on this title, and the fact that Apple broke the kindle app when they upgraded to IOS 15, I had to tollerate listening to this book with the built-in speech that reads at something like 50 words per minute. I normally run my screen reader at around 300 or so WPM. It's really hard to pay attention to something that is talking so slow I can wander off and read entire books in my mind before it gets to the next sentence.
But, I did manage (finally) to work my way through this book. It was a good one, and under normal circumstances, it would have been a single day read, but this one took me literally months to get through it.
Authors, Please don't add DRM to your kindle books, hackers can strip it anyway, and it doesn't do anything but prevent legitimate users from enjoying your work. Pirates will pirate, DRM doesn't prevent that.
For what it's worth though, I did stick with it, as aggrivating as it was, and thoroughly enjoyed the story, though the delivery method was excruciating, and I sincerely hope I never have to read a book with that method ever again. I've dropped books faster than you can say hot potato for having this exact problem, so the fact that I finished this book at all should be a clear indicator of how much I enjoyed the story, because I assure you if it had been any thing less, I'd not have bothered.
With that said, I'm not going through that again. Won't be continuing with this series if the next book is DRMed as well.
Great story though, and one I'd highly recommend for LitRPG fans, I liked it's unique flavor, and it's humor was of course a big part of the enjoyment as well, so if you're looking for a lighthearted read, and want something to read that will keep you occupied long into the night, don't hesitate to pick up this one.
But, I did manage (finally) to work my way through this book. It was a good one, and under normal circumstances, it would have been a single day read, but this one took me literally months to get through it.
Authors, Please don't add DRM to your kindle books, hackers can strip it anyway, and it doesn't do anything but prevent legitimate users from enjoying your work. Pirates will pirate, DRM doesn't prevent that.
For what it's worth though, I did stick with it, as aggrivating as it was, and thoroughly enjoyed the story, though the delivery method was excruciating, and I sincerely hope I never have to read a book with that method ever again. I've dropped books faster than you can say hot potato for having this exact problem, so the fact that I finished this book at all should be a clear indicator of how much I enjoyed the story, because I assure you if it had been any thing less, I'd not have bothered.
With that said, I'm not going through that again. Won't be continuing with this series if the next book is DRMed as well.
Great story though, and one I'd highly recommend for LitRPG fans, I liked it's unique flavor, and it's humor was of course a big part of the enjoyment as well, so if you're looking for a lighthearted read, and want something to read that will keep you occupied long into the night, don't hesitate to pick up this one.
April 20, 2025
What a waste of time.
The story is boring. Yeah it has farming in the title, but other books also made the slice of life, cosy, farming litRPG work. The constant time skips make it all the worse especially when used after exciting or important moments, when the author, instead of writing a good conclusion, decides to skip ahead in time to deescalate the tension or simply gloss over the results.
The character are all bland. Worst of all the Mc. No past, no knowledge about anything. No past partners or friends. We know basically nothing about him, except that he’s a the perfect do-gooder, feels bad about the death of a man who wanted to kill and torture him multiple times and is a total simp to all women he has an interest in, to the point he gets manipulated and abused and even feels guilty about it.
The fact that he doesn’t get even a tiny bit stronger throughout the story, while he is apparently surrounded by superhumans and monsters doesn’t help the case.
The love triangle with Pauline was painful to read. First she makes it a competition for both men and then she tells them they should have taken it slow and she feels overwhelmed.
The romance with Tess was also piss poor. We wait for 80% of the book only to get the most ridiculous misunderstanding and communication problem. They dance around the issue, not going anywhere and in the last chapter it just resolves itself, Tess, who behaved lile a 4 year old suddenly is mature again and they love each other. Its been quite a while since I‘ve read such a disappointing story development. That isn’t even mentioned that she let him alone with his potential murder and he didn’t even get mad about it. The author failed at everything he wanted to accomplish. Bad Mc, boring and unrealistic plot, unlikable characters and poor romance.
The story is boring. Yeah it has farming in the title, but other books also made the slice of life, cosy, farming litRPG work. The constant time skips make it all the worse especially when used after exciting or important moments, when the author, instead of writing a good conclusion, decides to skip ahead in time to deescalate the tension or simply gloss over the results.
The character are all bland. Worst of all the Mc. No past, no knowledge about anything. No past partners or friends. We know basically nothing about him, except that he’s a the perfect do-gooder, feels bad about the death of a man who wanted to kill and torture him multiple times and is a total simp to all women he has an interest in, to the point he gets manipulated and abused and even feels guilty about it.
The fact that he doesn’t get even a tiny bit stronger throughout the story, while he is apparently surrounded by superhumans and monsters doesn’t help the case.
The love triangle with Pauline was painful to read. First she makes it a competition for both men and then she tells them they should have taken it slow and she feels overwhelmed.
The romance with Tess was also piss poor. We wait for 80% of the book only to get the most ridiculous misunderstanding and communication problem. They dance around the issue, not going anywhere and in the last chapter it just resolves itself, Tess, who behaved lile a 4 year old suddenly is mature again and they love each other. Its been quite a while since I‘ve read such a disappointing story development. That isn’t even mentioned that she let him alone with his potential murder and he didn’t even get mad about it. The author failed at everything he wanted to accomplish. Bad Mc, boring and unrealistic plot, unlikable characters and poor romance.
September 29, 2022
Jason has received a farmstead as an inheritance, and he is determined to make it work. What he doesn't know is just how much work getting the farmstead working is going to take. As he works to get the farmstead up and running, he also starts making connections and building relationships with other residents of the town. But not everyone is feeling friendly, and there are those who don't care what happens to the residents and the town so long as they get the payout they feel is their due.
This is a slice-of-life LitRPG with a farming focus. At the beginning of each chapter was an update of sorts, some of which was repetitive and some of which was new information; initially, it was annoying because of its repetitiveness, but after a few chapters, I found that it was one of my favorite parts.
I definitely liked the different characters we were introduced to in this opening book of the series. Despite the fact that Jason is the main character, my favorite character ended up being Tess. She is quite the firecracker who loves her town and wants to make sure it remains protected. At the same time, she has terrible interpersonal skills and even goes so far as to have men fill out applications for the position of her boyfriend. Of the other characters, some were certainly more developed than others, though there were several that had certain characteristics that were played up for narrative effect.
Listening to the audiobook, narrated by Ashlinn Romagnoli, was fun. This was the first audiobook narrated by her that I have listened to and thought she did a good job. Though she didn't do different voices for the various characters, she did add to the story with the emotion she put into the narration. I look forward to listening to her narrate the sequel to this novel.
This is a slice-of-life LitRPG with a farming focus. At the beginning of each chapter was an update of sorts, some of which was repetitive and some of which was new information; initially, it was annoying because of its repetitiveness, but after a few chapters, I found that it was one of my favorite parts.
I definitely liked the different characters we were introduced to in this opening book of the series. Despite the fact that Jason is the main character, my favorite character ended up being Tess. She is quite the firecracker who loves her town and wants to make sure it remains protected. At the same time, she has terrible interpersonal skills and even goes so far as to have men fill out applications for the position of her boyfriend. Of the other characters, some were certainly more developed than others, though there were several that had certain characteristics that were played up for narrative effect.
Listening to the audiobook, narrated by Ashlinn Romagnoli, was fun. This was the first audiobook narrated by her that I have listened to and thought she did a good job. Though she didn't do different voices for the various characters, she did add to the story with the emotion she put into the narration. I look forward to listening to her narrate the sequel to this novel.
August 19, 2024
The system is inspired by Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, or Rune Factory, which was entertaining at first, but it got old really quick, and the systems didn't really integrate very well.
Some things take action points, but others don't. Some stuff happens automagically, while others don't. The money system doesn't make much sense either. The main character becomes extremely rich "through his own effort" in less than a year.
There's also a sort of class system and leveling system that aren't explained very well. Somehow the main character made it to adult hood without leveling up even once, and there don't seem to be class specific skills or anything, despite the entire world working like a video game.
They don't seem to know what people are like either. In less than a year, the main character has 3 seperate, sudden, and potent romantic dramas with 3 of the 4 women in town. In 2 of these dramas, he had a rival who was just written off as an evil villain.
Hell, at one point, one of the romantic interests (who was portrayed as a competent human being) couldn't decide whether or not she'd give a chance to someone who was written off as evil, after she found out that he tried to force her hand into marrying him by threating the main character.
There's also this weird thing where for some reason people don't know how to cook, despite "cooking" essentially being limited to asking a sentient cookbook to do it for you, and somehow the main character makes the "best pie" despite literally everyone using the same system, ingredients, portions, and gear to cook.
I do like the idea of the starting day text.
It's an ok book if you're running out of books and need to kill a few hours, but I can't recommend it.
Some things take action points, but others don't. Some stuff happens automagically, while others don't. The money system doesn't make much sense either. The main character becomes extremely rich "through his own effort" in less than a year.
There's also a sort of class system and leveling system that aren't explained very well. Somehow the main character made it to adult hood without leveling up even once, and there don't seem to be class specific skills or anything, despite the entire world working like a video game.
They don't seem to know what people are like either. In less than a year, the main character has 3 seperate, sudden, and potent romantic dramas with 3 of the 4 women in town. In 2 of these dramas, he had a rival who was just written off as an evil villain.
Hell, at one point, one of the romantic interests (who was portrayed as a competent human being) couldn't decide whether or not she'd give a chance to someone who was written off as evil, after she found out that he tried to force her hand into marrying him by threating the main character.
There's also this weird thing where for some reason people don't know how to cook, despite "cooking" essentially being limited to asking a sentient cookbook to do it for you, and somehow the main character makes the "best pie" despite literally everyone using the same system, ingredients, portions, and gear to cook.
I do like the idea of the starting day text.
It's an ok book if you're running out of books and need to kill a few hours, but I can't recommend it.
May 27, 2022
Stardew Valley the novel
Casual farming takes the idea of a more relationship focused and farming focused video game world and runs with it. There’s a minor amount of world building and LitRPG mechanics to make things more fantastical plot wise. I would say the biggest weakness is not quite explaining the politics causing the central conflict of the book, but it makes sense a farmer spending all his time fixing up his inheritance wouldn’t look too much into it. I would say you could probably get by with this book being rated PG. There is a minor amount of violence that’s never really detailed, people getting afflicted by an illness, and discussions of romantic relationships. I didn’t notice too many curse words, if any, but it might be because I enjoyed reading something more focused on building a life. You will probably enjoy this if you enjoy slice of life stories. You probably won’t enjoy this one as much if you prefer crunchy mechanics, in-depth world building, and dark stories. I am looking forward to the next one!
Casual farming takes the idea of a more relationship focused and farming focused video game world and runs with it. There’s a minor amount of world building and LitRPG mechanics to make things more fantastical plot wise. I would say the biggest weakness is not quite explaining the politics causing the central conflict of the book, but it makes sense a farmer spending all his time fixing up his inheritance wouldn’t look too much into it. I would say you could probably get by with this book being rated PG. There is a minor amount of violence that’s never really detailed, people getting afflicted by an illness, and discussions of romantic relationships. I didn’t notice too many curse words, if any, but it might be because I enjoyed reading something more focused on building a life. You will probably enjoy this if you enjoy slice of life stories. You probably won’t enjoy this one as much if you prefer crunchy mechanics, in-depth world building, and dark stories. I am looking forward to the next one!
December 18, 2023
2.5/5 (closer to 2 stars rather than 3)
Quite badly written compared to what I usually read. Every other KU book I've read was miles better writing-wise. The repetition of certain phrases such as "x raised their hands" during every conversation ever stuck out like a sore thumb. I am not a native English speaker, but even I could think of a myriad of ways certain parts could be rephrased or what words could be changed with... literally any other word.
I disliked a lot about this book and its writing, but it still felt quite cozy. I think if the writing didn't bother me this much, it would have been an easy 4 stars. It's full of classic slice of life anime tropes which I really liked, they added a lot to the coziness of the story.
I don't know about this one folks, I was truly excited for a slow living story that has 11 chonky volumes out. I might continue in the future, I might not. Was a decent time, but after reading Benjamin Kerei and CasualFarmer it's really not that great in my opinion.
Quite badly written compared to what I usually read. Every other KU book I've read was miles better writing-wise. The repetition of certain phrases such as "x raised their hands" during every conversation ever stuck out like a sore thumb. I am not a native English speaker, but even I could think of a myriad of ways certain parts could be rephrased or what words could be changed with... literally any other word.
I disliked a lot about this book and its writing, but it still felt quite cozy. I think if the writing didn't bother me this much, it would have been an easy 4 stars. It's full of classic slice of life anime tropes which I really liked, they added a lot to the coziness of the story.
I don't know about this one folks, I was truly excited for a slow living story that has 11 chonky volumes out. I might continue in the future, I might not. Was a decent time, but after reading Benjamin Kerei and CasualFarmer it's really not that great in my opinion.
June 6, 2024
I ducked out really early on in this book for one simple but significant reason; this isn't a story.
This is someone describing a list of events and barely putting a narrative skin over the top of it to give it the illusion of being a story. Either that or it is someone's description of themselves playing one of those farming games for mobile phones. This book is lacking in all of the fundamentals of storytelling; characters, conflict, setting and plot.
I really wanted to like this book, as recently I've been getting into slice-of-life storytelling and non-action based fantasy as I find them a breath of fresh air to the majority of books out there. But there's just nothing to get into here. The characters are basically walking talking names and nothing more, there's almost no descriptive work so I have no ability to picture what I'm reading, and I got no sense of conflict anywhere in the story.
So it's 1-star from me, as I think this is missing the fundamentals and it needs a great deal of work to turn this into an actual story.
This is someone describing a list of events and barely putting a narrative skin over the top of it to give it the illusion of being a story. Either that or it is someone's description of themselves playing one of those farming games for mobile phones. This book is lacking in all of the fundamentals of storytelling; characters, conflict, setting and plot.
I really wanted to like this book, as recently I've been getting into slice-of-life storytelling and non-action based fantasy as I find them a breath of fresh air to the majority of books out there. But there's just nothing to get into here. The characters are basically walking talking names and nothing more, there's almost no descriptive work so I have no ability to picture what I'm reading, and I got no sense of conflict anywhere in the story.
So it's 1-star from me, as I think this is missing the fundamentals and it needs a great deal of work to turn this into an actual story.
January 1, 2025
I'm gonna go whole hog writing synesthesia reviews this year, so look out and keep those senses open.
But in this case, and primarily because there were SO MANY OF THEM in this book, I got an utter eggy vibe going on for this novel. Sure, sure, it could be pure repetition, but I SMELL the butter wafting off this story.
Sure, lots of hard work, easy-going Stardew Valley vibes, monsters and two-legged monsters, a little romance, but above all, MAKING MONEY is the name of this game. It's a special kind of of LitRPG. Maybe later there will be some leveling, but for now, it's all about living a nice, comfortable life.
As for me, I thought it was very, very relaxing. A true comfort read. And even though I said it was eggy, I swear I felt like I was slathering a good deal of butter on my bread.
Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.
Arctunn.com
But in this case, and primarily because there were SO MANY OF THEM in this book, I got an utter eggy vibe going on for this novel. Sure, sure, it could be pure repetition, but I SMELL the butter wafting off this story.
Sure, lots of hard work, easy-going Stardew Valley vibes, monsters and two-legged monsters, a little romance, but above all, MAKING MONEY is the name of this game. It's a special kind of of LitRPG. Maybe later there will be some leveling, but for now, it's all about living a nice, comfortable life.
As for me, I thought it was very, very relaxing. A true comfort read. And even though I said it was eggy, I swear I felt like I was slathering a good deal of butter on my bread.
Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.
Arctunn.com
September 6, 2023
the authors Mean well
I have read all ten of these casual farming: quiet living litrpg… so there is that. I wasn’t ejected from them. That said the flaws make so much of the whole I can’t remember the good.
I read mostly on my kindle, which meant with each chapter starting with the date I could compare to the % left in the book and noticed that each season was exactly 25% of the book. To the point that some of the shorter chapters felt like they were just glued in to make the page count line up just so.
It’s like listening to someone talk about their Facebook farming camp. There are no stakes, a reset to zero sucks but what can you do. I read a lot of fiction so I saw threads introduced that Never Pay Off but because they came up a couple of books earlier need to be brought up so that they can be left unresolved yet again.
I don’t recommend, even for fans of gamelit, as the game is a Facebook click to farm X style game.
I have read all ten of these casual farming: quiet living litrpg… so there is that. I wasn’t ejected from them. That said the flaws make so much of the whole I can’t remember the good.
I read mostly on my kindle, which meant with each chapter starting with the date I could compare to the % left in the book and noticed that each season was exactly 25% of the book. To the point that some of the shorter chapters felt like they were just glued in to make the page count line up just so.
It’s like listening to someone talk about their Facebook farming camp. There are no stakes, a reset to zero sucks but what can you do. I read a lot of fiction so I saw threads introduced that Never Pay Off but because they came up a couple of books earlier need to be brought up so that they can be left unresolved yet again.
I don’t recommend, even for fans of gamelit, as the game is a Facebook click to farm X style game.
August 7, 2025
Who would have thought a book about farming would be this good and this exciting? Not this girl here. The cover looked mildly interesting, so I decided to give it a try. My hopes and expectations were so low. There's no way a book about farming would be this good. Well, I was so wrong!! It was amazing and actually had really good pacing! Jason is a bumbling, adorable idiot sometimes. But he's genuinely a good person. He has no sense when it comes to women, and his mess ups made me laugh. Poor Tess in all of it, though. She was waiting for him to realize she liked him. Though it was hard because she was with Leonard. The plot was simple, but it was fun to read and watch everything unravel. Jason, as simple as he wanted his life to be, ends up being far more than he expected. I love Jeremiah and all the friends he made. Im excited to start the next book because I adored the writing and the pacing.
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