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How to Succeed in Monster Farming #1

How to Succeed in Monster Farming After Getting Rejected by the Hero Guild: A Monster Ranching LitRPG

Nick was just your average overworked accountant… until he got isekai’d and then immediately rejected for “lacking hero potential.” Instead of a prophecy or a sword, he’s given a rundown farm in a cursed wasteland where seventeen previous owners died horribly. Lucky him.

But Nick isn’t as helpless as he looks. With mysterious strength, an eye for optimization, and a knack for flipping curses into perks, he starts rebuilding Blackthorn Farm from the ground up. What was once a death trap becomes a booming operation complete with monster livestock, magical crops, and an eclectic crew that includes a former elven slave turned manager, killer birds for security, and a shape-shifting dragon named Petunia.

As his power grows and the land begins to thrive, Nick draws attention from nobles, mages, and forces that might not be entirely mortal. Blackthorn Farm has secrets tied to a forgotten disaster, and Nick might be the only one who can uncover them… assuming he can survive the attention.

Farming, monster breeding, magical progression, and a snarky protagonist who accidentally becomes a power player in a world that didn’t see him coming.

450 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 17, 2025

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Kenny King

29 books30 followers

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5 stars
724 (55%)
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329 (25%)
3 stars
167 (12%)
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57 (4%)
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31 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
Profile Image for Johnny.
2,280 reviews88 followers
June 7, 2025
Book one

This feels like a 1st attempt. It's a jumbled mess. It's like anytime the author came up with an idea he just shoehorned it in there without any thought to the progression or layout of the story itself.
Some examples would be When you 1st start off It seems like he's automatically collecting loot from defeated monsters. But then, he suddenly having to harvest loot from the monsters. And then there are times where it looks like it automatically did it but then it goes back to harvesting by himself it's very confusing I almost dropped the book before I even made it out of that mess. Then you have the whole thing with the slaves they are slaves no matter what he says. The whole you don't have to do it if you don't want to got old real quick. Guys don't act like that If they're offered sex whether it's from a slave or not 99.9% of them are going to accept it. That's just the way it is. And the sex scenes brought nothing to the story had nothing to do with the story And we're just rather childish my jaw hurts because you're so big. Like I said it's just whatever popped into the author's mind seems to have made it into the book. The hero Is manipulated into taking the farm apparently this comes to light later in the book. The mages council is not the bad guys they are made out to be throughout the entire book. They're secretly good guys. More like manipulative Powerful butt holes.
The whole dragon acting like a cat Was just weird. The fact that she can transform not so weird kind of actually cool. But why would she allow herself to be slaughtered for meat instead of Being able to transform and walk away. Also she can talk so why would they want to slaughter her for meat that is just kind of disgusting. Oh and she also wants to sleep with the main character so you know let's throw that in there. I hate that whole dynamic where everybody throws themself at the main characters feet. That's just pure wish fulfillment.
This story is a giant mess with a lot of problems it needs editing in a bad way from somebody that will be honest with the author and point out mistakes and parts that just don't fit and parts that just need to be cleaned up. I do congratulation the author on his attempt But I don't recommend this to anybody.

3/10 For having some good ideas even if they were badly executed.
372 reviews11 followers
June 19, 2025
Had to stop reading

The book is very shallow. No depth at all. And the MC acts in an illogical manner. The MC is forcibly transported from Earth by a group of mages to be their hero and fight evil. They immediately test him and decide that he is inadequate, but have no way to send him back. After being somewhat angry for all of 30 seconds decides that it’s a good idea to relocate to a cursed farm surrounded by vicious monsters. He’s an accountant by trade with no martial skills. Somehow he manages to kill much higher level monsters by punching them. How does he even get close enough to land a punch? He magically figures out to reverse every curse he comes across. Somehow he knows how to field dress strange monsters and cure hides. No indication is given that he previously possess any skills besides accounting. Also not once does he indicate he misses home. Does he have a family? Friends?

Every crop he grows prospers and turns out to be inordinately valuable. Every merchant gives him a fair deal. He kills a man in front of witnesses and the captain of the guard not only lets him go, but rewards him.

He’s able to effortlessly tame monsters.

He rescues a slave and within three days, that slave goes from asking permission to use the bathroom to spending small fortunes to purchase other slaves without the MC’s permission. As an aside, how did the slave, a person the MC has only known for three days, get access to his bank account. After it happened the first time wouldn’t it have made sense to cut her off? He never reprimands her by the way. Imagine if someone you rescued spent millions of your business’ dollars without clearing it with you first. I’d think that having stern words with them would be the least you would do.

The final straw for me was when the slave invites the same mages that kidnapped the MC on to his property with the express purpose of uncovering his secrets without telling him. The MC somehow convinced himself that it’s a good idea to let them stay.

Make it make sense.
Profile Image for Jon Honey.
103 reviews3 followers
January 10, 2026
It was okay at first, but you won’t convince me the whole thing wasn’t just a set up for the elvish slave girl smut at 70% of the book. Waste of my time. DNF
Profile Image for Fat Frog.
359 reviews
February 8, 2026
Another author trying to make a system with "good slavery". Don't worry guys, this is not bad slavery... this is "good slavery", where slaves are super high educated, with extremely specialized knowledge. Buying slaves means you are "doing them a favor", and keeping them from "bad people, who will do bad things to them". You are just "saving" them by having them as slaves. And ALL OF THE SLAVES COMPLETELY ACCEPT THEIR FATE AS SLAVES, and think you are so weird by not accepting the idea of slavery. Fucking hate this shit.

The scene where the slave is willingly giving him a blowjob, is so fucking weird. "I really want to give you oral pleasure. No I don't want to have sex, but I really want to do this. Yes, I really do, and I don't want to kiss. I really like you so I want to give you oral pleasure, but no kissing ok? Wow, your member is so large. My jaw hurts."

Fucking get real. This is some of the dumbest and cringiest shit i've ever read.

A shitload of stuff makes no sense. De-cursing is just him smearing random garbage onto things. And somehow it is the perfect thing to remove the curse and transform it. The fights make no sense. Even if he has extreme punch power, punching is EXTREMELY CLOSE combat. He would be getting horribly injured by all of the powerful beasts that get close to him. He is supposedly an accountant with zero fighting skill. That makes this kind of close combat impossible.

The slave girl buying him more slaves, when he has told her multiple times he doesn't want slaves at all, is an extreme breach of trust. She used his money for this, with zero permission. And what does he do? Nothing. It is weird. I guess he is just a total simp loser. Great.
Profile Image for Cheyenne.
53 reviews2 followers
July 18, 2025
3.5 felt like it was a strong 4.5 maybe until the 80% mark when a bunch of side characters got introduced, that imo, felt like they lacked substance & were only there as a plot device vs having three dimensional purpose. that pivot point seemed to take away the detail of what I personally enjoy in this genre of writing and had enjoyed in this book until then. Im guessing that about that point in time the scope of the premise exploded into something too much for author/MC to reasonably handle without adding the length of this project and the introduced side characters were a patch job effort to move the plot along so author didn't have to write certain aspects any more. could not tell you a single one of those 8-10+ side characters' name apart from two. I'll probably read the next one but this one could've used more work on pacing and inclusion of these new side characters to make me care about them more .
Profile Image for Natalie  H.
4,101 reviews30 followers
July 16, 2026
July 2026
Kindle edition

I'm surprised I'm reading the next one. The initial chapter was entertaining with the summoning and the sarcasm level. Up until 35% there is no other interaction with another person. It's tutorial farming, monster killing and curse breaking. From there the new characters were a bit of an overload. Apart from the elf chick, Krash and Petunia, the other other characters were lost on me. I did like the birds. It was alright.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jay Collins.
1,653 reviews16 followers
April 12, 2026
Just killing monster after monster or stopping curses. 3/4 of the book is that. DNF as was going no where fast. Got board and had to stop about 3/4 in
173 reviews
September 27, 2026
We start with Nick, who is using the toilet when he gets summoned to be a new world's hero. When they test his hero-ness he fails. They give a list of choices to decide what to do for work since they cannot send him back to the world he came from. He is interested in the Blackthorn Farm but learns that the last 17 owners died from monsters. He accepts the farm and they send crap transportation for him. When they get there he gets dropped off and has only an hour to get to the house and get safe from nocturnal monsters. Nick is very strong and kills 3 monsters with his bare hands. He knows something is up because it was too easy and the monsters were level 12, while he was level 1. He survives the first night and gets some tools. A monster breaks through the window and Nick gets a little hurt but defeats it and then defeats a shadow wolf and causes the rest of the pack of wolves to back off. The monsters stop attacking for the night and Nick decides to do an assessment in the morning about what he has to work with to fix up the farm. He wakes and spends the day breaking some low level curses and enjoys the cleansing stone to get clean through magic. He learns that certain monsters can be used to help his cause. He notices that the farm is very alien and has a lot of crazy features. He goes to the well and works on cleaning it. The wolves watch from afar. He ends up going to a shed and looting it, getting some good stuff and goes back to the well and gets the curse gone and is able to filter the well water. He goes over his stats while resting. The next day, he goes to the well and finishes cleaning it, and it is now stable. He goes to face the face monster nest nearby for magic venom, experience, and to clear out some farmland for crops for seeds he found in the shed. He takes out the face crawler nest, and the land is getting healthier. Back at home, he crafts for the first time and makes a bracer of armor. Next day, he goes to the orchard to find some food and learns that some of the corrupted fruit there can give some magical abilities. Nick goes hunting to see what he finds and finds a boar-like animal and kills it for the meat. He treats the meat and eats it and immediately feels better. The following day, he eats and goes to the orchard and destroys all the minor curses that are there, and the orchard is starting to heal itself. He checks on the crops he planted, and because the orchard is curse-free, the land thrives more. When night comes a major curse feeds 23 other smaller curses and Nick plans to upgrade his tools to make them stronger. He upgrades his tool and armor and then he goes to fix up some more of the curses. He ends up defeating the wolf pack including the alpha. He gets damaged but he is able to heal himself. with some time left in the day goes after the closest 4 curse nodes that are affecting the land and crops. He decides to start an animal farm and builds some pens for lower level animals that are easy farming. He clears up 3 nodes in the orchard to help transform the curse into something better. In the night there is a creature that destroys one of the pens. Nick kills it then goes to bed with a new plan in the morning. In the morning he fixes the messed up pens and then sets some traps to capture some animal beasts. along the way he transforms another curse that will help him. As the garden grows more, curses are quelling his status updates but now his class is unknown vs none. Remembering when the company he used to work for made them do a team bonding thing about wilderness training he used those skills to capture some animals for his farm and start breeding them for food and hide. He ends up attacking a monster who tries to kill him and kills it with one hit. He wonders further about his class and strength but there isn't much to go by. One week passes and everything is going swimmingly. He is wondering about trading and going to a farmers market to trade and start getting money. He has a transportation  hub that he is trying to modify and save. He modifies 3 of the curses and they turn helpful. He is learning how to modify the curses to help him use the right amount of everything in order to do it properly. He is now able to hold more in his inventory and categorizes everything neatly. He decides to travel to Riverton and see it. When he arrives he trades an apple as an entry fee and the guy is shocked to see it's an enchanted apple. He ends up getting money for the apple and heads to sell his produce. He becomes popular quickly as his produce is rare and magical. That an alchemist, lord of a manor, a town healer, and a chef are interested in. He is proud of how well he is doing. He is awoken by a screech of monster birth. He feeds his animals and then harvests the garden as it is growing very quickly. He then harvested the tree fruits and mends 2 curses to better things for his farm. He makes a list of things he needs to better himself and his farm. He heads to the trading place again and everyone is thrilled to see him again. He gets his palm read while he is there too. He gets an ominous read but ignores it as he didn't understand. He then goes through and buys a new crafted tool set, enlists a carpenter to help rebuild the house, barn, and other structures. He also gets new cooking gear and a fancy table. He acquires some protector birds to train and he begins looking for the lady with the seeds. She gives Nick special seeds from her collection in the promise of 30% of the crops yield. He then moves on to get new clothes that aren't falling apart. afterwards he gets his old clothes cleaned and heads to a library and gets information about his farm, monsters, and himself. *honestly, he had a rough start, but I would love to visit and help out!! How cool would this place be!!* He gets some food and heads back to the farm. Nick sees a flash of purple but decides it's tomorrow's problem. He wakes to the new terror birds wanting to bond and he feeds and tends to them, and the initial bond is formed. He takes some supplies and the birds to go and check out the purple flash from the day before. He works on transforming the minor curses and regular curses to make it so he can now teleport to a new location. He fixes the portal and then goes to plant new crops that he got at the market. He gets to drop off the latest harvest and while there gets into a "fight" with a merchant who was beating his slave. Nick accidentally kills the guy, but with his charisma and good rep for being a decent fellow with the healing crop the guards let him off and tell him to get out of the alley. He acquires the slave through a magical contract. Her name is Syllia. Nick takes care of her, and she is shocked by his kindness. He shows her the farm and the room she will be staying in. Next morning Syllia has cleaned the kitchen and cooked both of them breakfast with ingredients Nick has. He is stunned by her cooking skills. Syllia doesn't understand that Nick is a good guy and doesn't want her to be a slave and wants her to be her free self. It's kind of adorable. Nick offers her work but only if she wants to do it, he reminds her that to him she is not a slave and that she is a person who has rights. Syllia picks up on the chores around the farm quickly and helps deliver the new baby animals. He used to work on a farm with her parents. That night she asks Nick to sleep in the same room as him but just for sleep because she is afraid. He agrees. In the middle of the night he gets awoken by his defense birds who alerts that there is something present: a Void Striker monster coming. Nick and the birds kill all but 3 as Nick wants to domesticate the 3 that have the potential for being part of the farm. Syllia comes out to help him and brings "coffee". They end up finishing some of the farm work and then go into the market for a void strider pen and the maker is excited for the challenge. While at the market Nick brings up the void striders at the guild and they pay handsomely for the parts Nick brings them. He then spends a lot of money on kitchen ware, a new bed set up and nice pillows for Syllia, and some candy for her to try as well. Syllia then takes him to a restaurant that is really nice but he doesn't like it as it promotes slavery. Someone comes up to him and offers three slaves to him and he rejects the offer. But Syllia tells him to take them one because they will be sold to whomever no matter what and would rather they get treated kindly by him vs someone else. And two, they are hard workers and will be great workers. He begrudgingly accepts them for Syllia. They all head back to the farm and Nick explains everything and the three new employees (Krash, Dorin, Valla) are startled by Nick's rejection of slaves and Nick states that when money is steadier that he will pay them and back pay for their work. Nick wakes before everyone to check on the void striders. Syllia comes out when dawn starts to break and brings him the waking brew, "coffee." The construction crew comes a little after and they all work together to get much built. By the end of the day everyone wines down and Syllia comes into Nick's room again and she asks to please him. He reminds her she is under no obligation and she is free on the farm to do as she pleases. She tells him that this will please her because she wants to because she chooses to. She gives him a stellar blowjob. The next morning more void striders come and Nick kills most of them then keeps 3 more for breeding. Valla, Krash and Dorin come to help Nick clean up the striders and tell Nick to get cleaned up. In the house, Syllia drew him a bath and she teases him lightly while helping clean him. At breakfast, Nick checks his stats and is pleased with the results. They all fall into self assigned rolls that helps everyone on the farm see improvement. Syllia goes into town to deliver the produce and Nick goes through and helps transform more of the curse nodes. When Syllia returns she has procured more slaves to help them but Nick is not happy about people being bought. He remembers that it is better to be treated well here than other places and accepts them. Nick takes one of the new helpers who specializes in animals to help with the traps and moving the new monsters to their new homes. Stonefist the construction worker tells Nick that because the land is cooperating that it is going so well because the land and he have similar ideas and goals, so everything is going so smoothly because of it. Nick goes to transform some curses when Syllia returns from town with a dragon named Petunia. Nick is not too thrilled about a dragon but learns that she was going to be killed for meat and parts. Petunia says she can be helpful around the farm and offers to help transform curses. well she ends up burning the sections of the farm that have the curse nodes and doesn't really help much. Nick sends her back to the farm to help in other areas. After a while Nick is back at the house and eats dinner and dessert with everyone. After a bath, Syllia and Nick start to get intimate when Petunia in her dragon form sees them and starts talking about what happened between Syllia and Nick. Petunia can transform into a human and a very pretty one at that. Petunia leaves and Nick is let down the mood has passed. Syllia says it hasn't passed and they do intimate things. Next morning, everyone gets to work on the farm. In her human form, Petunia is helpful and more easy to manage. At the end of the day, Syllia and Nick sit on the porch and chat about how much this has changed. How the farm is different but in a good way. A week has passed and Syllia returns to the farm with more people but this time it is some researchers who want to study the farm. *I would make sure that a trade happens... either by coin or supplies of sorts. Nothing is free.* One of the three people is from the magerium who is being kind of a jerk and judgmental. At the end of the visit, the scholars ask to stay to help and study and Nick agrees. Peloran offers Nick to go to the Blackthorn Farm archives at the Magerium. Nick preps everyone that he is going to be leaving for a few days. When they get to the archives Nick is shocked by the amount of knowledge there is. He has been there for two days, he returns back to the farm and everyone is there to greet him and update him on everything that he has missed in his stead. They also locate the entrance of the old research facility. They removed 7 curse nodes before the door would allow them to open it and Nick only gets partial access. The system is a lightweight sentient being who has put Nick in charge because he and the research facility and farm recognizes that he is meant for this place. When they are done exploring, a rift opens and void striders enter the facility, and Nick tells everyone to leave and warn the others and that he would take care of them. Nick starts to punch the striders and kills all of them then harvest their salvageable parts. Syllia ends up fixing up Nick after he gets a few injuries from the striders. A little later Gertrude, the seed lady, shows up as she has been living in her great granddaughter's body and she is the last scientist who worked in the vault. Turns out Nick and the farm are an enterprise to help save many dimensions and worlds.

I really enjoyed this LitRPG, it was so good and the speed was good. The events that happen are boring and it's very DnD giving and enjoyable. I cannot wait to get this as a trophy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Cindy.
2,020 reviews49 followers
March 6, 2026
While I don't have any interest in playing a Monster Ranching game, I did enjoy listening to the player's trials and successes in this audiobook, except, of course, for the slavery and the female slave who just "had to" pleasure Nick in gratitude, then mention her jaw was sore the next morning. Obviously, I am not the target audience for this series. I was hoping it would be funnier, but Nick's Sarcasm rating never rose above a 10 (out of ???), yet his Charisma score rose into the mid-teens.
The writing and narration were good and kept my attention. Trigger warning for vegans and vegetarians: many monsters are slaughtered for their parts. 3.4 rounded down

Profile Image for MaKayla Farley.
5 reviews1 follower
June 19, 2025
Loved It

Everything I wanted in a fantasy farming book. Monster taming, farming, magic, mystery, interesting backstory, power leveling... yeah this was EXACTLY my cup of tea. 💜
2,643 reviews
May 23, 2025
What a dynamite book! There's som'min about Farming books that draw me in, like a moth to the flame, and fortunately I've never been burned! I loved this book from the very first sentences and by the the end of the first chapter the book'd shot up to a favorite read for this year! Luckily my favorite list is always hungry for for more! This is Nick's adventure as he's Isekaied right into a processing chamber. After a bit of back and forth he's thrown out into Blackthorn farm, his first quest survive the day! Yep, monsters! Also he's discovered a plethora of curses that has'ta end. Before the farm's safe. He's got a head start because there's an orchard albeit corrupted though. So with his work cut-out for him, Nick gets busy! And with that he plants a garden, while mitigating the corrupted curse nodes in the area! Slowly but surely the Blackthorn farm changed as Nick healed the land... and yee gods the work plied on! Through happenstance Nick got help, a slave girl Syllia and she was a godsend! He had been growing veggies, fruit, breeding monsters for meat, and ending curses, but with Syllia and the extra hands she bought they could expand and grow. And wow, I haven't mentioned the Farming lifestyle I love so much! The shared table, giving off a nice homey jibe. Even the planting and harvesting of crops, and breeding animals hits my happy place!
So yeah grab the book and go back to your roots...

Here's some quotes y'all:

"Don't mess with an accountant who's had a bad day."

"The dried meat tasted like it had been cured with salt and sadness."

"What are you working with now? "Rust with delusions of toolhood..."

"Had a beard you could lose small children in."
2,216 reviews4 followers
May 31, 2025
Good Read

This started out as an amazing read for me. I loved the humor and it was so well written. But once he acquired Syllia, it went down hill for me. I had no problem with her being a slave, my problem was it went from 1 night of her sleeping alone to the next in his bed to a couple days later to something sexual. From her becoming manage and using the farm's money however she wanted without consulting him and all of this as still a slave. None of it was believe able for me, given how things worked in that world and how slave minded Syllia had been. That's not something that changes in less than a few days. If those things hadn't happened with Syllia, and the book had carried on with her as a simple slave and farm manager/helper, I would've given this book 5 stars; the beginning was just that good for me, but I just ignore ownership/ situationship that wad happening.
15 reviews
September 16, 2025
Started strong, then fell completely flat...

The book started strong! For this genre, it had a decently interesting character, world, situation. Some mystery, plenty of conflict, but still a fun tone. Then, about 15-20% in it just... Lost all cohesion. Things started not matching to established facts from earlier in the book, stuff was repeating. It was frustrating to read. It was very clearly written by AI after a certain point.

AI bots have a "context" window of limited range, and when something in the conversation history drops out of that range, the AI bot just.... Makes some stuff up to fill the gap.

That is clearly what was happening here. Needless to say I couldn't make it past 30% of the book. It was just too janky, and inconsistent.
1 review
July 13, 2025
reads like AI

Ends every chapter by reminding you the McDonald’s was an accountant and is now in a different world, very little description on the actual world itself, also the title is wrong in that the beginning isekai arrival doesn’t even mention a guild. This is someone’s publicized AI rp session
163 reviews
August 2, 2025
The protagonist has it too easy, and it's internally inconsistent. Oh, and there's some harem-type stuff.

The setup is way too fast and contrived. Nick gets summoned to a fantasy world, and within a few pages gets rejected as "not heroic enough" and offered his choice of properties. A sequence of events that makes no real sense, since the summoners had no reason to believe they'd need to hand over a consolation prize to a rejected hero.

Nor does the fact that he chooses a monster infested farm over 3 other much safer choices. He's an accountant with no combat skills, he should have expected that to be a death sentence, but he picks it anyway because the plot says so.

Late in the book, the author tries to retcon this nonsense in a way that makes no sense either. It smells of a web serial that's been collected as a book, where the author can't be bothered to re-write the first chapter. The farm gets more and more special late in the book as the author fiddles with the backstory.

When he arrives at the farm, it turns out that he suddenly has magic fists, so he easily defeats several monsters that should have eaten him. Then he proceeds the start eliminating curses on the farm by dripping various poisons and plant mixtures on cursed items. His "formulas" for curse removal are often completely arbitrary, and they always, always work.

Later in the book he learns that his curse removal techniques are "revolutionary," and unheard of by the local magic experts. Even though he's completely making it up as he goes along. Apparently no one else in the world's history has tried his fairly simple mixtures.

The book spends a fair number of pages describing in detail what the cursed items are supposed to do, and what bonuses the fixed items give. Neither of which matters, since the curses never really affect Nick despite the "high threat," and the bonuses get completely forgotten once the book describes them.

Everything always goes his way. At one point, he literally gets away with murder. He kills someone in broad daylight in front of witnesses, and suffers no more consequences than a scolding.

Oh, and he acquires a beautiful elf slave girl as a result. The author makes a point of describing how she has large breasts, which is not an attribute I usually associate with elves. Nick swears up and down he doesn't want slaves, but keeps her anyway. As you can expect, eventually they do sexual stuff because she's so grateful.

Later in the book he gets talked into buying some more slaves, even though he really, really doesn't want slaves.

That's pretty much the book. He punches monsters, drips mixtures on curse objects, and gets rich selling produce that only takes a few days to grow.
Profile Image for Auntie Maurae.
11 reviews
June 24, 2025
“Welcome to Blackthorn Monster Farm, where every day brings a new and exciting opportunity to not get eaten by something magical.”

Seriously, one of my favorite lines- and there were a lot of those.

You know, it started off slow with an isekai’ed hero similar to Naofumi from Rising of the Shield Hero. But what sets this apart- aside from the fact that he’s expected to be a farmer rather than a fighter- is the humor. Nick is a ‘make the best of it’ character whose best is surprisingly, uniquely better than a typical hero’s.

Is it a masterwork of literature? No offense, Mr. King, it’s not destined for the classics section of the library. Is it entertaining? Highly!

Who wouldn’t love a shapeshifting dragon named Petunia with an overabundance of enthusiasm and problematic personal boundary perceptions? Or a fun and unique ‘System’ that quantifies your learning and abilities to make you better at your job? I kind of want to ride a terror bird (which my brain says looks like the unholy offspring of an ostrich and a velociraptor) just for the fun of it!

The only issues with this book were that the curse destructions and then curse transformations became rather repetitive until the ones right near the end. But I was deeply disappointed that the book ended. I can’t wait for another installment!
Profile Image for Jake.
269 reviews5 followers
February 24, 2026
DNF; too easy

Everything succeeds every time.
Everything you find is exactly what you need.
Mixing unrelated items with no knowledge of anything works for exactly what you need.

I made it to 27% and couldn't torture myself any further.

Imagine a game on a straight path where you have to pick up an item to go forward and then need that item at the next "hardship."

Plus the writing is contradictory and retcon of the story happens when something new is introduced.
"I'm immune to curses. I sleep through the night. Here's a nightmare thing. This explains why I've had unsettling dreams."
"Here's five things hunting another thing. I took one out without them noticing. They're eating the thing. I took out another without them noticing." Unless the thing was an elephant (it wasn't), there's no way you're going to silent kill one of four creatures eating together without the others noticing.
"I got poisoned and it's moving down my arm and I can barely use it. I need to harvest these critters before they go bad. Now that I'm done harvesting, let's deal with my arm. Luckily the thing I grew overnight is a Swiss army knife that clears curses, removes poison, and more."

There was no challenge anywhere. It's like the book was written for a 10 year old that hates losing. Or thinking.
Profile Image for Alexander.
27 reviews1 follower
June 13, 2026
I just finished How to Succeed in Monster Farming After Getting Rejected by the Heroes Guild by Kenny King. This is another isekai LitRPG where the protagonist is summoned to a fantasy world, but unlike many in the genre, he’s not thrilled about it and has to figure out how to build a life on his own terms—specifically through monster farming after being rejected by the heroes guild.
I genuinely enjoyed this one more than the author’s previous book I read, How I Became the World’s Strongest Warrior by Using Basic Attacks (also 3 stars). The main character here feels much more relatable and human. He comes across as a regular guy who was pulled into this world against his will and is simply trying to make the best of his new circumstances, rather than feeling callous or hollow. The monster-farming mechanics and progression were engaging enough to keep me turning pages.
My only real complaint is the cover art. I think it’s supposed to depict a Voidstrider, but the anatomy and overall design are noticeably off. There’s also a clear typo in the title text on the cover (“by the by the” near the bottom), which is a bit sloppy for a published book.
Overall, this was a fun, light read in the LitRPG/isekai space. If you enjoy monster-taming or farming-focused stories with a more grounded protagonist, it’s worth checking out.
3 out of 5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Joe McMillen.
39 reviews1 follower
August 26, 2026
How to Succeed in Monster Farming Despite Being Rejected by the Hero’s Guild was a fun surprise.

I enjoyed the way it takes the usual fantasy setup and goes in a completely different direction. Instead of focusing entirely on becoming the strongest hero, the story leans into farming, monsters, progression, and building something from the ground up. It gives the book a more relaxed feel without losing the sense of adventure and growth that makes progression fantasy so enjoyable.

The main character is easy to root for, and I liked watching him turn rejection into an opportunity rather than simply spending the entire book trying to prove everyone wrong. The monster farming concept also gives the world a lot of personality and creates some genuinely funny and unexpected moments.

There were a few places where the pacing dragged or where I wanted the story to move a little faster. Overall, this was creative, entertaining, and just different enough from the usual fantasy formula to stand out. I am definitely interested in continuing the series.
202 reviews
April 16, 2026
CONSIDER: The annoying level ups and stat checks will occur for about 65% of the book. Then it’ll start to build the actual story.

The narrator gets 6 out of 5 stars.

So this plays out exactly like D&D and Stardew Valley had a one nighter and popped out this baby. It’s a strong mix of emotions the whole way through.

A guy gets pulled into this magic world, is told that he’s not what the magicians were looking for, and is then allowed to have some cursed property for the rest of his days. He takes this cursed farm and builds it up.

This is not a standalone book. There is no conclusion at the end. That conclusion is in the continuation of book 2 but was split up because 120k words took up all the space to set the scene and dabble into some story. It was annoying.

I have no desire to get book 2. It looks interesting, and it was a lot of fun, slightly humorous. The narrator knocked it put of the park. Without him, the book probably wouldn’t have been as entertaining.
12 reviews
September 17, 2025
Good but has unnecessary adult situations.

It was a good book. It has a good storyline. The characters are mostly well thought out. Some of the story felt a bit rushed in how the farm was given its residents. For some reason, the author decided to include a few very adult scenes in the book that did not move the story along at all. The author could have included romance without getting graphic. I know they know how, as they included a paragraph that had suggestive dialog between 2 of the MCs that made sense in the context of their conversation. You knew exactly what they hinted at but did not need to get deep into vulgar language to make the point. Not sure the story ended in a way that makes me want to read the next book in the series. I will need to sit on it, and if I wonder about this world then I will check out the next book.
Profile Image for Edward.
19 reviews1 follower
June 5, 2025
Feels rushed.

While the premise is great and the writing excellent, the story itself feels very rushed. The MC is constantly pulling out things that he somehow prepared in the space between paragraphs. It makes for a very disjointed reading experience — is the farm dilapidated and the MC lacking materials to rebuild, or is there some hidden cache of supplies that mysteriously appears whenever he needs a pen, cage, or roofing repairs?

Also, about 50% into the story, MC straight up murders a man with zero repercussions.

I kept expecting someone, anyone, to raise hell about the murder, but no. No friend, no family, no upset business partners. MC literally murders him, everyone shrugs.
284 reviews5 followers
June 28, 2025
Slow your roll!

This book falls into the same pitfall that so many progression/building books fall into. It goes way too fast.
The start is good. Nice pace, the MC learning how exist in his new world. Initially the curse breaking is fun, but it quickly becomes ho-hum providing no significant drama. By the end many of the curses are essentially, 'then he broke it without difficulty.'
There is also some sort of martial arts cultivation sub plot that doesn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the story.
It seems like midway through the author lost focus and tried throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck. Nothing really did.
A promising beginning without follow through. Tom out
Profile Image for Ford Miller.
773 reviews7 followers
July 10, 2025
Very plain tale. No surprise's that challenge the plot.

Overall the story was basic and written on a 8th 9th grade level maybe. The plot was full of frustrating plot holes in convenient plot armor whenever the story needed the push forward. The main character virtue signaled quite a bit, but not overpowering. The dialogue was okay, and the premise of the story was interesting in the beginning, but it lost its appeal as the main character was able to just do whatever was needed at any given time with no real adversity. The supporting characters were unique at first but then had no real part except to validate moving the plot line forward in an uninteresting way and very very predictable. Again it's not that the story itself is bad, it's just boring.
450 reviews4 followers
December 31, 2025
It was an alright story. I can get down with an MC who comes into possession of a fixer upper and he starts turning things around. It gets tiring though when people from our earth get isekai'd into some world where slavery is legal and commonplace, and they are just so morally outraged by it all that it has to be something i hear about for the rest of the book.
And speaking of that, our great MC comes across a slaveowner who is beating his slave, and is legally within his rights to do so, as the slave is his property. And MC interferes and winds up murdering the guy, but that's fine, be on your merry way? Like not even arrest or a trial? And all because he grows tasty vegetables, or whatever. Man what kind of corrupt shit is that.
Profile Image for Benjamin Frediani .
95 reviews
August 27, 2026
You’re hurled into the story with very little to anchor you, and the first half feels like someone describing a video game playthrough.

Once you get past that, character interactions kick in, the story starts emerging, and the premise becomes a lot more fun. I have plenty of complaints—loads of inconsistencies, excessive wish-fulfillment without the substance to back it up, and one of the worst isekai starts I've read. But while most isekai start strong and fall off, this one actually does the opposite.

There isn't much effort put into consistency or logical sense, but it’s an enjoyable ride that keeps moving forward.

Three stars feels right. It’s fun and I’m enjoying it, but the plot holes and storytelling flaws are just too big to justify anything higher.
Profile Image for David Hewitt.
10 reviews1 follower
July 31, 2025
There is no drama or conflict or challenge in this book. It's purely moving from one easy success to another.

The world & systems that are revealed are rather interesting, and some thought has gone into the background, but there's no real story structure, character development, or narrative arc.

The romance with an elven slave girl is on the creepy side. But unlike a lot of the genre, at least the book acknowledges the importance of sex & romance, so I'll call that a wash.

I imagine that if you read it as a serial with a lot of time between chapters that its weaknesses may be less apparent.
Profile Image for Laura.
39 reviews1 follower
May 23, 2026
I listened to it on Audible, and that's the only reason it got three stars is cause of the awesome narrator!
THE BAD: it turned into a surprise porno. I picked this book up for the "here be monsters" title...and I got VHS style prono instead. It has NOTHING to do with the plot, and honestly, it diminishes the characters. Sure, people have sex, but we don't need the details....especially in a monster farming book.
THE GOOD: The plot is just amazing. The writing is amazing. The characters are well written. Everything is perfection.

WHY DID YOU RUIN THE BOOK WITH THE UNNECESSARY PORNO?!
Profile Image for Marked Twaine.
267 reviews16 followers
June 17, 2025
Far better than I expected

I wasn't sure what I expected when I started reading this story but I was pleasantly surprised I highly recommend this book it.... Was funny and the fighting was good and eventful my only drawback was the romance was off screen you don't really see any of that. Plus I was really hoping the story would turn into a harem novel and it might but I'm not sure. That's the reason I only gave it 4 stars was because the sexy scenes were not really fleshed out.
58 reviews1 follower
August 7, 2025
Enjoyable Slice of Life Fantasy Farm Adventure!

I would classify this as a slice-of-life isekai/ LitRPG farming story. The first 10% starts off good and then it bogs down a bit for the next 30% until the main character goes to a nearby town for the first time. Then it picks up quickly.
Overall, it is an enjoyable reading experience. The 30% in the first half of the story does tend to get a bit repetitive. However, it helps you o get a feel for the work being done on a fantasy farm and makes the second half that much more enjoyable! I look forward to a sequel!
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