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A Touch of Power #2
Adapt
Improvise. Overcome. Adapt.
Only five days have passed since Jade was brought to a distant world and a new life. Mobile for the first time ever, Jade is given the chance to do something she’s always wanted: attend school.
Dracona isn’t your typical school, however. In Andara she needs to learn all the skills an adventurer needs. For her, that means how to cast magic and use weapons without hurting herself. She’ll have to learn fast because the obstacle course isn’t the only thing challenging her progress; she’s racing against the clock to learn how to beat the Mesmer before they find her.
With both enemies and allies all around, Jade must hit the ground running, because what’s chasing her may be worse than the hospital bed she left behind. Turns out that adapting to a new world is only the first step.
Only five days have passed since Jade was brought to a distant world and a new life. Mobile for the first time ever, Jade is given the chance to do something she’s always wanted: attend school.
Dracona isn’t your typical school, however. In Andara she needs to learn all the skills an adventurer needs. For her, that means how to cast magic and use weapons without hurting herself. She’ll have to learn fast because the obstacle course isn’t the only thing challenging her progress; she’s racing against the clock to learn how to beat the Mesmer before they find her.
With both enemies and allies all around, Jade must hit the ground running, because what’s chasing her may be worse than the hospital bed she left behind. Turns out that adapting to a new world is only the first step.
557 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 12, 2019
719 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
About the author
Jay Boyce
14 books305 followersJay Boyce is an avid reader and traveler, explorer of new things. Daughter of a librarian and wielder of words, she is primarily an editor who's trying her hand at writing. A crazy dreamer, she creates stories in her head all the time, and finally decided to start writing them down and sharing the love. A perpetual learner, she also works at her local university attending classes with deaf students and gleaning knowledge on any random subject she can get her hands on. The best description of her has always been eclectic, because she wanted to try everything at least once.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
May 1, 2019
Some good, a lot of bad
Pros:
refreshing take on the rpg lit genre for a woman's perspective
Her writing is solid.
Cons:
Main character is okay with classicism as long as it's not directed at her.
Main character is kind of a dick to be full but because of plot/cutesy girl armor is allowed to be.
The magic system is broken.
The anxiety attack and the guy on the spectrum both felt tossed in just to have them. (The guy was more a bad caricature than anything)
The reasons that the kingdom is not more advanced magically feels lacking.
The writer has fallen in to the issue of just because it's not earth everyone is as imaginative as a under ripe cucumber.
Pros:
refreshing take on the rpg lit genre for a woman's perspective
Her writing is solid.
Cons:
Main character is okay with classicism as long as it's not directed at her.
Main character is kind of a dick to be full but because of plot/cutesy girl armor is allowed to be.
The magic system is broken.
The anxiety attack and the guy on the spectrum both felt tossed in just to have them. (The guy was more a bad caricature than anything)
The reasons that the kingdom is not more advanced magically feels lacking.
The writer has fallen in to the issue of just because it's not earth everyone is as imaginative as a under ripe cucumber.
December 30, 2022
This is second in a series that builds over time. I recommend reading in order.
Again, you know what you're getting. Mostly. There's a tone shift with regards to the mesmer threat as it becomes clear that these monsters are organized and intelligent and adaptive. Most of the story is still Jade pushing magical boundaries and being awesome. I do like that she starts pointing out how complacent the people around her have become. Which is fortunate because that could have come across poorly.
I think this is still four stars, though the cliffhanger almost drops this to three. I'm not sure if I like the mesmers becoming more serious. It feels intrusive, but that's probably because I like Jade's domestic inventiveness.
A note about Chaste: Jade is still way too busy to get sidetracked by romance. Her stats are continuing to climb, and that includes charisma, so she's starting to get a lot of attention that is uncomfortable for her. It'll be interesting to see how she decides to handle that going forward.
Again, you know what you're getting. Mostly. There's a tone shift with regards to the mesmer threat as it becomes clear that these monsters are organized and intelligent and adaptive. Most of the story is still Jade pushing magical boundaries and being awesome. I do like that she starts pointing out how complacent the people around her have become. Which is fortunate because that could have come across poorly.
I think this is still four stars, though the cliffhanger almost drops this to three. I'm not sure if I like the mesmers becoming more serious. It feels intrusive, but that's probably because I like Jade's domestic inventiveness.
A note about Chaste: Jade is still way too busy to get sidetracked by romance. Her stats are continuing to climb, and that includes charisma, so she's starting to get a lot of attention that is uncomfortable for her. It'll be interesting to see how she decides to handle that going forward.
June 6, 2019
Didn't finish the last 20min of this book because I had read that it ends on a cliffhanger. Since I'm unsure if I'll ever read book 3 I didn't want to get worked up and never get a conclusion. Not that I ever like cliffhangers.
I find the MCs power really interesting, but it is only used to show how impressed everyone is of her. There's hardly a scene in the book that doesn't include at least one person commenting on how awesome the MC is. The problem is that I'm not convinced the MC really is that great. I kinda think she's the opposite. The narrator does a great job at making her sound perky and good-hearted, but really, the MC's just a girl that's gone from being very unlucky to winning the lottery. The only real conflict in the book is if she's going to be corrupted by this new world she finds herself in, but nothing comes of it. And what is up with all the new characters? Am I supposed to remember any of them? I had a hard enough time during the first book and didn't even try to keep people straight in this one.
I find the MCs power really interesting, but it is only used to show how impressed everyone is of her. There's hardly a scene in the book that doesn't include at least one person commenting on how awesome the MC is. The problem is that I'm not convinced the MC really is that great. I kinda think she's the opposite. The narrator does a great job at making her sound perky and good-hearted, but really, the MC's just a girl that's gone from being very unlucky to winning the lottery. The only real conflict in the book is if she's going to be corrupted by this new world she finds herself in, but nothing comes of it. And what is up with all the new characters? Am I supposed to remember any of them? I had a hard enough time during the first book and didn't even try to keep people straight in this one.
August 1, 2020
TL;DR
jade the MC is still the human manifestation of an asshole but is made to look like she's lovable. standard isekai story with harem and now YA. lazy magic system that relies on "will and imagination" and forgets that kids have those in spades yet everyone is bad and MC is good. Yeah, usually with standard isekai stories I just tell people that it would be a harmless read, but the MC is such an asshole and you won't ever expect her to develop since she's already beloved despite not earning it.
long version
And now folks, not only do we have generic fantasy isekai overpowered main character where everything goes her way, we also have harem with a YA flavor over it.
This isn't necessarily bad, not my poison but other people will like this kind of setting BUT the protagonist is such an asshole! She didn't change since the first book and I don't think she will as she's already painted as some kind of peppy saint. I don't know why people like her personality in the first place, she's rude and she's a bully.
These kinds of personality can be loved, BUT, not immediately. This is the kind of character that grows on people, she's hard around the edges but since she's supposed to be dedicated to her friends then eventually she should win them over. That's the logical progression, but noooo, she's rude to everyone but people love her.
It's also still not addressed why she acts the way she does towards people. She's always hugging people for some reason, why? She's an adult, why does she keep hugging them? Is it because she's just supposed to be bright and affectionate without regard to people's personal space? Okay, but why? She was bed ridden all her life, what caused her to be huggy? She was miserable and jealous and played video games, suddenly she's a ball of charm? Yeah no, doesn't make sense in any angle.
Of course there are still other things like how everyone is stupid just to make the main look good, but that's standard for generic isekai stories that can't be bothered to make a magic system that doesn't end with "use your will and imagination" as if children doesn't have the best will and imagination compared to any other demographic.
jade the MC is still the human manifestation of an asshole but is made to look like she's lovable. standard isekai story with harem and now YA. lazy magic system that relies on "will and imagination" and forgets that kids have those in spades yet everyone is bad and MC is good. Yeah, usually with standard isekai stories I just tell people that it would be a harmless read, but the MC is such an asshole and you won't ever expect her to develop since she's already beloved despite not earning it.
long version
And now folks, not only do we have generic fantasy isekai overpowered main character where everything goes her way, we also have harem with a YA flavor over it.
This isn't necessarily bad, not my poison but other people will like this kind of setting BUT the protagonist is such an asshole! She didn't change since the first book and I don't think she will as she's already painted as some kind of peppy saint. I don't know why people like her personality in the first place, she's rude and she's a bully.
These kinds of personality can be loved, BUT, not immediately. This is the kind of character that grows on people, she's hard around the edges but since she's supposed to be dedicated to her friends then eventually she should win them over. That's the logical progression, but noooo, she's rude to everyone but people love her.
It's also still not addressed why she acts the way she does towards people. She's always hugging people for some reason, why? She's an adult, why does she keep hugging them? Is it because she's just supposed to be bright and affectionate without regard to people's personal space? Okay, but why? She was bed ridden all her life, what caused her to be huggy? She was miserable and jealous and played video games, suddenly she's a ball of charm? Yeah no, doesn't make sense in any angle.
Of course there are still other things like how everyone is stupid just to make the main look good, but that's standard for generic isekai stories that can't be bothered to make a magic system that doesn't end with "use your will and imagination" as if children doesn't have the best will and imagination compared to any other demographic.
July 14, 2019
The author has now taken two books to cover just over one week, in which the only 'story' is the main character meeting more character that all instantly love her, and can't do without her (with a couple arbitrary exceptions).
The author makes it pretty clear they haven't given stuff much thought and only throw it in there because it seemed cool to them, an example being the author clearly not knowing how archery works, and another being them having a level system for all skills, but the levels clearly mean absolutely nothing, as having the skill doesn't actually impart any knowledge or other benefit. There's no seeming reason to be a master at something (besides an efficiency gain that was only revealed toward end of this book), since she already ha perfect control of and skill in anything she attempts.
All characters beside the main character are also completely dimwitted and couldn't have a novel idea between them if they so tried.
The author makes it pretty clear they haven't given stuff much thought and only throw it in there because it seemed cool to them, an example being the author clearly not knowing how archery works, and another being them having a level system for all skills, but the levels clearly mean absolutely nothing, as having the skill doesn't actually impart any knowledge or other benefit. There's no seeming reason to be a master at something (besides an efficiency gain that was only revealed toward end of this book), since she already ha perfect control of and skill in anything she attempts.
All characters beside the main character are also completely dimwitted and couldn't have a novel idea between them if they so tried.
April 17, 2021
Rewritten:
Issues:
1) the MC is a jerk to half the people she meets but they love her anyway
2) the MC is written to try to make us like her, but she blatantly doesn’t care about other people. She never tries to really understand much less try to help the classes under her
3) the rest of the world are written as blatantly dumb, with the MC figuring out things that the reader saw ages ago and presenting them as new to a kingdom that has existed with magic for bazillions of years longer than the mc
4) the mc is supposed to be smart but is dumb. On one hand, she is supposed to be a genius who is better than other people at everything, while on the other hand, she pursues dumb business ventures and projects. (Somehow her main source of income is lighted Christmas ornaments that she only takes a cut on while she comes from the real world and should be inventing the wheel (yeah, the inhabitants of the world are dumb) or selling her death gun to the military (given her blatant disregard for oppression or human lives that are out of sight)
5) the magic is ruleless, like soft magic, but is given specific capabilities, like hard magic. This creates tons of situations where magic should be able to do something but it isn’t practiced or used by her or anyone, much to the irritation of a smart audience (like in sci-fi, if you are gonna detail your railguns don’t leave me without radiators). She only uses gravity magic to help lift boxes, she only uses flight to bounce on her bed.
6) the softness means that she randomly gets unearned level ups that make no sense with the otherwise hard known capabilities of magic. For example, most magic functions like alchemy in fmab but with the stipulation that matter to energy conversion and energy to matter conversion is easy. However, when the author wants her to blame the light magic teacher for not teaching combat light magic (why did he deserve to get reamed? She’s a jerk) suddenly it’s revealed that wind speeds up light, and light can punch (as in, transfer force to shatter things, not just melt things like a laser) through solid rock instantly, and can easily be continuously bent to create a semi physical shield that also somehow deflects other light. Don’t get me wrong, I could accept this if this whole “magic doesn’t follow physics“ idea carried through for all kinds of magic, but it doesn’t. All the other types of magic, like water blood and healing rely on proper physics and established rules (you need to know body structures to heal them correctly, water is formed into ice to attack, etc).
Old:
This reads like a 5 year old telling me about their day at school. This happened, then this happened, then this that and the other thing. There is not really a reason to care. The characters are one dimensional, with boys existing solely to fawn over and fought to protect the main character and girls being token friends and piggybanks. It’s not horrible by any stretch, but it is far from good. The world development seems to be using harder magic than something like lotr but there are no definite limits, so every “advancement” feels unearned and random, feeling like a plot tool to make the mc stronger. Also, the mc is incredibly inconsistent. She shows off one moment, then loves all people, then is an immature girl, then kills animals, feels nothing, and casually decides to exterminate all the bad animals. During this we have no sense of how strong the mc is and are continually frustrated by things that should be possible under the previously shown limits of magic not being considered. Also, the mc randomly throws a fit at a teacher for teaching the curriculum and not teaching them how to make death lasers. That in particular lost me. It seemed so out of character and illogical. Then she showed them her magic projector, which Can be a laser gun or a flame thrower or anything else and everyone reacts with supreme disinterest and leaves the most potent weapon in the world behind to go have lunch. The mc is supposed to be a super genius with godly mental stats but also her ideas for modern technology to introduce are sunglasses and zippers and lightsabers.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s got effort put into it, but it is so incredibly illogical while pretending to make sense that it is unreadable.
Not that I would write a better book though :) so what does my opinion really matter?
Issues:
1) the MC is a jerk to half the people she meets but they love her anyway
2) the MC is written to try to make us like her, but she blatantly doesn’t care about other people. She never tries to really understand much less try to help the classes under her
3) the rest of the world are written as blatantly dumb, with the MC figuring out things that the reader saw ages ago and presenting them as new to a kingdom that has existed with magic for bazillions of years longer than the mc
4) the mc is supposed to be smart but is dumb. On one hand, she is supposed to be a genius who is better than other people at everything, while on the other hand, she pursues dumb business ventures and projects. (Somehow her main source of income is lighted Christmas ornaments that she only takes a cut on while she comes from the real world and should be inventing the wheel (yeah, the inhabitants of the world are dumb) or selling her death gun to the military (given her blatant disregard for oppression or human lives that are out of sight)
5) the magic is ruleless, like soft magic, but is given specific capabilities, like hard magic. This creates tons of situations where magic should be able to do something but it isn’t practiced or used by her or anyone, much to the irritation of a smart audience (like in sci-fi, if you are gonna detail your railguns don’t leave me without radiators). She only uses gravity magic to help lift boxes, she only uses flight to bounce on her bed.
6) the softness means that she randomly gets unearned level ups that make no sense with the otherwise hard known capabilities of magic. For example, most magic functions like alchemy in fmab but with the stipulation that matter to energy conversion and energy to matter conversion is easy. However, when the author wants her to blame the light magic teacher for not teaching combat light magic (why did he deserve to get reamed? She’s a jerk) suddenly it’s revealed that wind speeds up light, and light can punch (as in, transfer force to shatter things, not just melt things like a laser) through solid rock instantly, and can easily be continuously bent to create a semi physical shield that also somehow deflects other light. Don’t get me wrong, I could accept this if this whole “magic doesn’t follow physics“ idea carried through for all kinds of magic, but it doesn’t. All the other types of magic, like water blood and healing rely on proper physics and established rules (you need to know body structures to heal them correctly, water is formed into ice to attack, etc).
Old:
This reads like a 5 year old telling me about their day at school. This happened, then this happened, then this that and the other thing. There is not really a reason to care. The characters are one dimensional, with boys existing solely to fawn over and fought to protect the main character and girls being token friends and piggybanks. It’s not horrible by any stretch, but it is far from good. The world development seems to be using harder magic than something like lotr but there are no definite limits, so every “advancement” feels unearned and random, feeling like a plot tool to make the mc stronger. Also, the mc is incredibly inconsistent. She shows off one moment, then loves all people, then is an immature girl, then kills animals, feels nothing, and casually decides to exterminate all the bad animals. During this we have no sense of how strong the mc is and are continually frustrated by things that should be possible under the previously shown limits of magic not being considered. Also, the mc randomly throws a fit at a teacher for teaching the curriculum and not teaching them how to make death lasers. That in particular lost me. It seemed so out of character and illogical. Then she showed them her magic projector, which Can be a laser gun or a flame thrower or anything else and everyone reacts with supreme disinterest and leaves the most potent weapon in the world behind to go have lunch. The mc is supposed to be a super genius with godly mental stats but also her ideas for modern technology to introduce are sunglasses and zippers and lightsabers.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s got effort put into it, but it is so incredibly illogical while pretending to make sense that it is unreadable.
Not that I would write a better book though :) so what does my opinion really matter?
April 22, 2019
Getting book 3.
I know that there are moments with the main character where I feel that she can be a bit dense as well as overbearing, with that said, this book is still full of life as well as some pretty nice world building. With that said, the world building parts are being drip fed. I can EASILY see this being a series as long as the wheel of time. There are a lot of people in this book that are easily something that can have a book branched off them at any time. You don't quite get to know everything, but you get the sense that there's a lot that's NOT being said despite the abundance of information you have already received. The other thing I like about this book is the fact that the MC is OP as hell, but at the same time not. It's akin to having the worlds fastest car, but not knowing exactly how to drive stick. We all can do the "if I had X ability I would do Y" competition, but the fact of the matter is that despite all of that, if you don't have a lifetime of experience in using something, no matter how OP you might be, someone with skill can always cut you down, and this book does a really good example of reminding the reader as well as the MC of that. I also love the fact that we're still seeing the main character grow. There's a LOT she doesn't know how to do due to her previous life of being bedridden her whole life. She's learning how to live for the first time in 19 years and she's also learning on how to deal with emotions and situations that we would consider everyday events, but it's all new to her. It's like watching a blind man see something for the first time.
With that said, if you did not like the first book, this one isn't going to make you happy either. It pretty much expands upon things from the first one and fine tunes others. I will be getting the 3rd one as soon as it drops.
I know that there are moments with the main character where I feel that she can be a bit dense as well as overbearing, with that said, this book is still full of life as well as some pretty nice world building. With that said, the world building parts are being drip fed. I can EASILY see this being a series as long as the wheel of time. There are a lot of people in this book that are easily something that can have a book branched off them at any time. You don't quite get to know everything, but you get the sense that there's a lot that's NOT being said despite the abundance of information you have already received. The other thing I like about this book is the fact that the MC is OP as hell, but at the same time not. It's akin to having the worlds fastest car, but not knowing exactly how to drive stick. We all can do the "if I had X ability I would do Y" competition, but the fact of the matter is that despite all of that, if you don't have a lifetime of experience in using something, no matter how OP you might be, someone with skill can always cut you down, and this book does a really good example of reminding the reader as well as the MC of that. I also love the fact that we're still seeing the main character grow. There's a LOT she doesn't know how to do due to her previous life of being bedridden her whole life. She's learning how to live for the first time in 19 years and she's also learning on how to deal with emotions and situations that we would consider everyday events, but it's all new to her. It's like watching a blind man see something for the first time.
With that said, if you did not like the first book, this one isn't going to make you happy either. It pretty much expands upon things from the first one and fine tunes others. I will be getting the 3rd one as soon as it drops.
April 26, 2019
Cliff hanger
One star for 2 reasons. The ending is a cliff hanger. I detest when author's end books in cliff hangers. Either your story is good enough to keep people coming back or it isn't.
Second reason is the use of the word 'literally'. This word was literally used 20 throughout this book. It literally is annoying and literally makes you sound illiterate literally.
One star for 2 reasons. The ending is a cliff hanger. I detest when author's end books in cliff hangers. Either your story is good enough to keep people coming back or it isn't.
Second reason is the use of the word 'literally'. This word was literally used 20 throughout this book. It literally is annoying and literally makes you sound illiterate literally.
April 12, 2019
Disappointed
This is just my opinion, but I am personally disappointed in the series. The MC is a Mary Sue that can do literally anything with little to no effort. She doesn't do anything to gain physical ability increases and she doesn't need magic instruction. The magic system itself is extremely unstructured, she can just do whatever she wants to do. She has literally been in the world for less than a week and has already revolutionized how they use magic, created tons if new spells, and taken over teaching a class. The MC is very self centered and her actions only show a token effort to get to know anyone, only interacting with them for the increasing benefits it provides her. The other characters are very extraneous and unknown and it bbn is hard to get attached to any of them or to feel like they matter. There are so many secondary characters and all of them remain so undeveloped to the point that they blend together so that when one dies or something bad happens to one of them it is difficult to care. There are no real stakes here since the secondary characters dont matter. The MC can do anything, and the MC never works for any ability increases, her power just grows exponentially each day. This series and concept is eerily similar to the black healer manga, especially in the first book in regards to setting, magic system, and the whole concept and scenario of the MC entering the world and being so good at magic that they become a legendary healer on their first day. The concept of this series is fine, I just find it hard to care about the events when there are no real stakes attached to anything.
This is just my opinion, but I am personally disappointed in the series. The MC is a Mary Sue that can do literally anything with little to no effort. She doesn't do anything to gain physical ability increases and she doesn't need magic instruction. The magic system itself is extremely unstructured, she can just do whatever she wants to do. She has literally been in the world for less than a week and has already revolutionized how they use magic, created tons if new spells, and taken over teaching a class. The MC is very self centered and her actions only show a token effort to get to know anyone, only interacting with them for the increasing benefits it provides her. The other characters are very extraneous and unknown and it bbn is hard to get attached to any of them or to feel like they matter. There are so many secondary characters and all of them remain so undeveloped to the point that they blend together so that when one dies or something bad happens to one of them it is difficult to care. There are no real stakes here since the secondary characters dont matter. The MC can do anything, and the MC never works for any ability increases, her power just grows exponentially each day. This series and concept is eerily similar to the black healer manga, especially in the first book in regards to setting, magic system, and the whole concept and scenario of the MC entering the world and being so good at magic that they become a legendary healer on their first day. The concept of this series is fine, I just find it hard to care about the events when there are no real stakes attached to anything.
August 1, 2022
Awesome. This is a Feel-good fantasy/Lit-RPG which just made me smile throughout. Longer than the first book (which was great!) and a with more at stake. I am definitely going to continue the series, as the main character is highly likable, the book is entertaining and it reads really well.
My only "complaint" would be about the skill sheet which is ridiculously long and in an audiobook version, a bit too clunky. I now just skip over it, so I appreciate a lot, that there is a bit of a summary by the character afterwards pointing out the main increases within a narration rather than the skill sheet itself.
My only "complaint" would be about the skill sheet which is ridiculously long and in an audiobook version, a bit too clunky. I now just skip over it, so I appreciate a lot, that there is a bit of a summary by the character afterwards pointing out the main increases within a narration rather than the skill sheet itself.
December 7, 2020
Rating 5.0 stars
This was a very good book. I thought that Jade was an amazing character. She spent most of her life as an invalid and now is able to enjoy life. The way she acted, the joy she felt in learning and the way she treated everyone was actually very beautiful. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator really brought forth that joy in the telling of the story. Just walking around singing songs and changing the lyrics based on what was happening around her put a smile on my face. She was also a deeply caring person and treated everyone with respect. When she met new people it honestly came across that she was happy to meet them and talk to them.
The majority of this story was Jade going to school. The first book went over her first 5 days in this world and this book went over the next 5 days. She is insanely OP with her siphon ability. Unlike with other stories this didn't feel like a cheat. Travelers come to this world and they do amazing things. They aren't supposed to be like everyone else. Another reason she is so far ahead of everyone else is her knowledge of earth technology and using that information when she is learning magic. Also, even though she is OP a part of the difference between her and the rest of this world is that they have been doing the same thing for hundreds of years. It almost seems like they are incapable of coming up with new concepts or experimenting without a traveler there to make them aware of what is possible. There were a couple of Mesmer attacks and people were taken. This will be a part of the next story.
Jade's character is a breath of fresh air. It is believable because of everything she went through on earth and the fact she can act any way she wants as a traveler and nobody makes fun of her for it. She treats everyone as a friend and shows respect to anyone that hasn't offended her. While this is a beautiful way to see the world, I feel this will lead to problems later.
She started off looking like a zombie. Through the use of her siphon ability she turned herself into one of the most beautiful women in the world. She mentioned how she didn't have any breasts in the first book to having at least a D cup in this book. She doesn't have the same sensibilities as the other people in this world. She has no issue with showing a little skin, keeping her purse in her bra, or hugging both male and female friends. The way she looks, the way she treats people and the way she acts make it impossible for people not to fall in love with her. That could end up being a problem in the future. I never thought about it before but truly beautiful women probably have a tough life. I am not just talking about pretty but the top 1% of beautiful. I hear/read stories about these women being stuck up or standoffish. Thinking about it now, how could they not be? If an average looking woman gives a guy a little attention, that guy would probably be all over her. Can you imagine what a guy would do if a drop dead gorgeous woman showed interest in a guy? The way Jade acted it was hard to tell who she really liked, who she was just being polite to and who she felt were just friends.
Anyway, I very much enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one.
This was a very good book. I thought that Jade was an amazing character. She spent most of her life as an invalid and now is able to enjoy life. The way she acted, the joy she felt in learning and the way she treated everyone was actually very beautiful. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator really brought forth that joy in the telling of the story. Just walking around singing songs and changing the lyrics based on what was happening around her put a smile on my face. She was also a deeply caring person and treated everyone with respect. When she met new people it honestly came across that she was happy to meet them and talk to them.
The majority of this story was Jade going to school. The first book went over her first 5 days in this world and this book went over the next 5 days. She is insanely OP with her siphon ability. Unlike with other stories this didn't feel like a cheat. Travelers come to this world and they do amazing things. They aren't supposed to be like everyone else. Another reason she is so far ahead of everyone else is her knowledge of earth technology and using that information when she is learning magic. Also, even though she is OP a part of the difference between her and the rest of this world is that they have been doing the same thing for hundreds of years. It almost seems like they are incapable of coming up with new concepts or experimenting without a traveler there to make them aware of what is possible. There were a couple of Mesmer attacks and people were taken. This will be a part of the next story.
Jade's character is a breath of fresh air. It is believable because of everything she went through on earth and the fact she can act any way she wants as a traveler and nobody makes fun of her for it. She treats everyone as a friend and shows respect to anyone that hasn't offended her. While this is a beautiful way to see the world, I feel this will lead to problems later.
She started off looking like a zombie. Through the use of her siphon ability she turned herself into one of the most beautiful women in the world. She mentioned how she didn't have any breasts in the first book to having at least a D cup in this book. She doesn't have the same sensibilities as the other people in this world. She has no issue with showing a little skin, keeping her purse in her bra, or hugging both male and female friends. The way she looks, the way she treats people and the way she acts make it impossible for people not to fall in love with her. That could end up being a problem in the future. I never thought about it before but truly beautiful women probably have a tough life. I am not just talking about pretty but the top 1% of beautiful. I hear/read stories about these women being stuck up or standoffish. Thinking about it now, how could they not be? If an average looking woman gives a guy a little attention, that guy would probably be all over her. Can you imagine what a guy would do if a drop dead gorgeous woman showed interest in a guy? The way Jade acted it was hard to tell who she really liked, who she was just being polite to and who she felt were just friends.
Anyway, I very much enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one.
October 2, 2020
Much like the first book this book in the A Touch of Power series Adapt fits mostly in the slice of life sub-genre of LitRPG / GameLit. Despite being twice as long as the first novel I feel like the two could have easily been combined into one book to make one set up novel for what is to come, It feels very much like stacking set ups to prepare for the world at large. The novel continues to introduce new characters at a rapid rate enough that the author felt the need to have a glossary at the end for the who is who of the story so far, while some of the secondary characters have become slightly more developed they still mostly give off the feeling of being 2 dimensional. With some world building and lots of over powered skill development for the main character taking place the book focuses on the day to day of the first week of school for the main character which for the most part is "Oh even though I'm new here I'm better at this than even the teacher" rinse and repeat. The majority of characters tend to have a fanaticism towards the main character which can be explained by the local religion and the only characters who have challenged her in any way are immediately put in place by the character herself or the people around her, then drop the animosity as soon as they find out who she is and submit. While i personally find some of the world history not making much sense I feel like the writer will easily put it on the right path in future novels so it didn't really bother me. The main character feels stretched a bit thin like she is focusing on way to many things at once mostly so more plot points can be developed from those threads later on. The book does have a few exciting moments and promises a lot of them in the future books so I look forward to those but if you don't like a main character that "can do no wrong" I wouldn't really read this, if you can get past that and want a nice relaxing slice of life to read I highly recommend this as a nice change of pace for the genre. Lastly I should state that despite how my poorly written review may have come off I really enjoyed this book.
January 22, 2021
Wow, normally a book is only wish fulfillment in a few ways this one is just wow, it's completely unaware. In six days our protagonist has gone from being new to a world, to the strongest mage in existence, pals with the royal family, a successful merchant and the love interest of like 10 characters oh and while she was at it she went from an A cup boobs to DD because why not(I am not joking you get day to day play by on her boobs going from A to DD in a week). Also mind you less than a week from day one in the first book until now. Did I mention that she's a genius too!! The main issue I have with this is she just does the most common sense things anyone would think to do and everyone just litterally stares at her while she performs the genius of making really mundane ideas.
If she has one character flaw it's her complete and total disregard for those around her and acting like a dick to everyone! But it's not really a character flaw because no one calls her out on it they just go oh I guess she was right and we're all BFF's despite having had two conversations together ever. None of that is hyperbolic. I was thinking maybe she'd have character growth in book two but yeah it's not going to happen.
If she has one character flaw it's her complete and total disregard for those around her and acting like a dick to everyone! But it's not really a character flaw because no one calls her out on it they just go oh I guess she was right and we're all BFF's despite having had two conversations together ever. None of that is hyperbolic. I was thinking maybe she'd have character growth in book two but yeah it's not going to happen.
March 29, 2020
A complete and utter let down
I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the main character Jade quite a lot. Her upbeat and positive outlook on life was fun to visit. Unfortunately she has become something of a Mary Sue. This entire book was dedicated 2 watching her learn every magic there was easily and thoroughly and in great detail. There were a few moments of minor self-doubt or struggle, but mostly it's focused on how amazing she was. I could forgive this if it was a buildup to a final confrontation with her archenemies, but the book ended before they ever got there. It left me annoyed and not really interested enough to try to Wade through yet another book before we get to something that actually challenges Jade.
I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the main character Jade quite a lot. Her upbeat and positive outlook on life was fun to visit. Unfortunately she has become something of a Mary Sue. This entire book was dedicated 2 watching her learn every magic there was easily and thoroughly and in great detail. There were a few moments of minor self-doubt or struggle, but mostly it's focused on how amazing she was. I could forgive this if it was a buildup to a final confrontation with her archenemies, but the book ended before they ever got there. It left me annoyed and not really interested enough to try to Wade through yet another book before we get to something that actually challenges Jade.
June 12, 2019
4 to maybe 4.5 stars. Great addition to this series. I love this type of book and this series is done well. Not as much action as some other books but it has likable character so the lack of heavy action does not take much away. The story/plot is inventive, interesting and maks you think. Very enjoyable read for me and I will be for sure continuing with this series. These type of books are not for everyone as it is a LitRPG type of book, but even if you are not into LitRPG I can easily see how you can still like this book. This series would be a great book to introduce you into LitRPG, if you ever wanted to read one. Great series so far and I look forward to the next book.
October 26, 2019
The storyline is well built. Our MC is a young girl who seems to be fitting into a life I imagine is a virtual world. And she has my most coveted power to boot: Siphon. The ability to absorb the a miniscule amount of others abilities and improve it. And she's doing well in that department. Improving, that is.
This has really been good. I can't wait for book 3.
This has really been good. I can't wait for book 3.
April 18, 2019
Absolutely amazing.
Just as good as the first one. I never get tired of her experimenting with magic or crafts. I really hope that she gets around to making the element tree later on in the series, maybe going the whole nine yards with a branch for each magic. But yea as always amazing work and now the wait for book 3+ begins.
Just as good as the first one. I never get tired of her experimenting with magic or crafts. I really hope that she gets around to making the element tree later on in the series, maybe going the whole nine yards with a branch for each magic. But yea as always amazing work and now the wait for book 3+ begins.
June 6, 2019
WOWSERS! The butterflies are cool and all but I was hoping Jade could bond with a wolf too.
I really really like the Touch of Power series. I'm so eager to find out the rest of Jade's adventures and I hope she kicks those bloody mesmer's arse!!
I really really like the Touch of Power series. I'm so eager to find out the rest of Jade's adventures and I hope she kicks those bloody mesmer's arse!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2022
Really enjoyed
This series... awesome.. just truly amazing. I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn by the butterflies. Such a great representation to the story. I have quickly became a fan and I am not through the whole series yet
This series... awesome.. just truly amazing. I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn by the butterflies. Such a great representation to the story. I have quickly became a fan and I am not through the whole series yet
April 14, 2019
Excellent
I can not wait until the next book comes out.
This one was better than the first in my opinion.
I can not wait until the next book comes out.
This one was better than the first in my opinion.
January 12, 2021
Well, that is the end of this series for me for the time being. It took me SOOO long to finish this book, but since I had both the book and the audiobook I had sunk costs in finishing this.
I hoped things would improve, but at this point I just don’t like our MC. She is such a jerk. She is entitled, thinks she knows everything, thinks herself better than others, and behaves rudely to others. If the book played off this and let her be a horrible person that thought herself to be super nice, I could have let it go. But everyone fawning over this a-hole is just suspending disbelief too far.
Speed round of complaints:
She continues to be perfect at everything with a huge knowledge pool no 18-year old is likely to have.
The magic system is completely broken and doesn’t seem to be very consistent.
Everyone else behaves like an idiot, and they lack any imagination at all. They are completely helpless it is a wonder they aren’t all dead with how stupid they are portrayed to be. The fact that this world apparently never thought to create a calendar is ridiculous (Calendars have been around for like 5000 years because it is one of the first thing's civilization comes up with to track the passage of time. Since this society understands the concept of the date, there is no reason they wouldn’t have created a written way to track it. Also, apparently braiding hair is a completely foreign idea which again is a thing humans just end up figuring out in most civilizations.).
The book introduces an INSANELY large cast of characters and seems to expect us to remember who the hell all these people all. Further, so many of these people are people who are Jade’s friends. I’m like based on what? A few sentences of dialogue? A super shallow understanding of what actual friendship is.
She is really disrespectful of cultural differences. She strips down to shorts and a tank top in front of folks and it makes others uncomfortable. Great that she is comfortable in her body, but she needs to be respectful of others.
Ends on a cliffhanger. This isn’t the sign of a compelling story in my opinion. If your book is good you don’t need to end on a cliffhanger to try and convince readers to read your next book.
I hoped things would improve, but at this point I just don’t like our MC. She is such a jerk. She is entitled, thinks she knows everything, thinks herself better than others, and behaves rudely to others. If the book played off this and let her be a horrible person that thought herself to be super nice, I could have let it go. But everyone fawning over this a-hole is just suspending disbelief too far.
Speed round of complaints:
She continues to be perfect at everything with a huge knowledge pool no 18-year old is likely to have.
The magic system is completely broken and doesn’t seem to be very consistent.
Everyone else behaves like an idiot, and they lack any imagination at all. They are completely helpless it is a wonder they aren’t all dead with how stupid they are portrayed to be. The fact that this world apparently never thought to create a calendar is ridiculous (Calendars have been around for like 5000 years because it is one of the first thing's civilization comes up with to track the passage of time. Since this society understands the concept of the date, there is no reason they wouldn’t have created a written way to track it. Also, apparently braiding hair is a completely foreign idea which again is a thing humans just end up figuring out in most civilizations.).
The book introduces an INSANELY large cast of characters and seems to expect us to remember who the hell all these people all. Further, so many of these people are people who are Jade’s friends. I’m like based on what? A few sentences of dialogue? A super shallow understanding of what actual friendship is.
She is really disrespectful of cultural differences. She strips down to shorts and a tank top in front of folks and it makes others uncomfortable. Great that she is comfortable in her body, but she needs to be respectful of others.
Ends on a cliffhanger. This isn’t the sign of a compelling story in my opinion. If your book is good you don’t need to end on a cliffhanger to try and convince readers to read your next book.
May 16, 2020
I enjoyed this book a bit more than the first. Maybe because Jade seemed less consistently obnoxious and more just generally kinda self-centered in this one. Or maybe it's just because I already knew what I was getting into...not quite sure. Either way, I didn't really have a problem with disliking her in this book as much.
The story picks up right where the first one left off and continues with its slice-of-life style. The story is mostly just Jade doing some magical experiments and going to classes with a bit of plot intrigue dashed in here and there.
I feel like the overall plot the story seems to be following will officially enter the 2nd act in the next book. I guess take it or leave it; just know that the plot of this story doesn't move quickly. The first book was basically what I would consider a drawn-out chapter 1 and then this book was nearly twice the length and still slowly paced, but had plenty of setup for the events that should take place in the next book. It feels like the current story arc will end up being 5-7 books in length, so I guess I'm on board for it.
Regardless of my thoughts on Jade as a human being (I think she is self-centered and will end up hurting a lot of people), she feels like a real person with a unique voice that stands out in the genre. That remains the strongest point of this series.
For anyone who enjoyed the first book, you will likely find more of the same here. Likewise if you hated the first one. If you felt fairly ambivalent after the first book, I would recommend giving this one a shot and it will possibly win you over.
The story picks up right where the first one left off and continues with its slice-of-life style. The story is mostly just Jade doing some magical experiments and going to classes with a bit of plot intrigue dashed in here and there.
I feel like the overall plot the story seems to be following will officially enter the 2nd act in the next book. I guess take it or leave it; just know that the plot of this story doesn't move quickly. The first book was basically what I would consider a drawn-out chapter 1 and then this book was nearly twice the length and still slowly paced, but had plenty of setup for the events that should take place in the next book. It feels like the current story arc will end up being 5-7 books in length, so I guess I'm on board for it.
Regardless of my thoughts on Jade as a human being (I think she is self-centered and will end up hurting a lot of people), she feels like a real person with a unique voice that stands out in the genre. That remains the strongest point of this series.
For anyone who enjoyed the first book, you will likely find more of the same here. Likewise if you hated the first one. If you felt fairly ambivalent after the first book, I would recommend giving this one a shot and it will possibly win you over.
April 7, 2020
The first book is one of my favorite books of all time, but I don't know where the MC from that book went because she certainly isn't in this one. Before, she had to actually do something to win people over. She had a bubbly and cheerful personality and won people over through incredible dialogue and interactions, making it feel earned. Now, everyone just loves and adores her at first sight.
I haven't seen any real display of her personality this whole book because everyone just throws everything she could possibly want at her. She's a complete Mary Sue now that gets everything and can do everything she wants with no effort. The dialogue and character interactions are bland and uninspired with the biggest drama being that too many people want to be around her. I really miss all the interactions from the first book.
This book is also when all of her school classes start. Not only is every single classmate named and described in every class, but all of them become recurring characters because absolutely everyone wants to be around her. This creates an unbelievable word dump of dozens of names provided in rapid-fire succession that you're supposed to remember chapters later as different people from different classes randomly show up with no reminder who they are.
Since there are so many shallow interactions in this book, there's not a shred of opportunity for anything more than slight acquaintances. There hasn't been any growth in any of her relations with anyone since the first book.
I haven't seen any real display of her personality this whole book because everyone just throws everything she could possibly want at her. She's a complete Mary Sue now that gets everything and can do everything she wants with no effort. The dialogue and character interactions are bland and uninspired with the biggest drama being that too many people want to be around her. I really miss all the interactions from the first book.
This book is also when all of her school classes start. Not only is every single classmate named and described in every class, but all of them become recurring characters because absolutely everyone wants to be around her. This creates an unbelievable word dump of dozens of names provided in rapid-fire succession that you're supposed to remember chapters later as different people from different classes randomly show up with no reminder who they are.
Since there are so many shallow interactions in this book, there's not a shred of opportunity for anything more than slight acquaintances. There hasn't been any growth in any of her relations with anyone since the first book.
May 7, 2019
The closing of the first book made me think that the MC was developing past the smarmy brat she was though most of it, and the sequel continues that progress. The story is getting more serious and heavier in consequences so it has held my (tenuous, based on the first book) interest.
Jade is edging into OP territory, but her enemies are also upping their game so story balance seems so far to be OK. She struggles with trying to pay attention to everyone she's met, and while this is an interesting character-development point, the sheer volume of names thrown around in the story is, IMO, too many people for the casual reader to comfortably track.
A solid second effort overall, and I'm looking forward to #3.
Jade is edging into OP territory, but her enemies are also upping their game so story balance seems so far to be OK. She struggles with trying to pay attention to everyone she's met, and while this is an interesting character-development point, the sheer volume of names thrown around in the story is, IMO, too many people for the casual reader to comfortably track.
A solid second effort overall, and I'm looking forward to #3.
April 15, 2019
Cool concept, weird execution
I'm adding an extra star for originality and for the main concept of the series.
There's quite a bit of good here, but the story is basically becoming a telling of a High Schook events in a world with magic and a overpowered main character.
This type of story is not for me but I did enjoy the parts that I thought were relateable and it's a novel concept.
I'm adding an extra star for originality and for the main concept of the series.
There's quite a bit of good here, but the story is basically becoming a telling of a High Schook events in a world with magic and a overpowered main character.
This type of story is not for me but I did enjoy the parts that I thought were relateable and it's a novel concept.
April 16, 2019
Book two
Mistakes: I found only one. The word silent had a triple space between the si and the rest of the word.
Plot: More training and growth. Action will be heavy in book three.
Characters: I like that the MC questions herself about her own motives as she does things. I also like that even though she is getting super powerful she still needs to learn to use her power properly. To many of these style of books just Grant knowledge from no where.
9.8/10
Mistakes: I found only one. The word silent had a triple space between the si and the rest of the word.
Plot: More training and growth. Action will be heavy in book three.
Characters: I like that the MC questions herself about her own motives as she does things. I also like that even though she is getting super powerful she still needs to learn to use her power properly. To many of these style of books just Grant knowledge from no where.
9.8/10
June 21, 2019
Meh.
The story is ok, it is unique but is very slow.
The writing seems to be targets for pre-teens.
Listened to it over audible and atleast 20-30 minutes of total book is the multitude of skills repeated over and over again.
Story left on cliff hanger, didnt even feel like a completed book. There was to resolution the the issue at hand, just had a very slow build to the issue at hand.
The story is ok, it is unique but is very slow.
The writing seems to be targets for pre-teens.
Listened to it over audible and atleast 20-30 minutes of total book is the multitude of skills repeated over and over again.
Story left on cliff hanger, didnt even feel like a completed book. There was to resolution the the issue at hand, just had a very slow build to the issue at hand.
May 12, 2019
When is book 3 coming out? WHEN WHEN WHEN ????? Can't WAIT !!
This story has me hooked :)
This story has me hooked :)
March 23, 2022
Overall, this is an interesting story with an interesting idea about how the world works. That said – I can't take the Main Character. I know I might be a bit touchy, but she is an asshole. She rubs me the wrong way. There is no conflict in the story, the magic system is broken, and the story goes by way too fast. The first book is literally about a week where the MC learns all kinds of skills and magic
---Spoilers---
There is no conflict in this story. And I don't mean conflict as in fighting, I mean conflict as in disagreement or dispute. Everyone either instantly loves/adores the MC, or she bulldozes her way through them and they somehow warm right up to her rude, abrasive behavior. I can understand maybe the King and Queen being warm to her because she is a 'Traveler' but the entire royal family immediately is like “Your awesome, Jade! You can call us by our first names and we can go SHOPPING!”. There was one point where she liked the look of the Prince's platinum library card, so she literally is like “Cool, I like that” and takes it out of his hands, then stuffs it in her bra.
In the first book, there is a scene where a solder dislikes that she is 'late' and was upset she was like “Even though everyone else in the school is required to take fitness class, I don't! I am special!” and he grabs her so hard he bruises her arm. I felt like there should have been some pushback when she was like “I hope you know, if your ever injured and in desperate need of a healer, and that healer happens to be me, I might not heal you” or something to that effect. I understand the soldier was in the wrong, but I feel like someone should have overheard and said something like “Healing magic shouldn't discriminate. Despite him causing you physical harm, you can't pick and choose who you will and will not heal. If he's in danger, if hes hurt, you shouldn't hesitate to heal him”. Even if it was a bluff and she was just upset, she still should have been called out to make that point
Similarly, in the second book when the snooty noble in the Fire class purposefully throws flaming wood at her to burn her and he gets burned instead, I totally understand her response when he's in pain and the teacher is like “Please heal him, he's burnt badly” and shes like “Nope. He tried to burn me, he can have some other healer do it. Go call for one like he demanded” but that rubbed me as too cold for the girl pouncing and hugging random people and belting out random Disney songs. I know people can have complex personalizes, but that was too jarring. I would have preferred the MC to say “You tried to literally burn me, and I am upset and really pissed. I shouldn't heal you, I don't want to heal you, but I will, because I am a better person than you, a kinder person” and healed him. Or, again, at least someone there should have said “You have your healing powers and shouldn't pick and choose who yo ufeel like healing. He did try to harm you, tried to burn you, but still, you need to take the higher road and not decide that certain people don't deserve your healing magic”. Even if the scene then played out as it did in the book, I still feel like there should be some pushback as the MC seems to steamroll through anything and everything
The magic system is broken. There is no structure to it, it is just 'I want it to happen, so it happens'.
MC says 'Damn, my hair is wet. Don't have a hair dryer. Hmm..' then she wishes and forces the issue and instantly learns wind magic, enough to control it to dry her hair. And later make wind barries to physically stop people. She gets dirty? 'Damn, I hate being dirty and bathing sucks. Hmmm..' then she wishes and pushes/forces it until learns water magic and figures out a way to fully cleanse her body in under 2 minutes. She forces learning healing magic, and learns Blood Magic too. She is like “Oh, I can literally see infections' and pulls them out of a body. Shes like “I want hair styles. I'll use metal magic to make bobby pins'. When the mesmer grabs her in the first book, she just thinks 'Ima shine like a diamond!' and her entire body lights up. Then she just says “Stop!” and the monster stops long enough to get killed. Even though it was only for a moment, she still has that comand/compulsion magic despite never once using it before. She wanted the monster to stop, wished it, forced it, and got the magic. She sees the butterflies and is like “mine'. Then sticks her hand in the cage and is like “Those 5 shiniest ones, come to me' and they instantly bond with her because she wants 'the shinies'.
She idly says a few times when checking her skills “Hmmm, I didn't siphon those random skills. Do skills unlock other skills? I have xxx skill at Beginner level 8 and I didn't do a thing...” and “I guess I snuck around to steal a midnight snack and got “Sneak” at Intermediate Level 4?” and “Walking and Reading are skills? Nice!”
Everyone but the MC is pretty stupid. I get that the MC was bedridden for 18 years and had books and the internet, but still – people MC meets all lack common sense or are a little too in awe of MC and her ideas
The MC is also too overpowered. Everything comes easy for her, nothing is tough or difficult, to the point where she feels she has the right to do anything and everything herself. There is no struggle, no strife, nothing to challenge the MC. She literally learns almost all the magic in the entire alternate universe in the first few days. There is too much of a contrast- MC learns all the magic in 2 days while every other person struggles with any magic besides a main one they are good at. Someone might know two types of magic, maybe 3, but that is ultra rare. I get the MC is 'a traveler' but still.. there should be rare people who know 4 or 5 types of magic. Especially since this ties into the broken magic system.
Another point that stuck out to me was how MC was followed by the soldier and she was like “Nope” and used a wind wall to keep him away from her. That rubbed me the wrong way, though I can understand how she felt, and totally understand her explanation later on when confronted about it how she felt monitored, poked at, and observed for every moment of her previous life, but there is no pushback, just “............ uh, I'll try but.. higher ups night not like it”. I'd argue that she might have benefited from someone being by her side when the Mesmer popped up and grabbed her. Or MC should have though about when she overdrew or 'Over-siphoned' in Book 1 and almost died because her growing and developing body needed much more energy than she had in her. MC literally says several times “Thank you, I really would have died if you hadn't found me'. Nobody would have literally been in her room, but someone who was told to check up on her would have found her without the random 'Damn, super lucky you happened to wonder if I was hungry and knocked on my door'
People are a little too stupid in the book. One example is the students who were in the Command Spell class. They sat outside Jade's door while their friend almost bled to death. I understand her workshop was literally next door and healers were rare, but commo nsense would dictate they're run next door, pound on Jade's door and confirm she wasn't there, then rush the guy off ot a healer, or one of them run off to get a healer. They made a big deal about making Mike the Healer seem like a competent guy, and they called him quickly previously where he rushed over and was like “Oh, Jade did a very good job healing” but he still was called and rushed over. Plus they make a point of saying multiple times “He lost a lot of blood” so why would they hang out in front of Jade's workshop door while their friend bled to death on the off chance she might wander by? Or what about the healing woman Jade met on her first day that helped heal all the students that got hurt in fitness class? Where was she? Why was she not called? The Command Spell teacher was in the classroom like “Yeah. That can happen. Hope Walters Okay...”. He should have run off to get mike or the healing lady. Then when she shows she can command the Queen Butterflies, he's like “Sure, command their mates too so they can mate and make babies, despite others being clearly nervous or fearful of the monster butterflies. And you can have a key to come into this room full of caged animals and 'play' with the butterflies. Nobody will be here and its literally next ot your workshop, so your totally not going to come in, with nobody around to stop or warn or help you, and touch or free the dangerous caged animals, despite feeling bad for all the butterflies stuck in their cages ,and the fact you do whatever you want without regard to consequences”
MC also rubbed me the wrong way based on her own common sense. She starts telling everyone she is a Traveler, then wanders into the church of Fanatical 'Travel' worshipers and is totally freaked out to the point she stumbles away, desperate for people not to recognize her as a Traveler, then a few chapters later shes back to telling people shes a Traveler again. She first decides not to tell people she knows Blood Magic, then is like “Meh. I don't think people who use blood magic are evil despite the numerous books I've read and the reactions of people” and does blood magic and tells people she knows blood magic. She won't tell people about her Siphon ability and says she has 'rapid growth' but shes just like “Oh, I know all the magics. ALL of them.” and “I've never touched a bow, arrows or the safety gear before, but I just shot ten arrows and now my Archery is Beginner Level 8 at 87%”. The Archery guy gets a mad gleam in her eye that sends off a red flag in her head, but then shes telling people all about her stats. People keep saying like “You just.. xxxxx in 10 seconds?” and shes immediately like “Super easy, barely an incontinence. Childs play. Baby could do it”. There is no pause like “Everyone else knows one, two or possible three magics. Maybe I should say I know 4? 5? Not raise suspicion for someone to exploit me?”
---Spoilers---
There is no conflict in this story. And I don't mean conflict as in fighting, I mean conflict as in disagreement or dispute. Everyone either instantly loves/adores the MC, or she bulldozes her way through them and they somehow warm right up to her rude, abrasive behavior. I can understand maybe the King and Queen being warm to her because she is a 'Traveler' but the entire royal family immediately is like “Your awesome, Jade! You can call us by our first names and we can go SHOPPING!”. There was one point where she liked the look of the Prince's platinum library card, so she literally is like “Cool, I like that” and takes it out of his hands, then stuffs it in her bra.
In the first book, there is a scene where a solder dislikes that she is 'late' and was upset she was like “Even though everyone else in the school is required to take fitness class, I don't! I am special!” and he grabs her so hard he bruises her arm. I felt like there should have been some pushback when she was like “I hope you know, if your ever injured and in desperate need of a healer, and that healer happens to be me, I might not heal you” or something to that effect. I understand the soldier was in the wrong, but I feel like someone should have overheard and said something like “Healing magic shouldn't discriminate. Despite him causing you physical harm, you can't pick and choose who you will and will not heal. If he's in danger, if hes hurt, you shouldn't hesitate to heal him”. Even if it was a bluff and she was just upset, she still should have been called out to make that point
Similarly, in the second book when the snooty noble in the Fire class purposefully throws flaming wood at her to burn her and he gets burned instead, I totally understand her response when he's in pain and the teacher is like “Please heal him, he's burnt badly” and shes like “Nope. He tried to burn me, he can have some other healer do it. Go call for one like he demanded” but that rubbed me as too cold for the girl pouncing and hugging random people and belting out random Disney songs. I know people can have complex personalizes, but that was too jarring. I would have preferred the MC to say “You tried to literally burn me, and I am upset and really pissed. I shouldn't heal you, I don't want to heal you, but I will, because I am a better person than you, a kinder person” and healed him. Or, again, at least someone there should have said “You have your healing powers and shouldn't pick and choose who yo ufeel like healing. He did try to harm you, tried to burn you, but still, you need to take the higher road and not decide that certain people don't deserve your healing magic”. Even if the scene then played out as it did in the book, I still feel like there should be some pushback as the MC seems to steamroll through anything and everything
The magic system is broken. There is no structure to it, it is just 'I want it to happen, so it happens'.
MC says 'Damn, my hair is wet. Don't have a hair dryer. Hmm..' then she wishes and forces the issue and instantly learns wind magic, enough to control it to dry her hair. And later make wind barries to physically stop people. She gets dirty? 'Damn, I hate being dirty and bathing sucks. Hmmm..' then she wishes and pushes/forces it until learns water magic and figures out a way to fully cleanse her body in under 2 minutes. She forces learning healing magic, and learns Blood Magic too. She is like “Oh, I can literally see infections' and pulls them out of a body. Shes like “I want hair styles. I'll use metal magic to make bobby pins'. When the mesmer grabs her in the first book, she just thinks 'Ima shine like a diamond!' and her entire body lights up. Then she just says “Stop!” and the monster stops long enough to get killed. Even though it was only for a moment, she still has that comand/compulsion magic despite never once using it before. She wanted the monster to stop, wished it, forced it, and got the magic. She sees the butterflies and is like “mine'. Then sticks her hand in the cage and is like “Those 5 shiniest ones, come to me' and they instantly bond with her because she wants 'the shinies'.
She idly says a few times when checking her skills “Hmmm, I didn't siphon those random skills. Do skills unlock other skills? I have xxx skill at Beginner level 8 and I didn't do a thing...” and “I guess I snuck around to steal a midnight snack and got “Sneak” at Intermediate Level 4?” and “Walking and Reading are skills? Nice!”
Everyone but the MC is pretty stupid. I get that the MC was bedridden for 18 years and had books and the internet, but still – people MC meets all lack common sense or are a little too in awe of MC and her ideas
The MC is also too overpowered. Everything comes easy for her, nothing is tough or difficult, to the point where she feels she has the right to do anything and everything herself. There is no struggle, no strife, nothing to challenge the MC. She literally learns almost all the magic in the entire alternate universe in the first few days. There is too much of a contrast- MC learns all the magic in 2 days while every other person struggles with any magic besides a main one they are good at. Someone might know two types of magic, maybe 3, but that is ultra rare. I get the MC is 'a traveler' but still.. there should be rare people who know 4 or 5 types of magic. Especially since this ties into the broken magic system.
Another point that stuck out to me was how MC was followed by the soldier and she was like “Nope” and used a wind wall to keep him away from her. That rubbed me the wrong way, though I can understand how she felt, and totally understand her explanation later on when confronted about it how she felt monitored, poked at, and observed for every moment of her previous life, but there is no pushback, just “............ uh, I'll try but.. higher ups night not like it”. I'd argue that she might have benefited from someone being by her side when the Mesmer popped up and grabbed her. Or MC should have though about when she overdrew or 'Over-siphoned' in Book 1 and almost died because her growing and developing body needed much more energy than she had in her. MC literally says several times “Thank you, I really would have died if you hadn't found me'. Nobody would have literally been in her room, but someone who was told to check up on her would have found her without the random 'Damn, super lucky you happened to wonder if I was hungry and knocked on my door'
People are a little too stupid in the book. One example is the students who were in the Command Spell class. They sat outside Jade's door while their friend almost bled to death. I understand her workshop was literally next door and healers were rare, but commo nsense would dictate they're run next door, pound on Jade's door and confirm she wasn't there, then rush the guy off ot a healer, or one of them run off to get a healer. They made a big deal about making Mike the Healer seem like a competent guy, and they called him quickly previously where he rushed over and was like “Oh, Jade did a very good job healing” but he still was called and rushed over. Plus they make a point of saying multiple times “He lost a lot of blood” so why would they hang out in front of Jade's workshop door while their friend bled to death on the off chance she might wander by? Or what about the healing woman Jade met on her first day that helped heal all the students that got hurt in fitness class? Where was she? Why was she not called? The Command Spell teacher was in the classroom like “Yeah. That can happen. Hope Walters Okay...”. He should have run off to get mike or the healing lady. Then when she shows she can command the Queen Butterflies, he's like “Sure, command their mates too so they can mate and make babies, despite others being clearly nervous or fearful of the monster butterflies. And you can have a key to come into this room full of caged animals and 'play' with the butterflies. Nobody will be here and its literally next ot your workshop, so your totally not going to come in, with nobody around to stop or warn or help you, and touch or free the dangerous caged animals, despite feeling bad for all the butterflies stuck in their cages ,and the fact you do whatever you want without regard to consequences”
MC also rubbed me the wrong way based on her own common sense. She starts telling everyone she is a Traveler, then wanders into the church of Fanatical 'Travel' worshipers and is totally freaked out to the point she stumbles away, desperate for people not to recognize her as a Traveler, then a few chapters later shes back to telling people shes a Traveler again. She first decides not to tell people she knows Blood Magic, then is like “Meh. I don't think people who use blood magic are evil despite the numerous books I've read and the reactions of people” and does blood magic and tells people she knows blood magic. She won't tell people about her Siphon ability and says she has 'rapid growth' but shes just like “Oh, I know all the magics. ALL of them.” and “I've never touched a bow, arrows or the safety gear before, but I just shot ten arrows and now my Archery is Beginner Level 8 at 87%”. The Archery guy gets a mad gleam in her eye that sends off a red flag in her head, but then shes telling people all about her stats. People keep saying like “You just.. xxxxx in 10 seconds?” and shes immediately like “Super easy, barely an incontinence. Childs play. Baby could do it”. There is no pause like “Everyone else knows one, two or possible three magics. Maybe I should say I know 4? 5? Not raise suspicion for someone to exploit me?”
September 28, 2021
4 The Argument Of Tyrants, The Creed Of Slaves Stars
I absolutely ADORE her contracted fellacai butterflies. They are precious! I routinely find myself wishing I could have literal live butterflies decorating my hair. I'm excited to learn how far they will advance intellectually, as well in attack parameters. I think they go unbelievably well with her whole sun-absorbtion shtick near the end of this book.
Again with mentioning the Dark Ones influence only at the end of the book?! It's not terribly shocking for the mesmer to be more of a grunt, than the mind behind their adaptive attacks against the human population. The mere scope of this operation when taken in context with a Dark One, the literal centuries old source of all evil leaders, actually representing the torment this group of mind-bending monsters has come to inflict--- routinely capturing their best and brightest mages. Jade was theorizing the devastation this has on society, how significant the amount of mages within the upper echelons of intelligence is, and therefore constraining new advancement over the years... It sounds more credible with a true evil mastermind behind this.
It's become a constant wonder for me, whether Jade will develop a solid love interest within this series. She may follow the same base outline of similar tropes, with male leads, and focus solely on advancing herself and the civilization of this new world foremost.
While I enjoy the day to day minutia of her first week within this invigorating distant reality, there are many aspects of the plot and Jade's progression as a whole that felt necessary to be more fleshed out within this timeframe.. Maybe not by normal human standards, alas Jade is anything but normal. I'm excited to see how her future store shapes up, how she twists Earth's inventions to be compatible with magic and the materials available.
Melody is creepy. There I said it. I think she's going to go full stalker and try to take over Jade's life because she's so devastatingly envious of her circumstances? *full body shudder*
There was some truly intriguing conjecture over mental fortitude and moral dilemma that Jade has to shuffle through when readjusting to her reborn status all this entailed. Enjoyable in the fascinating thought paths that one could fall into, trying to ferret personal preferences on some subjects that have such difficulty swaying between the black and white side of the morality spectrum.
I absolutely ADORE her contracted fellacai butterflies. They are precious! I routinely find myself wishing I could have literal live butterflies decorating my hair. I'm excited to learn how far they will advance intellectually, as well in attack parameters. I think they go unbelievably well with her whole sun-absorbtion shtick near the end of this book.
Again with mentioning the Dark Ones influence only at the end of the book?! It's not terribly shocking for the mesmer to be more of a grunt, than the mind behind their adaptive attacks against the human population. The mere scope of this operation when taken in context with a Dark One, the literal centuries old source of all evil leaders, actually representing the torment this group of mind-bending monsters has come to inflict--- routinely capturing their best and brightest mages. Jade was theorizing the devastation this has on society, how significant the amount of mages within the upper echelons of intelligence is, and therefore constraining new advancement over the years... It sounds more credible with a true evil mastermind behind this.
It's become a constant wonder for me, whether Jade will develop a solid love interest within this series. She may follow the same base outline of similar tropes, with male leads, and focus solely on advancing herself and the civilization of this new world foremost.
While I enjoy the day to day minutia of her first week within this invigorating distant reality, there are many aspects of the plot and Jade's progression as a whole that felt necessary to be more fleshed out within this timeframe.. Maybe not by normal human standards, alas Jade is anything but normal. I'm excited to see how her future store shapes up, how she twists Earth's inventions to be compatible with magic and the materials available.
Melody is creepy. There I said it. I think she's going to go full stalker and try to take over Jade's life because she's so devastatingly envious of her circumstances? *full body shudder*
There was some truly intriguing conjecture over mental fortitude and moral dilemma that Jade has to shuffle through when readjusting to her reborn status all this entailed. Enjoyable in the fascinating thought paths that one could fall into, trying to ferret personal preferences on some subjects that have such difficulty swaying between the black and white side of the morality spectrum.
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