Ascendance of a Bookworm (Light Novel), Part 2 Volume 4

本好きの下剋上 ～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～ [Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho Ni Naru Tame Ni Shudan wo Erande iraremasen] (Novel) #7

by Miya Kazuki, You Shiina (Illustrator), Quof (Translator)

The long winter comes to an end and vibrant spring returns to Ehrenfest. The temple swirls busily as attempts to control Myne's future escalate and the High Bishop, fueled by hate, shrouds the city in the darkness of his nefarious plots. But Myne just wants everything to stay the same. Her little brother has been born, she's making new books thanks to her progress making ink, and she wants nothing more than to just keep spending more heart-warming time with her family and friends. The world, however, forces her to make a cruel and unbearable decision. To protect those she loves, she must begin walking a new road.

Part two of this biblio-fantasy concludes in this heart-wrenching volume! There's a collection of short stories following the shocking climax, as well as two completely original short stories and a four-panel manga drawn by You Shiina.

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Fiction, Manga, Magic, Young Adult, Slice Of Life

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2016

About the author

Japanese author (香月美夜)

Kazuki started writing novels when she was in her second year of junior high school. After taking an entrance exam, she entered into a national university before graduating and becoming busy with work, stopping her from writing. Once she was married and her child entered kindergarten, Kazuki had more free time, which she used to start writing again. From 2013 onwards, she started publishing her novel Ascendance of a Bookworm on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō which saw success. In 2015, she officially debuted with said series under the T.O. Books imprint.

Reviews

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPDATE: I read the side stories two days ago and I actually think they improve the overall narrative of the volume. I am not quite satisfied with the High Bishop as a villain, he was pathetic in his intents. I was expecting more of him, but that may be my bad. Then again, I really enjoyed Sylvester's POV as well as Frieda's and I REALLY REALLY liked Fran and Arno's chapters. I wish Fran would have more relevance in the 3rd arc, but I doubt it. Like, I am told Myne doesn't find out about what happend with Arno but I would like that she finds out about Margaret and supports Fran as he deserves.
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To tell you the truth, this one was more of a conclusion to the Apprentice of Shrine Maiden arc than a proper continuation to the 3 previous volumes. I was hoping to see more action and some facts being revealed but I guess I'll have to wait for the third arc to find out more character backgraunds. That makes some sense as I think volume 2.3 got my hopes too high. Glad to know we will keep learning about the temple even though Myne's position has changed enourmosly. I have high hopes in our new protagonist Rozemyne!

[Book Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

And I thought the family discussing the devouring & Gunther's break down made me cry!

Beautiful done as always. Plot is still going and growing strong. I thought I cried a lot when they discussed her dying with her family and her dad's silent screams afterward....This pretty much topped that. Loved the new couple that was showcased. My romantic heart died a little when Kazuki basically said they were what Lutz and Myne COULD have been. I assumed it wouldn't work but I was holding on to a tiny scrap of hope. I didn't expect more toys to pop up in this volume. I have been waiting for the restaurant; still waiting. Everyone will enjoy the latest installment. Slight spoiler: I will die unless I get an Uncle Ferdiand, I promise this will make sense later! Glad to know I didn't misunderstand the relationships and how Slyvester was treated by Ferdiand makes sense as well. It just seemed odd behaviour from my favorite stern character.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

The shortest but most dramatic volume of the novel series thus far, ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM #7 sets into motion several converging elements: Myne's final puzzle piece of printmaking, an anonymous outside threat to Myne's entourage, and a known internal threat to the temple's stability. Little Myne is doing everything she can to keep her head up and her eyes forward as the number of challenges bloom and multiply. She has allies in the High Priest, Benno, her family, and elsewhere. But the brilliant librarian-to-be has plenty of enemies as well.

ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM #7 brings to light an extensive and far-reaching scheme to bring the commoner apprentice shrine maiden to heel. Nobility near and far have heard tale of the little girl with unusual stores of magic who refuses to behave. Could they manifest a foolproof scheme to steal away the girl for themselves? Readers hungering for a neat and tidy convergence of the story arc's many odds and ends will be pleased with the author's solution.

Myne is a fun character who continues to amuse and inspire. She continuously pushes others to do their best and be the best versions of themselves. Delia, for example, goes on one seriously wild ride in terms of character development. The emotional firebrand continues to make mistakes out of genuine interest, only to double back and suffer grave consequences for her behavior. Myne, as always, gives the girl one opportunity after another to own up to her errant ways.

Another example is a new character, Heidi, a chemist employed by the ink guild. Heidi is a scatterbrained scientist whose curiosity and hunger for knowledge overrides almost every programmatic duty to which she must abide as the heir to a local ink shop. Her obsessive behavior and ribald loyalty reminds readers that good people come in all types.

The showdown toward the conclusion of ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM #7 finally pits the interests of the nobility against the interests of Myne and her family. Indeed, will the young apprentice shrine maiden be involuntarily adopted by a rich noble for safekeeping? Will she be crudely sold, for a modest sum, to a foreigner who disobeys local laws? Or will the girl lose herself while struggling to protect those closest to her? Will she die?

Myne fights, earns a few scratches, and defends what is hers. It's great to see actual magic use claim greater and greater prominence in the story's critical moments. At Myne's side are her attendants, her family, and the High Priest, Ferdinand, who lays down a serious butt-whipping when the time calls for it. A cleverly written surprise sneaks into the narrative's final 45 pages or so, concerning Myne's fateful future with the Eherenfest nobility. Readers will feel happily conflicted about the revelation, but the author does a great job of staying true to the characters, their needs, and their motives.

The novel series' next arc will likely focus on Myne's haphazard attempts to fit into high society. Hopefully, she doesn't cause too much chaos. Then again, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, justice! But also ahhh bittersweet conclusion to this arc!

[Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025/5/13 複習了一下，看到還是會難過QQ

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這集感覺體感時間(?)過得特別快，一下就看到終章了。
做為第二部的結尾真的是蠻大的轉折，看到和家人的橋段覺得真的蠻動容也蠻心酸的。
也在第二部陸續看到階級制度間各種不公平。
雖然真實比表面上處理的情況好了，但還是會讓人覺得難受呀。

BTW好喜歡這集封面

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Sandra (I don't read, I devour.) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this book makes me cry so hard and for so long. I'm not saying exactly what makes me cry in the book, but it is heartfelt and bring on the waterworks! All the water works!

[Darby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh I finished this over a month ago and forgot to mark is as complete haha!
Oh I loved this volume! The plot twist hit me like a truck and the ending left me nearly in tears. Seriously, so heart breaking!!!
(Grateful I don’t have to wait around for the next volumes cause I managed to swoop up 6 of em at the same time for a real steal at a second hand store.)

[Velta Gūtmane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Labs noslēgums vienai lielai nodaļa.

[Henrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait for part 3.

[Zaphied · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not super deep but it moves the story along to the events of how she gets to noble society. Includes the view points of several other newly introduced characters as a sort of extended epilogue of this part 2 quartet. I had read it through the pre-publish preview section of J-Novel Club. Due to the recent second season anime it was neat to compare the earlier Part 2 volumes against. A few localization issues pop up that I cannot hardly wait to see if a certain character will be presented just to contrast.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I'm officially obsessed with Myne, I mean Rozemyne. This books make me laugh out loud, and I love all the details of worldbuilding. This is my first experience with a light novel, so I'm sure some of the stuff that strikes me as new and amusing are stock features of the genre, but all I really care about is that I'm having fun.

[Elis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly good

With each volume, I find myself enjoying a different part of the book as the story progresses. Also really enjoy the parts where people discuss what happened from their point of view at the end.
Great world building with a whole different culture. A wonderful read full of tears and comedy. (That one chapter I cried like a baby)

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.55 ✨

Ripped my heart in two

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This covers through the end of what's currently out of the anime (and maybe a little beyond with the bonus stories). So, the last volume I knew the events of.

However, it's amazing how many plot twists I forgot about. XD I guess I was just so focused on the heartbreak (and I'm still not over it).

As for this volume itself, it's actually much shorter than it appears, as there's a lot of bonus stories. The prologue is from the High Bishop's POV, so trouble is set up right at the beginning. The bit of this story before the trouble drops is fun but also with it's occasional tense moment.

Then, once things kick off, there's a high amount of tension and stakes. It's a good thing I decided to do some reading at home, as there was no putting this book down for a good chunk. Then, there are plot twists aplenty that changes the entire dynamic of everything that has gone on since the temple arc kicked off. Then the heartbreak.

It's hard to talk about this volume in a review because this is a turning point for the series. Everything is setup really well, and I love the way it all plays out even as it breaks my heart.

The Epilogue was told in Lutz' POV, which worked well as he's essentially the connection to Myne, the Gilberta Company, and Myne's family, which allowed all those aspects to be shown. It's also easy to forget just how little most people know about Myne, though. XD

Then the bonus stories. Some of them take place at the same time, showing various characters/viewpoints and what was going on with them during the climax and shortly after. It was a nice way to let the reader know where these characters now stand with things. I'll be vague on most of these because of major spoilers for the climax.

First was Freida's story. It was nice to see more about the noble she has a contract with, and it was fun to see her smartness on display.

Then Sylvester's story. It was nice to see his personal thoughts on the situation and to know he felt somewhat bad about things. It's also nice to see who is in on a certain secret, as well as how extraordinary Myne really is.

Then Arno's story. This is also the first glimpse at the new future. Though, the ending bit of this story makes me want to punch Arno, and I feel so bad for Fran.

Benno's story. This is my favorite one out of the bunch, though Benno is also one of my favorite characters, so that was to be expected. Poor Benno, though. As the title states, he has so much work thrust upon him. XD It's also great to see a conversation between him and the High Priest without any secrets needing kept from the reader.

Fran's story. We get a glimpse into how he handles his workload, but there's also a follow-up to what Arno did in his own story. It's nice to see how Fran is handling that as well.

Effa's story. It's basically impossible to talk about this story without spoilers, but it's nice to see how they're handling things.

Josef's story. This one takes place earlier in the novel. I'll admit it, I honestly forgot who he was, so it took a few paragraphs to be reminded. I just didn't pay him much mind in the novel because he didn't seem too important. However, after reading the author's note at the end about him and Heidi, it's actually kind of sweet, and I can see why this story was included.

Leon's story. This one also takes place earlier in the novel. This one cracks me up, but, again, I won't say much on it because of spoilers.

Finally, there are a few short comic panels at the very end of the book. I don't really have opinions on the first two comics, but the last one made me laugh.

The artwork was amazing and beautiful as always. I also love the color palette for the cover image. It's very pretty yet almost muted, which works well for how serious things grow in this volume.

Overall, a great volume of the series. Everything that has been building up comes to a head here, and the payoffs are excellent. The fallout of it is heartbreaking, and I'm not ready for the new future, but I'm also excited to finally see what comes next. Most of the bonus stories at the end were great for setting things up further for the next volume.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume bonito, volume formoso, volume bem feito.
Ainda me incomoda o fato que o objetivo principal da Myne parece cada vez mais esquecido, até pela mesma, mas dessa vez é bem justificado.

Esse volume ainda é redondinho, a criança abandonada que é levada ao orfanato logo no início é fundamental para a conclusão quando por ela Myne precisa escolher atacar o High Bishop e quase condenar todos ao seu redor.

Myne cuidando do irmãozinho dela, Kamil, é de encher o coração, ainda mais sabendo que logo ela terá que abandonar essa vida para ser adotada pelo arquiduque para poder entrar na Royal Academi e controlar seu fluxo de mana

A produção de tinta agora busca criação de variações coloridas para nova produção de livros infantis.

Delia passa a cuidar do bebê abandonado e o chama de Dirk, passando a se sentir como a irmã mais velha do mesmo, tendo a sensação de possuir uma família panela primeira vez. Dirk era um bebê especial, assim como Myne possui uma quantidade elevada de mana, o que vem a gerar um grande problema.

Em um esquisito dia, onde Ferdinand teria saído para cuidar de outros assuntos, um nobre estrangeiro aparece no templo, em contato com High Bishop
No mesmo dia o grupo de Myne é atacado, sendo Myne e sua irmã Tuuli sequestradas, mas Gunther e Fran correm atrás dos homens, que não eram da cidade.
Myne para salvar sua irmã acaba descarregando sua mana e quase mata um dos sequestradores mas eles forem para dentro do templo.
No templo esses homens de aliam com o nobre estrangeiro e Myne percebe que Delia junto de Dirk foram enganados pelo High Bishop, este dizia que seriam adotados mas na verdade o interesse era extrair mana de Dirk.
Myne enfurecida quase mata o High Bishop, que se protegia com Dirk de escudo, nesse momento Myne sabia que seus atos seriam punidos com sua morte e de sua família e lamentava para Gunther, que apesar desse fato estava orgulhoso da atitude da filha.

Ferdinando aparece dizendo já estar ciente dos planos do Bispo e que não sairá impune pois suas ações vão contra as regras de visitação de estrangeiros.
High Bishop não se importava devido ao poder de sua família e que Myne, plebeia pagaria

Sylvester aparece e revela os vínculos familiares, ele é sobrinho do High Bishop mas ao mesmo tempo o sucessor do nome da família e da posição do arquiduque, indicando que sua mãe não mais ajudaria o tio a se livrar dos crimes, assim como revela que Myne é agora sua filha adotiva e assim, tendo posição de nobre, não será punida por ter agido em defesa.

Após o conflito Myne tem de abandonar sua vida pregressa, aos vizinhos é dada como morta, ao pessoal da guilda um acordo é feito para não revelarem a verdade e assim continuaram com os acordos de comércio, para o templo e para os nobres a história é de que Myne, agora Rosemyne é na verdade filha de com sua falecida esposa, que possuía muita mana e para se livrar dos atritos da nobreza foi criada como plebeia mas entraria ao templo após o batismo.

Impacto na família e em Lutz foi o maior, já que apesar de poderem ver Myne no futuro, não poderão ter mais a mesma relação, ela agora estará ocupada na academia e com o futuro de assumir a posição do velho bispo.

Que volume bom, mas cadê o sonho de criar livros e ter uma biblioteca!!??

[Pinky N.A · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most shocking truth will be revealed here. I can't even stop crying. Oh my God. Reality hit hard. Good thing in the end, her family can go back to normal, even though they have to pay the price of what that High Bishop did. Ugh... I hate him! I know who's Sylvester is even before I finish the previous volume, but knowing what he do here was... shocking. He himself can't do much after the mess his uncle did. Served you right, imbecile human. I know nobles are of higher status than commoners, but— I don't know, it's too cruel. Almost all of the nobles I knew here are looking very very low to commoners, like there's no human sense inside their head at all. Goodbye, Myne. You will always be the number one inside our heart. Wherever you are.

Thanks a lot, Miya Kazuki sensei! Your writing is becoming more on point this time, even though you seems to repeat some sentence at the beginning. It is neat too. I have to thanks the translator and the English editor too. You are all Gutenbergs! Don't forget that everyone included here are Gutenberg.

[Blank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume serve as the epic closure of the Priest arc. The author has been successfully bringing us into a roller coaster of emotion, starting with anticipation on the first chapter, and eventually end it with sadness and grief. I don't know, to me this is just straight cruel, my heart can't take it you know ?!

My previous suspicion of Sylvester seem to be correct, he has a really high standing within the society. And despite his child like side, he is quite strict when needed ( which is quite rare as he always try to delegate most of his task to his little brother.... )

I don't have much to say except go read it even if you have watch the anime. The light novel has lots of depth that the anime just can't convey.

I don't know what is going to happen at the next arc, but Miya Kazuki has succesfully intrigued me even after I read so many volumes without even a shred of boredom. I will definitely continue following the series till it ends.

[Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally caught up to the anime!
Also Trigger Warning for victims of r*pe being triggered, attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, hostage situation, manipulation, sexism, misogyny... life(?). Previously the series had been considered middle grade but as Myne grew up that changed. This series now is squarely and firmly in the Teen section at my local library. The anime is definitely on the lighter end of things. The anime definitely has some stuff cut out like the first trigger mentioned. Just to be clear, I am not referring to Wilma but other characters. In the anime they only mentioned what happened to her 1 one and then didn't mention it again (I'll double check to make sure I'm not misleading anyone.) The light novel isn't as graphic as other titles I've read but if you are a person who needs to be aware of these triggers then I won't deny you that.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Set up

This was a good set up to part 3. Myne is gaining more power in many ways and achieving her goals regarding books seem possible now. I enjoy the buildup to the confrontation that put Myne on a different path than planned. I thought Syl’s identity was too predictable but how things wrapped up was well done. Thank you for adding whose POV we’re reading in the chapter titles! SPOILERS (kind of) I’m really looking forward to how Myne will do at the Noble’s Academy, if that happens. I don’t know why but I’m also interested in seeing how Myne and the Archduke’s child will get along. I recommend reading this series from beginning to end since the world building and character relationships are very complex. I’m giving this a four cause there are things I just don’t like about the noble characters, good or bad ones. There’s no way that they can be that oblivious to how the poor live. Yes, they can take advantage or just don’t care but the total ignorance is too weird to me. Love this series so far!

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a dramatic and emotionally devastating book. While you could argue that it simply sped up the timeline on events that had already been forecasted, it still broke my heart in many ways. With that being said, the short stories at the end (there are more of them since it's the end of part 2) helped to heal some of the pain and further explain the situation, which was nice. On a more positive (if twisted?) note, it was satisfying to see the 神殿長 finally get his just desserts, since he's consistently been a morally corrupt, dangerous a**hole every time he's appeared. Overall, this was a well-done conclusion to part 2 of the series, with plenty of interesting and exciting events to ponder on (as well as some sadder parts). I look forward to continuing with part 3.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too short, i want more!

I've been anticipating this release for awhile now. It really felt too short, like reading a short story rather than a novel.
Still awesome and had a pretty big reveal in it as well. The author really knows how to pull the heartstrings and i was bawling at one point. There was more epilogue shorts than previously and i liked most of them a lot. They really help give new perspective on the story or side characters. I hope all of this one makes it into the anime eventually.

The end word said that the original novel was released in 2016... so many years to get the english translation is ridiculous! Please release them faster.

[Sol González · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originalmente vi el anime de esta historia (los 40 capítulos) y me emociono. Leer de alguien más obsesionada con los libros y del total impedimento de leer me cautivo.

Finalmente no pude seguir más la historia porque… pues hasta ahí quedó hasta el momento, sin embargo encontré ya los libros y me voy a deleitar con ellos.

Este fue solo un gusto, los eventos de este libro son los de los últimos capítulos en la serie, sin embargo casi la mitad del libro venía complementada con historias alternas del punto de vista de los personajes secundarios, lo que enriqueció mas la historia.

Ya estoy impaciente por saber a donde va.

[Jane Lebak · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this book, I'm out. I actually began enjoying the storyline in this book, but I'm finding the writing too clunky, tiresome, and full of unnecessary detail for me to really get into it. Moreover, it looks like the full series has 25 books (to date) and I'm not ready for that kind of commitment. I've gotten Myne to a decent stopping point, so I'll close out here.

if the manga were available for Part 3, I'd probably switch to those because they omit a lot of the unnecessary stage directions, but they aren't. I feel bad because my father absolutely adores this series, but it's not for me.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

With every book in this series, I fall in love with Benno and Lutz more and more.
A surprising portion of this volume was epilogues and prologues. Some of them broke me, and as always, some of the others put the existing characters into a light that although I expected, was just well executed. Would personally like more details regarding one particular epilogue, but I suspect that it might be touched on in the following volume.
I love this series so much, and I cannot wait for the next volume!

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a lengthy series there is always that question of how hard it is to come back to it when new volumes appear. This one was a little tough. And part of that was that it started slowly. Also it made way less use of the extended cast and the world. There was also violence and heartbreak. And then it ended with a bunch of short chapters from others point of view, but there were too many of them and they really didn't advance the story since they were of the same events. All in all it was good but I was hoping for a little better. 3.5 of 5.

[Ritsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book showed the unfairness of the caste system in Ehrenfest and how the nobles there make use of their power to get the things they wanted, without a care of the lives of the civilians. Myne is now forced to be separated from her family and be adopted into a high-ranked noble family and banned from calling her family members as "family" now. To be honest, no matter how well the new family treats her, its still not be the same......

[Christina Blank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I can’t believe I’m already this far into the series. I can’t stop reading

This series just gets better and better. Now it’s moved to a whole Nother level. Instead of staying with one trope and milking it till it dies I love that this author provides evolution to the characters and gives them new challenges and changes up the paradigm. Rather than constantly harping on the same differences. What rich characters and one amazing story

[Kyrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Myne's skills are weirdly impressive, and yes, it's both predictable and surprising how quickly she's moving up in the world. BUT, I'm really enjoying this story, and the way a very young girl is thrown into things she doesn't understand and yet manages to figure a way through. Love seeing her interact with people, her love for her family, and the additional stories at the end are wonderful for insights.

[M. Nión · Rating 5 out of 5]

La trama de esta serie se pone cada vez más interesante. En esta se amplía muchísimo el mundo de Myne y cada vez está metida en tramas más grandes. Me ha encantado.
Merecen una mención especial los capítulos extra, sobre todo dos que nos explican por fin una incógnita que llevaba ahí varios libros, pero también aquellos en los que conocemos mejor a Sylvester y a Leon y, como no, al maravilloso Benno.