This book was really uneven. I thought the setting was interesting. The world was filled with great ideas, but I wish the author would’ve let them breathe a little more. The role of the pawnshop in the world and the lore behind Shiikuin were really well-developed, but it would’ve been nice if some of the other professions and institutions they encounter on their journey were given the same treatment. I think the world building was a real strength, and it’s a shame we didn’t get more of it.

While the setting was generally positive, the plot, characterization, and romance all felt lacking. The pacing was pretty bad. Individual plotlines were often entirely contained within single chapters, and with sixty something chapters over fewer than 300 pages, almost none of the plots or scenarios felt consequential. The characters — especially the love interests — were not very interesting. I also can’t even begin to understand what motivates the romance, especially for Kei.

In short, I think this book probably would’ve been a lot more successful if the author had had more pages to work with. There are lots of interesting ideas here, and the pacing and characterization issues probably resolve themselves if we were able to spend more times inhabiting the world. There’s interesting stuff here, but it seems like we only got part of the story.