Feast or Famine

Feast or Famine is a delightful story about a young woman who randomly finds herself in a new bizarre world with no warnings, clues or context. She tries to piece together what is going on quite aggressively and her internal monologues, and sometimes dialogues, are highly entertaining. Her approach to things is quite meta and her judgment is NOT sound but she is also internally aware of these details, with apparent inconsistencies both noted by the character and explained through the story. 

The author has a strong voice that is immediately relatable and does an excellent job of pulling you in; I'll honestly say that this story has probably done that better than any other I've read on Royal Road to date. The style is humorous, witty, irreverent, philosophical and dark. There are strong horror elements but little focus upon graphic details of gore and appropriate trigger warnings at the start of each chapter. Real world references are quite common and given sufficient context and explanation that they can be readily interpreted without foreknowledge while remaining concise and not disrupting the flow of the story. A possible exception to this are philosophical concepts.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how this develops as it goes forward!

This story is very well written.  The MC and side characters are interesting.  Spelling and grammar are all well above average for RR.

I hate the MC.

Saying that she's impulsive is like saying the void of space is 'sort of cold' - its a massive understatement.  I want to like this story, but reading this story gives me D&D PTSD flashbacks.  You know the ones where your stuck playing with your friend's younger cousin who absolutely HAD to play a CN halfling rogue?  Where you're begging him to stop pickpocketing storekeeps and guardsmen in town?  Where you tell everyone, 'Please don't touch the obviously cursed magical item,' and 30 seconds later, the rogue touches the cursed magic item?

Yeah, the MC is THAT guy.

To start off I would like to say I do not know why I like the main character so much could be because of how odd she which adds a certain freshness to the story. but really the main reason I like this story quite a lot is the unique setting in all my time of reading internet stories I don't think I've ever come across one with this strange of a world. It is also well written of course you gotta appreciate that so overall I like this story and cant wait to see where its goes.   

Tldr good story with a unique main character and a unique setting.   

If the MC was haunting you she'd be the Ghost of Bad Decisions Past, Present and Future. In the best possible way.

Style: The PoV is written in the first person present, which, whilst slightly unusual, was definitely the right call for this protagonist. Vora would have a harder time communicating her... unique flavour of personality otherwise. The narrator's voice doesn't longer on things more than necessary which I think many of you will find a nice touch.

Story: This is an advanced review since I'm a beta reader and I'm through the first arc and know the worldbuilding beyond that. I like the worldbuilding of the setting lots. And as for the plot? It's fun, it does its job, it took me by complete surprise more than once.

Grammar: Nothing of relevance to report here. No issues that I have spotted.

Character: The true strength of this piece. A vivid and distinct individual, looking at the world through the MC's eyes is like a combination of the anticipation you feel when the Villain's about to fall into their own man-eating tapir pit and the slightly illicit thrill of watching someone you really shouldn't be rooting for win with over the top amounts of collateral damage.

...The slackjawed gaze of true profanity, feels more like surrender than defeat. (Rush, Ceiling unlimited)

This serial is a wild ride already, and I get the feeling that we're still on that slow ascent to the top of coaster. 

An Isekai where the MC is one of us (the fantasy reader) and instantly recognizes they are in another world always appeals to me. In this case, not only does she dive right into trying to survive, but also wants to break the rules of Overlord ship and absorb any energy field she can get her hands on. 

The action is crazy, chaotic, and well described. The characters are all unique in voice, with obvious motivations and backstory all their own. In fact, it feels like the MC is a rock dropped into the pond of an ongoing story, and we are watching the ripples disrupt everyone else. The prose is well written and keeps you moving along with the harried pace of the MC. 

The main story of survival and striving for power is compelling enough, but now with our first interlude we've been introduced to the B plot, which, without giving away any spoilers, is its own interesting kettle of fish. 

I normally shy away from stories that physically torture the MC non stop while also having the MC torture themselves emotionally, but this one does it so damn well that I have to keep reading.  Its grim. its dark. It is NOT grimdark. 

Come, read. Join us as we feast on the story. 

As the synopsis says, the MC is well adjusted and totally, entirely sane and stable. Trust her.

This story is very much something that hits a particular niche and it's beautiful within it. It is not for everyone, but the execution is brilliant. The only story I've read on RR like it, that I can remember, is How to Tame Your Princess. If you liked that, stop reading this review and go read the story. If you hated that... well, yeah probably not for you. If you've never heard of it (most people reading this?)... well, that's what the rest of the review is for.

Grammar score: No errors in spelling or grammar or whatever that I've seen, if there are any typos, it's minimal and infrequent.

Style score: The story is written in first person present tense, which is my personal favorite combination when done right, which as far as I've seen, this is. The prose is well done, and the narration reflects the MCs... complete sanity and stability.

Story score: There's not too much to say yet (even at the slightly advanced point from which I'm writing this compared to the chapters on RR), but we appear to be in for a wild ride. The world building is a bit of a mystery so far, however, so I'll just trust in the "Urban Fantasy" tag.

Character score: Character is honestly where this story shines most. Specifically, the main character, since even with my (very limited) foreknowledge, we've only seen two other characters and one of them very indirectly. The main character, however talks to herself, hangs her emotions on a pendulum, and is generally an Experience. She's more than a little edgy, but in a vaguely self-aware way that's intentional on the author's part, and it's fun rather than painful as a result. Morgan as a POV character is a work of art and I highly recommend it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a beta reader for the serial, so at the time of writing I'm like 12 chapters ahead or so.  And my friends, you are in for a treat.

Style: Fantastic.  I'm a sucker for unreliable narrators and Malice is, um, extremely reliable, please put that knife away, thank you.

Grammar: Yep, Vora can do grammar.

Story: My god, the twists! The turns!  Take nothing for granted and set your expectations aside, because where we're going we won't need roads.  The roads will probably turn out to be some kind of horrifying feet-devouring monster anyways.  If you like surprises built on deep worldbuilding, this is the story for you.

Character:  The heart of Feast or Famine is a character study of Malice, and the author has done the background work to give her a complex psychology.  Her inner world may look nothing like yours, which makes it fascinating to see how that plays out in her behavior.  It takes a little longer to meet the supporting cast, but they're all fun, dynamic individuals who play off each other in entertaining ways.  The psychological depth of the story is one of my favortie things about it.

Anyways, stop reading me and go read the story.  Or Malice will probably stab you.

This is a very well written serial, with an interesting and nuanced character who's oddities and strange nature actually affect the story and the way people see her, rather than being glossed over by side characters despite being obvious mental illnesses. Story has a very interesting world and an enjoyable cast of characters with a mixture of both interesting lore/worldbuilding and really intense and cutthroat action scenes and twists. Loving it so far and hope the author keeps writing. 

The only negative of note is really more of a tonal thing. If you don't enjoy characters involved in an unhealthy amount of emotional and social manipulation and borderline abuse this may make you uncomfortable. I can't say this one is great to pick up after a bad day at uni. but it is a great read none the less. 

First of all if you dont like dark moments then this novel isnt for you because I absolutley love the dark tones here.The world building is also top tier with some lovecraftian elements in the mix.It depicts diiferent kinds of characters in such a dark and mysterious world most f who may have bad or worse intentions.The in depth explanations of the world were deeply philisophical and enjoyable.Lastly the characters.I like how the main character is depicted here where I can hate them or sympathise with them but also a well written dark empath.Also try not to self insert with the protag too.Overall a great dark fantasy!

For the longest time, when self-evaluating what kind of fantasy writing I most enjoy, I've written off edgy stuff because it's not my thing. I am no longer in denial.

Overall score: this story is deliciously self-indulgent in so many ways and, so far, it is an utter delight to read. While Feast or Famine is not a story that will appeal to everyone, it doesn't try to be.

Grammar score: the few errors that are able to slip past the beta readers and make it chapter releases are usually corrected after refreshing the page.

Story score: While the main plot has been interesting and quite solid so far, I am currently coming back more for the characters than I am the plot. I have enjoyed the setting and magic a lot so far, but I have a strong impression that its real strengths haven't been demonstrated yet, despite some exposition. The interludes are interesting, and the author seems to be making an effort to quickly tie them into the main story so that they don't detract from the readers' enjoyment of it. While the plot isn't the strongest yet, the setting makes up for it and I'm eagerly awaiting the inevitable moment where things kick off and start running. For now? Pretty good.

Style score: the narration is cleanly written, and the effectiveness with which it reflects the character delivering it is a mark of mastery. The main storyline is written in first-person, present-tense, which helps frame the story more snugly in the mind of the perspective character. The first interlude (as of yet no more have been released) is written in second/third person, past-tense, and this distinction is used to great effect. These aspects are small, but they add to the story when combined with the characters themselves, and are a mark of the author's mastery. My one complaint is over how frequently references come up, but the important ones are all explained, they make sense in the context of the character, and they aren't pervasive enough to detract from the story.

Character score: while the characters have not had much time to develop, yet, those we do have are distinct, memorable, and most importantly, consistent. The perspective character is edgy, overconfident, self-destructive, and magnificently entertaining. This is portrayed very effectively by her narration, as well. Her dynamic with each of the side characters is also very fun. This is the aspect of the story that is currently keeping me coming back with every update.