How to Avoid Death on a Daily Basis

At the time of this review, I have read through chapter 38 (which marks the end of volume 1).

I want to start by saying that I evaluate stories in the context of their genre. As far as amateur fish out of water stories in fantasy worlds, this one is great!

Style:

The story is told from the first person perspective, and thus we have access to all the thoughts and observations of the protagonist. Very engaging, and written in a very natural voice. The flow was so nice that I honestly read the entire story in a single day.

Story:

The set up is familiar: a group of modern day 20 somethings end up in a fantasy world. However, the execution is where it really shines. The author has done a wonderful job with pacing, never forcing the story along and allowing situations and transitions to unfold realistically. It's also nice to see things like hunting monsters, skinning them, eating them, and raiding their homes presented in a less-than-flattering fashion. Nice challenging of the genre.

Grammar:

Very good. No glaring mistakes with grammar I can think of. I think I only noticed 3 spelling mistakes in the entire 38 chapters.

Characters:

At the beginning of this story, all the characters, including the MC, are generally unlikable. However, I ask that you don't let this turn you off, as they are written to be this way. Interesting, as the story carries on and personalities start to get fleshed out, the MC's party members become generally likable.

However, the main character makes much less progress in that department, as he is extremely manipulative. Once again, this shouldn't turn you off to reading this story. An unlikable character is perfectly acceptable if they are interesting. The MC's polarizing personality really sets up a lot of possibilities for drama with any new people they might meet in coming chapters, as well as potential in-group fighting.

The reason why I only gave 4  stars here was because I felt that there could have been more done with Jenny. She's the first character the MC interacts with, but there really aren't many interactions between them afterward. Likely, this is something that will be explored in later chapters. The MC is also very concerned with himself, and since he's paired with four people that aren't particularly socially adept, I was left wanting a little more character interaction as well. 

All in all, I highly recommend HTADOADB (Whoa, that's a long acronym). If you're looking for a very well planned "transported to fantasy world" story,  and if you're a little sick of when the main characters adapt too quickly to these kinds of situations, then this is the story for you!

It’s refreshing to see a main character that isn’t totally pussy whipped or weak like it seems every character on this site is. He speaks his mind and does what he thinks is right, no matter what others say which is also different from pretty much every other character on this site. But the author doesn’t go far enough. Every time Colin says something even remotely “offensive” the author says no I’m not racist, sexist, etc. The fear is palpable, like he is afraid the social justice warriors will all come out of the woodwork and leave bad reviews or something. Have some confidence, don’t let the thought police control your story!  Please don’t hold yourself back for fear of offending those with a thin skin. With that said let’s get on with the review.

Style and Grammar: Not much to say, it isn’t at a professional level but it is much better than the train wrecks that certain other people pump out. English is obviously the author’s native language and he is fairly well versed in writing.

Story: The story follows the old trope of random kids being inexplicably transported to another world. Except this time the author tries to throw in some realism. The girls all fall in under the protection of  the alpha males. Most people are worse than useless and can’t handle the new world and everyone is flawed, greatly flawed.

That said this is not a realistic story. Sure the combat and arguments and stuff can all pass as realistic on first glance but the plot is built in such a way that it’s impossible to be realistic at it’s core. The author writes what amuses him, not what the characters would do or what would really happen. This means that no one can ever catch a break and everything goes bad, always. It’s exhausting to read when you know everything will always go bad for the main character. People will always dislike him and be burdens, he will always hate himself, everyone is always out to get him and there can never be a second of peace.

Really it makes the story predictable when everything always goes wrong. If the world was so harsh humans would have been wiped out a long time ago, but everything goes wrong for Colin and his crew and it’s always Colin that’s blamed for other people’s mistakes. Which brings me to characters.

Characters: This story might as well be named Colin considering how important he is to the story, he is the lifeblood without him the story is just a corpse. Colin’s an asshole and I mean that as a great compliment. Everything we hold dear from freedom of speech to the iPhone is the result of assholes willing to challenge the status quo. People get bitter and malicious assholes and those who really don’t care what other people think confused. Colin is the latter type and boy does he get stuff done.

From the very beginning to the currently updated chapter Colin has been the driving force of this story.  Always leading by example, doing all the dirty work, making all the correct (and sometimes incorrect) decisions. He’s more force of nature than man considering how much he’s achieved and learned in such a short time. He’s led his group of useless losers from one dangerous situation to another always coming out mostly unharmed on the other side. After all this does Colin start to have a little self  respect? Does his group appreciate all he’s done and sacrificed for them? Hell no. This is where the unrealism starts and where my major gripes with the story come into play.

As part of Colin’s band of losers we have useless nerd black kid.  Super bitchy can never do anything right Claire. Head in the clouds but somehow a miraculously good archer Dudley. And fat but nice and down to earth Flossie. Later joined by cock tease useless Jenny and the most hated character of all ultra mega bitch useless Mandy. Take a look at this unlikable and useless band of characters, not one of them would be able to survive on their own unless they took up whoring as a job. I’d cheer if anyone but Flossie or Dudley died.

Then we have Colin. Assholish, smart and very rarely brave Colin. Since the start Colin has been stuck with his band of losers and only through dedication, smarts and lots of risk on his part have they managed to navigate their way through this dangerous world. Yet despite all his successes Colin has not changed as a character, he is still the anti-social self hating man we started with.

His group is much worse, despite everything he’s done for them he is constantly called names, disrespected and basically spit upon for everything he’s done. There is no trust, no respect, no admiration or much of anything really other than disgust that he’s such an asshole. Ha! Let me tell you something, every military leader, or even just leader, that’s ever succeeded has been a raging asshole. And more importantly people know this. Women fall for bad guys and assholes because they tend to succeed, men can respect them because they have courage and fortitude where they do not. Yet somehow the follow-the-smart-asshole-that-has-proven-himself instinct that is part of our species is magically absent in this group of misfits. They antagonize him even at the risk of them finally alienating Colin and being left to die.

It’s  a plot contrivance that Colin isn’t accepted and respected by now. It’s also a plot contrivance that Colin hasn’t gotten fed up and simply left, snapped  or demanded respect by now. It’s not all for plot reasons (Colin has two fatal flaws: A lack of charisma and an inner self hatred) but a lot of it is. I feel horrible just reading all the garbage that is thrown at Colin, anyone would have lashed out by now if they were in Colin’s shoes.

Maybe the Hitler intelligence guy that was recently introduced will shake things up. Show him to respect himself and show Colin’s team what it’s like without him around to babysit them. It’s a possibility, but at this point I don’t expect it. If Colin and his team start to change for the better then great, it took long enough. If not then I’m afraid I can’t read this story anymore. I like Colin too much as a character to see him keep getting verbally beat up and shunned like he has been this entire story. It’s like reading about a wife that get’s brutally abused but keeps coming back for more over and over. At some point you have to stop and say where is this going?

That’s the question I have for you mooderino, where is this going? Is it going to be the same old cycle of bad things always happening over and over or is something going to change?

Its nice to finally able to read normal story where the MC not someone who OP or "weak" but gain "unexpected" power. The story flow is nice, the pace is nice, and overall its relatable and realistic. This is a great story with a good writing. Thanks for the story and please continue writing. You got me hooked up on the story.

I have read up to chapter 55 and I'm somehow not bored yet. The author has managed to put a pretty original spin on the tried and true  alternate world concept. 

The world actually feels alive, and the characters that exist in it feel like real people with real motivations outside of the MC.  Even the 'evil' creatures just seem like they're trying to survive the same as everybody else.

The MCs are typical introverts, so dont expect any badass moments right out the gate. They get a few good moments, but these 'heroes' are not the type to stand up to an ogre sword in hand with the confidence of a bull elephant. They would leg it like Usain Bolt, and hope that they're faster than the fat guy in the group.

Overall, this story is very well written. The humor is great, the characters are very believable, and the author updates EVERY DAY. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I really started out loving the story, the mc was somewhat out of the ordinary and the story has quite a few very nice twists and turns which makes it stand out and not seem cliche. The problem for me really  arose around the 100th chapter or something. The mc had been kind off an asshole throughout the story, and that is something i liked a lot about him. He was cold and rational and he could stand his ground. After a while it feels like he has become a pushover. He has since the beginning threatened to leave the rest of the party, and the I actually though he was capable of doing it if he had to, in the end though, he has become someone who has reverted to the stereotypical cold hero type. He says he wont put himself in danger or do stuff that is basically suicide from his perspective, yet he always does it anyway. I have come to expect him to fold under pressure, and i hate it. He was so cool as an mc, then he just gets pushed around by anyone and everyone. Though i understand that making things go the way the mc want them to doesn't make a good story, it has become routine to see the mc say something, and then do what others expect him to. He was already a weak mc physically and he had a lot of flaws that would make him lose in a fight, but he had this relentlessness to not do what others tell him to that just disappeared. It has become a tedium to read on in the hopes that maybe he will do something to not be steered around and take some control himself. Yet it is nowhere in sight. I thank the author for writing the story, as it is a good read and has given me quite a few hours of entertainment, but it is beginning to feel like i am watching a movie franchise that was so good, but is slowly sinking. It has just degenerated into the traditional: "the hero gets pushed into situations against his will, and he just accepts it and solves the problems thrust at him and no longer even tries to say "fuck you" back"

I don't really have that much to add here, everything about your story,style and grammar are good stuff and I love how you conduct the story for the most part. Your characters on the other hand start out as really good and fun to be around, but as the story goes on they're becoming more and more irritating.

Only thing I really want to touch on like Lunitan did in his review is your characters. Simply put can we do something about the relationship between the characters?  I'm at chapter 113 and the development of the party is getting quite stale. Colin is constantly in a battle to retain any respect from his party, even though he has led them to success this entire time. But instead his party mocks him at points, and outright ignores or leaves him behind. Like that's all fine and dandy for awhile, but at this point it's making it hard for me to read the story as you largely make the reader identify with Colin, who is mistreated pretty hard.

You make it a warring battle between his self-depreciation, and their helpfulness towards him as he doesn't really treat them that well because he fears it will be for nothing. He fears they will toss him aside, and for the most part you could say they don't. Yet there are certain parts throughout the story that validate his fear as they openly show contempt or distrust of his methods, which then only sets his character back even further. In fact the only reason I make this review is because in chapter 110, his party just straight up leaves him behind. Now I assume your going to go into more detail and make this a conflict of sorts, but either way this still really irks me because atm I really can't see a way they can justify doing this. Jenny was sharing a tent with him, and it seems that the party left in the morning so they had plenty of time to find and take him with them, but instead he was ditched while they went to the capital and had fun. Jenny is supposed to be the person that is the relief of his depression, and make him open up, but instead she is serving at this point as another downer for him.

I'm going to keep reading the story ofc as it's still really good, but I really hope you fix the character development between the party because it's getting quite stale and actually aggravating to me at least. It really hurts my enjoyment of the series to see Colin get shafted so hard constantly, there needs to be a relief to this constant depreciation which the story is sorely lacking at this point. Can we please see Colin and his party develop to have some sense of camaraderie, as the only people that even seem to remotely care about Colin is Jenny and Maurice, but they kind of just shit on this as well in the latest chapters. I will update this when I see something change.

EDIT: Party is back, and Jenny spills the beans on why they left him behind. Pretty shitty on their part, but kind of understandable? I like that Jenny and him have finally taken the step forward, but it feels kinda forced? I think their needs to be more depth on why she actually likes him to make it more natural. Not much has changed in dynamics towards party health but it's only been 2 chapters. Bumped character to 3.5, overall to 4.5.

EDIT: Ch.125, characters are coming into their own usefulness, and getting back into the stride of being a funny group while also maintaining their adventuring status. Character bumped to 4/5. Keep up the good work. 

EDIT: Book 4 ending, characters are really fun again gotta say, bumping characters back to 5, and I'm really enjoying the wildness of the story now again

I  bebelieve I owe you a review, so here we go lets roll with this one. I hope it turn out satisfying enough. 

Style> 3,5 cookies 

~ the story goes on the mc POV only so far. But it still enjoyable to read because the story flow was well kept and well written. So it doesn't get confusing, disturbing or make the readers questioning. The reason I give it 3,5 is because it is lack of a bit creativity. But overall there's no complaint. 

Story> 5 cookies

~ you bet this is one of the best story in RR? You're damn right! The story was written in a realistically comical, it's hilarious and bitter at the same time. You won't find any like this one in RR, this is one of those fresh original story and you might feel the same vibe like Coeus when reading it. In short it is a great one you don't want to miss. 

~ overall the story is well planned and well scripted. I paid attention to what I read and always digging around for any mistake or lose screw. Cause I like to sprinkle some salt to the author eyes but fortunately I hardly found any, it's a well done job.

~ the story goes around a bunch of looser noob nerd, an outcast among their society in both worlds. Stranded in a fantasy world after getting summoned/transported in the most unexpected way. Instead feeling desperate, they are trying to survive with their own ways and embark on their own adventure. Though it kind of comical but the whole thing was so realistically pictured. When you immerse in it you'll find your emotions get swayed left and right. The story also packed with a good twist and plots, you'll never see the coming surprise. So it's always enjoyable reading every new chapter because you can always expect to find a new things. Have you ever kidnap an elderly frogmen while they're shitting? You bet you'll find it here, oops sorry for the spoiler. 

Grammar> 5 cookies

~ he's a brit so I believe he can talk and write Spanish fluently so no complaint here. But if you have to go by the book like all grammar nazi do, then you might want to burn him alive. You might as well don't read novels but an oxford dictionary instead. 

Characters> 4 cookies

~ the characters was well build, each of them had their own distinct characteristics, consistent and quite realistic. That's a rare quality you hardly found in RR which is flooded with a poorly builds characters. But apart from the 5 main characters, others seems lightly developed and need more creativity. But if we had to talk about it frankly, overall the whole thing still above average quality. As a reader I'm quite pleased and satisfied. 

Conclusion> 5 divine cookies

This is definitely one of those great quality story in RR which is currently didn't get a deserving attention like it should be. If you already satisfied with those mundane quality works or poorly written story. Then you'll definitely find this one exceptionally excellent. Trust me, I highly recommend it for you, this is a good work. 

~ another thing to add for the author, Mood you might want to work on your writing style. A bit more creativity here might lift up the quality and the immersion. But don't forced it or making it like a jumping POV left and right, that would be downright screwing your story quality. And a bit more longer chapter if you could, that one is my own selfish wish. 

Whelp, this is the first time I'm writing a rather proper review. Lucky for you I didn't get side tracked while doing it. Otherwise it will be written in a rather different 'pronunciation', lol. 

It has a dark mood, but not too dark... It gives me the same feeling as grimgar but I actually enjoy this story more. the characters seem real and act like one would in real life... I really liked the idea of the group having social issues I really got me into it

give this story a try! good grammar by the way!

This is a nice story with a quick pace, coming out daily. The chapters can be a little short but that isn't much of a problem for me in the end.  The characters are random, slightly eccentric but overall some nice people that try to survive in a world that isn't nice meant for the weak. The MC is a pretty nice guy but knows how to get a situation in his favor but isn't mean spirited about it. This is a good story and deserves more views but it doesn't fit the over-powered or harem genres and so doesn't get the attention that it should. Mooderino thanks for writing a realistic and enjoyable story.

This story is literally my catnip and i'm so happy this is being written. Please continue to make my day by writing these chapters <3