Reifi

Chapter 100 Edit: I'm not sure how Soussouni does it but they manage to put out a chapter a day like clockwork. The story has perceptibly increased in quality and depth without sacrificing what made it great at the outset. Graces journey is honestly a joy to experience and honestly something I look forward to catching up with in a morning when I get a free moment. It's absolutely worth your time if you're looking for something grounded in the Pokemon universe.  

Original Review:

A great addition and serious competition to the collection of pokemon fanfics emerging lately. Soussouni has done a fantastic job in roping me into the story of their protagonist Grace and her pokemon journey. At the stage of this review it is absolutely worth a look. Regular updates and reception to reader feedback is just the icing on the cake. 

Style

The author has a strong clean writing style that isn't overly embellished. The story is a breeze to read and the chapters flow well from one scene to the next. While I have never really found myself in literary awe of what's being conveyed, far more importantly it does not read like cheap fanfiction with cringeworthy dialogue. In my opinion, style does seem to be the area the author is most improving on as the story evolves as the later chapters are far better than the initial few. 

Story

What I love most about this fiction is that it does not fall into the obvious pokemon fanfic traps. As of this review, there are no superpowered starters, early praise meetings with gym leaders, elite four or established cannon powerhouses gushing over the protagonist. This does a lot to ground the story in belivability. They don't feel like a self insert trying to ursurp some story from one of the games or television media. It's a great nuts and bolts story, an imagining of what the pokemon world might be like for the people who live there, not a visitors excursion. The story also covers interesting themes in the pokemon universe, like wild pokemon habits, privelage, finances (how do you feed animals the size of trucks?) and filling the gaps on how the society might work outside what cannon media describes. 

Character

I don't want to spoil too much about the story, so I'll just say that Grace and those around her are so far decently fleshed out and don't overly suspend your ability to believe they would do as their established character traits suggest. Grace is a pretty great protagonist overall, not abrasive, nor a saint or onipotent either. She has real (fairly realistic) goals for her situation and isn't some cold progression automoton. The pokemon in her team are also fleshed out well. The author has done a particularly good job in characterising them inside the obvious challenges around them being pokemon. 

Grammar

No real complaints here. The story is well edited and mistakes that are picked up by the readers are corrected promptly. It's formatted well and easy to read. 

Cultivation stories are almost always fun to read. The author has a solid conception of their world and direction in which they want to take the story. Their cultivation system and general world building is certainly at this stage of the story the most well thought out and realised part of the story. However, as much as I don't want to disparage an obvious ESL writer, the author needs to have someone assist them with grammar/syntax. There are countless scenes in this series that are brought down by poor and awkward word choices that don't flow naturally alongside weird dialog and explanations. 

The style and story are the strongest parts of the work thus far. Both have great room for improvement but manage to paint a picture that is interesting. The characters are fairly shallow and the weird choice to start everyone at such a young age stretches the readers immersion for how murderous and cunning they are. I won't expand further on grammar as I alreadly touched on it above. I wish the author all the best in continuing the series. It's plain they have a talent for writing that they can steadily improve upon. I think they would definitely benefit from a slower release schedule where they could spend more time on making sure everything is at a satisfactory level. 

Edit: Like many other long time followers I feel a little lead on by this story, it feels like a bit of a bait and switch. Some people will love what the story has turned into, but for me my time with it has come to an end. It's not even about the romance subplot, as an aromatic character can work well, it's the discarding of the intial premise that kept me wondering as each chapter was revealed. I wish the author all the best as it's clear they are capable of writing great stories.  

1-50ish review

A great example of what many of us are trawling through sites like this to find. It is absolutely worth a few hours of your time and one of those series you will want to keep apace with. 

Style

The authors prose is generally easy to follow and logically placed so to not make reading it a chore or understanding difficult. I love the meatier chapters that don't leave me feeling like I'm being constantly drip fed. 

Grammar

Generally great, i've picked up only a couple of spelling or syntax errors so far which is commendable in something that is already hundreds of pages long. As someone who is shit at profreading, I have to respect the dedication. 

Story

Probably the weakest part, but by no means terrible, is some of the storytelling. I've not really read a villaness novel before but looking around there does seem to be a lot of common tropes to it inherant in similar novels. 

The background work and world building is great, not too much or too little. The author has crafted an interesting world that has left a lot of room for expansion as the story progresses. 

I can respect what the author is going for by keeping everything mostly light hearted with shorter story arcs. This does however lead to some interactions resolving or escalating a little too quickly which can sometimes feel a bit strange or unsatisfactory. A big positive is the lack of "chosen one" shennanigans and cheat powers but the social status and wealth of the protagonist makes most roadblocks laughable. 

The main plot is mostly standard for the genre from what I can gather but is executed quite well, I'm genuinely interested to see how things will turn out. 

Character

The main character is generally likeable and easy to sympathise with. She's a bit too perfect for her newfound life though, It's hard to see her struggling with anything really with all the skills and smarts she amassed in her previous life. I get that part of the Isekai fantasy is using your previous experience to your advantage in your new circumstances, but she just seems a little well crafted for it. Might bother others a lot less than it does me though, just a personal preference. 

The supporting cast is also generally well crafted and play off each other satisfactorily. I really appreciate the effort the author went to to make them not all just orbit the main character, though I'd like to know more about them and why they think/act the way they do, particularly the antagonists. 

A LitRPG combined with the increasingly popular villain transmigrator setting. The author has plainly taken great pains to think out their world setting and systems, resulting in a satisfying progression for their protagonist that doesn’t feel overly handwavy. All in all, an excellent example of the kind of work many of us are searching websites like this to find. It absolutely deserves its spot among the rising stars and is worth your time to give a try.

Style

While the story seems mostly to still be in the introductory stages at the time of this review, overall, the story highly benefits from solid pacing and well planned LitRPG elements. The systems are introduced in a manner conducive to reader understanding and feel quite natural for such a fantastical setting.

Grammar

I’ve not picked up any large mistakes and judging by the comments the author is on top of editing anything that’s found in a timely manner. As someone who sucks with grammar and is a shit proof-reader, I can only commend the effort.

Story

The plot as I mentioned earlier at the time of this review is still largely in the introductory phase with few characters and plot points being immediately pertinent. The author does successfully foreshadow things in the protagonist’s future that she must prepare to deal with and has created an interesting path of progression for the main character. The pieces are there for an interesting story.

Character

The protagonist is unfortunately a “chosen one” blessed with a bunch of boons that will eventually turn her into a demigod. It’s a personal peeve of mine, but I get why it’s popular and used so often in LitRPG and fantasy novels. One of the bigger pitfalls of this trope is often the character quickly becoming just a giant pool of stats and skills that just crushes everything in her way. Despite this potential pitfall, the author does manage to make her relatable and sympathetic to the reader. It’s hard not to like her as she struggles to get her feet on the ground and start progressing.