As an avid fan of "isekai" anime, I was intrigued to explore the world of light novels with the "be transported to another world" trope. Solo Leveling came highly recommended, especially given its popular manhwa adaptation. However, as someone who tends to lean towards visual storytelling, I found myself struggling to connect with the novel's plot.

One of the main issues I encountered was the confusion surrounding the world-building. Initially, I was puzzled by the seemingly random encounters with monsters in modern-day Seoul. It wasn't until much later, after consulting the manhwa version, that I grasped the concept of the gates and the mechanics of the world. This lack of clarity detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story.

Furthermore, I felt that the book placed too much emphasis on character development at the expense of world-building. While I appreciate a well-developed protagonist, I found myself longing for more depth and context surrounding the setting.

Character-wise, I couldn't help but find the main character to be rather bland. Despite his growth and progression throughout the story, I struggled to connect with him on a personal level. As a result, I found it difficult to become emotionally invested in his journey.

As someone who isn't the biggest fan of action scenes, I found it to be overwhelming at times. While I appreciated the more gruesome and gory aspects of the story, they weren't enough to salvage my overall experience.

Moreover, I wished there had been more focus on the main character's family and friends. Their roles felt underdeveloped, and I would have liked to see more exploration of their relationships and dynamics within the story.

While Solo Leveling may appeal to fans of the isekai genre and those who enjoy character-driven narratives, it ultimately fell short of my expectations. While it may not be to my taste, I can see how others might find enjoyment in its unique blend of fantasy and action.

I feel I should start my review by saying that I had read the manga/webtoon version of the story before reading the novel adaptation.

Adapting a manga into a novel is a difficult job. It requires the author to provide a lot of information that the reader would receive through pictures -- background action, expressions on faces, etc. This, unfortunately, often leads to a lot of info-dumping, i.e. excessive exposition. I found this light novel to have the same problem. It wasn't terrible, and perhaps for someone not familiar with the source material, it might have been helpful information and not felt so much of a slog to read through. However, I think there could have been a little more finesse in the way the information was delivered.

That said, the story itself is intriguing, fun, and new. Whether you read the manga or the novel, this is not one to miss.

I wasn't a particular fan of the writing style. It felt clunky to my mind. I guess it just wasn't my cuppa. Another go through with an editor to tighten and clarify might be a good idea.

I loved the premise of this! Seemed like the perfect thing to read after binge watching sword art online. I'd love to read the manga adaption next.

This was a really gripping and compelling light novel. It asks the question of what happens when a quest-driven MMO rule system becomes available to one person in our reality (or in our reality if random mystical dungeons popped up regularly in downtown Seoul and some humans got mystical powers to deal with them). The low-powered protagonist is cagey and uses his unique circumstances to power up and find a way to make a life for his sister without giving away his secret. The story sets up some good allies and some very interesting conflicts and antagonists, and while it was more violent and morally grey than I was expecting I really had a hard time putting it down. Lookin forward to more!

Solo Leveling follows Sung Jin Woo in an alternate reality where “gates” full of monsters are opening up around the world and people have awakened as hunters to clear and close them. The ranking system goes from E (the bottom rung where hunters are little more than regular citizens) to S class and Jin Woo is at the bottom, known around his city as “the worst hunter ever” for his habit of constantly getting himself into trouble. When a raid goes wrong, Jin Woo awakens with unmatched abilities right out of a video game – leveling system included.

Japanese light novels have been my jam lately, so the chance to review a Korean light novel was definitely something I was excited to do. It took me a brief second to adjust to the name format (it always throws me off when I try to figure out if translations put the names in traditional order or adjust for English readers) but I was sucked into the story right away.

I love the characters and the way Jin Woo stumbles his way through figuring out the new leveling system is so original. I do find it interesting how light novel fantasy (whether isekai or otherwise) seem to be very focused on video game like levels and the way those levels are incorporated into a story is always neat to compare. Having never read the manhwa I had visions of this being similar to Sword Art Online, but believe me when I say this is entirely a brilliant original story. I love Jin Woo, a protagonist who is equal parts sweet and cocky, and Jin Ho is so adorable I just want to give him a hug for trying his best.

With an ending that is the calm before the coming storm, I can’t wait for volume 2 of the novel. At least in the meantime, I have YenPress’s edition of the translation for the manhwa to look forward to reading.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Solo Leveling in exchange for an honest review.

From what I've gathered, this is a novelization of a manga and since I want to get into different styles of storytelling like manga, I figured this would be a good transition but it just didn't work for me. I don't think you need to have read the manga beforehand since this appears to be a novelized version of the first volume, but I don't think this transferred well. The core plot was really interesting which I'm assuming is what lead the manga to popularity, but the narration somehow manages to make it seem really boring. Everything is blunt and generic and I wish I'd given the physical manga a try instead.

Light novel authors take note - Chugong's style proves that you don't have to infodump or over-explain your story's world or magic/combat systems. The plot may be fairly familiar - a young Hunter nearly dies and reawakens with improved powers that function like he's a player in an RPG - but the execution is really what makes this book stand out from the crowd. Chugong barely explains to us what "Hunters" are, how they function, or why they exist, only briefly mentions that Gates appeared roughly ten years before the story takes place, and doesn't expend unneeded energy on labored descriptions of how everything looks and works. Instead they let the story do all of the talking, letting us know through the action of the plot why Jinwoo is different and how dungeons have reshaped the power structures of South Korea. The resulting novel is one in which light novel fans will find what they like but is substantially better written than the average similar book. Chugong trusts their readers to understand the story. That pays off.

I received an e-arc of this book from Netgalley for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

So I have read the webtoon of this and it is one of my favorite stories, so when I saw that this was in light novel form I knew I had to read it. The book starts off slowly, but by the 15-20% mark, it really picks up and allows you to really get to know our MC. While the writing wasn't my favorite, could be a lot of info-dumping at times, it kept me entertained and I loved reading this.


Synopsis:
Jinwoo Sung is an E-rank hunter, the only E-rank hunter. With some more abilities such as speed and faster healing, he is no better than a human. However, to pay his mother's hospital bills, he must enter into a portal known as a dungeon to fight monsters. One day, during a raid, they enter into a double dungeon which has dire consequences. Suddenly, Jinwoo can see a game alert telling him he needs to level up!

Thank you Goodreads and Chugong for giving me permission to read Solo Leveling in advance. Although my review is late, I really did enjoy the book. This has encouraged me to read the webtoon which is also available. If compared, I like this more because Jinwoo in my imagination looked different. The story was written well. It could be considered a portal fantasy since hunters go in portals to slay monsters. They are only able to go out if the boss is killed.

It had Goblin Slayer plus Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? vibes which I like. It is no surprise that I like it. The characters were also nice. Jinwoo’s growth was exponential. He might also become too powerful which might make him the antagonist. I am not sure how it would end but volume two is on my radar. As for romance, there is none. It is an adventure, shounen type novel which has satisfied me, hence the 5 hearts rating.

Already read the webtoon but I wanted to try in a light novel. This is a completely different experience but it's so good to be back to the world.

It's a must read

Overall a decent light read. Feels like a good entry to LitRPG/GameLit segments.

Set in Korea, the MC is a weakest of the weak "hunter" in all of Korea. Though he shows enough intelligence and bravery during a unexpected raid that results in him saving some of his teammates and nearly sacrificing himself. He wakes up as a "player" and can see stats typical of games. The book follows the beginning of his career as he levels up and progresses.

The writing is one of the better ones in this genre. The world is intriguing as we read the novel, but sadly it isn't developed very well. There are no explanations of why things are different from our regular normal world.

The MC also gets OP super quick which takes away some of the 'progression' elements.

There is enough mystery to make me want to read the rest of the books.

It's a very good palate cleanser between other tedious reads...just that Vol 1 doesn't set itself apart in a significant manner to other books in the genre.

The premise of this book is really cool a low-level hunter suddenly gets a major power boost. He starts leveling up like a player from an RPG. I really enjoyed the story and would love to read the Manga but I wouldn't recommend this light novel the writing felt amateurish like an okay fanfiction.

*This review is based on an ARC I received from NetGalley for an honest review.

The 1st volume of Solo Leveling focuses more on the introduction of story.

The novel might start of a little bit too bland as how it introduces the world- which is I can say intriguing and at the same time entertaining as it goes on.

I just hope that writing would be much more better as it goes on as it's my main problem upon reading it 9althought I understand that this is a translated one, but I just hope that it will be more developed on the following novel to make it more fun for the reader)>

Overall, I'm thankful to be able to read the 1st volume of the novel. Everyone should go and head on the manhua if you love this novel.

3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4)

I received an ARC of this light novel in exchange for an honest review.

Jinwoo is pretty much the worst hunter ever. He's the lowest rank and he has no money. His future has always seemed rather bleak, but it gets even bleaker after he enters a dangerous dungeon. The dungeon ends up being deadly, and he's abandoned by the other hunters. As he's facing death, something happens...

[Congrats on becoming a player!]

This light novel was pretty interesting! Jinwoo, the main character, is like a cross of Deku and Lelouch in my opinion. I liked the video game aspects of this book, like dungeons, raids, abilities, etc. The stats and other features were cool!

The story felt a little long at times, and the writing sometimes made it hard to tell whose perspective I was reading. Other than that, I think this series has a lot of potential in the future! Personally, I would love an anime of this as the fight scenes seem like they'd be awesome if animated!

Content: violence, mention of rape, language (f-bombs)

Overall, Solo Leveling Vol, 1 was a great introduction into this fantasy charged-Seoul. While the writing appeared awkward at time due to the sheer amount of information Chugong needed to convey, the story is solid. Jinwoo is your typical nice, but willing to make some tough decisions, kind of protagonist. That being said, these decisions come up during crucial fights. These battles are fast paced and very entertaining especially considering Jinwoo's rapid growth throughout the volume. At times, he felt a bit empty (his forced obliviousness to Joohee) but I can chalk that up to being characteristic of the genre. Despite some emptiness, Chugong introduces a cast of characters to support Jinwoo. They range from rich boy with a heart of gold to a healer with unrequited love or to a Jinwoo's sister diligently working to become a doctor. I look forward to when they are fleshed out a bit more in the following volumes. Ultimately, if you like stories like Sword Art Online, GATE, or are just looking for a quick but entertaining fantasy read, this one should be on your radar!

Jinwoo is a low-ranking hunter at the Hunter Association, where they hunt monsters. After getting stuck in a dungeon with other hunters against a boss that is very difficult, Jinwoo uses some quick thinking to save the group – with only a few casualties and some injuries.

When he wakes up, three days after the incident, Jinwoo gains some interesting abilities and his life changes.

What I liked about this novel: I really liked the story. The video game idea was really cool! Leveling up and gaining abilities, collecting items and what not.

What I didn’t like as much: it was just loooong. I got a little tired of the story and I wasn’t too fond of how it was written. I am unfamiliar, but I am guessing this was a movie or manga before? It read like a script, so some things that were written I felt shouldn’t have been written. It could have been worded differently to make it flow a little better – more like a novel and less like a script.

Thanks to Yen Press and Netgalley for this ARC. I found the story idea creative, but dragged out too much for me. I think it could have been cut into another book to alleviate the length.

[You have leveled up!]

Although I found this light novel to have a weak and slow start, it really got me about 10-15% in. It seemed at first glance it was going to be another fantasy story about the underdog proving his worth, but turned out to be much more than that!

I would absolutely classify this novel as LitRPG and I really did enjoy the "visible stats" and "the hero knows he is a player" aspect of it. Even though I was just a reader, I was looking forward as much as the protagonist was to the next "level up" event, and for new skills to be acquired. I'm still struggling to fully decide whether I find the main character to be a hero, anti-hero or something else, but since this is the first volume, I find the character development (and literally improving) very exciting, and there are a lot of insights into how and why he makes the decisions he does.

After the first chapter, the pacing was on point and I enjoyed the writing even though this was a translation. My only criticism would be that it is sometimes hard to tell what character we are following since the narration abruptly changes point of view in certain points of the novel.

I had lots of fun, and I am looking forward to the next volume!

Special thanks go to the netgalley team and the publishers for providing this ARC. I appreciate the opportunity to read it in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting light novel! Ever since Sword Art Online (and probably even before that to be honest), Fantasy light novels like this have been popular. I think this will be great for fans of SAO and Rising of the Shield Hero!

Thank you to Netgalley and YenPress for the early copy and chance to review!