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I’ll be honest, I first saw the anime and absolutely hated it. Hestia’s bouncing boobs were in every single cut and just got to be too much, plus she was so immature and irresponsible to be likable. However, I read on Reddit that the light novel series was a lot better and so I decided to give it a shot. This first volume of the series started really slow and the writing seemed a bit rough. Hestia was again immature and irresponsible and I didn’t like her very much, and while Bell was cute, his character didn’t really begin to show until the last chapter. But I had also heard that book 2 in the series was good because of Lilly’s character being introduced, so I bought book 2 even though I thought book 1 was only okay. Book 2 was definitely better than book 1, as was book 3, and book 4 was even better than that. Book 5 was so good it actually made me tear up. The characters move and grow so much, and Hestia becomes less immature as the books progress. Bell is absolutely adorable and sympathetic and empathetic, and the other characters are also interesting and fun and sometimes even surprisingly complex. Above all, it shows again and again how the love, forgiveness, and acceptance of another person can make someone rise above hardship, guilt, and failure to become someone greater. So if you’re on the fence about this series, I’d suggest trying at least through book 2 before making a decision. If I’d stopped after book 1, I would have missed out on a really terrific series that I thoroughly enjoy. I also bought the Sword Oratorio side series and it really made the story that much richer for me in showing more about Aiz’s character.