Summary
Jeju Island is a hunting ground for S-rank magical beasts in the form of ants. It has been years since Korea has deemed it a lost cause. However, shortly after Jinwoo has cured his mother from the fatal Sleeping Disease, Japan offers to help get rid of the ants. When asked by the Hunter association to join the raid, Jinwoo turns it down. However when a live broadcast shows the Korean Hunters are becoming ant fonder to an overpowered ant, with speed unscreened by anyone besides Jinwoo, Jinwoo takes no time to activate a new ability to swoop in and save the day. Fighting the ants is not the only thing on his mind though. With starting his own guild, Jinwoo is on the lookout for potential hunters to join his guild just so he can have it created, even though he does not plan to use them in raids. It should be easier if he continues to be the talk of the country, but no one seems to fit the bill.
Review
I thought I knew what being tense from reading felt like, but I was not prepared for the intense scenes in Solo Leveling Vol 4. Chugong did an amazing job making the scenes in the this book entertaining and binge worthy. Half way through the book I was so tense that my jaw was hurting from the clenching. I hadn’t even realized it since I was so engrossed in the story. Jinwoo will never cease to amaze me with his cleverness and the way he lives with his morals. It was extremely nerve wrecking at certain parts because of how the battle was going down. The focus of this book was finishing the healing of his mother and having her home, as well as taking care of Jeju Island.
There were mystery character again and lots of smaller things, but the novel was still breathtaking. With a plot this good, you can’t go wrong. I found the little things refreshing when they happened. An example being Jinwoo’s mother putting her kids before her own needs. That’s what good parents do after all. But it was nice to see, even if Jinwoo wouldn’t understand. I felt this particular addition to be more moving in a sense that when you weren’t tense with the action and and other sneaky things, we were being moved by simple family life and friendships. It was very well rounded in that sense. It only drives me more insane to have to wait for when it is released to watch in 2023.
I will say I was infuriated with more new characters. This time some of those new characters had a purpose and other are just making me question when we will get to the original new characters. The characters with a purpose interacted with Jinwoo and showed their goals a bit to us, however others just kind of appeared, made some suspicious comments that leave us questioning what they want and then disappear not to be seen again. It’s a good frustration as it means there is still more to come. Bad in the way that I have slowly been making a list of new characters and questionable plots that may arise without any answers. I’m like a dog with a bone at this point. I won’t let it go.
Anyways, Solo Leveling Vol 4 by Chugong is my favorite of this series thus far. With that being said, I would rate this light novel five out of five stars. It leaves you with enough questions to keep wanting more but enough information to satisfy your need for action and adventure. I feel this book is extremely good. The series is a must read. Even the manga is really good. The art is gorgeous. Please check it out!
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