The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria Group Read

[Mike]

"Kazuki Hoshino leads the easy-going life of a typical high school student--until the appearance of a new girl in his class turns his world upside down! Introducing herself with a promise to 'break' Kazuki is abnormal enough to make an impression, sure, but why does she seem so familiar...?"

Discuss The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria here!


Reading Schedule*
2/4-2/17 Prologue & "Part 1" (pages 1-63)
2/18-3/10 "Part 2" (pages 65-200)


*This book doesn't have chapters, so I divided the target reading schedule based on a rough apparent structure in the book. The target is still about 30-40 pages a week so the date ranges are longer than usual per section.

[Terrence]

I gotta say, the description for this book doesn't do its setup justice.

I just read this one. Definitely entertaining and packed with content (the story goes so many directions).

For those who have read the full book:

(Spoilers for relationship stuff in the book)

(view spoiler)[
I am a bit cautous about where relationship stuff may go from this volume forward. I feel like some plot devices are making it a bit too easy to put some characters to the side / lessen their significance or some to the forefront, but I'll talk about that when we get to it. (hide spoiler)]

[Mike]

This has been on my radar since before it was licensed over here, so I'm really looking forward to see how it is.

[Mike]

Things get interesting right away, as the short prologue offers just enough to set the stage in an intriguing way, and the structure of the main part of the book is immediately attention grabbing.

Anyone else start this up yet?

[Gord]

I've picked it up but I've got about a dozen other books I'm reading this month as well. I'll get to it at some point this month.

[Mike]

No rush. Hope you enjoy it when you get to it.

[Mike]

Finished "part 1." There are a lot of interesting little details and mysteries accumulating, and the recurring/non-linear storytelling aspects are well done so far. I'm enjoying this and am curious to see where things are going.

In between the two "parts" is an important page and a half scene. Spoilers for pages 65-66: (view spoiler)[ The revelation is a clever one, and while it raises more questions than it answers it sets up Kazuki to potentially be more of an active protagonist rather than just an obstacle for Aya. I've very curious about how things will resolve and who the real culprit is. (hide spoiler)]

[Quantum]

I bought my copy and will get to it this weekend. ^_^

[Gord]

That's my plan as well. This book and the 4th Konosuba light novel.

[Terrence]

Gord wrote: "That's my plan as well. This book and the 4th Konosuba light novel."

I'm thinking of starting Konosuba after Psycome (or maybe I'll get back into Goblin Slayer, idk).

I'll be very interested to see all the reactions to this novel throughout. =]

[Gord]

Something I noticed spoilers for page 24-25 of the second half:
(view spoiler)[ At the beginning of the second part Otonashi says that she had her wish granted by a box and the wish is still being granted. She then says that the way to end the boxes influence over the class would be to end the life of the person who owns the box. It has been "established" that she has been killed a few times so far so shouldn't that end box that is influencing her life? Or is that be negated by the day being reset? (hide spoiler)]

Maybe this will be answered later or maybe not.

[JJ]

I don't like this one. I started reading the first 30 pages and then I skipped ahead and decided that it wasn't for me.

[Selena]

JJ wrote: "I don't like this one. I started reading the first 30 pages and then I skipped ahead and decided that it wasn't for me."

Sorry this one turned out not to be for you. Hopefully the next group read is better for you. :)

Our of curiosity, what was it you didn't like about this one?

[Gord]

I'm not really feeling this one as much either. It's not bad but it's not blowing me away either. Outside of the big Groundhog Day theme there isn't really a lot to grab a hold of in this book. It's got the generic teens in a generic high school doing generic things problem. Who are these characters? What is their connection? Why should I care if they disappear or die?

[Gord]

I started skim reading about half way through the second part and that last blurb I didn't even bother reading. Like Psycome I just got bored and couldn't care about what was going on. There was to much boring stuff to slog through before I got to anything interesting and by the time I got there I just didn't care any more. There was no depth to the characters which resulted in me not getting attached to anyone which resulted in me not having any sort of investment in the book. Once things started being revealed it felt like things were just being created on the fly with no real explanation. It just didn't click with me at all.

If you enjoyed this then power to you.

[JJ]

I would have to agree with Gord about the novel. Also, there was a theme I was not comfortable with, it was about killing. Although I skipped a lot and skimmed so I don't really know what the whole novel was about.

The summary on Goodreads and on the back of the book does not give enough information about what the book was about. I thought it was going to be a slice-of-life with mystery. There was mystery and slice-of-life, but it's also a thriller. I don't like thriller books. like I said, the summary did not portray the genre of this novel.

Also, I looked online and there are 7 volumes; I don't think all of them will end up getting translated. I'd rather read something where the whole series is completely translated.

I am going to try the next group read with "I am a Cat"

[Terrence]

JJ wrote: "..."

The second novel of this series is due on the 25th of this month. So little by little, we'll probably get the other volumes if you want to give them a glance to see where the story goes / if it gets more interesting. Once a series gets to volume 2, Yen usually doesn't give up on it.

Sound Euphonium on the other hand... I don't think we're getting volume 2 at this point sadly. T.T

Maria Box as a series is pretty well regarded in LN circles, so I'll be curious to see what it is that hooks people long term with it.

[Mike]

I'm 3/4 through (around 150 pages) and seem to be enjoying this more than most. I understand a lot of the complaints though (even though they didn't bother me personally). The book description gives nothing really to go on, and the characters are somewhat necessarily flat in a traditional sense, since the way the Groundhog Day aspect is utilized necessitates getting a quick read on them. I did find a fair amount of interesting development of the main two as the loops progressed, but it's all subtle and relies on the reader being interested enough to track things through the variations. I was, but I can easily see others losing patience.

But mostly I think I'm enjoying this because I like the twists. Each reveal has turned some previous events and conclusions on their head while still fitting the established framework. Spoiler for halfway through "Part 2": (view spoiler)[ the Kokone fakeout as the true box owner was particularly well done I thought (hide spoiler)]

I'll see how I feel at the end, but so far my impression is this is pretty solid. I do wonder about how this is all going to set up a series though, as the plot and setup here really seems only suited to a one of.

[Terrence]

I'll definitely be interested to see where they go with it. Now that you have gotten this far, I will say, I really hope they don't turn Maria / Aya into the main love interest. I feel like she can stand on her own, doesn't need to be a love interest and can serve well as a friend.

I also found the book very thrilling. The reactions here seem similar to the reactions to our read In the Miso Soup , for obvious reasons, though I didn't find the scenes in Maria that bad (though they were a bit cheesy with the (view spoiler)[Yandere element that I didn't think a character like that would have, but again, the loss of a cast member was emotionally affecting as was that sense of betrayl). (hide spoiler)]

[Mike]

Hmm, I don't know how I feel about that myself. I agree that she doesn't need to be and is a strong enough character on her own. On the other hand I like her relationship with Kazuki and find her more a lot more interesting than any of the other options.

Finished. Turns out I was a few pages away from another big reveal, and another good one at that. I really liked this overall. I liked the mysteries, atmosphere most of the twists, and the way things built. However the rules of the boxes were kind of sprung here and there as needed and the villain ended up being the part I cared about the least, which I'm not sure bodes well for future books.

The use of the structure and examination of the effects of repeating the same day so many times, how people could be manipulated, etc was really great.

[Mike]

Random note - I just read the back cover for the first time. One the plus side it gives a much better idea of the book than the description above. One the minus it starts with a question that I think would have spoiled a major twist for me. (view spoiler)[ "If a single wish could change your life forever... would you use it?" This is an awful teaser, as one would immediately doubt Kazuki was the box owner, undermining most of the drama of the first half of the book. (hide spoiler)]

[Terrence]

Mike wrote: "Hmm, I don't know how I feel about that myself. I agree that she doesn't need to be and is a strong enough character on her own. On the other hand I like her relationship with Kazuki and find her m..."

I just hate the trope of

(view spoiler)[sidelining the major romantic problem of volume 1, maybe indefinitely with her being in the hospital for the duration of these novels. Seems a bit cheap. If she comes back in the wheelchair by next volume, I'll feel better about that.

I also like the girl that bought the snack bar (?) for him, and who used her knowledge of the loop to try and get a bit closer. Someone who is actively trying to woo her man I feel better about rewarding.

But yeah, just in general, I prefer leads that aren't forced to be the love interests. And having her and him not forced together could leave you with two potential focus couples instead of one. (hide spoiler)]