The Wandering Inn

Would have been a 5 star if the character of Ryoka never existed. I've literally never hated a character more than I hate her. To be clear, this is different than a well-made character that is designed to be hated. Freddy Kreuger is a horrible, despicable villain. But you can at least understand his motivations while you root for the heroes to beat him. Ryoka is, ostensibly, supposed to be a hero. Not to mention how she is miraculously good at every single thing she tries to do, even if it makes absolutely no sense for her to succeed. How can I ever root for someone that is such a terrible human being? I don't care if she's broken due to her past or whatever (we aren't given enough reason to know why she's this vile at this point anyway, so why speculate?), she's utterly repulsive, and I dread every chapter from her POV. I wish she would just die and never be mentioned again. Plenty of vastly more likable characters have already died, but for whatever reason this Mary Sue gets to live on and make me debate continuing with the rest of the story. The two chapters of hers in a row (anyone that has read it will know the two) sincerely made me go seek advice from others as to whether or not it was worth continuing.

The author's “wokeness” doesn't help either, but I hear that fades as the story progresses. If not, I'll eventually have to drop it no matter how good the rest of it might be. I see enough of politics in real life, or hear enough a-holes telling me that white men are the root of all evil, that I don't need someone throwing it in my face in a fantasy world about fantasy people too. I wonder when people will realize that close to 50% of the USA voted for the other guy/girl (whichever side you are on). Do you really want to piss off half of your potential audience? The few people you might pick up via virtue signaling is not worth the potential loss, I'd think.