The Agartha Loop

The Agartha Loop, Book 1

By: RavensDagger

Narrated by: Tess Irondale

They asked Amber to become a magical girl three times.

She refused. That only made her more interesting.

The fourth time, she asked them.

©2023 Edgar Maloeuf (P)2024 Podium Audio

Came for Ravensdagger, stayed for Madoka Magica

I'll be honest, this book isn't the best start to a series. The book feels slow despite its pacing, the magic school setting is rather generic, the characters aren't Ravensdagger's best, and there's a lot of info dumping that bore me. So what keeps me invested in this story? The rather blatant Madoka Magica influence.

Any fan of the anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, should have certain expectations. Cute girls, suffering, friendship, suffering, love, suffering, epic fights, suffering, hope, despair, and suffering.

The only question is: how will Ravensdagger pull it off?

So freaking good

Ok so I am not usually into the whole magic girl trope, but since it was ravens dagger I gave it a shot, and I am so glad I did! The characters were well developed and interesting, and the story never left me bored. This one is a must!

Magical Girls and Time Shenanigans

If you're a fan of RavensDagger's other work, odds are you'll like this one. Magical girls with enough realism to be interesting and put together full dynamic characters, combined with enough whimsey to still be magical girls.

Short but sweet

A relatively short story that's about 70% school life with time shenanigans adding a lot of never happened drama onto Amber without taking the story away from its almost slice of life feel

Good cute story.

Good cute story. You get to learn the characters, and it's building up to something bigger.

fun idea, deeply compromised

The story has the very fun time travel thing going, but in up to half the book through, very little time travel occurs. It feels like the first book is mostly the main character, Amber, learning about the world of Agartha, magic society, and her own unique, logistically problematic magical ability. !! The official summary is pretty bad - misleading one to think the main character was time looping much earlier and getting the choice to go magic girl or not more than once. Worse, no other hints can be found in it. It would be much better if it mentioned how very disrespectful the writing is to girls (I'm already on the edge of returning the audiobook), or if it mentioned there is a magical academy (which is a popular topic).

EDIT: It turns out the last two hours are actually much better than when I wrote this review. The remaining series I am still uncertain about, so I predict nothing.

If homosexuality is something you'd rather not read about, don't get this book! EDIT: Main character not involved, at least in book 1.

If you'd rather not listen to psychologically twisty disrespect of women and girls, don't get this book!

Since Amazon/Audible doesn't honor returns as frequently as they claimed to years ago, I may just finish the last two and a half hours of this audiobook and and update this review if anything changes. (EDIT: finished and updated) Another reviewer suggested the disrespect gets worse in the second book. This is one of those times I was in a hurry to get something particularly interesting to listen to when working and I forgot the research I probably did previously that would have prevented me from making such a disappointing purchase. I will acknowledge Ravensdaggar as a talented author, but I fear their writing leans toward an obsession for negative or compromised versions of humanity colored with cuteness and creativity. It can be disturbing, unless you find yourself oblivious to such undertones.

story is unfinished/on hiatus

First a word of warning: the series has been on s hiatus for 2 years at the time of writing this review you might want to check that if you, like me absolutely hate interrupted stories.

This first book feels like it is mostly establishing characters and the world but it is still an interesting listen. The world feels well thoughtout and while the characters are very stereotypicall they still have a sense of plausibility to them.

As for performance? Well, it is stellar as always I think I'd give anything (including a dictionary) narrated by Tess at least 2 stars.

Better than the negative reviews

Ok. I get the "nothing happens" complaint, but it's got way more plot than a slice of life book. Also if that's a subtle reference to the MC's flavor of time travel, well played.

It's a fun book that answers questions I never ask, like "What happens when Sailor Moon meets Grims Fairy Tales?"

I'll totally read the next book.

Great book

I absolutely loved the characters and story. However I have 1 complaint and 1 concern. The complaint is I whisper it was longer. The concern is that the plot twist at the end is too ambitious.

Late bloomer

Nothing happens in this book, it's all setup. Next book might be good if the story gets rolling but otherwise not the same quality as RavensDagger's other works. Tess Irondale does as good as she does on all her other roles.