Not bad, but not good either. Themes around women's rights and misogynistic society are brought up, but not really ever challenged. There are a few turns that are interesting that have no foreshadowing and the follow up to those turns leaves a lot to be desired. Its definitely a different flavor of light novel from the run of the mill isekais and that is appreciated, though more time could have been spent polishing it up to be more coherent and fleshed out. ( )

This is a problematic book about which I am torn.

High schooler Haru Koyama is killed in our world along with a male otaku classmate, Seiji Chiba. In the afterlife, they meet a god who resurrects them in a fantasy world. Thanks to a cheat code given him by the god, Chiba quickly levels up as an arena fighter and monster hunter. Haru's opportunities are more limited though due to the sexist and misogynistic nature of the world, so she becomes a sex worker in a brothel called the Blue Cat Nocturne

It's far from optimal, she acknowledges, but as the "JK" in the title signals to those in the know (which I was not until a quick Google search), Haru has been going on "compensated dates" with older men in Japan for many years before her death. So she has experience, has a pragmatic and business-like attitude about it, and is generally sex positive. But she's only 17! And has been doing this for years! As the book begins, Haru is a little annoyed and ashamed that this is her fate, but she is proud of her workplace and strives to give the best customer service as she is competitive and has ambitions to be a top earner for the Blue Cat Nocturne.

The book then becomes a series of sex scenes with various customers, some of which Haru enjoys, many to which she is indifferent, but an ever increasing number that are rough, misogynistic, and outright rape. And while Haru calls out the worst aspects, everything is presented in pornographic detail and can be read as dark erotica as much or more as a condemnation of sexism and misogyny.

Despite everything, Haru remains an upbeat person. Rather than dwell on the darkness about her, she fixates on the little points of light she has managed to kindle in the form of friends, small improvements she is able to make in the brothel, and little victories like a short stint playing a recreational sport before work. She's content enough . . . until the world cruelly snuffs one of the flames.

And then her attitude turns, and the whole book turns with her, rushing toward a catharsis for all the pain and suffering that has preceded. Think I Spit on Your Grave with an exponentially higher body count. It's wild and very satisfying and leaves me wanting to know what happens next. (There is a second book, but it is a short story collection rather than a true sequel, so I'm not sure that will give me what I want.)

I actually read Volume 1 of the manga adaptation of this novel first, not realizing it was an adaptation. I welcomed the chance to read the novel before continuing on to Volume 2 of the manga because it was hard to tell if that multi-volume work was moving toward a point or if it was simply fan service erotica. Thankfully, it does have a statement to make, though the road to it can easily lend itself to an end justifying the means debate.

It doesn't help that the writing of either the original book or the translation is very amateurish at times. ( )