Gimai Seikatsu
Days with My Stepsister

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I doubt that many people will see this review since this LN isn't that popular as of now. This was a really refreshing read and I'm glad that I started it.

To delve into the positives, the male lead and female lead are both good characters, and I hope that they get even more development in the future. They can act maturely and reasonably, and it's great to see people who can communicate so openly. The romance aspect is slowly built up instead of just being dumped on us suddenly. The side characters are not the most developed, but they all have their own little ... quirks that make them enjoyable. Not much to say about the story since it's mainly SOL and there isn't much to delve into.

Volume 1 and 2 are both great reads, with Volume 2 being more romance centric than the first novel. I'll update this review after the release of Volume 3.

Now onto the negatives. As another reviewer mentioned, there are parts that can get repetitive and slow. This is mostly internal dialogue chunks though, and I would actually recommend just skipping over them after you've read them a few times (pretty easy to identify) for maximum enjoyment. There are also some instances where the story decides to excessively explain some things that don't really need to be explained with that much detail (once again this is just background stuff and internal dialogue bits).

Edit for volume 3: Volume 3 was definitely the best volume so far. It spices things up more while keeping the same enjoyable format, despite the author still rambling too much when it comes to inner monologues. I think so far this series has been a great subversion of certain tropes and it's still a very good read. Here's hoping that the author can keep things fresh. Easy 8-8.5 for now

A cup of pure and clean water with a spoonful of honey. This would be how I describe the book in one sentence.

Gimai Seikatsu, portrayed a beautiful story between our two main characters, Ayase Saki and Asamura Yuuta. One very important feature which attracted me very much in this book is the characterization. The development between our two main characters Saki and Yuuta is what makes this book so good. The author depicted the feeling in their heart very nicely, we can see how their thoughts and beliefs have soon changed as the story goes on. This light novel switches between both Yuuta's and Saki's ... POVs, so the readers can understand what both of the characters thinking at that time. Unlike other stepsisters generic light novels with a lot of horrendous drama, Gimai Seikatsu actually portrayed a very realistic story throughout the ordinary slice of life.

Obviously, this is a romance story. But the romance takes place very slowly, however, as I mentioned the development between both of the characters is keep going every volume. The reason I would say this series is a cup of pure and clean water with a spoonful of honey is that throughout the ordinary slice of life, it actually shows some of the sweetest scenes I have ever seen. The series did not force some very romantic, and cute scenes like other light novels which focused heavily on fluff. The reason I said it is sweet is that our two main characters sometimes will do some very little things, very little details which are truly heart-warming. It can be just a sentence of admiration, it can be just a very little considerate movement during the story. These little things make the story so sweet.

This is definitely a very worth reading series I would recommend it to everyone, especially to those who love reading stories with a heavy focus on characters' development and depiction of their feeling. I have now completed volume no.5, and I would say what a beautiful ride, volume 5 is what everyone would want to see in this series I would say. I'm glad the story goes like that in volume 5, I can now die peacefully. I would definitely consider this as some of the best romance light novels I have ever seen.

Also, do not always judge the book by its title. (>ᴗ•)

The setting and the premise is good. The step-sister angle provides some natural dramatic tension. The translation is also good. The romance is slow burn (not really a positive or negative for that). Where it is weak is in the tone and voicing of the story and in the believability of the characters.

Too often, it feels like the author is just using the characters to convey his LN/YA-level deep thoughts, rather than telling a story. Ironically, the characters themselves acknowledge the same thing. The most recent translated chapter (Vol 11, Ch. 7) gives a good example: ... "It may seem like we are talking about something pretty deep, but it's actually quite simple when you think about it." This type of thought-expression, where characters are philosophizing or documenting their thought processes, is prevalent throughout the series and can get very cringe at times. To me, it conveys a pretentiousness from the author that damages the credibility and believability of the characters as real teenagers. I've seen others bring up the realism of the series when defending the slow progress, but these characters speak like obvious creations, not real people at all.

A little further along in the same most recently translated chapter (Vol 11, Ch. 7) is a good example of the level of feels that the romance provides: '"Can I touch you?", "Yeah, it's okay... Can I touch you too?", "Yeah". Our conversation was almost business-like, which I suppose was typical for us in its own way.' The level of detachment the main couple has for each other makes it feel like the reader is a voyeur over a strange relationship between two autistic people rather than vicariously experiencing a romance. So overall this is a 4 or 5 out of 10 for me. It's an easy read but it's pretty long. If you're only happy reading solid 7+ series, just stick with the anime or manga and save yourself some time.