So I'm A Spider, So What has a fairly interesting premise, in which a female (!) MC gets reborn as an average monster (!) and has to survive by any means necessary. I mean, the Isekai genre is already so overused, there must be plenty of stories similar to this one, according to the Infinite Monkey Theorem... but hey, you don't see a female human-to-monster reincarnation every day.
There are two things that made this novel a delight for me to read. (at least... at first!)
1) Our dear spider wasn't exactly the most social youngster back in her original world. As a result of her somewhat self-centered, socially awkward personality, her POV is written using an interesting narrative mode I've yet to see elsewhere. Each action is described using her thoughts and her perspective, and only that... as if you were listening to her adventures instead of viewing them through her eyes directly. While it does give off a feeling of distance, I found it quite enjoyable.
2) There are two POV's shown one after the other (spider/human). You'll notice very quickly that these two don't match up at all... It takes some brainwork to try and understand how these two are connected, and it's a very enjoyable task, too.
HOWEVER.... Remember my opening statement? Yes, this saying ABSOLUTELY applies to this novel.
While it has its flaws, the plot is fairly entertaining. Each character is written in a way that makes you grow fond of them, especially our enthusiastic, greedy, power-hungry little spider. And while worldbuilding isn't pushed as far as other series (*cough* Overlord, especially its glorious unofficial story *cough* Valkyrie's Shadow *cough* *cough*), it is appreciated.
Until volumes 15-16 throw all of that out of the window. A severe case of writer's fatigue, and an incomprehensible deadline of 2 months for another volume, led our dear Okina Baba to publish one of the most DISASTROUS ending of all times. Character consistency? Plot relevancy? NO. All the efforts made by the characters, all of their sacrifices are in VAIN. "Oh, you did this, you did that, you got this legendary item that can even [Redacted-due-to-spoilers]? Haha, too bad it WON'T WORK. Hold up, let me pull a fucking deus ex machina off my ass to end this garbage of a story".
Do you know what's the worst of all things? For all the time, all the years the main cast worked towards achieving its goals, what do we get right after this anticlimactic episode? Two lines, for each significant character involved in the story. TWO LINES EACH. Yes, we've spent 16 volumes hyping up for this. No, a ton of plot elements are left to be dealt with. What do you mean a refund, good sir?
It IS also, at least a TINY bit, about the destination. If the One Piece ended up being "the friends they made along the way", millions of books would be burnt. A bad ending can, and WILL spoil (as in, "rot" or "decay") the entire story. And unfortunately, So I'm A Spider, So What had such a GARBAGE ending, it kicked the whole journey off my mind... all that remains is this disaster of a Volume 16, like the godawful taste of Jägermeister after drinking too much of it.
TL;DR. Good story, good characters. Ending SO BAD it will make you wish a refund for all the time wasted reading this...
