The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, Vol. 1 (light novel) (Volume 1) (The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, 1) Paperback – October 31, 2017

This novel combines likeable and relatable characters with a really dynamite concept that I've never experienced before, and I've read literally thousand of science fiction novels in my many years of life. The great concept owes a bit to parts of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", but what it borrows from that work is developed way more deeply here, and is at the center of the story's interest rather than just sharing it with other factors.Well written science fiction that promises lots of interest and involvement in future volumes. In that respect I class this novel right up there with the two books that first made me get interested in reading Japanese light novels,Tthe Malancholy", above, and "Spice and Wolf."

I don't usually read Light Novels. I saw this one highly recommended on Reddit and decided to give it a try with an open mind. I found the overall concept and story fascinating. Trying to figure out what was going on and when was a lot of fun. When I read the awkward "Do you notice anything different about my best feature?" exchange I was worried it would be throughout the book. Thankfully, that stuff was kept to a minimum as it adds very little to the story/characters and makes the book difficult to recommend to co-workers and family. I'm glad I read this story and will be looking forward to reading the coming volumes!

⚠️Spoilers⚠️After reading it through, I’d say that I really enjoyed the book overall just because of how it’s concept of time and cycles worked, and how things like memory and the box placed out. I would catch myself surprised in certain moments after finding out the truth of certain characters. I what a good read and the only exception was at a certain part were it was hard to distinguish between 4 characters but overall it was good.I’ll definitely pick up the remaining volumes.

Read this in about a weekend after letting it sit in my backlog for a long time. It's an addictive read, but is thoroughly depressing, enough so that I won't be reading any of the other books in the series.The setup: ultra-bland high school boy gets stuck in an infinite time loop. Or does he?Mystery, violence, incredible bleakness. Not for everyone, but you may like it far more than I did.

I was first exposed to this series via the popular fan translation. In fact, I was one of the many people who helped to edit that translation. In particular, I cleaned up some of the spelling and grammatical issues. It was therefore bittersweet to see it all disappear from the Internet, but for a good reason: the announcement of an official English translation, something I thought I'd never see! Now, even more people can enjoy it.This is the first of seven books in a series of...well, sort of psychological thrillers set in a Japanese high school. The first story is a spin on the popular "time loop" concept, but the way it's done here is different from anything I'd seen before. Thinking back to my experiences with the fan translation, it was difficult to understand at first, but once I was more familiar with the concept and characters, this (and its sequels) became one of my favorite series of stories ever. It examines human nature, the relationships between people, and the concepts of love, trust, and abuse, as well as many more. This first book is just the beginning. If you enjoy it, you'll definitely want to stay on for the whole thing.My only complaint is that this translation feels somewhat rushed. I spotted a few errors and they do rip me out of the story, hurting the immersion. I hope to see better editing in the later books (and Yen Press, I'll gladly accept review copies if you'd like for me to help!). Hopefully you're not as bothered by these errors as I was.Page 9: "Kokone takes the seat next me..." (missing the word "to")Page 19: Style errors. The word "The" is inserted in front of "8,946th Time" and "2,601st Time," while it isn't in the rest of the book.Page 38: "...the protagonist needs be even more persistent..." (missing the word "to")Page 132: "Otonashi, the kind the gentle soul." (the second "the" should be "and")Page 153: "Their personality should have changed a least once..." ("a" should be "at")

I read this long ago when there was once a fan translation but haven't read the two final volumes. I got to buy this first volume physically and read it all and in one day! It was an entertaining read with a few twists! Having the book physically made it easier for me to turn back to certain pages to see where I was misled by the author from time to time.

After reading this book, I immediately pre-ordered the next entry into the series. It's interesting, kind of cliche, but the characters, plot twist and the sense of thrill I got from reading this novel. Really got me hooked. If you're interested in time-travel and splits in the space-time continuum through almost egregious means you'll like this.

The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria kept me guessing and interested page after page. The way all the different parts intertwined and came together at the end was very satisfying. The main characters were also very well done and I’m glad Hoshi was able to develop as he did.