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itsemmaok 's review for:

Solo Leveling by Dubu (Redice Studio), h-goon, Chugong
3.5
adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

as a fan of the dungeon-crawling/gates genre, you know i had to go and read this at some point, it's a staple in the genre for a reason. i honestly had so much fun reading this despite its flaws. like, absolutely the side characters could have been fleshed out more and jinwoo could have benefited from a loss here and there, but, despite that it was a good time and still managed to have its moments.
i particularly liked how it explored the themes of power and what comes along with it, the privileges but also the negatives. respect but loneliness and isolation, fame but fear. it was more impactful because we got to experience through sung jinwoo who rose from the bottom of society to the very top and was subject to judgement at every level. anyway suffice to say i enjoyed it and i can understand the hype
 
(also woo jinchul best character change my mind)