By Misa Aoi and Yoh Hihara. Released in Japan as “Toshokan no Tensai Shoujo ~Honzuki no Shinjin Kanri wa Boudai na Chishiki de Kuni o Sukuimasu!~” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Dawson Chen.
I’ve written several times about “sometimes you want McDonald’s”. This is not quite that. This is going to a place that you heard was pretty high-end, that served elite, expensive food. The sort of restaurant you’d dress up for. And it does look just like that. Nice ambiance, fancy waiters, impeccable service. And then you get your meal, and it’s… chicken fingers and fries. Now, don’t get me wrong. These are some of the best chicken fingers you’ve ever had, just the right amount of crispiness. And the fries are not only perfectly done, but just the style you prefer. You couldn’t ask for a tastier meal. But come on. You were expecting fancy French food in a wine sauce, eight courses, food for the elite. And you get freaking CHICKEN FINGERS? That’s sort of what reading Genius in the Library was like for me. It has Chicken Fingers at its center, and their name is Martina.
Martina is delighted. She’s passed the civil service exam, and is going to be one of the rare commoners who is allowed to work for the Crown. She is incredibly happy as this gives her access to MORE BOOKS. You see, Martina is a voracious reader, and has already read every single book in the commoner’s library, now she will be able to get to the Royal Library. And things go well, mostly! Her co-workers are mostly nice, except for That One Guy. She gets to be in the library whenever she’s not at work. And they don’t really find her photographic, perfect memory weird at all! Well, OK, yes they do, but in a good way. And frankly, it’s very good for the kingdom that Martina is there, as the monsters, which had been quieter recently, have been getting worse. A dark miasma is spewing them out. They may need to…
Well, that’s a spoiler, but one I was quite amused to see. It’s nice to come to this kind of book from the preparatory side. I really liked this book. The cast are nice, the pacing is good, and… well, OK, let’s talk Martina. I don’t like using a word that rhymes with Barry Blue, but yeah, Martina is pretty much perfect here. She’s not overly shy like, say, Monica Everett, she’s nice to everyone, her book learning translates perfectly to applied learning, she’s a natural born leader, even if she doesn’t realize it, and she rapidly has at least three guys (and one girl?) who seem into her. Hell, even the prejudiced guy who sneers at her does a 180 so fast in the middle of the book your head will spin. This plot is driven by one thing alone, to make Monica the greatest thing since sliced bread. If you hate that sort of thing, you’ll want to read another book. If you don’t mind it as long as it’s well written, enjoy your chicken fingers.
The book ends on a cliffhanger that I’m very interested to read. I presume we will not be changing main characters in Book 2, but you never know. For fans of Bookworms without any real flaws.