Welcome to Olivia’s Magic Jewelers Volume 1

Welcome to Olivia’s Magic Jewelers #1

by Rinrin Yuki, Jordan Taylor (Translator), SUZAKU (Illustrator)

A Fresh Start!

After coming home one day after working herself ragged, Olivia finds her engagement called off by her fiancé. What’s more, her adoptive sister claims Olivia’s jewelry designs as her own while Olivia’s adoptive family chases her out of her own home and store. Having lost everything, she tightly grips a letter of introduction her late father wrote and heads to the capital, all alone. There, she works hard and manages to start her own shop.

This is the story of a girl who hits rock bottom then climbs her way back to happiness through her own hard work, showing the people who took everything from her that she can’t be kept down.

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Romance

205 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 8, 2023

Reviews

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia's Magic Jewelers v1 is for the most part a cosy slice-of-life of a young woman magic item crafter picking up her life after being pushed out of her original life by vicious family with a dash of potential romance and of course food. The characters are likeable, if at least for now a bit shallow, and the villains equally flat and predictable. I say for now, because it was relatively short, mostly a setup of how and why Olivia has her own shop and what that shop is about. The world had a late 19th century feel to it, although with a technology based on magic with some odd things like trains pulled by magical enhanced horses. I suppose there are monsters since magic item making seems to use ingredients from them, but little more is told on that. So, much like the characters we get to see very little of it in the end. All in all, 3.5 stars rounded up because I have a soft spot for these kind of stories.

[Jennifer]

Kind of reminds me of Dahlia in Bloom because of the obsession with creating magic items. It’s pretty standard with the family being crappy and stealing everything, along with the cartoonishly dumb fiancée. But…logically I do have questions. Olivia’s uncle and father were estranged, so how did Catherine even know who she was? Two, she won the contest for her design 6 years prior, and her parents didn’t die for several more years, which is the point her uncle showed up. So how exactly did she steal Catherine’s design when they didn’t know each other? The viscount (Henry’s dad) isn’t looking too bright here, with his “if two people close to me say the same thing, it must be true!” When I don’t think the uncle is close to him…? But I do wonder if he knows it’s all BS because he’s smarter than his son.

[• Hutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really enjoyable story with a lot of pleasant characters.
Olivia has a turn of bad luck at the beginning of the story but after journeying to the capital to meet with an old friend of her father’s, she finds herself faced with exciting new opportunities.
Olivia is a very earnest young woman who is up to the tasks facing her and she has no shortage of help thanks to her father’s friend, Gordon.
During her trip to the capital, Olivia also encounters a young man named Elliot who becomes a close and reliable friend.
Overall this volume gives us a good introduction to Olivia and the people she finds herself surrounded with on her new journey.
I am looking forward to the release of the second volume to see how Olivia handles the challenges coming her way and to see how the friendship with Elliot blossoms.

[Sandra (I don't read, I devour.) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very pleasant little story! it's very slice of life, but like dahlia, very relaxing. I'm looking forward to the next book.

the beginning of the book was a little hard to believe. I just don't believe that a family could manage to do that much harm to a girl they only had power over for a year and a half..

[Mk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically a watered-down Dahlia in Bloom. If you like Dahlia you'll like this, but unfortunately the male lead is ugly and has a really horrible name. :( I wish she'd get with Rose, instead!

[Mistress OP · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author doesn't do a good job of making magic jewelry fun right away. It feels like I'm stuck in a fantasy checklist when she's making stuff. There's no moment of connection to the "art" of what she's doing. So we never get pulled into the core of what she loves. It's kind of a failed moment in the writing.

The most important thing when you write these nerd-type characters is the magic. Not just the system, but the emotional magic. The theme of what they do. I remember watching this anime about jellyfish. I think it's called Jellyfish Princess or something. I'd never been into jellyfish. But the way this nerd character described them caught my breath. I saw it. That thing that's just so beautiful in the way they see it.

I wasn't even looking at the screen. I was in another room cleaning, just listening to the dialogue like it was an audiobook. So it was the worst possible way to experience that nerd moment. But the lacy jellyfish, all of it. I became a fan. A nerd for jellyfish and how freakin' beautiful they were.

That's the moment I'm waiting for in this book. Because what she's doing is beautiful. Art is beautiful. Connection is beautiful. But this reads like bullet points.

this reads so flat. And so oh whoa is me. damsel. just. If your into it your into it. but it doesn't turn the corner in the second book.