Crowbar Girl

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Lane never set out to be a hero, she just wanted to fix her jeep.

But when something threatens her only friend, she can't just let her die.

And when something threatens the world, she can't just let it be destroyed.

Where else would she be able to drive her jeep?

Every Non-Magical Girl needs her Non-Magical Wand.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2023
Author: Kenny Celican

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.2/ 5.0
Followers: 86
Views: 38,722

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(4)

MelantheRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've always loved magical girls! Pretty Cure, Sailor Moon, Princess Tutu... Little girls tend to feel powerless growing up, and series that show that girlhood as strength? Excellent. And even more than that, the aesthetic is just so much fun. But as I got older, even more than traditional magical girls, I began to love deconstructions of the genre. Cuteness mixed with horror, or tongue in cheek commentaries. (And most importantly, stories that explore just how sapphic the genre can get!) Madoka and Sleepless Domain are some of my favorites. And if you like that genre, you'll love Crowbar Girl!
Crowbar Girl really shines in its characters and story. Lane isn't your typical girl, or typical magical girl. She's pretty butch, which makes the whole "not like other girls" more palatable. It also drives the story really well, and makes me love watching Lane navigate the world around her.
The story's weaker parts rest in its style. The grammar is okay- there's some typos, but nothing so bad that it distracts from the story. What does distract is the style. Sometimes, it can be difficult to parse who's saying what during dialogue. The story is also non-chronological, which isn't a good or bad thing, but just giving the reader a head's up!
Overall, I highly recommend giving Crowbar Girl a chance! Thanks so much to the author, and I can't wait to read more.
KonstanceKayRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Crowbar Girl got me interested with the name and then the blurb was just the perfect tease to get me to start reading it. And then? It starts delivering right away on that with the first chapter!
Style: I'd like to preface this by saying this is a personal preference - I'm not a fan of jumping back and forth in the timeline so much in order to both be present in the moment and learn about the backstory. Outside of that, I think Kenny Celican was able to introduce interesting characters with their writing style, sprinkle in enough tidbits to keep me fed, and leave enough intrigue to make me want to read more.
Story: The story starts out right away with an epic scene that has the reader guessing and skimming in order to figure out what's happening and when it's happening and consuming as much as possible to learn more about this conflict with the same adrenaline as the MC. And then it takes us back and calms things down as we are introduced to additional characters in their before phase, so we can learn about how the event in question will change them. It's an interesting change of pace that has me looking forward to more.
Grammar: While I did notice a few small things here and there that threw me off, they did not detract from the story and plot too much so they aren't really worth mentioning. Otherwise, Kenny's prose works really well in drawing out the long painful moments and keeping up with the quick action scenes. Well done.
Character: Three chapters in and we are already introduced to 3 characters in quite a lot of detail. I believe these are our main characters and I loved learning more about them as a tease to figure out how they are important in this world. I appreciate that we have 3 strong, individual, and fleshed out female characters so early on and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how they work or even clash together based on their current relationships.
Overall, Crowbar Girl looks like it'll be one of those reads that just keeps you entertained
NimuxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I want to pour bleach on my brain and fucking die.
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I hate the minimum word count
esotericistRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
the writing seems technically competent enough, and the starting premise was enough to get me looking, but four perspective characters in the first four chapters is excessive. while i'd prefer to have fewer perspectives in the first place, if you have to have a few at least spend some time on each before moving to the next. it's too jarring to be relearning perspectives constantly, and obstructs actually engaging with the narrative.