This book is… disappointing. It has a great premise, but thats where it ends. The story doesn’t have any stakes, the characters are inconsistent, and the pace is sporadic.
A majority of the book goes like this:
CharacterA – “We have a problem!”
MC – “Okay. Let’s do this very thought out and specific thing to solve it”
CharacterA – “That’s brilliant “
MC – “We have this problem though”
CharacterA “No we don’t. I already thought of that and fixed it”
MC – “Wow”
CharacterA – “I even made it work for us as long as this set of rules is followed.”
MC – “Your fantastic!”
CharacterA – “I know. I’m also quirky and disarming.”
MC – “Right you are!”
Surface level at best, inconsistent and full of plot holes at worst. The MC’s power is to upgrade anything but he doesn’t have many points. To make money, restoring and “upgrading” antiques is his most profitable venture. Small investment of material and actual value but high intrensic value. He restores a torn Michaelangelo sketch for instance, manifesting the missing signature to the piece…. why doesn’t he upgrade… idk, cash? Literally turn 1 dollar in 100 with no loss in material.
It’s a wish fulfillment story as the rest of the reviews say, but I was never really able to get into it. It’s a story that is being told to you instead of pulling you in and making you invest. Maybe it’ll be what you are looking for, but unless you want to put it on in the background while you do other things… pass. I might pick up one more in this series to see if the stakes increase if it’s on sale, but it has to be a good sale.