This is my first review, so I hope it you can take it as an idea of how this novel ranks!

Originally I got into the Date A Live series starting with the Dubbed Anime release in 2013 when Funimation released the DVD set. Since then because of curiously I wanted to keep up with the story from reading the Novel.

It should be noted that there are 11 Volumes in this series with more coming in the future, however if you wish to watch the anime, know that...

Volumes 1-4 Cover the first season
Volumes 5-7 Cover the second season
Volumes 8-9 and 10-11 cover unique arcs, however the novel is still on-going and is not yet complete with a volume 12 announced at the end of Volume 11.

The main summary of the plot involves a boy named Shido Itsuka, a 16 year old high schooler living in a city named Tenguu in Japan. There are "natural" disasters called spacial quakes that have destroyed certain parts of the world. These are caused by creatures known as Spirits, beings that do not belong to the human world.

It is later found out that Shido will meet a Spirit which he names, Tokha Yatogami. Through his interactions with this girl, he learns from his adoptive sister that works for a private company that helps to save the world from spirits that Shido can seal their powers by making them fall in love with him.

Before you ask, yes, I was skeptical at first, but this is where Date A Live shows it's uniqueness when it comes to other novels or mangas in its genre.

First of all the writing is decent for an English translation, only Volumes 1-4 have been localised. There will be some grammar issues if you choose to use a third party.

The story is what one of the two reasons that makes Date A Live enjoyable for me and potentially for other readers. The story starts off as a borderline harem, with a lot of adult themes. Shido will get himself into situations not deemed normal by modern standards, however it is incredibly enjoyable at the same time. Later volumes after 4 began to become more serious adding themes like gore and blood into the mix. The result is a story that tries to fit in a lot different themes and at the end it succeeds in adding them making the reader curious about what is to happen in the next page of the next volume.

The characters are the second reason why Date A Live is enjoyable for me as well. Before I get into this, I have an idea of how these characters look because of the anime, the novels do not showcase much art since it is not a manga, however the art shown looks stunning and only gets better in quality as the series progresses. The Astral Dresses, spirit armours, look incredible and only serves for more beautiful imagery.

Shido Itsuka as the main character starts off a defence-less child as he is only human against trying to help the spirits, and relies on Tohka for help. Later volumes only improve this as the sealed powers of the spirits allow for light access to his powers, for example he can wield a sword like Tokha, or heal gouges and wounds thanks to other spirit powers he has sealed. Further volumes show his courage that he is one that will always protect his friends and people he cares about while wishing that spirits and humans can live peacefully.

Tohka Yatogami is the main female character, she is the first spirit shown in the novel and is known for wielding a sword, she can easily be referenced as Saber from the Fate series. She adores Shido to point of where she'll sacrifice her life to save his, since he gave her a change to live in the human world with him. Aside from being a spirit, as a human, she enjoys food a lot and has a more jealous personality to anyone who tries to hit on Shido. Overall as a female protagonist she fits her role very well.

Kurumi Tokisaki is the unique character of the Date a Live series and is to me one of the best characters of all time. She is considered to be the worst of the spirits known to have killed over 10,000 people. She is both a gun wielder and can manipulate time to heal herself and revive clones of herself from her past. She is unique because of her dual personality, she first appears to be a girl with long black hair and is known for wearing a black dress that shows her innocent looks, however deep down she is a cold-blooded killer. Similar to Light Yamato from Death Note, her power to absorb the life energy (time) from humans allowed her to play the role of a justice bringer as she has killed criminals, animal abusers and rapists. However she became an evil spirit with the lack of positive response. It cannot be confirmed whether she is a protagonist or antagonist. However during the events with Shido protecting her from death, she is obliged like Tokha to protect Shido. She will constantly tease him when she is around him and at one point she wanted to marry him. Kurumi is one of my favourite characters of all time and given the events at the end of volume 11 I can only hope for the best for her.

There are other spirits that Shido encounters but that is where reading the novel helps.

Overall, this was a series I was unsure I was going to enjoy, I felt is would be a typical harem, however this novel has shown me that first impressions may not be the most reliable aspect. It is an excellent read provided you purchase the localisations, read a third party translation (like I have) or can understand Japanese text. Out of all the light novels and mangas, this ranks in my top 10. If you want a series that covers a wide range of genres but does so successfully I recommend this!