Light Novel: SAO 12

Sword Art Online 12: Alicization Rising 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Eugeo has finally met Alice again, but she's no longer the same girl he once knew, now calling herself an Integrity Knight. Even worse, the reason for Alice's unexpected return is to capture Kirito and Eugeo!

As we start the volume, we pick up right where we left off last volume and we learn aaaaallll about the Underworld. Cardinal gives us the lowdown on everything, including Quinella and what's to come and generally fills in the blanks and answers the questions we've been asking! Everything or mostly everything is revealed, I would say, and Kirito and Eugeo must set out to retrieve their swords, get Alice and put the Cardinals plan in to action. 

The first part of the book is quite stodgy, I won't lie to you. It's heavy with explanations and details but I kind of didn't mind it because we got so many answers and learned how the world operates and how it became like it is, which is something I've been curious about for a while.  

Once things get going there's plenty of action and battles as Kirito and Eugeo head up towards the big bad, fighting various knights along the way before being brought up short by Alice. This volume perfectly illustrated why I don't like children and why they can't be trusted in these kinds of books. They're all creepy and lowkey evil. 

At this stage, I can't help but feel sorry for the Integrity Knights, having their heads messed with and so on. Fanatio was even relatable to an extent. I'm not going to lie, this volume ends on quite the cliffhanger and it's a lot shorter than last volume! There's no dipping out of the Underworld to check on Asuna and the others either, we stay with Kirito the entire time. Things are really heating up and we're getting to the climax of the story, and this volume paves the way for what I'm assuming is the final part of the arc!