I've come to the conclusion that I just don't get light novels.
That's completely valid. Light novels are bonkers and are a massive trip to read. They seem to run on this weird kind of anime/TV logic and are supposed to be very quick and easy to digest. This one in particular is an entirely self-published web novel, so the whole thing is going to feel even more amateurish than normal. But like, that being said, I loved the damn thing and latched onto it in a deeply emotional way, lack of talent or craft be damned. As I think a lot of readers did. I mean, pacing is terrible, plots are kind of absurd, descriptions of any kind are almost non-existent, but the stakes are always high and the yuri is off the charts!
Agreed. The web novel was definitely flawed and there were lots of things I would've changed - and that's not even getting into the translation. But still, I really loved it and am glad the author's doing well, what with the light novel and manga adaptations.
Also, there's the chance that the actual light novel is better written. I have no idea, since it hasn't come out in English yet and I haven't seen any reviews of it compared to the web novel. I haven't been keeping up with the second part of the web novel, but I have heard that it has better writing and foreshadowing and the like. Hopefully the light novel incorporated some of that into rewriting some of rougher parts of the original novel.