I'm a well read grad student who's bluntly honest about all things, although I try to be most honest about myself.
Lucy is a silly little twit, and Natsu is getting brattier by the minute. The one thing I do like is that this introduced a mature, likable character in this volume by the name of Erza Scarlet.
I can also read this really quickly. I hate the art, so I don't spend much time looking at the art. The text goes by pretty quickly. I still want to know about Natsu and the dragon who raised him and I definitely hope to see much more of Erza.
Quite frankly without Erza, and the hope for her, or more characters like her, I'd probably give up soon. If she shows up more often, though, I'm in. I mean, I really, really love how powerful, poised, and take-charge Erza is.