What is better: recruiting adventurers or using the books from the workshop?

[Explicitly Offensive Cuneiform]

Do the adventurers make better allies or should i go with the special books that cost tiny metals?

[Iyasenu]

Like the Diary of Young Lady/Younger Sister/Younger Cat Sister?

I mean... probably actual adventurers.
But as far as I can tell, with training, stat-boosting foods, and gene engineering any ally could be a fine ally.
Just go with whoever you think looks the coolest, or pick them based on their NPC Portrait.
But, ranked adventurers would probably start out stronger.
And some of the high ranked adventurers look cool, too.

[Explicitly Offensive Cuneiform]

I am going the adventurer route, and i have Gaki the cursed and the mechanical doll, and so far i am doing pretty well. I have not done the gene editing yet, my understanding is that is being modified in an update?

[patron saint of gaslighting]

theres no particular reason to use the pets you get from the books, unless you specifically want the AI routines that those pets use. although, you should really not be spending your medals on those books overall even if you do want those pets, because those medals are hard to come by and the books can be obtained as rare drops in the first place. there are very important things you can buy with the medals, if not now then later on. you should be hoarding them like crazy if you dont know exactly what you should buy