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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I personally liked the book, but there were some things that urked me at times, like Rae can come off way too strong when it might not be wanted and I wish that would've been pulled in a bit and also the The Surprise incest between Lene and her brother I didn't think was necessary like the fact Her brother had to do this to keep her safe could've worked if they were just siblings only. The author didn't need to add in the incest, so it was just completely unexpected and just weird to come across unprompted but I liked the writing style, and was an easy read just had some problems with it is all and a lesson that you should check content warnings before reading-
Content Warnings
Minor: Incest
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
all i can say at this moment is that i want more, so i will be ordering the next volumes.
In her previous life, Rae worked for a company that sucked all the hope and joy out of her life. The only thing she looked forward to was her favorite otome game, Revolution, which she loved enough to write fanfic for. However, rather than being a fan of one of the various romanceable prince characters, Rae's most beloved character was Claire, the villainess. When Rae finds herself suddenly part of the world of Revolution, in the body of the heroine, her top goal becomes to stay by Claire's side, support her, and help her achieve as good of a life as possible. Since Claire's fate in the game is either bankruptcy or death, Rae has her work cut out for her.
I looked forward to this book enough to pre-order it. I went into it expecting it to be f/f romance in which the heroine's reaction to being transported into her favorite game was to create a new "route" in which she romanced the villainess instead of one of the original romanceable heroes. I'd also have been happy with a romance in which the heroine supported the villainess from the sidelines and didn't realize that her favorite character was falling in love with her.
What I got instead was a main character who immediately loudly declared her love for Claire despite ample evidence that this made her uncomfortable. It didn't matter how much Claire bullied her - her response was always a smile and a request for Claire to punish her some more, adding an odd masochistic element to their interactions. She wormed her way into Claire's life by becoming one of her maids, over Claire's objections, and frequently sexually harassed her. At one point, Rae discussed her sexuality with Claire and several other students and thought about how damaging it was that Japanese media often portrayed lesbians as being sexually aggressive towards any and all women. The lack of self-awareness was painful - true, Rae didn't aggressively flirt with all women, just Claire...but Claire was plenty. No matter how many times Claire turned her down or acted uncomfortable about the way Rae acted, Rae refused to stop.
It wasn't even that Rae thought she had a chance with Claire - she figured her love was doomed to be unrequited, and the best she could hope for was that Claire might end up with Thane (in Thane's route, Claire and the heroine are romantic rivals) and allow Rae to stay by her side to witness her happiness. There were ways Inori could have written Rae that might have worked and wouldn't have involved changing the rest of the story much, if at all. Rae could have kept her feelings to herself in order to focus on her top goal, supporting Claire as best a possible. Rae could also have derailed Claire's bullying, become friends with her, and worked in some light flirting that could eventually have taken on more weight - we've seen this type of character before in m/f anime romances, the big flirt the heroine doesn't initially take seriously because they're like that with everyone. Thinking about it now, Inori might have actually been aiming for something like the second option but 1) went overboard, 2) added that weirdly masochistic element by having Rae enjoy Claire's bullying, and 3) didn't choose the right POV for maximum effectiveness.
When Rae wasn't heavy-handedly hitting on Claire, she was watching events around her follow the same general course as the original game and trying to tweak things so that Claire might have a better outcome. Readers didn't know the exact details, but it was clear that Rae had pretty much everything memorized, right down to the different strategies the character AIs used in their chess games. I found myself wishing that the characters had thrown some surprises at Rae, something to indicate that they were now real and more complicated people rather than otome game characters with predictable behavior patterns.
There were a few magical battles, and Rae acquired a magical familiar that weirdly never came up again. Eventually the original game's serious storyline came to the forefront: conflict between the commoners, who didn't like the country's class system, and the nobility, who were perfectly fine with maintaining the status quo. It wasn't handled in a particularly interesting way, and I disliked the completely unnecessary that Inori threw into the climax.
The translation was smooth and readable - if the story had been more along the lines of what I'd expected, I'd probably continue on with this. I'm so disappointed with the way Inori wrote Rae and her relationship with Claire, and the rest of it (characters, world, larger story) wasn't interesting enough to make up for that.
(Ugh, I just checked, and it sounds like this series may only be two volumes long, possibly with an additional volume featuring side stories. The "but you just have one more volume, and maybe it gets better" part of me may prompt me to finish this up, despite my issues with this first volume.)
Extras:
One full-color illustration (same as the cover), and several black and white illustrations throughout. Also, a brief afterword by the author, plus a bonus chapter from the POV of Claire's maid, showing how they first met.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
I looked forward to this book enough to pre-order it. I went into it expecting it to be f/f romance in which the heroine's reaction to being transported into her favorite game was to create a new "route" in which she romanced the villainess instead of one of the original romanceable heroes. I'd also have been happy with a romance in which the heroine supported the villainess from the sidelines and didn't realize that her favorite character was falling in love with her.
What I got instead was a main character who immediately loudly declared her love for Claire despite ample evidence that this made her uncomfortable. It didn't matter how much Claire bullied her - her response was always a smile and a request for Claire to punish her some more, adding an odd masochistic element to their interactions. She wormed her way into Claire's life by becoming one of her maids, over Claire's objections, and frequently sexually harassed her. At one point, Rae discussed her sexuality with Claire and several other students and thought about how damaging it was that Japanese media often portrayed lesbians as being sexually aggressive towards any and all women. The lack of self-awareness was painful - true, Rae didn't aggressively flirt with all women, just Claire...but Claire was plenty. No matter how many times Claire turned her down or acted uncomfortable about the way Rae acted, Rae refused to stop.
It wasn't even that Rae thought she had a chance with Claire - she figured her love was doomed to be unrequited, and the best she could hope for was that Claire might end up with Thane (in Thane's route, Claire and the heroine are romantic rivals) and allow Rae to stay by her side to witness her happiness. There were ways Inori could have written Rae that might have worked and wouldn't have involved changing the rest of the story much, if at all. Rae could have kept her feelings to herself in order to focus on her top goal, supporting Claire as best a possible. Rae could also have derailed Claire's bullying, become friends with her, and worked in some light flirting that could eventually have taken on more weight - we've seen this type of character before in m/f anime romances, the big flirt the heroine doesn't initially take seriously because they're like that with everyone. Thinking about it now, Inori might have actually been aiming for something like the second option but 1) went overboard, 2) added that weirdly masochistic element by having Rae enjoy Claire's bullying, and 3) didn't choose the right POV for maximum effectiveness.
When Rae wasn't heavy-handedly hitting on Claire, she was watching events around her follow the same general course as the original game and trying to tweak things so that Claire might have a better outcome. Readers didn't know the exact details, but it was clear that Rae had pretty much everything memorized, right down to the different strategies the character AIs used in their chess games. I found myself wishing that the characters had thrown some surprises at Rae, something to indicate that they were now real and more complicated people rather than otome game characters with predictable behavior patterns.
There were a few magical battles, and Rae acquired a magical familiar that weirdly never came up again. Eventually the original game's serious storyline came to the forefront: conflict between the commoners, who didn't like the country's class system, and the nobility, who were perfectly fine with maintaining the status quo. It wasn't handled in a particularly interesting way, and I disliked the completely unnecessary
Spoiler
surprise incestThe translation was smooth and readable - if the story had been more along the lines of what I'd expected, I'd probably continue on with this. I'm so disappointed with the way Inori wrote Rae and her relationship with Claire, and the rest of it (characters, world, larger story) wasn't interesting enough to make up for that.
(Ugh, I just checked, and it sounds like this series may only be two volumes long, possibly with an additional volume featuring side stories. The "but you just have one more volume, and maybe it gets better" part of me may prompt me to finish this up, despite my issues with this first volume.)
Extras:
One full-color illustration (same as the cover), and several black and white illustrations throughout. Also, a brief afterword by the author, plus a bonus chapter from the POV of Claire's maid, showing how they first met.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm a big fan of otome isekai romance stories, and this one is a fun lesbian version of that. I like that the book directly addresses the main character's sexual orientation and her feelings about her identity. The characters are fun enough. I'm especially fond of the second prince with his inferiority complex. Overall I would have rated this book much more highly if it wasn't for the sympathetically portrayed incest subplot towards the end that really left me with a sour feeling.
Content Warnings
Minor: Incest
Full explanation of content warning: A couple of minor characters who are brother and sister are revealed to be in an incestuous relationship. They're being blackmailed by the Big Bad over it and are the main on-screen villains in this volume. However, they're portrayed sympathetically and the narrative doesn't overtly condemn their relationship.
As interesting as the premise is, there are a lot of flaws with this story. It tells more than it shows, that it reads like a diary than an actual novel. You have an omniscient first person POV that is grating that both lore dumps you and glosses over important information of the world. It also loves to keep telling you "that's a story for another time" every single time that something of interest happens.
Instead focusing on the mundane. But for that to work the characters need to be interesting and their personality to carry the non-story. Personalities that are non-existent. Everyone is a card board cutout of a trope.
Rae keeps banging on and on how many times she's played this game. But always seem to be caught unawares of how situations are unfolding. Alluding to an event and future that in inevitable. And it's not like her presence made everything topsy-turvy. No, because it still plays out like how she remembers everything. When presented with situations where dialogue is important or in a situation that she can help, she suddenly shrugs and says "I'm not good at this". Giving you a whiplash of being her being both a "veteran" of the game and first time playing the campaign. It's widely inconsistent.
It fails as a fantasy novel and as a slice of life. It doesn't have a narrative direction and it has zero characterization. What a waste of potential.
Instead focusing on the mundane. But for that to work the characters need to be interesting and their personality to carry the non-story. Personalities that are non-existent. Everyone is a card board cutout of a trope.
Rae keeps banging on and on how many times she's played this game. But always seem to be caught unawares of how situations are unfolding. Alluding to an event and future that in inevitable. And it's not like her presence made everything topsy-turvy. No, because it still plays out like how she remembers everything. When presented with situations where dialogue is important or in a situation that she can help, she suddenly shrugs and says "I'm not good at this". Giving you a whiplash of being her being both a "veteran" of the game and first time playing the campaign. It's widely inconsistent.
It fails as a fantasy novel and as a slice of life. It doesn't have a narrative direction and it has zero characterization. What a waste of potential.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No