Reviews

หนังสือเล่มนี้อ่านสนุกดีค่ะ pace คือรวดเร็วมาก เป็นนิยายโรแมนซ์ที่อ่านเพลินๆ ไม่ยาก แม้ว่า plot จะบางนิดหนึ่งในความคิดส่วนตัว แต่ว่าแต่ละบทอ่านสนุกเหมือนกันค่ะ แต่ละบทสื่อให้เห็นการพัฒนาของความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างคิโยกะกับมิโยะอย่างชัดเจน น่ารักมาก แล้วชอบที่ว่ามีการพัฒนาของนิสัยตัวละครชัดเจนเลยค่ะ

ชอบมากที่ได้เห็นการพัฒนาของความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างคิโยกะกับมิโยะ มันน่ารักมากๆ สองคนนี้ที่เข้าใจกันและ fall in love อย่างช้าๆ และอ่อนโยนมาก บางที่ก็รู้สึกว่าเร็วไปนิดหนึ่ง แต่ชอบโรแมนซ์ที่เป็นการยอมเปิดใจรับความรักเข้ามาในชีวิตของสองคนนี้

ความจริงแล้วอยากเห็น plot มากกว่านี้หน่อย และเสียดายนิดหนึ่งที่เห็นระบบเวทมนต์ของโลกนี้ได้น้อยเชียว แต่เข้าใจว่าเป็นนิยายโรแมนซ์ และเล่มแรกในซีรีส์ด้วย ก็เลยคาดว่าในเล่มถัดไปน่าจะมีมากขึ้น

แต่ว่าส่วนตัวอ่านแล้วรู้สึกไม่แน่ใจว่าอยากอ่านต่อหรือไม่ คือตอนจบคิดว่าดีมากเลยนะ เป็นตอนจบที่สวยมาก อาจจะสวยเกินไป เพราะ tension ที่ทำให้อยากรู้ว่าจะเกิดอะไรขึ้นต่อไปไม่ค่อยมีเลย คิดว่าน่าจะอ่านแหละ แต่ไม่ได้ตื่นเต้นเท่าไหร่

โดยรวมๆ แล้ว เป็นหนังสือที่อ่านได้ง่าย สนุกดี ตัวละครและฉากน่าสนใจ ไว้ดูว่าเล่มถัดไปจะมีเนื้อหาแนวไหนบ้าง (ถ้าตัดสินใจที่จะอ่าน)

christina_a_f's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

So when I realized the light novels far surpassed the point where the manga leaves off, I of course had to rush out and pick up the entire series. The cashier at the bookstore who was ringing me up was like “Ah, I’m hooked on these too!” And I was like “I know, I’m obsessed.” It was a very cute interaction lol
A few things I feel the light novel does better than the manga: interiority. Especially for Kiyoka, I feel like I got such a better sense of his thoughts, feelings, motivations. I feel that way for all the characters (except for Godou and *kind of* Kouji). The world building also feels more fleshed out in this medium (of course) and the passage of time is much more tangible here. In the manga, everything felt like it was happening in very quick succession, here we understand that days, weeks, and even months are passing which leads to a better feel for how slow burn the romance actually is. In the manga, it feels like everything goes from 0 to 100 pretty quickly, but here it feels more gradual. The slow passage of time really does well for Miyo and Kiyoka’s romance, the slow warming up to each other, Kiyoka’s discovery of Miyo’s past and him realizing she’s precious to him culminating in the rescue at the end…ugh the arch in this was very, very satisfying!!

The one thing I feel the light novel doesn’t deliver as well as the manga version is the dialogue. The dialogue feels pretty stuff and rudimentary at times. The manga has the benefit of character expressions so the delivery of very similar lines doesn’t feel as awkward and stilted. But this isn’t necessarily a problem since I’m already invested in the story.
Going to have to ration the remaining volumes as this series is my guilty pleasure

chiisaikira's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

atrollreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The first paragraph of

introspection snf Miyo's anxiety and low self-esteem is already established. My precious girl. Miyo's birth family is disgusting. Certainly her sister and stepmother for obvious reasonsbut even more so her father, for ignoring everything the women put her through.

It's also interesting to see a bit of an introspection of

Kaya

It was already clear that she treats Miyo so badly because of her mother's example and encouragement and her father's ignoting it all, but it's a bit more to it than "you're my daughter, and you're better than that woman's daughter to Kaya's terrible personality.This shows that the family dynamic is a bit more complicated than it first seems. Kaya is, while perhaps not well aware of it, but knows to an extent that if she fucks up too much, her mother's ire will, though not as badly, turn to her as well.

The bud of

Miyo wanting something, her want to be with Kiyoka more and being scared of losing the tiny sliver of kindness in her life. It's so tragic, but also it's warming to know that she'll have it from him. The way she opens up, bit by bit, as she comes to understand more what she's not had, what she's offered, and that it's unconditional, no matter if she has any skills, Gift, or anything else. Her realising that not everyone will treat her poorly, because then everyone would have to be like her father, her stepmother and sister. That realisation she has is so good for her. The years she's suffered from the abuse from her family isnt' going to get fixed with just a bit of kindness, but she's healing, little by little, and her change from the prologue to the epilogue is sucha proof that she's getting more comfortable with both herself and her situation.

Kouji is a good guy, certainly, but

I've always loathed the whole "only I can protect you"

thing. The fact that he

understands that he needs to ask for help to save Miyo, and doesn't let stupid pride stop him from seeking Kiyoka out, shows growth in him. That he decides to take responsibility for the Saimoris and try to make something better of that family, though they certainly don't deserve it, particularly those adults as Kaya is really still just a child who needs and probably can go through a lot of growth, and that he decides to learn how to properly use his Gift rather than being content with just having it, is also a sign that he's growing as a person.

Kiyoka is, in the beginning, a seemingly unfeeling guy.

He's had his fair share of hurt though, it seems; he's guarded and wary. From the way he thinks about his previous trial-run fianceés, Kaya wouldn't have been a good match for Kiyoka wben before he liked Miyo. But the surprising way that Miyo acts has him open up as well, has him warm to her. He is a kind man, though icy when he needs to be - and when he's genuinely angry for the sake of what and who he cares about; as Kouji gets to see, it's the quiet rage that is the scariest kind of rage. He's stern and private, but his gentle side is so warm and fluffy. I also really appreciate that he's telling Miyo that it's alright to cry. So often, a crying character is told - particularly be a male character - that they shouldn't cry. That kind of advise is often well-meaning, in this comparison, but it's not ideal. Crying is a very good outlet, and having a male lead say that it's alright to cry is a very good thing. I'm glad that Kiyoka knows that one doesn't just repair trauma with just a few words. Love heals all is a nice sentiment and all, but it's really not that simple and realistic, and it's nice to see that acknowledged in a romance story.

As a note on Kiyoka and his emotions, I love that toward the end of the book, Miyo has started to recognise Kiyoka's feelings for what they are than before. Where she'd have taken his sheepish frown from anger in the beginning, now she can tell that he's just embarrassed. She didn't acknowledge that she can tell, now, but that's almost nicer than if she did.

Death might be painful, but there'd be no more suffering afterward. She'd be free.

This is something that Miyo thinks at first. I do understand it,

she's been through so much, she had nothing to live for any more. This is what she thinks at first, but then, when faced with that very possible scenario at the hands of her stepmother, she has the desire to live. To struggle for happiness. She thinks that she can't can't stand up for herself, but the fact that she chooses not to apologise any more, that is a very small way of doing so. Small, but significant. It's a change she has gone through, as she finally stands up to her abusers. And Miyo meeting the gaze of her sister and stepmother, refusing to do as they want made me cry with pride.

As for the translation itself, I have some issues with certain choices made. Firstly, it's the annoyance of Japanese words being in italic, which at least for me, who reads text in italics as an emphasis to the word, as a disruption in the flow. Then there's the change of honorifics, and because honorifics don't work the same in English as they do in Japanese, the erasure of most honorifics. Doing away with honorifics erases parts of how a society handles interpersonal relations, how they're interpreted linguistically. For example, Miyo. She has been trained severely into extreme politeness and distance. This has her use a lot of honorifics, and removing nearly all honorifics in her speech erases part of how demure she is.

It could also erase part of her growth, though I'm only coming from the standpoint of having watched the anime, so I don't yet know if she changes or drops any honorifics as she grows and blossoms.

Instead of changing and erasing honorifics, use the ones from the original text and add a glossary in the back. You can do that. People generally know how to use a short, one-page glossary at the front or back of a book. I had to decrease the rating because of these issues.

And now, a little note I didn't really know where to fit in the rest of this review:

Kiyoka's reaction to Miyo's first smile. Aaaaaa!!.

Content Warnings

tisha_04's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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