Lovestruck Prince! I’ll Fight the Heroine for my Villainous Fiancée!, Vol. 3

July 8, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Shakushineko and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Betabore no Kon’yakusha ga Akuyaku Reijō ni Saresō nanode Heroine gawa ni wa Sore Sōō no Mukui o Ukete Morau” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Mittt Liu.

It makes sense that a series which I would describe in general as ‘okay, I guess” has a final volume that also can be described that way. We get a number of plotlines that can be described as “clearing up the worrying loose ends”, such as Vincent’s mother and her checkered past, as well as the facade that Vincent has been putting on around Elizabeth. There are also a few plotlines that made me smack my head and say “OK, really?”. But for the most part this book has a goal, which is getting these two shy kids married, and it proceeds to get to that goal. We even get a flash forward showing they have at least two children, which is good because I like them and they’re sweet, but also a bit annoying as it means that most of them getting over their crippling adoration of each other happens offscreen. I wanted to see the walls come down more.

We start off with one of the most cliched plots of all. Due to a magical accident brought on by an old… enemy?… of Vincent’s mother, he has lost all his memories of Elizabeth – though it’s notable that despite this, he still falls in love with her the moment he sees her. This is relatively quickly resolved, mostly as I suspect the author did not want to rebuild the wheel, but instead Vincent has the knowledge of his kingdom that he’s been learning for the past few years wiped from his memory. This is bad timing, as arriving at the kingdom as this happens is King Ricardo from the neighboring nation, who was in love with Vincent’s mother as a young man but now appears to be there to try to judge in Vincent is a good enough potential ruler. Can Vincent manage to get all his memories back and still marry Elizabeth?

There are a couple other things I want to talk about. The first is that this reminded me a bit of Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, in that we get discussion of Vincent’s mother’s backstory, which sounds incredibly cool. Unfortunately, unlike Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, we appear unlikely to get that story anytime soon, meaning it makes the main plot feel a bit wanting. The other thing is Raphael and Yulisse. I mentioned at the end of the first review that I found his treatment of her by the end of the book a bit creepy, and that stayed the same in the second book. Here we find that this is apparently a family trait, and that his mother is also essentially a “yandere”, with his father essentially having been bullied into the relationship. Honestly, I find this relationship more uncomfor4table than romantic. Thank goodness it’s not the main pairing.

So yes, if you got through all three of these as I did, well done. Now move on to another Cross Infinite World series and forget all about this.

Filed Under: lovestruck prince, reviews

Soup Forest: The Story of the Woman Who Speaks with Animals and the Former Mercenary, Vol. 1

July 6, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Syuu and Muni. Released in Japan as “Soup no Mori: Doubutsu to Kaiwa Suru Olivia to Moto Youhei Arthur no Monogatari” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

Every so often these days, especially with light novel titles for a female readership, we see “this was popular, let’s license everything else they ever wrote”. Indeed, sometimes there’s a feeding frenzy – the same author’s Victoria of Many Faces comes out later this year from Yen. But we already saw A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy, a title I enjoyed more than I expected, so I was quite happy to give this new title from the same author a shot. Despite the Soup Forest title, which makes me think of the old Stone Soup children’s magazine from my childhood. But after reading in their previous work about a determined young woman who makes her own destiny and takes no prisoners, this book is far more relaxed and passive in tone, as fits it very broken romantic leads.

As a child, Olivia was able to hear the thoughts and emotions of animals – and humans, though this was harder. She assumed everyone could do this, but just ended up being “the weird one” to the point where her noble grandfather demanded she be taken to an Orphanage of Evil (TM). Being able to sense this future from her caretaker, she decides to escape to the forest, where she is fortunately found by a loving elderly couple. Twenty years later, they’ve passed away but Olivia has grown up to be a beautiful but very guarded young woman, more comfortable with animals than people, who runs a restaurant in the woods, The Soup Forest. (It sells soup.) The story really starts one day with the arrival of a mercenary who just retired from his work after fourteen years as he had grown weary and despairing of killing anyone else. He is also a very private, guarded person. The book’s plot is these two realizing they’re perfect for each other.

This is a relaxed story about two wounded adults finding each other, but I was surprised to find it had a very active subplot, and that subplot is our old favorite “nobles suck (except that one good noble)”. Olivia and Arthur rescue a loud, boisterous noble who turns out to have an equally extroverted sister, who immediately decides Arthur will be her new beau. This goes very badly – for her.n And there’s also Olivia’s parents, who pop up towards the end of the book and end up being the seemingly happy to see their child alive types that of course end up being “we just hope you’re NORMAL” now types. This is the main reason why Olivia thinks of herself almost as much of an animal as a person, and why her adoptive grandparents did their best to try to make sure she still remembered her humanity. The relationship between her and Arthur, in contrast to their tragic pasts, is sweet and wonderful.

This is another story that feels very complete in one volume but also has a big ‘1’ on the cover, so we’ll see what comes next. Recommended for introverts and animal lovers.

Filed Under: reviews, soup forest

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 7

July 5, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

For the most part, the idea of romance has been about 4th or 5th on the list of reasons to read this series. We know that Reirin is loved by more than one man, but honestly until recently Gyoumei has not really had enough focus to make us care about him enough. But (perhaps because they realized that the readers were starting to wonder if this was going to be a yuri series given the relationship between Reirin and Keigetsu) this volume starts to concentrate a bit more on the romantic chemistry between some of the potential couples – indeed, we get new potential couples here. The other major aspect of this volume, which has again been touched on but not overused in previous books but they’re usually too serious to do it for long, is farce. The entire plot is that our party is split up and slowly converge at once place, and when they get there they all open doors at the same time. All it needed was a plate of sardines.

After the events of the last two books, Reirin and Keigetsu need to switch back to their own bodies. Unfortunately, the Emperor is apparently searching for evidence of magic practitioners, who are supposed to be dealt with with great prejudice. The main characters suspect the Emperor is just doing this for show, but they decide it’s safer to do the switch out in the outside world, so they all agree to leave the inner court, go to a restaurant, and switch there. They split up to avoid being obvious. Reirin, with Leelee (and Gyoumei trailing them) comes across a girl trying to find her mistress, who was sold to pay off debt. Keigetsu and Keishou walk around looking at jewelry, with Keigetsu in full “every word out of my mouth is full of spite and anger” mode, but find illicit goods. Tousetsu and Keikou hide out at a restaurant that turns out to be in the process of a shakedown by thugs. And Shin-u, joined by Unran, goes to a teahouse which they find is actually a brothel. All of this ties into one gambling house.

In case that lengthy description did not clue you in, this is a caper book, and decidedly lighter in tone than the previous six, though there is an ominous cliffhanger at the end that suggests the party is over. It reads a bit like a short story volume, and as such there are some that are better than others. the highlight of the book for me was the incredible fight/flirting/takedown of bad guys by Keikou and Tousetsu, as she realizes that he does not, like every other man she’s ever dealt with, hate women who can fight, and he realizes that she’s able to keep up with him. It’s also a hilarious scene. Speaking of which, as always Reirin is a hoot, ending up in a gambling den where she immediately disquiets everyone by throwing a knife at an erotic piece of art that penetrates the member of the rapist portrayed, causing every man there to feel… uncomfortable. She also has terrific chemistry with Gyoumei, though, much to Leelee’s horror, they don’t balance each other out but instead are like a gasoline fire and a bigger gasoline fire combining.

If you aren’t already reading this, I don’t know what more I can do to convince you. Every single volume is magical.

Filed Under: reviews, though i am an inept villainess
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