Bibliophile Princess, Vol. 7

January 23, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Yui and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Mushikaburi-hime” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tara Quinn.

I suppose this was inevitable. Bibliophile Princess is coming off its strongest arc, one that had lots of action, drama, tragedy (that wasn’t actually tragedy, but let’s leave that aside for now), and romance. It came to a thrilling conclusion last time… and now we get the comedown the next day. Elianna has been overworking herself for the last couple of months, and tries to do so again to help Chris after she returns, and it all just catches up with her and she collapses. Unfortunately, this means that a good 3/4 of this volume is told from the POV of people other than Elianna, and that’s not really what I’m here for. I don’t really object to it, and we get some decent short stories here. But that’s what this feels like, a short story volume, interspersed with dollops of plot. Fortunately, unlike the third volume, this doesn’t feel like something we’ve read over and over again. Well, except for one thing, which I’ll get to below.

After the events of the last three books, Chris has a lot on his plate. What’s worse, the person behind all of this was the Queen’s brother, meaning she’s basically going to have to retire to avoid further trouble. As such, he needs to get married to Elianna even faster than he’d planned… and she’s been taken away to the Bernstein estates by her father and brother, who (of course) blame Chris for her being in this state at all. Fortunately, proposing to Elianna properly is the ONLY thing that goes well for him in this book. Elsewhere, we get a flashback where we learn Alan’s past as a plucky young orphan, Elianna catches up with family and reads a ton of books while her friend Anna reminds us of the romance she was plotted into a few books back. Oh yes, and there’s a library ghost (no, not Elianna) and a Halloween candy contest.

So I am starting to grow a bit weary of the Bernstein’s overprotectiveness towards their pride and joy. I mean, I absolutely get it. Elianna almost died several times in the last few books, all of it stemming from her position as Chris’ betrothed. And she did indeed desperately need to rest as she was nearing the verge of collapse. That said, this isn’t really framed as that. The writing still kind of frames it like “we’ll never let you marry our little girl!”, which feels more like a hoary old cliche, especially as it does not take Elianna’s own feelings into account. I hope she tells them what for at some point. As for the rest of the book that is not fluff, there’s Alan’s subplot, which… well, it very cliched, right down to the three people who secretly run the town, and the “I want to rape you because you are an androgynous hot teenage boy” threat. It wasn’t bad. I missed Elianna.

So this tides me over, yes, but I really hope we get a good, meaty plot again soon. Or a wedding. One of those.

Filed Under: bibliophile princess, reviews

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 10

January 21, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

It’s a very odd feeling reading this volume at the same time as the anime is adapting the second one. The setting of the first eight books (OK, minus Book 5) is entirely absent, as we’re still doing Maomao and Jinshi’s Excellent Adventure. This is not to say that there is not political wheeling and dealing – in fact, the climax of this volume depends on that fact. But this book is ten volumes in, and we’re not concerned with the ways of courtesans and court ladies anymore, but with potatoes, crops and insects. It would be the perfect book for a certain insect-loving court lady to make her triumphant return, but alas (Maomao does think of her, at least). And while we do get a bit of Maomao’s standard detective schtick, for the most part this book is a race against time against an all-powerful enemy… one that arrives near the end of the book and wipes out nearly everything. This is what Jinshi and Maomao have spent a while trying to avoid.

We’re still out in the West, where Maomao, Tianyu, and the quack doctor are theoretically there to maintain the Moon Prince’s health (because, lest we forget, he gave himself a horrific wound to show off the depth of his love), but in reality they’re there to try to figure out how to stop the impending famine. Arriving at a local village (and joined by Lahan’s older brother, who, since the quack doctor got a name in the last volume, becomes the new running gag), they find that the villagers don’t really care about the crops that much, as whether they’re good or bad the Governor will subsidize them. (Does this sound familiar?) There is one old man who is doing all the right things… because of a tragic backstory, of course. A tragic backstory that becomes very important as Maomao and company realize that the Biblical plague of locusts is coming towards them NOW.

The book is excellent, with a fantastic climax, and a nice twist showing that for all his supposed status Jinshi can still be used by others who are better at dirty politics. But you’ll pardon me if I talk about the romance in this one. For the most part, the romances in this series tend to be either “toxic but also the main draw” (Maomao/Jinshi), or are established couples. But we did see a hint of something purer in Book 6, which sadly could not really develop because Book 6 was a giant nightmare for them. Yes, Lishu is back, and she’s raising ducks in the West. And taking to them like… well, like a duck to water. Frankly, she looks far happier here than she ever was as a Consort. Her reunion with Basen, though it does not lead to an actual commitment (she claims to still be too weak for that, and she has a point), is so sugary it will give you diabetes, but that actually tastes really good next to the toxicity that is Maomao and her Moon Prince.

That said, the character I really want to see after this book is Gyoku-ou, who is being set up to be the next big antagonist. Cannot wait for Book 11.

Oh yes, and Chue is still practically perfect in every way. But you knew that, of course.

Filed Under: apothecary diaries, reviews

Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade, Vol. 7: Exordium

January 20, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Maito Ayamine and Cierra. Released in Japan as “Shinigami ni Sodaterareta Shoujo wa Shikkoku no Tsurugi wo Mune ni Idaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sylvia Gallagher.

Always lovely when I have to eat my words. You may remember at the end of the last review I did, where I said that Ashton’s death likely wasn’t permanent, as this was not that kind of series. Well. Um. Guess it is now? I feel a bit guilty, given I recently dropped a series (The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles) for getting too dark and cynical, but in this volume Death’s Daughter also doubles down on the dark. The good news is that it’s not nearly as cynical, and gives us some hope that the series will not end with everyone slaughtered (the flashforwards to how various dead commanders will be remembered helps). the bad news is that Ashton’s death does not seem to be the sort that can be undone by magical means, and also lots of other regulars die here as well. The very bad news is that the author couldn’t cram all the plot into this book, so the 2nd part of Vol. 7 is still to come.

The final battle between the Asvelt Empire and the Kingdom of Fernest ends up being completely upended by the arrival of ghouls controlled by the new emperor, who is not remotely evil at all, of course. This has always been a “war is bad” series, but the ghouls also help to remind you that even though war is bad, there are still ways that it should be fought, and these corpses do not do any of that. This is also bad news for the United City States of Sutherland, who get a “become my vassals or be destroyed” message from the empire, with one of the states serving as an example of what will happen. Even the Holy Land of Mekia can’t deal with this, and the Seraph finds that the ghouls are not a product of mage tactics. As for Fernest, well, let’s just say a lot of the cast who’ve been around since Book 1 gets one last battle. And, um… where’s Olivia, anyway?

The reason I spoil that Ashton is found dead in this volume is that it happens right at the start of this book. We then spend almost the ENTIRE book waiting for Claudia and Olivia to find out about it. We don’t even see Claudia till 4/5 of the way through the novel, and Olivia, after a brief scene showing her happily training with Z, is also absent for the bulk of it. There’s two reasons for this. First, I get the sense that if Olivia and Claudia were actually present throughout this volume, there’s no way that the series couldn’t avoid killing them off too, which would make the end a bit bleaker than I think even the author wants. The other reason is, of course, to show their devastated reactions at the book’s climax, because otherwise this would feel a bit too much like “the book was just cut in half arbitrarily”. The counterattack needs to start next time, even if the romantic resolution isn’t going to happen anymore.

So what’s next? There’s certainly a lot more cast we can kill off, but I suspect the last book will have a bit less of that. Till then, oof. This was a punch to the gut.

Filed Under: death's daughter and the ebony blade, reviews
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