If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love ~ She Was All But Disowned for Her Spirit Contract, But She’s Still Competing with Her Rival ~, Vol. 3

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By Harunadon and Yomi Sarachi. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō to Akuyaku Reisoku ga, Deatte Koi ni Ochitanara: Nanashi no Seirei to Keiyaku Shite Oidasareta Reijō wa, Kyō mo Reisoku to Kisoiatte Iru Yō Desu” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

So-called Villainess books have glutted the market over the last three to four years, and I have seen a few folks saying that it’s just the female-narrated version of the isekai. But of course the two genres have very different goals. Isekai is, at heart, wish fulfillment. I have the coolest powers, I get a harem of girls, I battle the demon lord, etc. Villainess books, on the other hand, start out in much the same place as a lot of isekai – my life is wretched and everyone hates me – but the best examples of the genre dig deeper into the terrible life. I’ve come to terms with the fact that this series is never one I’m going to read for the cute romance, and I don’t think the author cares much about it either. This book is about seeing a survivor of abuse take control of her own destiny and confront her demons.

We left off last volume with her father’s ultimatum, telling her to come back to the main house or… well, we’re not sure, but Brigitte assumes it means “or I will disown you”. In the meantime, there’s a dance coming up, which she and Yuri agree to go to together after a lot of awkward faffing about. We also meet her brother Roze, who was adopted into the family after Brigitte’s disastrous spirit reading, and who seems to really like Brigitte a lot… possibly in a Keith Claes way, if you know what I mean. Yuri certainly does, and he’s unhappy. Unfortunately, Roze also tells Brigitte that their mother has disappeared, and Brigitte, still wrestling with what to do about that ultimatum, decides to help try to find her. What follows is basically all the dark secrets of the past revealed.

The author has also written Even a Replica Can Fall in Love, which I just reviewed the other day, and I have to say, they’re really good at writing trauma. It’s not much of a surprise to find that dad’s ultimatum is not “come back or be disowned”, it’s “come back and give me your phoenix, you ungrateful child”. Worse revelations are to come, too. But it’s a testament to Brigitte’s determination and resolve that she’s able to stand up and fight back… though the help of Yuri and her friends to make this a lot more final than anyone really intended also helps. The romance is pretty cute, too.

Honestly, this works perfectly well as an ending to the series, and I wondered if it was. But there is a suggestion that we still have further to go, as Brigitte worries that once the knowledge of her phoenix gets out, everyone will be coming after her. Likely that’s where this is going in future books. Till then, come for the cuteness, stay for the angst and schadenfreude.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!: Short Story Collection, Vol. 2

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

The main series may have ended, but there are still stories to be told. Especially given this is one of TO Books’ best-selling juggernauts. As with the first collection, this contains extra short stories that were online exclusives, bookstore exclusives, or otherwise not collected with the short stories that follow Rozemyne’s narration in the main series. The stories run the gamut, timeline-wise, from the start of Part 2 to midway through Part 5… yes, that’s medium-sized Rozemyne on the cover, we’ll have to wait till the third volume (just out in Japan last month) for the post-growth glow-up stories. Unlike last time, this does give us a brief story from Rozemyne’s POV, as she discusses Ferdinand with his old attendant. For the most part, though, this is from the POV of others, and it helps to establish one of the things we’ve learned most from the side stories: thanks to rumors, hearsay, and general eccentricity, Ehrenfest is seen by others as deeply untrustworthy.

Among the many stories in this volume, we get two from the POV of Brunhilde, which take place very early in her career at Rozemyne’s attendant, and show us how difficult she found it to understand her at first, and how ignorant of noble customs Rozemyne is. We get Raimund’s backstory, which reads exactly like it is, as a bullied nerd finally finding a place for himself among other nerds. Florencia watches and makes occasional observations as Elvira and company accidentally invent genderbend fanfics. Tuuli realizes, thanks to Karin and Lutz, that’s she’s fallen for Benno, and the realization crushes her as she knows it will never happen. Justus reminisces about a time in the past when Ferdinand going to Ahrensbach was what everyone dreamed of. Barthold is very, very angry that people are trying to stop his treason. And Lutz and Tuuli have one of the least romantic engagements ever.

That last one should not surprise anyone who’s read the main series, where its main romance is remarkable for its lack of sexual charge. Rozemyne and Ferdinand both tend towards the asexual, though not aromantic, and Eckhart and Angelica’s on-again off-again engagement is mostly of interest to them because it means they can keep beating people up when needed. Sylvester and Florencia are very much NOT the norm. And so we see here. Tuuli is harboring a crush on Benno, but there are 87 reasons why that’s not realistic. She’s also busy with work all the time, and thus unlikely to meet any better options. Lutz is exactly the same. The two of them agree to get engaged quickly, but that’s less “we realized our feelings for each other” and more “we want to prevent Tuuli, who still lives on the wrong side of the tracks, from getting abducted by creeps”. It’s not remotely romantic, but it makes sense. And that’s good enough in this world.

As I said above, there’s a third short story book that just came out. But before we get that, we’ll get the first in the spinoff series, featuring Hannelore, who will be a very different narrator from Rozemyne, I expect. Till then, this is a good selection of stories.

Even a Replica Can Fall in Love, Vol. 2

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By Harunadon and raemz. Released in Japan as “Replica Datte, Koi o Suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

I was very curious to see what the author would do with this book. So was the author, to be fair. They’d written a story that wrapped up very neatly in one volume, and they weren’t that enthusiastic about writing another one. That said, fear not, this book is just as dynamite as the first one. And just as gut-wrenching, of course. Normally I don’t really worry about spoiling books in my reviews, as my readers ruefully know. But I need to discuss one of the bigger plot twists in this book a bit below. That said, I will keep the end of the book a surprise. Much of this book is cute and heartwarming, with an odd tinge of dread and melancholy. Which is exactly what I expected given the first. Then we get to the last few pages, which give us a punch to the heart and then a punch to the throat. Which, again, is exactly what I expected given the first.

Sunao has been spending all of her time in her room lately, seemingly doing nothing but study, and is content to leave Nao to get on with everything. Which includes the upcoming school festival. Unfortunately, the literature club gets hit with one of the standard high school romcom plotlines: they don’t have enough members, and will be shut down by the student council unless they show their worth by selling 100 copies of their book at the festival. Which is about 90-something more than the previous festival. Fortunately, one of the student council folks is the sole member of the drama club, which is also in danger of being shut down. So they team up. The literature club (well, OK, Ricchan) writes an adaptation of Princess Kaguya, and will also help perform it… if they can convince Mori, the other student council member, to go along. Oh yes, and someone is dumping paper all over the school that reads “there’s a doppelganger in our school’.

The first volume had me spend most of it wondering what replicas actually were. The second one seems to be digging into the question of WHY there are replicas. In Sunao’s case, it’s because she saw Nao as a convenience to get her out of things she didn’t want to do, and softens considerably at the end of the first book… well, so we thought. But one of the things I am going to spoil, mostly as you likely could have guessed it, is that there’s another replica introduced here, though the word “doppelganger” is used here as well. Replicas are very personal for each person who creates them, and that’s what we have here. But their existence, as we’ve seen, is fragile. The first book shows us Nao literally come back from the dead. The second book runs along a similar track, but that track pulls into a very different station.

So yeah, I’m still bad about not spoiling things. Suffice it to say, if you loved the first, you will love the second. Also, unlike the first, there’s a VERY nasty cliffhanger here. And we’ve got to wait till spring for the next book. (paces around)