Despite the fact I really love the series, for some reason I just had a really really hard time getting into this one volume. I don't know if it was reading burnout or just something about the volume. Fortunately, I still remembered enough of the details that when I decided to push through I didn't have to reread the other books to know what was going on.
The author continues to deliver high quality storytelling and a fascinating heroin. Fight scenes are always so action-packed and high detailed that you could close your eyes and see the animation in your mind. The story is just as riveting as always, and full of just the right amount of Doki Doki.
I always leave these stories with the feeling of satisfaction having seen a really truly badass female lead. She's the type of character that kicks butt consistently but doesn't sacrifice her femininity in the process. Granted, she's so emotionally stunted that she's unaware of her femininity but that's okay. The boys around her are more than aware of it for her lol.
The next volume comes out in a few weeks, I've got that on my hit list for my next big read. The cliffhanger ending for this volume was fascinating and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do next. This is definitely a series that is not going to leave you easily predicting what's happening.
The story arrived at the point where the "game" from the reincarnators' memory took place. While Alia is vaguely aware of such through the inserted memories all she cares about is living her life as she wishes and protecting the princess. Right now that requires her to be a student and hand maiden of Elena, but as should come to no surprise to the readers of this series, school life is far from peaceful.
For me the series is a well written story with some great twists to the typical villainess' tropes. It comes with some intriguing and disturbing characters, mostly the villains, although Alia herself is not entirely sane by most standards. Courtesy of her mind being meddled with at the start of it all? The world building itself is fairly standard except for the magic system. Plot progress is decent. Story beads are resolved, at least to some point. The ending was somewhat of a cliff hanger, but not of the kind I personally really mind. No direct threat on the MC's life, no unresolved plot points, just a sudden setup for the next volume which I hope comes soon (which you never know for sure with light novel series).
All in all, a solid addition to the series that fitted expectations.