Our star, Anise, is still searching for her choker with the help of the Rose Knights. A childhood friend appears and is one of the worst examples of type ever. In the midst of all this come some shocking revelations, some more shocking than others, and boy this volume makes a meal out of chocolate.
As before, this book is just going for it with wanton abandon and I think that energy carries it a long way in places where the story is a little thinner. I mean, they expand the premise out but it’s a reverse harem at the end of it all. Despite that, it all works pretty well.
Really the best thing about this book is Anise. She’s a great heroine - strong, stubborn, relentless in her pursuit of what’s right. When faced with harsh truths about things she doesn’t just accept her reality, she moves to change it and I love her agency. Her awkwardness in matters of the heart is a nice counterpoint to that.
Some of the story swerves work better than others. Anise’s old friend Haruta is an overly handsy jerk and when it’s revealed he’s a rogue knight (spoiler? Ish?) it’s about as surprising as the passage of time. Still, I like the addition of proper conflict to things. The knights aren’t exactly good at this and seeing them develop as a team is a smart obstacle to place in front of them.
There IS one genuine surprising twist towards the end, concerning one of our leads, but the problem I have with it is that there’s pretty much zero chance that the book is going to follow through with its implications. They get a bit of debate, but it doesn’t weigh things down like it should.
I do not approve of the renaming of St. Valentine’s to St. Chocolata (just... why...), though there are a lot of moments (some more insane than others) that result from it. Once the student council changes the rules so the guys have to give the girls chocolate (that’ll never work!) it becomes a cute twist on the premise that I was surprised I hadn’t seen before.
On the relationship front, it’s pretty obvious that the other goofs will get their moments, but Kaede is the love interest. Even though he’s a bit boring versus Anise, I like their bickering as an obvious defence mechanism over how much they like one another (the image of Anise angrily mawing down on his chocolate is one of my favourite moments in the book).
Anise’s dad is something else. I expect he’ll be gnawing some serious scenery come next volume. That’s all I have to say about him.
3 stars. This is a fun little read carried off by its heroine who makes it quite readable even with some parts are a little iffier. The art is better, the characters are fun. It’s not a classic, but I’m fine with what’s on offer here.