IF YOU WANT PEACE, PREPARE FOR WAR!Thanks to her past-life memories, Pride has prevented the horrors wrought by the evil queen in the otome game--but now another kind of danger awaits the love interests. The continent is embroiled in an all-out war, and Pride will have to put on her princess face and join the effort if she wants to save the people she loves! The thing is, these events never happened in the original game... Without her last-boss cheats, does she have any hope of leading them to victory?
It was honestly mid. I fell into to anime again after rewatching- guilty as charge. I just am not a political war girl and that’s what this book is- war. I wish it had more character romance and interaction. It seems pride just does the same thing over and over. Saves everything which ok girl boss, but there’s no emotional uniqueness to this. I hope the next one is better…cus I bought it
Let’s start with continuity errors: In the last volume, it was clearly explained that “Bro” is Cedric’s nickname for Yohan. In this volume, Cedric referred to Lance as “Bro” four times. Maybe it was a translation error, but if not, then someone should have caught it.
Chapter 2: “Cedric was already holding a blade from who-knew-where,” It’s emphasized in this chapter that Cedric never studied the sword and, in fact, had never even held a blade. But earlier… Chapter 1: “Cedric gripped his sword as he observed us all.” *face palm*
The Commander told everyone to not let their guards down. Then two pages later, Eric says, “I told you not to let your guard down, Arthur!” Well, no, you hadn’t said anything of the kind, Eric. I double checked.
Then there are a couple of examples related to blocking (i.e., how characters are positioned within the scene). Is Arthur on the opposite side of the bed from Tiara and Stale or are they standing next to him? Make up your mind. Cedric was sitting, he was sitting, nope he’s suddenly standing.
I only found one line edit, so it was mostly continuity errors that drove me nuts here. Still, it smacks of bad editing that those weren’t caught before publication.
Now, regarding the actual story: *sigh* Physics doesn’t work like that. No, you can’t dodge bullets and the odds of being able to cut a row of bullets out of the air with a sword are so astronomical….I can’t even. The author KNOWS this is B.S. You can tell because the other knights asked Arthur to remind them what is special power was. If his special power was some kind of physical prowess, then I would be like, “Oh, magic. Disbelief successfully suspended.” But his power is “Making plants grow better”, so….NO! Disbelief is fully in place and ain’t goin’ nowhere. *sigh*
Then there’s that reckless move Pride pulled. It was crucial to the rest of the story, but made zero sense. She’s smarter than that. I thought of multiple ways that she could have handled that situation better. But most importantly, she doesn’t have the physical strength to have actually been of use in that situation. So putting herself in danger made NO SENSE! I’m incredibly irritated by this move which dumbs down a smart character purely as a plot device.
Finally, the action sequences weren’t gripping. I found it hard to understand what was happening. The descriptions of the terrain didn’t make sense to me. A picture would have been great. But also, the superhuman abilities of all the knights got to be a bit much. It became clear early on that none of the knights would be in mortal danger. Even from bombs falling out of the clear sky. That really lessened the tension for me and made things rather boring from that point.
If I hadn’t already bought the whole series, I might stop here. However, I’m hopeful that things will improve now that we’re moving away from battle sequences and back to palace politics. *crossing fingers while knocking on wood*
Up until this volume, Pride has been the ace up the sleeve in terms of powerhouse. It was refreshing to have her take more of a back seat for most of this story. A lot of the chapter segments were from the perspective of other characters, often characters that weren't even in the same vicinity as Princess Pride. Some of the events that led to her not being involved, avoiding spoilers here, led to some very interesting character growth for both her and the people around her. It was really gratifying to be able to see all the heroes really shine instead of being led or outshone by her.
There are some new questions that need answers, particularly involving her sister. And then of course there's the ultimate question of which boy is going to get to marry our lovely princess. My vote for the longest time has been for Arthur, my favorite night... Now I have a soft spot for the cry baby Cedric. It'll be interesting to see if any romance developments appear there. As far as social status goes, he's the most eligible bachelor to pair up with her. Out of all the suitors he's the only royalty that's a second born, not inheriting a kingdom... Except for maybe her brother but.... I just don't favor him? Anywho, I think Cedric is the most logical choice politically, but I really like Arthur...
This was so good!! My favourite of the series so far!!
Everyone was so awesome!! Shoutout to Tiara specifically tho, Love Her & she did so great! She really steps into her own in this book. Also Arthur was an absolute menace on the battlefield.
I love that once again we see fruits of this being the world of an Otome game, and thus cheats if one knows what they’re doing! Not just knowing the future, either… love that.
Against all odds… I actually did really end up liking Cedric. He grows a lot as a character here, and some Backstory is revealed. I also kind of like him & Tiara together? We get some good enemies-to-lovers seeds here, and so far he is the only love interest for her that’s been shown (all the other in-game love interests are either in love with Pride or otherwise in a committed relationship).
The culmination of many story & character arcs, this was such a satisfying read! Loved it.
(I did wonder why Arthur didn’t just use his special ability on her at the end? Is it because they still want to keep it secret, or…?)
pride needs to really think about her actions before she does them but that's who she is, kind and self-sacrificing to a fault. at some point i'm really agreeing with val when he says they should just run off and idk how to feel about that /pos