Before You Discard Me, I Shall Have My Way With You (Manga) Vol. 1

どうせ捨てられるのなら、最後に好きにさせていただきます [Dōse Suterareru no Nara, Saigo ni Suki ni Sasete Itadakimasu] #1

by Selen (Artist), Takako Midori

Agnes, the daughter of a duke, is in love with crown prince Lucilleur, the man she's been betrothed to since they were both children. But before they can wed, Agnes is hit with a Lucilleur doesn't return her feelings and wants to break their engagement so he can marry his true love, a different noblewoman with a sweet and innocent demeanor. Agnes is more than just heartbroken--she's angry. Her "sweet" rival might not be sweet at all, and her beloved prince has wrecked her future. This means war...both in politics and in bed.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Josei, Comics Manga

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2022

About the author

セレン

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

That. Is. DARK.

Trigger warning: woman on man and man on woman rape. Sex is used as a punishment.

Though I really want to know what the HELL is going on re: the politics of everything. What game is the prince playing??

3, I want to know the answers and hope it doesn’t suck, stars.

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

TW// rape, suicide attempt

I am not sure if most spicy manga portray rape in somewhat of a positive light, but it seems like I’ve found two of those in a row. The concept of this book would’ve been interesting if it hadn’t been rape. Lady Lilie is the only character in this manga who acts reasonably, but I can see how the other characters would be likeable for people who are into dark romance.

This manga also draws somewhat of a glowstick or lightsaber for the men’s privates. It pulled me out of the story whenever they showed the glowstick.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

CW: sexual assault

Hmm. This is a tough one. On the surface, it's a revenge story about Agnes, the fiancee thrown over by the prince for sweet-only-in-jest Lilie, who decides that if she has to give up the man she's loved her entire life, she's at least going to have sex with him first. She thinks she's forcing him, which later causes him to lock her up and "force" her to have sex, but as the book goes on, it starts to look like he never wanted to toss Agnes aside and was totally onboard with the whole initial sex scene. If that's true, this might be an interesting book. If it's not true, this is very, very uncomfortable. I'm rounding up to two stars on that off chance and will give it a second volume, but be warned going into this one: it's not for anyone who doesn't like dub-or-noncon. If I hadn't read it for work, I may not have finished it.

[Jess | jadecanread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now THIS is for the female gaze. That first chapter with Luc at her mercy, lovely.

First off, this is non-con then dub-con galore. If that's not your thing, don't read this.

FMC is engaged to the crown prince, he breaks of engagement to be with her friend. Before she accepts the broken engagement, she asks to have tea with him. There, she takes advantage of him and uses him to be able to say she might be pregnant before running to a neighboring kingdom. Months pass, she thinks things are settling but Luc finds her. He brings her back and basically has his way with her for a month straight, but her friend is still his priority.

Art is pretty, I'm into this kind of content so I'm not mad about it. I think there's more in Luc's world than she knows, but we can only wait to see what else is revealed.

Recap: see above, plus meeting with L who is trying to get her caught in a compromising position. Before the guard can rape her, she uses her magic to blast the room, Luc comes and he goes directly to her friend, Agnes runs to the balcony and jumps off but a man grabs her and falls with her.

[Cindy ✩☽♔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is nice and I’m curious to see where the plot goes. But I will warn others that due to the nature of the ‘revenge’ there are consent issues.

I will say though I hope the female lead makes the male lead grovel for all the indifference and mistreatment she’s had to endure over the years.

[Jennifer]

content warnings: sexual assault, non-con

idk what I expected but not that? 😅

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was messy, but I liked it a lot. I was aware of the many consent issues going in, so I knew what to expect. Even still, I was surprised by how well done this was. Beyond the surface there is much going on politically, and given how much Agnes's actions are equally influenced both by her feelings of betrayal and the necessity of protecting herself and her family, I can't help but suspect Luc's behaviors are also similarly motivated.

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably should have flipped through this manga before I read it so I wouldn’t have gotten such a shock with the illustration LOL. Other than evident non consenting “situations” that made me a little uncomfortable it was an interesting book that really made you wonder what was going to happen next. But fair warning to fellow readers, this is very s*****ly graphic.

[Manon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am quite obsessed, yes.

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Addictive story with lots of smex that feels like old historical romances of the 80s/90s but with a hint of magic and less definitive time period. I glommed.

[Kat]

steamship needs to pick better steamy titles less focused on SA / non-con / dub-con and more on actual female pleasure :|

[Clorinspats Clorinspats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been waiting for the license for this one to be picked up for a while and I am OVER THE FUCKING MOON. Dark romance is my JAM.

[Yuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW. This is bonkers. The title fits to a T omg hahaha. CW for noncon all over the place. None of the characters are particularly likable, but I enjoyed the ride far more than I thought I would.

I can appreciate how much backstory/setting that's trying to get established, but I don't think it was meted out very well. I know it wanted to get right into the banging, but having Agnes just say, 'I did everything to be lovable, he was cruel' when we've known her for all of a minute didn't give her any credibility. The timing of the flashbacks/context scenes felt like they should've been placed earlier in the story. Still felt like I was missing a piece of the story re: why Agnes and Lucfelleur (whatever tf his name is) had such a bad relationship.

Taking bets on if Luc's deal is that he's got a boatload of self-loathing he's working through and hates that he actually has feelings for Agnes, or if it's all been an act for Plot Reasons for him to be cold to her from the start. Gotta say, this is the first time I've seen a FMC actually put her money where her mouth is with the whole 'I'm so miserable I'd rather die than be with you' bc usually that's just puff and blow.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 Stars

So I'm hesitating with this volume because as others have mentioned, the story and events are a little murky. The FMC decides that if she's going to be thrown aside, that she's going to use the MMC for her own gain and rapes him. I was ready to put the volume down them and there because WTF but the events proceeded almost like the MMC was into it and wanted to be treated that way.

So I kept reading.

Later the MMC shows up and kidnaps the FMC, keeping her hostage at what I assume is the castle or a villa ect. The sex scenes that follow are dubious and appear to be more emotionally manipulative than anything. It seems like the MMC is getting his revenge on the FMC however then the other woman enters the picture and the lines get a little blurry. It's almost like the MMC didn't want to discard the FMC in the beginning at all.

Seven Seas has been putting out more heterosexual erotica type manga and it unfortunately seems to be following the early footsteps of yaoi/BL. I'll give it another volume just because of how things don't seem to be adding up, but it's really nothing to write home about.

[Moriah Venable · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure how to rate this. The title caught my attention and it was a complete series with only 4 volumes. I should have known what to expect but there is rape/sexual assault on both sides.

Agnes decides that if the Crown Prince discards their engagement for Lillie, who is not the sweet girl she portrays, then she will atleast, sleep with him first and possible get pregnant with his heir.

Three months after the assault, she is found by the Prince who gets revenge on her and locks her in a room.

Lillie visits her, who shows her true colors when she tries to drug with her an aphrodisiac, so that the Prince will want nothing to do with her, when he finds another man in her bed.

Everyone in the volume is depolorable. Will I read the next volume to see what happened after she tries to commit to suicide by throwing herself after the balcony? Yes. I think there is more to Agnes than she knows. Something about her powers.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on the title, I was expecting some nefarious behavior. As other reviews have mentioned, there are some trigger warnings to be aware of when reading. I honestly don't understand the Prince's motivations at all. He says he hates her, and I would understand why after what Agnes did in the beginning, but he proceeds to do the same thing she did to him, and then jumps after her at the end of the volume. I'm probably going to keep reading to see what happens in volume 2, in hopes that they go into more detail about the covenant spell and her rival, but I don't really have any expectations.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very melodramatic, and yet I still enjoyed it. Warning that the story begins and continues with r*pe, though, which is usually something I really struggle with (depending on the context), but here it was just so clearly manga melodrama (and closer to more genre-common dubcon) that it didn't stop me from reading. Entertaining and with pretty art! I felt like the end of this volume was EXTRA melodramatic but, y'know, that's probably just this story's thing. And clearly it was working on me 😎 I want to see where this chaos train goes next...!

[Bee C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ummm. Idk what’s wrong with me. I liked it but this series is such a 🚩. I felt no sympathy for either of the leads through out it all. They try to get you to feel some compassion for our FL towards the end but I’m not buying it. Warning there is r*pe from both parties to each other and they both seem like they are upset at first but then not anymore. It’s a twisted game of unrequited love and revenge which makes this story intriguing and at the same time 🚩🚩🚩. It’s not for everyone but I wanna know what’s gonna happen next.

[read with kath ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand why this manga received a lot of negative reviews. The first few chapters are messed up. The characters are extremely morally flawed and toxic, but there's something about it that pulls you to read more. I don't like miscommunication tropes, but their love story gave me so much angst and heavy emotions that I barely felt from other dark romances. I felt the characters' pain and their unrequited love. I'm rating this book based on how this novel made me feel.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oops! All rapists!! Is not the book I wanted to read.

Seriously. The FL, the ML, the other woman and her crony, oh, and the FL's dad by proxy -- there's an absurd amount of characters who are either rapists or cool with raping to get what they want. Am I controversial yet brave for saying I'm anti rapist? Hopefully not!! All these rapists are especially unwelcome in a romance/smutty story.

So into the trash with you!

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. definitely TWs

This is a lovely manga and definitely balances the scale if it needs trigger warnings. I think it does since it hints to SA and being help against their will. This was emotional and leaves you with a cliffhanger but surprisingly didn’t mind it. I need the next on ASAP.

[Lauren loves llamas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uh, yeah, this is definitely a turn-your-brain-off book.

They basically take turns raping each other? While the FL's rival repeatedly tries to discredit/kill her? I can put up with some level of "sexual assault as romance" thing manga occasionally has, but this was just too much for me.

[Kye · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Trigger warning for SA. I've read BL with similar and worse beginnings so it's not the worst. But there wasn't really a need to start the plot this way. It's trying to redeem itself, definitely faster than BL after similar situations. I'll give it one more volume.

[Otakitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend had this book and the title interested me enough to check it out. The art is nicely done, but the character designs verge on cookie cutter, so not too interesting in that department.
I enjoyed the NC situations, but how long can the author keep it up?

[Miss Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

someone should really slap a sexual assault warning on this one but also...if you too grew up in the hot gimmick trenches you can prob manage this. at least agnes isn't a doormat beyond repair

2 stars

[Magik]

I... don't know how to rate this. Parts of it intrigued me but holy shit it just jumped right into dark shit. I mean, I shoulda guessed probably from the title but I thought it would be coy seduction or something. Idk if I'm unlucky with my steamship picks but I've only liked one series so far.

[Jourdy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely interesting, have a similar feel to others from this imprint with the DubCon and tsundere tendencies.

[Chanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT! Ends on a cliffhanger need vol 2 asap.

[Elizabeth Aguilar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trigger Warning: Rape

[Kathryn Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could go either way