A satisfying conclusion to the first light novel. YMMV depending on how tolerant you are of the miscommunication trope in the romance, but for me it was largely justified and, along with the amnesia, mostly served to dramatize the conflict that had already been built up: will Louis's love interest still love him after they were separated for so long, or has his My Fair Lady glow-up changed him into a person she doesn't recognize and can no longer love? Even if you aren't all aboard the romance plot, there's a solid mystery and political intrigue running parallel to the romance which raises the stakes and showcases Louis's great characterization. Give me a smart character who sees through BS, remains true to his convictions, and gets the catharsis of beating the villains to a pulp, and I'll have a good time even if one of my most hated tropes(amnesia) is present. 5 'being a menace is its own love language' out of 5.
I really enjoyed the first part and that's why I want to record why I am disappointed with the second one. I was expecting more details of his life as a mage, say how he contracted the spirit Ryn, the steps he went through to get to the commander of mage corps.. or how Rosalie became a doctor specialising in both mana-relates and physical ailments. I would even have been happier with the infamous "scandal" in the star spear witch's family. Instead we got a tepid romance, stretched too thin with the miscommunication tropes. The book has missed so many chances to be something much better and interesting. I do hope that we get to know the above details in a subsequent volume of the main series at least.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.