Storyline: Philomel is the young daughter of the Emperor but could never receive his love. It isn't until one day a woman shows up at the palace with a young girl named Elencia who looks exactly like the deceased Empress that everyone realizes the truth...the Princess is a fake!
When the conspiracy is uncovered and Philomel's actions towards Elencia come to light she was sentenced to execution. A death truly befitting of a wicked woman.
“Even if the Philomel within the book had done some wrong, it wasn’t enough to warrant death!”
Young Philomel yelled and threw the book she'd been reading. She had simply been curious about a book she'd picked up in the garden, but the contents of the book stated that she would die! Although she wanted to believe it was nothing but fiction, everything that happened from that moment onwards went just like in the book.
But what is this book? A prophecy? If that is the case Philomel will do everything in her power to survive in the Palace until she can reunite the Emperor and his real daughter...then escape! But will Philomel be able to discover the origins of the suspicious book, live on, and finally find a place where she belongs? [x]
I loved the angst. I first read the few chapters of the recently released manwha and I just had to know the rest of the story!! Philomel is a great twist on both the villainess role and the isekai genre. What I love the most is that Phil is not Isekai-ed or reincarnated. She is a regular girl using her wits to survive in a world determined to vilify her. I'm also a sucker for the hurt-comfort gimmick as Phil turns away from the Emperor and finds new family in Logan and her brothers.
Philomel grew up as Princess of the Empire, but since her birth resulted in her mother's death her father hates her. The servants likewise neglect her since there is no merit in serving an unfavored royal. While playing by herself in the garden she finds a book with her name in it. She reads it for fun but is bothered by the contents. The villain of the story is Philomel, who was switched with the real princess at birth and then killed by the Emperor. Little Phil knows her father is not affectionate, but surely he wouldn't go as far as to kill her. When other events from the book start coming true she feels less sure. Troubled by nightmares she goes to her father to confirm his intentions and overhears him say some terrible things about her including his wish for her to 'live like a dead rat'. Not what Phil wanted to hear. From that day forth she stopped playing and vying for her father's love and began working to pacify the Emperor. She will wait until she is old enough to run away and in the meantime will give the Emperor as little reason to hate her as possible. Phil is fighting for her life. She will escape the imperial palace and live to be happy. When the real princess appears though she is different than what the book described. She also seems determined to hurt Phil for some reason. To protect herself and the future of the Empire Phil turns to her birth family for aid. Although she didn't get a first great impression of her father, Logan, the Master of the Magic Tower. But he comes to her aid the moment she needs him. Together, Logan and her three eccentric brothers go on adventures, fight, and laugh. Phil starts to learn who she is when she isn't pretending to be the perfect princess and that perhaps she is not so hated.
(2.5 stars) Young Philomena discovers a strange book in the gardens of the imperial palace that document the adventures of young lady who was switched at birth and battled against the villainous woman who had stolen her spot. She doesn't want to admit this is a book about her. However events from the early pages seem prophetic and Philomena has never had the affection of Emperor Eustis. She decides to bury all her emotions, plan her escape, and pretend to be a good princess. Complications arise when activities divulge from the text and the personality of Ellencia, the real princess, seems malicious rather than charmingly sweet. * * * * *----------* * * * *----------* * * * * This is a mixed bag. I like some of the concept work at play here. It really sinks into complicated character motivations, family dynamics, and perspective. I found myself emotionally invested at key moments when individuals were looking regretting their mistakes, struggling to hold themselves together (pretending to be fine), or when they learned a fact that shifted their understanding. It's heartbreaking for a tween to fight so hard to find a place to belong and people that love her. Unlike the themes and characters, though, the actions of the plot are often handled in a very chaotic or choppy way. Faeries, dwarfs, and dragons emerge almost out of nowhere to provide a magical McGuffin or make a quick comment on racism and them vanish once more. Epidemics resolve in a few paragraphs. Cliches like transmigration, otome games, and god interference don't get much in the way of context or resolution. It's hard to predict events because they don't relate to the world building established prior. The romance is rather thin. I pushed through it rather quickly so I was interested in it, but the flaws start to outweigh the narrative as it comes to a close. There's a season adapted into a web toon which reorders a few items but maintains the intent of the original novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
good at first, but only descended into ridiculousness as time passed.
philomel was so interesting in the beginning, but now she just gives mary sue which is a shame because i really liked her
as for the original princess, they're dragging this out for too long. if she's the author, she's very shang qinghua-esque so i get why she'd be like that, but the contrast between her and the phil is too great. for the magic tower people - i get that she's their sister and daughter, but nothing about this is believable.
her father doing all this because she's interesting? okay sure. then how about her brothers? idk im tired
also this isn't this particular story's fault, but why are there never sisters in these types of stories? and why does the father neglect the sons?
Gajjareul Wihan Jangsoneun Eobsda Completo 2.5 ⭐ Aaaaa Philomel mi niña eres todo lo bueno en el mundo. No sé por qué tengo una obsesión con las novelas familiares, pero me encantan. La historia de Philomel me gustó, tenía una mezcla de todo, pero estuvo bueno. Los personajes me encantaron, cada uno tenían su encanto y la historia era muy interesante en todo momento. A pesar de eso, me hubieran gustado más momentos familiares y tiempo de relajación, pero bueno… la relación con Nassar era bonita, pero no tenía nada en especial.
read until chap 79 s2. the story is good but not good enough for me to remember it. it was just meh. not bad though. i can’t feel affection towards philomel nor for nassar. her dad looks hot but that’s that. same for her bros.
Such a great isekai! It really differentiates itself from the rest by exploring the topic of isekai not just in across different forms of media for a single story but also goes as far to bring fanfiction into the discussion. The intriguing plot and dynamic characters are so worth it.
Amo a Leguin y lo voy a defender SIEMPRE. Él va a matar a alguien (lo ha hecho) y yo voy a decir “bueno, algo habrá hecho!”. Phil no lo merece como padre, mejor que se quede con el FALSO de Eustis [rolls eyes]