Really good FMC and interesting premise - until I found out through spoilers what the cause of the whole plot was. Why? Just why? When will authors stop using brainwashing or magic as a plot device. I won’t waste my time tbh. There are many more novels for me to read so I DNF this one.
"we want strong female leads!" No No no.... WE WANT STRONG FEMALE LEADS WHO are FEMININE+smart!!! Give me leads who love love and are girly. I love this for that reason.
A soul transmigrates into a romance novel in the form of Selonia just as she starts a quest with her fiancé Ian, paladin Reeve, and the last dragon McLeon. They are destined to fight monsters for six months and then seal the demon king who arises in the kingdom every 100 years. She slogs through the task but falls into a coma at the end. When she awakens her three companions rescind their love, friendship, and oaths of loyalty. They have all fallen in love with Grace Bennett while she was ill. She is disturbed by the changes from the script but accepts their feelings. Then Selonia discovers the demon king is not dead but trapped in his human form suffering from memory loss. He attaches himself to her after he recognizes that she knows his past identity and learns she can also ease the pain he has felt since he woke up three months ago. Slowly they must uncover what twisted the narrative and how to survive the new story. * * * * *-----------* * * * *-----------* * * * * The narrative has a predictable quality but is executed decently. There is some mystery as to what is going on at the start. The fact that our main character doesn't forgive people despite understanding they were under the influence of black magic is refreshing. The pacing is not breakneck or impossibly slow. What holds this one back from being more than a 3 or 3.5 star novel, however, is the loose world building. It focuses mostly on the romance and relationships, leaving lingering questions about monsters, magic, and future politics. While I understand this is to not distract from their happy ending... it is a bit disappointing as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.