⚠️ At the very least include a warning ⚠️
I regret not reading the reviews more closely. Neither the sample, nor the book details have hints or disclosed that it was a pedo romance. I would not have bought it.
The summary did not just mislead my expectations, it betrayed them. One star, would not recommend.
I see the “technicalities”, and I cannot support it. I had held out hope, like I’m uncomfortable, but maybe they will fix this physical age gap. NO THEY DO NOT. This “I’m really 16 in spirit” was straight up a no go. At one point the guy MC is openly depicted as “tricking” the10yr old girl into crawling and laying beside him in bed because he feels sick “because we’re family” and then he says something along the lines of, “Just kidding! I’m not, I’m your husband”. There’s even a “first kiss” I saw later on as I skimmed the rest, having been fearing the worst at this point, and grimly wondering how I would report it.
To add insult on top of moral injury, the world doesn’t make much sense and all the characters are poorly designed. Not just the main characters, in fact the MCs are more like one-dimensional “personalities” that do not match their contextual details. The small handful of people who do exist (barely) are hollow. As a reader you want to care and become invested in the characters goals...In this story, everyone is painfully lacking depth and humanity. The dialogue reflected inexperience in crafting human relationships, interactions between people in conflict, people and their environments…the impact of social dynamics and stressful experiences on the MCs were off, and ultimately lacked authenticity.
I’m not expecting literary goodness here. I was expecting a simple, charming, and slightly entertaining romantic reincarnation story. I read 100+ books a year, many of them light novels, litrpg, and sci-fi fantasy. I support people in their creativity, AND you also have to be responsible for what you choose to put out in the world. Do not encourage or promote creepy small child powerful adult romance through innuendo, complacency, or negligence.