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A review by alexis_sara
I'm in Love with the Villainess (Light Novel) Vol. 1 by Inori
5.0
Note, I listened to the audio book version of this.
I'm In Love With The Villainess is a series that I really have been loving and love a lot in concept, finally diving into the Light Novel I'd say there are some small areas that I like better but typically the manga and light novels see a marked improvement with the benefit of being created after the story was completed, understanding the characters on a deeper level and a fuller understanding of the world.
Rae comes off as a bit more pathetic in this version, like I knew she was a little pathetic but being in her perspective in the light novel makes her seem like kinda a worse person and a more lonely person. I think the manga and anime work to make Rae a little less pathetic by solidifying the friendships between Misha and Lene as well as making the princes feel more like friends to Rae. The light novel itself has Rae single minded in her obsession with Clair willing to have no values, no friends, no life, no dreams, everything for Clair because Clair was her comfort character. I think it is fun how much she hates Rod, I do like the few more insights into the politics of the world and the game you get in Rae's perspective in the light novel but the added details are minor, Rae as a narrator is often simply reserving information she knows from the audience even though they inform her actions which feels odd for a first person narrative but I understand the desire to have more freedom when writing and not wanting to lore dump every 10 seconds.
The commoner movement arc is solid in concept but it being bolstered up by a pair of straight incest siblings to kinda hand wave away some of the complaints as well as an enemy nation makes for weak conclusion to the arc that otherwise was bringing solid political points. I am aware later in the narrative we'll get more but since in this narrative Rae is quick to basically just say whatever she thinks will make Clair happy and is devoted to Clair to the point in which she states she would kill people for Clair that were sort of friends to her it really feels like Rae has no moral base line. It undercuts the intention of the politics when it's hard to get a read on what the tory really wants you to think about them.
The incest itself having a discourse around it is wild to me given it's emulating narratives from Visual Novels and put on characters who in the game would have simply been considered villains. It humanizes them and gives them more because that is clearly one of the points of this Light Novel, like it's on the title, She's In Love With The Villainess. So it only makes sense the story itself was to have an empathetic view on the characters who were written to be a particular way. It's fine, it motivates a pair of characters to do some fucked up things but ultimately that serves the plot well and it isn't like a long easy on why sisters and brothers kissing is cool or whatever.
I do love the conversation about queerness and I do think that Rae being pathetic is part of the point like, that conversation has Rae cast herself as the fool on TV playing up her queerness for our entertainment. I think it adds to the plot, it sets the stage for Misha being an ally [and queer herself], it hints at Lene's own non normative taste, and establishes firmly that Clair is homophobic at the start. Rae is the sad Haley Kyoko listening Lesbian who only falls for straight women maybe because she doesn't love herself so she aims her heart falls for exclusively unavailable women as a form of self punishment.
I feel like a lot could have been done better but it is an interesting enough spring board to where I do believe if I had started with this I would be interested in reading Volume 2 but judging volume 2 a bit more harshly to see if Vol 3, 4 and 5 were worth my time or not.
In terms of the audio book performance this was my first audio book ever so it's kinda hard to say what is good or bad. I think Courtney Shaw does a fine job but she really only is fun with her voice performance when she is voicing Clair. Lene and Rae have clear distinct voices but the men do tend to blend in together which works fine for a story being told from Rae's perspective honestly. It did drive me up the wall to call Lene "lean" rather then how it is pronounced in the anime or how I read it. I do wish the voice for Rae was a bit more dynamic, Rae was very dry, like well preformed certainty but I feel like it could have used a touch more flavor. I do wish that the audio book was sorted into more sub chapters, since the light novel is only 3 chapters for the main meat of the story you have very long blocks of time that represent each chapter and it is much harder to simply go back to a part you wanted to listen to again or anything. Still it was an overall good production and I don't regret picking it up.
I'm In Love With The Villainess is a series that I really have been loving and love a lot in concept, finally diving into the Light Novel I'd say there are some small areas that I like better but typically the manga and light novels see a marked improvement with the benefit of being created after the story was completed, understanding the characters on a deeper level and a fuller understanding of the world.
Rae comes off as a bit more pathetic in this version, like I knew she was a little pathetic but being in her perspective in the light novel makes her seem like kinda a worse person and a more lonely person. I think the manga and anime work to make Rae a little less pathetic by solidifying the friendships between Misha and Lene as well as making the princes feel more like friends to Rae. The light novel itself has Rae single minded in her obsession with Clair willing to have no values, no friends, no life, no dreams, everything for Clair because Clair was her comfort character. I think it is fun how much she hates Rod, I do like the few more insights into the politics of the world and the game you get in Rae's perspective in the light novel but the added details are minor, Rae as a narrator is often simply reserving information she knows from the audience even though they inform her actions which feels odd for a first person narrative but I understand the desire to have more freedom when writing and not wanting to lore dump every 10 seconds.
The commoner movement arc is solid in concept but it being bolstered up by a pair of straight incest siblings to kinda hand wave away some of the complaints as well as an enemy nation makes for weak conclusion to the arc that otherwise was bringing solid political points. I am aware later in the narrative we'll get more but since in this narrative Rae is quick to basically just say whatever she thinks will make Clair happy and is devoted to Clair to the point in which she states she would kill people for Clair that were sort of friends to her it really feels like Rae has no moral base line. It undercuts the intention of the politics when it's hard to get a read on what the tory really wants you to think about them.
The incest itself having a discourse around it is wild to me given it's emulating narratives from Visual Novels and put on characters who in the game would have simply been considered villains. It humanizes them and gives them more because that is clearly one of the points of this Light Novel, like it's on the title, She's In Love With The Villainess. So it only makes sense the story itself was to have an empathetic view on the characters who were written to be a particular way. It's fine, it motivates a pair of characters to do some fucked up things but ultimately that serves the plot well and it isn't like a long easy on why sisters and brothers kissing is cool or whatever.
I do love the conversation about queerness and I do think that Rae being pathetic is part of the point like, that conversation has Rae cast herself as the fool on TV playing up her queerness for our entertainment. I think it adds to the plot, it sets the stage for Misha being an ally [and queer herself], it hints at Lene's own non normative taste, and establishes firmly that Clair is homophobic at the start. Rae is the sad Haley Kyoko listening Lesbian who only falls for straight women maybe because she doesn't love herself so she aims her heart falls for exclusively unavailable women as a form of self punishment.
I feel like a lot could have been done better but it is an interesting enough spring board to where I do believe if I had started with this I would be interested in reading Volume 2 but judging volume 2 a bit more harshly to see if Vol 3, 4 and 5 were worth my time or not.
In terms of the audio book performance this was my first audio book ever so it's kinda hard to say what is good or bad. I think Courtney Shaw does a fine job but she really only is fun with her voice performance when she is voicing Clair. Lene and Rae have clear distinct voices but the men do tend to blend in together which works fine for a story being told from Rae's perspective honestly. It did drive me up the wall to call Lene "lean" rather then how it is pronounced in the anime or how I read it. I do wish the voice for Rae was a bit more dynamic, Rae was very dry, like well preformed certainty but I feel like it could have used a touch more flavor. I do wish that the audio book was sorted into more sub chapters, since the light novel is only 3 chapters for the main meat of the story you have very long blocks of time that represent each chapter and it is much harder to simply go back to a part you wanted to listen to again or anything. Still it was an overall good production and I don't regret picking it up.