I also need to know before I read the story
(@-@)
Replying to this late, I'll give a break down without spoiling too much.
I would say the first half of it is pretty good. The first part is a typical "replace x with y" when it comes to the FL. There's angst and there's tension. There's genuine annoyance over the new girl brought in, which builds to a feeling of guilt and regret when the FL and the reader realize she has no desire to replace the FL but truly wanted to be a sister to her. All of the elements hit and it's well done. Then the FL lead leaves and plans to rebuild herself, to go back stronger than ever so no one can ever deny her again. This part drags a bit but there's still anticipation. It's when she finally returns that things go off the rails. She gets back and five new plots seem to be added.
Now there's treason, war, demons (not called that), one character who is basically immortal that they have to defeat, politics that are dragged in on a whim. It's exhausting. The first 80 chapters or so are built to be one story but the second half almost feels like it was written by someone completely else to finish the main story. I ended up skimming through about 90% of the chapters after 100. Also, the romance wasn't the main focus in the first half but it was still there. Even when she returns, there's still tension. Then everything takes the hard left and romance feels. Not forced but it's floundering? It's not even secondary at this point, it feels thrown in more to keep the readers invested. Then the last 10 to 15 chapters ignore the main couple to focus on a secondary couple. Which would be fine but at that point, I was so drained by the overall story that this romance feels forced. Like it's thrown in to "wrap things up in a pretty bow" rather than because it's what the characters would choose. And even that gets forced minor B plots. It's just exhausting by the end of the story. Normally this kind of thing make me just tired of a story but this might be the first time in a long while that I actively dislike a story because of the ending and regret picking it up.
Is it terrible? No, not really. Just go in prepared to be dragged through the last half of the story and to feel like certain plot points weren't actually resolved. Personally, I felt like the family issues of the FL and her sister were never resolved. Her parental issues didn't feel resolved at the end. The secret of her birth (and not the one you learn at the beginning of the story, her actual secret) isn't resolved. The magic resolution about 30 chapters from the end feels weak and haphazard. A lot of it just gives a feeling of dissatisfaction.
Oh, I hate when they do this.
Thank you for the thorough explanation. The comments makes since now. But it is very surprising the rating didn't drop because of it. I know I sure would have dropped my rating on it.(⌒▽⌒)
I'll keep this in mind if I ever decide to read it.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation !!
How is the rating so high when the comment section seems so unhappy? (￣∇￣")