Straight up slop. The beginning chapters were good but that's it. Every single problem in this story could have been resolved if the main character just died. That's how insufferable she is. I came into this expecting a smart, cunning villainess act from her. Instead, what do I get? A spoiled brat who lashes out at everyone around her and then plays the victim when the consequences of her own actions come knocking.
At this point, I'm actively rooting for her to die alone. There is genuinely nothing likable about her except her beauty and honestly, I prefer her mother's. In fact, I would have loved a story centered on her mother instead. Yes, the mother has done unquestionably terrible things, but at least she's intelligent enough to make me like her. Meanwhile the mc does nothing but create her own problems and then scream at the male lead for not "protecting" her from them. She wants to kill her own sister for "stealing" the male lead, as if that's the real issue here. Babe, there are bigger fish to fry. Your entire life is on fire and you're worried about a man not defending you? And then wanting to kill your half-sister?
if the main character were ugly, nobody would take her side. Not a single person. Her entire character is her face. Strip that away and all you're left with is a petty, reactive, self-destructive girl who treats everyone around her like garbage and then wonders why nobody wants to save her.
Yet somehow, Ayla gets painted as the villain. Ayla, who is the main reason the MC is suffering in the first place—except no, wait, that's not even true. The MC is suffering because she keeps making terrible decisions, acting spoiled, and lashing out at everyone within a ten-mile radius. If I were Ayla, I wouldn't feel a thing about her death. I'd probably wish for it even harder. Why is the MC trying to kill her over a man? A man. That's the depth we're working with.
Sure, Ayla is two-faced. Sure, she's manipulative. But at least she's likable.
And let's talk about the artist, because the misogyny here is not subtle. You can see it in the way she keeps choosing these novels to adapt. Her previous work had a blond MC and a "not-so-pretty" sister who existed solely to be the scapegoat everyone hated. Same pattern yet different story. And the way both Jeannette and Ayla are drawn with less detail and less appeal, as if the artist is terrified they might accidentally outshine the blond MC. God fucking forbid another woman be beautiful or compelling. God FUCKING forbid the reader sympathize with anyone but the 'beautiful' heroine.
It's exhausting because it's fucking predictable. And it's a waste of what could have been a genuinely interesting villainess story.
Straight up slop. The beginning chapters were good but that's it. Every single problem in this story could have been resolved if the main character just died. That's how insufferable she is. I came into this expecting a smart, cunning villainess act from her. Instead, what do I get? A spoiled brat who lashes out at everyone around her and then plays the victim when the consequences of her own actions come knocking.
At this point, I'm actively rooting for her to die alone. There is genuinely nothing likable about her except her beauty and honestly, I prefer her mother's. In fact, I would have loved a story centered on her mother instead. Yes, the mother has done unquestionably terrible things, but at least she's intelligent enough to make me like her. Meanwhile the mc does nothing but create her own problems and then scream at the male lead for not "protecting" her from them. She wants to kill her own sister for "stealing" the male lead, as if that's the real issue here. Babe, there are bigger fish to fry. Your entire life is on fire and you're worried about a man not defending you? And then wanting to kill your half-sister?
if the main character were ugly, nobody would take her side. Not a single person. Her entire character is her face. Strip that away and all you're left with is a petty, reactive, self-destructive girl who treats everyone around her like garbage and then wonders why nobody wants to save her.
Yet somehow, Ayla gets painted as the villain. Ayla, who is the main reason the MC is suffering in the first place—except no, wait, that's not even true. The MC is suffering because she keeps making terrible decisions, acting spoiled, and lashing out at everyone within a ten-mile radius. If I were Ayla, I wouldn't feel a thing about her death. I'd probably wish for it even harder. Why is the MC trying to kill her over a man? A man. That's the depth we're working with.
Sure, Ayla is two-faced. Sure, she's manipulative. But at least she's likable.
And let's talk about the artist, because the misogyny here is not subtle. You can see it in the way she keeps choosing these novels to adapt. Her previous work had a blond MC and a "not-so-pretty" sister who existed solely to be the scapegoat everyone hated. Same pattern yet different story. And the way both Jeannette and Ayla are drawn with less detail and less appeal, as if the artist is terrified they might accidentally outshine the blond MC. God fucking forbid another woman be beautiful or compelling. God FUCKING forbid the reader sympathize with anyone but the 'beautiful' heroine.
It's exhausting because it's fucking predictable. And it's a waste of what could have been a genuinely interesting villainess story.