Nov 25, 2022
I've read 2 volumes of the light novel. Let me preface the review by saying it is literally impossible to spoil this book. It is so packed to bursting with cliches that it is a paint-by-numbers for low-effort romance light novels. You can write the novels yourself just from the summary and be 90% accurate (and likely make some improvements).
The male MC (Saito) is a dour high school boy with no friends, no interests other than reading and gaming, never studies, but is somehow top of the class. He's never illustrated, but you can already picture his messy black bangs in your mind.
The female MC
...
(Akane) is a tsundere girl who studies hard to take the top rank in their grade, but constantly achieves only second place, because of the male MC. Of course, she is amazing at cooking and is gorgeous.That's a given for the genre, and the author may as well copy-paste her entirely from any number of other light novels. Why write original characters?
Add to the completely uninspiring novel the token sexual overtones between Saito and his cousin. Why are the incestuous sexual overtones necessary, you ask? They're not. But they're there to fulfill the light novel experience.
It is incredible how little happens in the space of 600 pages (2 300-page volumes). While other authors manage to convey complex characters, plot, and setting in novels as short as 300 pages, this author has the remarkable skill of doing none of that in twice the length. What are the words spent on, you wonder? Mostly on describing the meals that Akane cooks. Perhaps the author wanted to write a cookbook but got a little sidetracked?
The icing on the cake is Akane's behaviour. While the author *tells you* that she is very smart for 17, her behaviour is more consistent with a slightly brain-addled ten-year old. In a novel filled with oblivious characters, Akane somehow manages to outclass them all.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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