[More info about my review style can be found on my profile]
▶Summary and recommendation: -----------------------------------------------------------------
[Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom] is an Otome Isekai focused on romance and parents raising a child together.
⚠️This manhwa contains characters describing sexual assault. It is handled quite well and it is not fetishized.
Splitting its attention between child care, romance, politics, and much more, [Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom] is a manhwa series that bites off a bit more than it can chew, but still does an admirable job keeping it all together.
It is a story filled with interesting and well written characters with a few flaws that I might be focusing on more
...
than it deserves in this review.
I recommend this manhwa to both newcomers and long time fans of the genre. It is well written and on the upper end of what the genre has to offer.
▶Story: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom] is an Otome Isekai losely based on the story of Snow White. The twist is that the evil stepmother queen gets possessed by a woman from modern day South Korea. Who unlike the original wicked queen has nothing but love and adoration for Snow white.
I would love to be able to say in a single sentence what the themes and focus of the story is, but the author is biting off a bit more than they can chew. Taking on a lot more themes and topics than can be reasonably covered in a single story.
It is first and foremost a romance fantasy story with heavy focus on child rearing and family. Much of the story focuses on the traumas and prejudices of the main characters, and on overcoming them by opening up to one another. In addition body dysmorphia, societal expectations of women and the oppressive pressure of the patriarchy in a medieval european inspired setting (and how modern society still has a long way to go) plays a significant role in the story.
Bundle this together with her clothes design hobby, national politics, schemes, a magical themed subplot, and her overcoming her "resting bitch face", the mystery of the magic mirror, and a bit of comedy and the manhwa stops being able to give every theme the pages and attention it deserves, and some of them are forgotten about later into the story.
I will admit that despite this, the author does an admirable job keeping the story cohesive, and it is only one slight against the manhwa overall.
Onto the story itself.
The introduction is fairly standard for the genre, and it takes a few chapters for it to stand out. The exposition is fairly well done, though most of it is done through the protagonist explaining things through text boxes.
Despite all the different subjects it tackles, it is a fairly low tension story focusing on family first and foremost. The growth of the three main stars of the manhwa is given most of the attention. That being the king, the (not-sew) wicked queen, and their daughter. All the characters have their own baggage, and most chapters focus solely on the characters overcoming it.
I think the most egregious story blunder I noticed is how the body dysmophia subplot is handled. I will of course avoid spoilers, but I believe the moment the author chose for the subplot does not fit in with the overall flow of the story.
Other than that I found the pacing of the story on the slower side, but it has some good tense moments.
▶Setting: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This story like most Otome Isekai is set in a medieval European inspired fantasy setting. With a Manhwa with "sew" in the title, I was hoping the author would have spent time researching the garments people wore at the time, and the author did not disappoint! While there are a few inaccuracies in particular with the footwear, the manhwa also features well drawn outfits from several periods of European history, and goes through its own Marie-Antoinette style revolution in fashion.
It is otherwise a fairly generic setting and it does not play an major part in the story, which focuses mostly on family and romance after all.
There are however some events that are eerily similar to our own, and readers with some knowledge of history will tense up once they see the colour of the clothing that is taking the kingdom by storm.
▶Characters: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The protagonist Abigail is very well fleshed out, with a background, well defined morals, motivation and flaws. She wants the best for everyone else but is very harsh on herself.
I personally really like that the character is uncompromising in her morals, and does not allow her being transmigrated into a fantasy world to change the way she views the world and treat other people. She refuses to partake in the petty scheming of nobles, and shies away from drama.
If your first impression of the king Sabrian is that he is acting like a piece of garbage, you'd be right. I have seen some readers who refuse to continue knowing that he is the male lead, but the manhwa will do its best to convince you if you give it a chance.
The princess Blanche is adorable, and will likely be the highlight to a lot of readers. To the protagonist she is the most precious existence and the star in her eye. Being a very reserved person in the beginning, Abigail's goal is to help her open up and live comfortably as a child should.
It is very rewarding to see her and the other characters grow and open up throughout the story.
Outside of the main cast, the characters are bit more bland. Sidekicks who are no more than comic relief, and villains being your average power hungry nobles who stop at nothing to gain power. However the character that surprised me the most is the magic mirror. I never expected the mirror in Snow White to have a compelling character arc of its own, and it is perhaps the one I am the most interested in.
▶Romance: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The romance plot has some pacing issues. It starts out surprisingly fast paced, but with all the other suplots in the story, the romance is sometimes pushed off to the side for a tad bit too long.
I applaud the way the author intertwined the romance with the growth of the characters. They are relying on each other to process and overcome their traumas and flaws, and the child care aspect of the manhwa only adds to it.
I do however feel like it is moving too slow, and falling into many tropes common to the romcom genre that you either love or hate. Tropes such as the protagonists misunderstanding each other, being oblivious to the other person's affections and thinking they hate you; when it is obvious to everyone else that they are madly in love.
As of chapter 120 I am invested in the romance subplot, but I am hoping it keeps a more consistent pace from here on out.
▶Artwork: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The artwork is a mixed bag, and one that changes throughout the series.
At the start, the only thing that stands out as good is the character expressions. The artist did a good job at getting expressions across, especially the utter despair on a character's face when an item precious to them got destroyed. That is however where my praise ends. The character art while detailed, is flat, and I am sad to say the background art is straight up ugly.
The manhwa has an overuse of 3D assets for objects and backgrounds. Using store bought assets for items such as tea pots, cups, food and furniture. I even spotted the portrait of 'Queen Elizabeth the First queen of England and Ireland' on one of the walls. It is my belief that there is nothing wrong with using 3D assets for backgrounds or objects, as long as it is well hidden and matches the character art, but they sadly do not in this manhwa.
This does change though. The character art sees some incredible improvement. By season 3 the outfits are intricate and beautiful, and some of the dresses worn by Blanche are contenders for most beautiful dress worn by a child in Otome Isekai.
The backgrounds are still not amazing, but the artist does a much better job at hiding it, and you rarely notice it.
▶In conclusion: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope readers do not finish this review assuming I disliked this manhwa at all. I had issues with the pacing of the romance, and the story being spread thin, but I enjoyed the package as a whole.
I was a bit disappointed that the manhwa involved a lot less sewing than the title led me to believe, but I was still very positively surprised by the amount of research the author put into the clothing features in the manhwa.
The story made me smile more than once at the heartwarming scenes between the three main characters, and the story has hooked me on several of its many subplots and I am excited to see where it goes from season 4 onwards.
Finally I want to note that some of the translations into English bothered me a tiny bit. I am not talking about legibility or the title of the manhwa, but the tendency to translate terms Asians will be familiar with into terms more familiar to US Americans. Things like translating "crystalized sugar candy" into "cookies".
 Alternative TitlesSynonyms: I'm the Stepmother, but My Daughter Is Too Cute, I'm Only a Stepmother, but My Daughter Is Just so Cute!, Gyemo-inde Ttar-i Neomu Gwiyeowo Japanese: 계모인데 딸이 너무 귀여워 More titlesInformationType: Manhwa
Volumes: Unknown
Chapters: Unknown
Status: Publishing
Published: Apr 10, 2021 to ?
Genre:
Fantasy
Serialization:
KakaoPage Statistics Ranked: #28452 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #3443
Members: 6,512
Favorites: 41 Available At | Reviews
Filtered Results: 2 / 3
Sort
Your Feelings Categories 
Mar 22, 2025
[More info about my review style can be found on my profile]
▶Summary and recommendation: ----------------------------------------------------------------- [Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom] is an Otome Isekai focused on romance and parents raising a child together. ⚠️This manhwa contains characters describing sexual assault. It is handled quite well and it is not fetishized. Splitting its attention between child care, romance, politics, and much more, [Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom] is a manhwa series that bites off a bit more than it can chew, but still does an admirable job keeping it all together. It is a story filled with interesting and well written characters with a few flaws that I might be focusing on more ... 
May 5, 2023
Reading this manga as it comes out, and so far I am really enjoying the concept. The relationship with the daughter and husband is developed very well and I can see this being a good depedning on the direction it will end up going in, I am loving the humour and if you like a slow burn romance, a little fantasy with minimal hiccups this is the next read for you!
Breif Summary: The main character Abigal has been reborn as a young Princess Blanche's stepmother, and she is determined to break the mold of strict parenting and shower her daughter with love. Now, she has ... |
