A young woman wakes up in the body of Penelope Eckhart, the villainess from the Otome game she'd been playing when she fell asleep that night. Furious that she's been taken not just from her own life but trapped in the body of a character who is destined to die she sets out to at very least keep the five love interests from killing her on the spot. Given Penelope's reputation as the "Mad Dog of Eckhart," this seems nigh on impossible. Especially since the longer she lives as Penelope the more she realizes that she may have had some valid reasons for being a villain after all.
This is going to be a long one, so TDLR: Excellent Villainess story.
I was really excited pretty much immediately as honestly, it seemed like this game that our MC gets sucked into was basically made for her. Penelope's life is eerily similar to the MCs; both girls are orphans adopted into rich families, both have brothers that seemingly hate her, a negligent father, and in both cases, the girls enter their adopted families' lives after a tragedy struck. The big difference between the two girls is how they react to things the MC avoids her adopted family at all costs while Penelope is dedicated to making everyone's life a living nightmare. The MC spends much of the book talking about how abused/neglected she and Penelope were/are, which they definitely are, while she completely misses that she's been a brat. Which is understandable to an extent given how young these characters are, however, it becomes less so as Penelope and the MC age. The MC consistently reminds us of how unfair her situation is while never once considering how unfair and confusing it must have been for her IRL brothers and Penelope's.
And that is what makes the MC the Villainess. It's not that she does anything exceptionally evil in this it's that she's lacking in empathy. She's unable to see past her own pain to see that those around her are suffering just as much as she is both IRL and as Penelope. She's the only possible victim in all situations, even when there is evidence to the contrary. In all cases for the love interests, there is clear-cut evidence that these men are facing incredible challenges from having a stepmother trying to assassinate one to slavery in another and she completely disregards how this affects them. And while yes in the love interests' reactions are over the top they aren't any worse than the MC's manipulation of them or events.
She is the perfect Villain. She's absolutely infuriating at times, her choices make little to no sense over and over again. Whatever sympathy she establishes for herself and Penelope comes crashing down in the next chapter as she projects her IRL life onto those who now surround her as Penelope. She refuses to see the people in Penelope's life as anything but characters in a game and treats them as such. She is essentially stunted at whatever age she was when she joined her IRL family, she is so dedicated to the fact that she is the victim that she is virtually incapable of interpreting events in any way that may make her even slightly responsible for any of her existence. She's gloriously evil.
I will definitely be continuing this series as I have a strong feeling Penelope is going to have a rude awakening very soon!
As always thanks to Yen Press and NetGalley for the eArc!
Comments
Post a Comment