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Review of “My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 2” by Satoru Yamaguchi

EisahOct 1, 2022, 4:34:32 PM

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Check here for a Braille version: https://ko-fi.com/braille

My friend https://www.minds.com/ti_tacos/ recommended this book to me.

Whereas Volume 1 covered the setup that would occur before the events of the game, Volume 2 covers the events of the game. Katarina has worked hard for years preparing to face the Academy of Magic, knowing that there are a bunch of Bad Ends lying in wait for her. Now she’s fifteen and it’s finally time for her to attend.

We also discover that Sophia is the reincarnation of her friend, Acchan, from her previous life, but she doesn’t know this.

At the Academy she meets the Wielder of Light, Maria, and, as she tends to do, befriends her. All of her friends excel in classes and are picked to be new student council members. Katarina does average, but because everyone else insists she be part of the student council, she ends up being a member, too. The only former members left on the council are Nicol, who was a year older than the others, and a cousin of his named Sirius, the student council president. Everything is going pretty well for a while.

However, things take a turn for the worse when suddenly one day, a bunch of other noble girls confront Katarina for bullying the protagonist. But she’s never done this, so her friends all stand up for her, along with Maria, the one she’s accused of bullying.

Everyone is accused why the girls would take such a great risk to frame Katarina, but Jeord suspects Dark Magic is involved. Dark Magic is a secret magic that can only be obtained through human sacrifice. So someone is using it, and for some reason they’re targeting Katarina.

Maria is kidnapped and they can’t find her anywhere – likely because she wields Light magic and is the only one that can sense Dark Magic.

Katarina remembers some information her friend from her previous life told her about a ‘secret route’ in the game. From this memory, she realizes the student council president is behind everything. But when she brings it up to him, he realizes he has to get rid of her, and he uses his magic to put her into a sleep she won’t wake up from.

While she’s asleep she returns to her previous life in her memories and carries on as she used to. But, as she lives through her old life, things slowly start to fall apart. She talks to her friend about the otome game she’s playing, and mentions that Alan wasn’t so bad in real life. Then realizes it’s weird to talk about him ‘in real life’, he was just a game character!

Her friend reminds her that she doesn’t belong to that world anymore. She belongs to another world now, and the people there miss her. The world starts disintegrating around her as she realizes she has to go back. She asks Acchan for the answers about the secret route, and misses hearing Acchan tell her that she’ll be there as Sophia.

Armed with the new information, Katarina goes to save Maria in the secret chamber Sirius is holding her in. She also knows Sirius’s real name now, even though she doesn’t know why that’s important. She and her friends go to rescue Maria, and Katarina offers to be there for Sirius through hard times, and calls him by his real name: Raphael.

As it turns out, the president they knew as Sirius was kidnapped at a young age. His mother was used as a sacrifice by Marquess Dieke. As it turns out, he was the illegitimate son of Marquis dieke and a former maid. However, while his mother loved him and he was healthy and happy, the wife of the Marquis gave birth to a sickly son. She decided to use Dark Magic to transfer her son into Raphael’s body, using his mother as the sacrifice.

It didn’t work. He gained the boy’s memories, but he was still himself. However, his mother was dead, and he knew that if the Marquess found out it failed she would kill him, so he pretended to be Sirius. The Marquess then had the man who performed the ritual killed, after revealing she’d already killed his family. He vows revenge, and touches Raphael before he dies, thus leaving his voice in Raphael’s head. For many years he convinced Raphael to take vengeance for his mother, but Raphael finally realizes that the voice is not himself and is instead the other man pushing him.

After this Raphael turns himself in for everything. He’s taken out of the school and ends up being part of the Ministry – though he no longer has Dark Magic, they want to keep a close eye on him, and he’s magically gifted still.

In the end, Nicol graduates. Everyone is infatuated with Katarina instead of Maria, including Maria herself. And Katarina has finally gotten to the end of the game and avoided all the Bad Ends.

I was surprised that the author said he published this book 2 months after the first. They must have been written together. I glanced at the back of the third book and that seems like it’s true – he mentions he only planned two books but then he kept going. So it was quite surprising, because I thought the second book was a lot more polished than the first!

Although there was still a bit of repetitiveness, it’s decreased a lot from the first book. It might just be me, but it seemed like the formatting was improved a bit, too. I felt like the first book seemed “crammed”, and even though the second book goes with the same style I felt like the spacing was better.

This book does have its weaknesses. One thing is that with so many characters, it’s hard for them to all be given much time in the story. They each get a little bit, but some fall into the background. The plot is also a bit disconnected from any of them. Sirius was related to Nicol, but that hardly plays a part in it at all. It’s just mentioned.

I wouldn’t say that Katarina ISN’T proactive – she does take steps to solve things on her own. But, the solution here didn’t really come from her. She’s handed the solution in a dream with Acchan, and she doesn’t even understand the significance of it. I would have liked more if it was something she personally did.

That said, while it had its weaknesses, I overall enjoyed the book quite a bit. I criticize the way she got the solution, but I did like the part with Acchan. It’s a reminder that her previous life was important to her, too. Other parts of the book also highlight her previous life and how it was meaningful to others instead of forgetting that she had a former family and former friends. For example, how her friend felt when she found out that Katarina died.

I generally enjoyed the bits between the characters. I liked Jeord’s part, where he expressed his views on everyone else who was a rival for his fiancée. I think the plot was an interesting one – I just wish it had been tied in better with everyone else. Especially since Nicol had a familial connection, I think Nicol could have been better implemented in the story.

Overall it continues to be a fun series, and I will be reading book 3. I would recommend it to people who enjoy this genre.

Next time will be “Danganronpa: The Animation, Volume 1” by Takashi Tsukimi.

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"Anthem" https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-anthem-by-ayn-rand-1395054370269171723

"Spice & Wolf Vol.2" https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-spice-wolf-volume-2-by-isuna-hasekura-1397584117876396040

"Spice & Wolf Vol.3" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-spice-wolf-volume-3-by-isuna-hasekura-1400209025269764103

"The Elements of Style" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-the-elements-of-style-by-william-strunk-jr-1400925092455649291

"The Great Gatsby" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-the-great-gatsby-by-f-scott-fitzgerald-1402686087800819722

"Heidi" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-heidi-by-johanna-spyri-1405629505891995656