Villains are Destined to Die, Volume 7

Villains are Destined to Die, Volume 7 - 320 pages

SUOL, Gwon Gyeoeul (Original Creator), Chiho Christie (Letterer), David Odell (Translator), Ah Cho (Translator)

Series Summary (From Volume 1 on Goodreads)

A villain living life in hard mode... whose every path leads to death."

Playing Daughter of the Duke Love Project as the easy mode heroine, Ivonne, makes charming the male characters a breeze. But once you switch to hard mode and step into the shoes of Penelope, the misunderstood villain, it’s nearly impossible to even stay alive! So imagine the shock of suddenly waking up in Penelope’s body―you know right away that your life is on the line. With love interests who will kill you if their affection meters drop too low and the inability to speak without choosing from pre-selected dialogue, it quickly becomes clear that Penelope’s chances have been rigged from the start―and this villain might just be destined to die!

Review

Things really seem to be going from bad to worse!  With how much Penelope pushes away everyone around her, I'm back to theorizing she's going to be (at least for a while) portrayed as a villain in spite of/because of her efforts to defy her fate.  

Villains are Destined to Die, Volumes 5 & 6

Villains are Destined to Die, Volume 5 - 272 pages

Villains are Destined to Die, Volume 6 - 288 pages

SUOL, Gwon Gyeoeul (Original Creator), Chiho Christie (Letterer), David Odell (Translator), Ah Cho (Translator)

Series Summary (From Volume 1 on Goodreads)

A villain living life in hard mode... whose every path leads to death."

Playing Daughter of the Duke Love Project as the easy mode heroine, Ivonne, makes charming the male characters a breeze. But once you switch to hard mode and step into the shoes of Penelope, the misunderstood villain, it’s nearly impossible to even stay alive! So imagine the shock of suddenly waking up in Penelope’s body―you know right away that your life is on the line. With love interests who will kill you if their affection meters drop too low and the inability to speak without choosing from pre-selected dialogue, it quickly becomes clear that Penelope’s chances have been rigged from the start―and this villain might just be destined to die!

Review

Things really started ramping up in these two volumes!  An unforeseen changeup in how "The System" works has really thrown a massive wrench into things.  This, combined with the way Penelope treats one of her "love interests" as more game mechanic than human being had me wondering if she was headed down a dark road in spite of her efforts (or perhaps because of them).  ...At least until the reveal at the end of volume 6.  

Villains are Destined to Die, Volumes 1 - 4

Villains are Destined to Die, Volume 1 - 264 pages

Villains are Destined to Die, Volume 2 - 270 pages

Villains are Destined to Die, Volume 3 - 288 pages

Villains are Destined to Die, Volume 4 - 272 pages

SUOL, Gwon Gyeoeul (Original Creator), Chiho Christie (Letterer), David Odell (Translator), Ah Cho (Translator)

Series Summary (From Volume 1 on Goodreads)

A villain living life in hard mode... whose every path leads to death."

Playing Daughter of the Duke Love Project as the easy mode heroine, Ivonne, makes charming the male characters a breeze. But once you switch to hard mode and step into the shoes of Penelope, the misunderstood villain, it’s nearly impossible to even stay alive! So imagine the shock of suddenly waking up in Penelope’s body―you know right away that your life is on the line. With love interests who will kill you if their affection meters drop too low and the inability to speak without choosing from pre-selected dialogue, it quickly becomes clear that Penelope’s chances have been rigged from the start―and this villain might just be destined to die!

Review

My initial impression did waver a bit, given that some of the "character development" can occasionally feel a little close to Penelope trying/needing to "fix" her abusers in order to make any progress, let alone stay alive.  I am glad I gave it some time, though.  While it can lean a bit heavily on internal monologuing, the pace and worldbuilding are still decent enough, without too much exposition.  What's more, the full-color illustrations are absolutely gorgeous!  

The Color of Earth, by Kim Dong Hwa

The Color of Earth (Color Trilogy #1), by Kim Dong Hwa, 320 pages

The surest way to get me to read a book is to tell me that it's been frequently challenged.  Apparently this one has made the list recently, and I wanted to know why.  It's manhwa (Korean manga) about a young girl named Ehwa, living in a quaint Korean village with her widowed mother.  Ehwa learns about becoming a woman, sex, and falling in love- but in the most chaste, tasteful way I can imagine.  I found it a little slow-moving, but the story is sweet and thoughtful, and only objectionable if you were scandalized by Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.