I agree with all of the other reviews thus far. This is a delightful, playful, easy read that can easily engross readers.
I enjoyed my time with Ina. She’s relatable and a good lens to view the intense world of Meu through. The first person perspective works well because the audience gains understanding with Ina. This can make some lingering questions a bit challenging to wait for clarity, but that’s part of Ina’s journey.
I appreciate that all of the men serve narrative purposes and are different. I would have liked more time with human Mede, but alas, perhaps a future book!
I appreciate that Ina shows affection to all men, and flirts with them in equal measure. Though claims are made for her, she is her own person and leaves her heart open to whomever she decides. It feels modern and relatable, and hey who wouldn’t want to have the ability to move between 5 beautiful suitors?
Mai is very talented at action scenes as well. In the midst of descriptions of the gorgeousness of characters, I found myself really enjoying how she grounded the chaos of fights, flights, falls and more through Ina’s perspective. That hyper focused scale helps sell Ina’s scope in all of this.
Preferential analysis, I would have liked a little more time with Ina’s first world and her connections with Ami to give a little more weight to the conclusion, and a little more time of Ina mourning her death. But again that is purely a me preference and does not take from the overall story or delivery.
I really appreciate that in the end, this is not actually a romance. It’s a story of a young woman finding herself. All these beautiful men move the story along and play a part in the plot, but they are not THE plot. Just as we are our own people in life and whom we love does not define our entire existence, Ina is more than her suitors. Spending the last few chapters focusing on her parents and finding out her past versus her making a decision on who to love is a great choice.
Well done Mai. You’ve got a fandom and thousands of readers, and a foundation to build and entire series or comfortably leave this novel as a standalone. Well done all around, and I look forward to your next works.