Dec 22, 2023
A really enjoyable read throughout! There could’ve been more romantic developments re: the genre, but honestly I liked the way things played out, with a larger focus on Thelian growing to understand what it means to care about a person as opposed to fluffy romance moments. It does fit them, and the subtle developments perhaps makes everything all the more satisfying.The worldbuilding and the fresh take on isekai was a treat as well, definitely my favourite plot points! It was satisfying to see the resolution of what is going on with the vitafelars, and a lot of the mysteries being rooted in things that are scientifically explainable is pretty satisfying from a reading perspective, and the sort that makes you want to go back and see if there are any clues in earlier chapters!
One thing that I did notice (and was more noticeable mid-way through the story when the romance begins) was that your chapters have the tendency to have chunks of exposition, and then chunks of dialogue (with minimal dialogue tags and additional actions). When Thelian and Chika are matching wits, I think the back-and-forth works really well, but once Thelian is trying to court her, it does make the romance seem to fall a bit flat since I picture them just standing there and talking for a bit, then moving on to the next scene, if that makes sense? Nevertheless it does technically fit Thelian's character and also their dates and moments keep getting interrupted by plot hahaha, but it’s somewhat hard to tell when his feelings have grown from admiration and interest to /love/. The “I’m glad you’re here, I want you here” outburst is probably one of my fave lines, bc the uncharacteristicness of it makes the romance more tangible imo. it would've been nice to have him say something embarassingly cheesy in the heat of the moment at the wedding LOL ;D
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the direction and interactions, and tbh my favourite kind of romance story is when there is more plot than romance 👀
