beta
... because I forgot what it was and didn't check my own review first. I couldn't comment on it back then, so I will repost my review as a comment, since my opinion remains unchanged.
I will note that if the story does change in some obscure future chapter, I'm not interested in hearing or being berated about it. 14 chapters should be enough to assess at least some extent of a main character's personality. And that is... Well, read for yourself, I'm out.
*Sidenote: I just read up to Chapter 15 - with that I mean I read until I reached it, but didn't read Chapter 15 itself.
So I was going into this story blindly, after an exhausting day out at the local royal castle turned museum with my sister. It was a display of a vain collection of goods, devoid of any rhyme or reason. But even walking through a bunch of elaborately decorated rooms that had nothing but pretty junk and loads of mirrors, I can now appreciate the true thought and love that must have gone into this showcase by direct comparison to this story. Color me surprised, wenn I saw the words "Strong Female Lead" listed with the popular tags here. Because I see nothing of that. But please, let me elaborate why the protagonist is a bleak plank of wood, and why I actually like the Nacht family.
[Part one: The relationship with her Sister and Family, as well as the FL herself in her first life]
We go into the story, seeing a character looking nothing like a Maid, greeting her beloved sister, the sister that everone else also loved, while gaining spiteful looks herself. I just say that because after a few chapters, the story decides to make her look more pitiful and gives her the constant identity of her sister's maid at that same age, so I leave that information here without further remark and move on to the actual gripes I have with the story and, more so, its protagonist, Sienna.
Sienna's family supposedly mistreated her her whole life: She was taken from an orphanage, which means she's not a noble, she will have to prove herself first, as nobody knows her. True, she must have had it harder, but first, she wasn't actually treated that badly. Yes, her sister wanted that great room and wasn't declined, but she was also a noble. Sienna had her own room, was thrilled about it, and it wasn't even that small either. A noble would have different standards. Also, Sienna wasn't shown to ever ask for a room like the "Moon's Cradle" in the first place. Luck comes to those who are bold, because there is no such thing as luck in this world in the first place - there's only toil and gain.
Of course, if the sister asks for it and nobody else needs it, why not give it to her? What nonsense to be mad about that, even as an adult. Of course we know that Lorraina is shit, she also seems to have the depth of a cardboard cutout, with her instantaneous hatred of Sienna's entire existence. She hated her, even before you could blame her hatred on the feeling of inferiority because of Sienna's vast magic powers. And even afterwards, even considering that she was afraid of her understanding that her powers were stolen and somehow ratting her out (without evidence, no less), just killing her would be enough. And even if she felt threatened by her, which shouldn't have been the case right away, it was far too overboard.
But on that topic: Does Sienna have vast magic powers? Apparently, I'd say, as it is made obvious she's going to be the first contractor of that "Named" necklace. Also, after stealing her powers, Lorraina splits that necklace by accident, so it's obvious its meant to be due to MCs powers she had received. Even Sienna herself is, for once, not a complete imbecile and gets it right off the bat.
So, unless we are instructed further, Lorraina hated Sienna from the beginning and for no reason at all, but to the extent that she desperately wished to kill her as painfully as possible; so much so, that she's devastated as she realizes that Sienna has somehow gotten ahold of a vial of poison and is about to kill herself fast.
Aside from her though, no one desperately hates her. Yes, she got some harsh remarks thrown at her, after being a sad blob for years without trying to do anything but being a maid. They have maids, they never needed you to be one. So even as the author herself states later on that her sleeping in a maids room is an insult to the house of Nacht, she literally reads into it that saying that was an insult to HER somehow, because she always lived in that maid's room in her first life. Now, how does she not understand that even back then, nobody was happy with her being a fucking sad sack of bones, pretending to be a housemaid, while they brought her in as a potential future Archduchess? I'm guessing there will be more involved, like tricks that made them hate or dislike her in the first place, but in reality, her shitty behavior would have warranted dislike in the first place and she was also of no use.
It wasn't supposed to be an act of making a happy family in the first place, when they took her in, so why would someone decidedly useless be of any help? Yet, they never expelled her. She was the one to put herself down, they simply didn't hinder her, which also wasn't their job. Yet, as I said, I'm sure they will be further excused by being under the influence of magic or something like that.
Anyway, the family didn't do much wrong, it was her that was gullible and naïve the entire fucking time.
I get it, she was young, so she did a lot of stupid things, but here's the true problem: You'd think she would change that in her second life.
Spoiler alert: She doesn't.
[Part two: Her second life and whatever she makes of it]
Her sister Lorraina has not yet shown up, FL says she will arrive only half a year later. MC's now driven by nightmares, loves sleeping in a maid's room and generally exhausts everyone around her by constantly moping around like a sour puss.
Her family nothing but dotes on her, even though they are busy and have no reason to. But the story had at least the minimum decency of hinting at the fact that they are influenced by what seems to be sentiments of their first life. I assume it's similar to the case of "Actually, I was the Real One" where FL was brought back after her death, by someone who couldn't stand what happened after she had died, as a result of her death.
So maybe someone was sad, maybe it was found out that she was framed or the magic I assumed they were under was broken. So they rewound time somehow and now have emotional attachments due to that forgotten future, I presume. But that's just something I expect, I have no clue about it. Anyway.
They are now being blissfully unaware of what happened, only started to know her and are overly protective and kind towards her. But all she does is sitting there, rejecting everything they are trying to give and busy with constantly breaking down. I get it, she has a trauma from what has happened and it could be ONE way of reacting to something like that, but here's the thing: Why would I want to watch someone like that?
For a story, why would I want to read about a character that can only cry and lament about something she never had and won't even reluctantly TRY to obtain in the first place?
She has all the power - even if she really doesn't have affections for her family yet, at least she could pretend to have them and work toward a better future. People who have suffered a lot are usually crafty and more resilient than others. If you have time to mope like that, you must have led an awfully good life. And don't get it fucked up, this isn't a traumatized child. She's an adult in mind.
If you see that people treat you well, work on having them dote on you. Just because that other bitch is coming in half a year, doesn't mean that all is lost. Make them LIKE you, then, maybe, they won't hate you already when she comes. WTF is wrong with her brain?
"I'm afraid to be disliked and discarded by them again... so I will make them dislike me, so they will discard me as soon as possible."
Bruh, if we go by what we were shown, she was already as useless as it gets in her first life and was never discarded. So what is the big idea here? I don't even understand her thought process that went into this, and frankly, I don't want to understand. I'm constantly in and out of depression myself, but her sad display of nothingness is simply astonishing. You have a second chance and they give you everything you could want, so why don't you try to curry their favor? Why wouldn't you try to counter Lorraina before she even arrives? You already know all her ploys, so you can simply outsmart her. You also won't have to share your magical powers with her again, taking away her advantage from the first run.
But instead, she sees the fucking necklace and is like: "If that was my magic to begin with, at least that means I have another way of killing myself." - Bitch, you don't need some elaborate plan with a crazy magic artifact, just fucking throw yourself out the window or take a knife to your throat. Since no one seems to supervise you enough to do as much as to keep you from sleeping in the storage room all the time, they wouldn't even notice. It just seems so ridiculous and braindead, I can only laugh at that pretend-tragic heroine shit.
Just end your existence if you have nothing else to do with it, but stop acting as if you had to resort to such complex ways to do it, in order to make it more dramatic. In modern times, she would be that person to announce their death wish on TikTok instead of actually seeking help. SmH.
[Part three: In fact, why don't you just kill yourself and be over with?]
Seriously, just end yourself if you want to, you bleak fucking fuck. Why are you here? Why are you someone who was given a second chance? It's not like you appreciate it.
**Also, because I feel like people might tilt if I don't mention that: obviously, I'm talking about this specific fictional character, not a real person. But you wouldn't have the same circumstances as this character, because they are unique. As you can't compare and adult who was abused as a child and a child that was abused up until a while ago, you can't compare normal cases to this one. And I said this doesn't particularly add up, but it might be adding up for some people in reality, but I still don't wish to watch such a thing. If someone doesn't want help, leave them be, because you can't help someone if they don't want it, if it's nothing tangible, like a physical injury or a money problem.
Anyway, I'm obviously not telling some random person to die, but if you acted like her with her mental age, I would definitely abandon you as a lost case. I'm not a therapist, it's not my job, so I have limits in how much I would do for someone if they don't want to get better.