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A review by renpuspita
Hello, I am a Witch and my Crush Wants me to Make a Love Potion! by Eiko Mutsuhana
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It's pained me to say that I didn't enjoy this like I want to. Hello, I am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion is the third light novel published by Cross Infinite World that I had read after Beast Blood vol 1 and 2. The title, while quite handful, is what catch my interest. The synopsis and premise are interesting. However, my problems is with the writing itself and the translation. I can't read in Japanese, so I can only turn to its translation whether in English or in my native, Indonesian.
Honestly to said the problem lay in translation is not that true since I had read Charis Messier's translation in Beast Blood and I remember I don't have the problem while reading the translation version. But, the writing in the Witch and Love Potion (I shorten it to make it easy to write) is driving me bonkers. I think Messier try to translate it too literally so that's why the writing feel juvenile. So many repetition. Like Rose, the main heroine, is a witch. Witch can't lie, witch is different, witch is abcdefu I want to throw my e-reader and beg it to stop with the repetition. Some of inner dialogue also not written in italic or in punctuation mark, make it hard to distinguished from actual dialogue. The dialogue itself kinda feel like I read a manga, so it's feel weird to read it in the form of light novel.
The story itself actually is not that bad per se. Rose is your typical shy and anti-social heroine that, surprise surprise, didn't care that much about herself but I kinda related with her. Harij is okay, he can be too overbearing and demanding, but he's care for Rose with his own way. I like the Princess, Billaura, although her marriage to a king who 40-years older than her and she want to love him as a wife is an..ewww. But, since this is happen in medieval setting and political marriage between man so old and an underage girl were quite common back then, so I just kind of let it go since the love life of Billaura is not the main focus. The romance is very, very much slooooow burn until the end. Rose keep her one sided love for 4 years and Harij can be too oblivious at first but all will end well.
Honestly, Witch and Love Potion is perfect for a cozy fantasy romance reading with a low stake, but some meaningful content. Such as, people always fear what they don't understand so they were antagonize Rose at first but when they know she is a good witch, their attitude changed. It's just the writing that drive me nuts, in which lessen my enjoyment of reading. One star for an interesting premise and one star more for Vient's illustration that is very beautiful.
Honestly to said the problem lay in translation is not that true since I had read Charis Messier's translation in Beast Blood and I remember I don't have the problem while reading the translation version. But, the writing in the Witch and Love Potion (I shorten it to make it easy to write) is driving me bonkers. I think Messier try to translate it too literally so that's why the writing feel juvenile. So many repetition. Like Rose, the main heroine, is a witch. Witch can't lie, witch is different, witch is abcdefu I want to throw my e-reader and beg it to stop with the repetition. Some of inner dialogue also not written in italic or in punctuation mark, make it hard to distinguished from actual dialogue. The dialogue itself kinda feel like I read a manga, so it's feel weird to read it in the form of light novel.
The story itself actually is not that bad per se. Rose is your typical shy and anti-social heroine that, surprise surprise, didn't care that much about herself but I kinda related with her. Harij is okay, he can be too overbearing and demanding, but he's care for Rose with his own way. I like the Princess, Billaura, although her marriage to a king who 40-years older than her and she want to love him as a wife is an..ewww. But, since this is happen in medieval setting and political marriage between man so old and an underage girl were quite common back then, so I just kind of let it go since the love life of Billaura is not the main focus. The romance is very, very much slooooow burn until the end. Rose keep her one sided love for 4 years and Harij can be too oblivious at first but all will end well.
Honestly, Witch and Love Potion is perfect for a cozy fantasy romance reading with a low stake, but some meaningful content. Such as, people always fear what they don't understand so they were antagonize Rose at first but when they know she is a good witch, their attitude changed. It's just the writing that drive me nuts, in which lessen my enjoyment of reading. One star for an interesting premise and one star more for Vient's illustration that is very beautiful.
Moderate: Bullying and Stalking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship