Silent Witch Chapter v918 Discussion

"Write an otome game novel with a reverse harem but don't actually have the MC transmitigrate."

That's Silent Witch.

To call this novel filled with tropes is an understatement. Basically every otome trope gets used and more in this novel. Is is executed fine? I suppose so. I don't want to kill myself reading in the perspective of Monica, but if I'm being honest, there were numerous cringy situations and there's a lack of finesse of the situations where Monica gets forced into.

Monica has low self esteem, probably on some sort of autism spectrum, but possesses one of the best magical aptitudes and THE best magician when it comes to calculations. She has a subservient attitude, is a pushover, lacks common sense, and doesn't understand social situations. She also happens to be one of the strongest magicians of all time. This is essentially a rehash of a transmigrated otome game protagonist in which she is flustered, but has OP cheat abilities.

Look, I actually don't think that Monica has a terrible character profile, and nor do I think that her personality has any glaring flaws. Her past and history actually make her a bit endearing, and her conversations stay consistent, with her recuperating throughout the entire novel. The main problem is the story and other characters.

At the point at which I'm writing this review, Monica basically has a reverse harem coming up, and all of the male interests are extremely archetypal or boring. The other side characters, as you might guess, are also horrendous. The ones that stand out the moust are the"tsundere cold type, " and the "perfect young prince with a mysterious background, " Oh, but the list goes on in terms of archetypes. The "noble that cares about face and rank, " the "girl bully, " and the "convenient friend that always supports the protagonist, " the "smart but cold girl, " etc etc.

The fact that these characters exist already degrade the novel to a significant degree. Of course, these boring characters are going to be the main points of interaction for Monica, but the most important thing to note here is how the characters drive the story forward.

It's not just the characters that are full of tropes: the events that happen to Monica. I mean, these events have little to no preamble or prologue, and they just get straight to the action most of the time. Whether it's the bullying scenes, the school festival, or the "assassination" arcs. There is little to no buildup, and most of them are so predictable as to what's going to happen.

Minor spoiler ahead

I had to drop the novel when Monica was confronted with assassins threatening her friend's life. Of course! It showcases her cage around her being slowly unraveled since she would risk her life for her friend! Not. There were a million better ways to handle the situation, but Monica decides to do the s*upidest thing and releases them with no plan and almost gets caught and dies. At this point, I knew that the author had no interest in making a believable plot, and would rather be focused on the reverse harem, romance, and whatnot.

Is this better than standard fare otome game stuff? I suppose so. Is it good? No.