[DeepL Translation - needs review] Volume 1 Introduction: Princess Anisphere, who created her own magic, "Magick", with the knowledge from her previous life. One day, she decides to begin her research while living with the genius daughter Yufilia, who is loved by the spirits! Their encounter changes the country and their future!
(Translator: DeepL)
I'm kind of torn this book. There's a lot that's enjoyable to watch unfold - new characters and developments, navigating the political side, etc. While there's various things about the larger plot I find myself questioning or criticizing, overall I enjoy the story enough to look past them. There isn't much action or fighting in this book, it's largely politics, invention, and problem solving - which are all things I enjoy. While the politics are a bit less exciting in this book, I thought the invention store of things made up for it. The problem solving, I half bought, but I feel like the supposed underlying program is really not fleshed out well (only asserted) at this point. Still like I said, not the biggest deal.
What I really don't like is a lot of the romance writing. If I was just grading it on this, I'd have given the book 2 stars instead of 3. Various relationship dynamics have changed, in a way that I found really unpleasant, and the author has a pretty crappy model of consent in the first place (and tries to play it off as cute). One scene in particular left an extremely sour taste in my mouth, and really lowered my opinion of 2 of the characters involved.
I still plan to read the rest of the series, but am going to take a bit of a break first.