Volume 1 synopsis: Drawing on knowledge from her past life, Princess Anisphia has invented her own form of magic called "magicraft." One day, she finds herself sharing a roof — and her research — with Euphyllia, a brilliantly gifted noblewoman beloved by the spirits!? Their chance meeting sets in motion a journey that will change the fate of the kingdom and transform both of their futures!
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.