Update: having caught up to the most recent chapter, ch 69, I'll say this series and the characters really grow a lot. Sometimes in very unexpected ways. Even while there's things I'm critical of, with the exception of one very disappointing storyline, I'm really impressed with the way the author develops the characters and story. It won't be to everyone's taste, but if you don't mind long drama (that is sometimes a bit too drawn out), the series really has a lot to offer. Bonus: one of the main characters seems to be aromantic (though I wouldn't be surprised if this changes at the end). If you're coming here from the anime, you may want to just skip to vol 5, ch 21, since they're identical.
Language: If you're going to try this series, I'd recommend checking out the anime adaptation first. It really brings it to life very well, and it's a good way to absorb some of the posh/お嬢様 vocabulary. That vocab (along with some food names and such) is the hard part of this, and a lot of it is repeated quite frequently. Otoh the handwriting and font selection in this volume are excellent, in terms of readability (at least compared to many other manga). It's also very easy to distinguish characters, who the speaker , and what's said aloud vs what's only in the speaker's head. This felt a bit easier than its current L28 suggests. I find series like ぼっち・ざ・ろく and Fate/kaleid Prisma Ilya much more challenging.
Volume 1: The story itself is both good and bad. Given the ridiculous starting premise, and various situations that are a bit contrived, it's good not take take it too seriously. The story really thrives on misunderstandings, melodrama, and hot/cold characters, as well as an intentional blurring of fiction and reality, via its cafe setting. Somehow it does all this whole still maintaining a very sugary feeling. Things never really feel dark so far (Note: that will change in later volumes), despite the melodrama, and the MC is quite likeable.
The characters aren't the deepest, but they all have something underlying to them that makes them interesting (for most of them, this will be revealed in later volumes). The MC is an interesting set of contradictions. She's incredibly emotionally intelligent, but also really dense; fake but also quite sincere. She also seems like (spoiler for later volumes: she may be aromantic). The tsundere lead has actual reasons for being tsundere (work and personal).
Anyway maybe I'm being a but unfair by giving it a 3, considering how much I'm enjoying it. You'll have to judge for yourself.
Update: having caught up to the most recent chapter, ch 69, I'll say this series and the characters really grow a lot. Sometimes in very unexpected ways. Even while there's things I'm critical of, with the exception of one very disappointing storyline, I'm really impressed with the way the author develops the characters and story. It won't be to everyone's taste, but if you don't mind long drama (that is sometimes a bit too drawn out), the series really has a lot to offer. Bonus: one of the main characters seems to be aromantic (though I wouldn't be surprised if this changes at the end). If you're coming here from the anime, you may want to just skip to vol 5, ch 21, since they're identical.
Language: If you're going to try this series, I'd recommend checking out the anime adaptation first. It really brings it to life very well, and it's a good way to absorb some of the posh/お嬢様 vocabulary. That vocab (along with some food names and such) is the hard part of this, and a lot of it is repeated quite frequently. Otoh the handwriting and font selection in this volume are excellent, in terms of readability (at least compared to many other manga). It's also very easy to distinguish characters, who the speaker , and what's said aloud vs what's only in the speaker's head. This felt a bit easier than its current L28 suggests. I find series like ぼっち・ざ・ろく and Fate/kaleid Prisma Ilya much more challenging.
Volume 1: The story itself is both good and bad. Given the ridiculous starting premise, and various situations that are a bit contrived, it's good not take take it too seriously. The story really thrives on misunderstandings, melodrama, and hot/cold characters, as well as an intentional blurring of fiction and reality, via its cafe setting. Somehow it does all this whole still maintaining a very sugary feeling. Things never really feel dark so far (Note: that will change in later volumes), despite the melodrama, and the MC is quite likeable.
The characters aren't the deepest, but they all have something underlying to them that makes them interesting (for most of them, this will be revealed in later volumes). The MC is an interesting set of contradictions. She's incredibly emotionally intelligent, but also really dense; fake but also quite sincere. She also seems like (spoiler for later volumes: she may be aromantic). The tsundere lead has actual reasons for being tsundere (work and personal).
Anyway maybe I'm being a but unfair by giving it a 3, considering how much I'm enjoying it. You'll have to judge for yourself.