The Soulless Duchess

[More info about my review style can be found on my profile] ▶Summary and recommendation: ----------------------------------------------------------------- [The Soulless Duchess] is an old manhwa filled with tropes that are now a bit overdone. The first 50 or so chapters of this manhwa is very rough. I was planning on dropping it at around chapter 30 and giving it a fairly negative review, and I still think that would have been fair of me. It improves a lot. Every aspect of the manhwa gets better throughout the story, and in the end I was fairly satisfied with my time with it. 🟠 I somewhat recommend [The Soulless Duchess] with allthe previously mentioned caveats. It goes from a fairly bad story to a decent one that outstays its welcome. ▶Story: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As mentioned in the summary, the opening chapters are very weak. Most of my criticisms are of the first 50 or so chapters. I enjoyed my time with the manhwa afterwards. This is a story about a noble lady being transported back in time and using her knowledge of the future to take revenge on those who wronged her. A classic revenge isekai premise. She gets into a contract marriage with the cold duke of the north but then real feelings start to blossom. Another classic isekai premise. The way the story introduces the premise and the characters feels awkward however. It does not take itself seriously enough, and the characters act too careless to build up any tension. For the first 50 chapters the manhwa is more or less just a power fantasy where the protagonist Yvona can do no wrong and everything is handed to her on a silver platter. Yvona summons big monsters in the middle of the street without any consequences, when a central part of the plot is how she does not want people to find out about her summoning. If she needs to learn of a secret plot, she will just happen to walk past the masterminds in the street while they are divulging their deepest secrets to themselves, out loud, and when Yvona who has previously had no experience in the public eye has to navigate the complex social space of noble ladies, she is suddenly an expert. It feels like the story is biting off more than it can chew, and topics like the fight for women's rights did not get the amount of attention and care it needed. This is despite the manhwa overstaying its welcome for more than 50 chapters after the natural climax of the manhwa. I enjoyed the story arc after the climax and found it really satisfying, but I was also waiting for it to end. ▶Setting: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The setting of the manhwa is The Empire of Parama. It isn't very clear where or what kind of setting this is. As an example, they have locomotives; but appear to be fighting using sword and shield. The only thing that the setting is firm about is that there is an empire with a shallow version of European nobility. There is a demon king and a church. ▶Characters: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The protagonist Yvona is one of my main gripes with the story. The Yvona from before she traveled a year into the past was so naive and easily exploited that she does not feel even slightly like the same person as the one from after time traveling. She is headstrong, clever, and easily outsmarts anyone trying to backstab her. She stands far above her peers. While her past self had problems with her self confidence, thought nothing of herself and clung to anyone willing to spare her a glance. The male lead appears bland at first, without many strong defining characteristics, but throughout the story he evolves into the character with the most depth and thought put into him. His story is well written and while too fantastical to be relateable, it is very easy to understand his struggle. The villains are basic and one dimensional. Rude and self centered and the story does not do a lot to develop them. They are just obstacles for the protagonists. ▶Romance: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have read an Otome Isekai with a cold duke of the north, you have already seen most of the things this romance can offer. "I will buy everything in the store", lack of communication creating misunderstandings and doubt. It has the usual tropes. The northern duke of the empire who is known by everyone to be cold and uncaring fall for the protagonist immediately, and the romance slowly blossoms from there. It is a quite lovely romance story though, with affection that goes both ways. I really appreciated the amount of care Yvona showed the duke, and how she becomes someone he can lean on as well. Like every other aspect of the manhwa, it takes a while before the romance gets going, and you will have to get very far before they act like the newlywed pair that they actually are, and the characters can be a bit dense, causing the romance plot to drag a bit. ▶Artwork: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The character artwork is alright. It gets better, but it never stands out as particularly pretty. It struggles with communicating strong emotions and expressions very well. The backgrounds are almost exclusively 3D assets, which matches the character art but does not look very good. Some objects such as horse carriages are particularly rough. ▶In conclusion: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It started out really poorly, but managed to go from fairly bad to fairly decent. It is hard to recommend it with so many other Otome Isekai out there, but it is not so bad I would outright recommend against reading it. Especially if all you want is a female led power fantasy. In that case I really recommend it. My biggest issue with it was the inconsistencies between the protagonist before the timetravel and the protagonist afterwards. They are so different it does not feel like the same person. The male lead on the other hand feels very consistent and I was pleasantly surprised by his story. I am also grateful that the gay couple was never villainized for being gay, even if they are bad people. Also I have no idea why it is called [The soulless duchess]. It has nothing to do with the story.