4/5 stars on Goodreads
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| Maiden of the Needle by Zeroki |
Maiden of the Needle is a Japanese light novel. A Tokyo woman finds herself reincarnated
as a baby in a world with fairies and magic, with all the memories of her
previous life. Yui’s new family has the unique ability to weave magic into clothes,
but when it turns out she doesn’t have the ability, the family treats her like
a slave.
At fifteen,
Yui is sold to a man who is hated by her family. But he turns out to be a nice
person and under his care she thrives and she’s finally able to show how
skilled she is both as a seamstress and as a wielder of magic. Fearing for her
safety, he instantly betroths her to the former king who can protect her.
This was a
typical transmigration novel. The world is non-Japanese and organized like a
video game, which Yui soon realizes. There are also elements of hero tropes, with
labyrinths and the final boss that needs to be defeated. The bad guys are truly
evil and good people are purely good. And the heroine turns out to be unique in
her abilities and the saviour of the realm.
The story
was light but interesting, and not in any way unique. Like most books in this
genre, the narrative relied heavily on telling and was a bit all over the place,
though I’ve read worse. The entire backstory is given in the first chapter,
with random infodumps at odd times. Most of the book is from Yui’s first-person
point of view, with occasional third person POVs by other characters.
The first
volume has no romantic plot. Yui is fifteen, which apparently isn’t too young
to become engaged. Her fiancée is in his fifties, which would’ve been gross—was a bit
gross—but he gives to understand that the marriage will be in name only. All
the other potential romantic interests already have their partners.
Unlike most
light novels I’ve read, the first volume doesn’t end in a cliffhanger. It does
set the story for the next volume though, and it sounds interesting enough to
continue reading.
I received
a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.