Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > A Magical Girl Retires

I fell in love with the cover and the summary of this novella immediately, and the fact it was a translation sealed the deal on me wanting to read it because I not only try to aim to read translations as often as I can but I’ve also been loving the Korean translations I’ve read in the last year or so.

First, a caveat: I read the eARC for this on a Kindle Paperwhite, and this may have messed with the formatting somewhat. This title does have some illustrations and as Amazon has it classified as a manga in hardcover format I worry I might have missed some of the illustrations due to reading it on a Paperwhite. I can’t know for sure, so I’m putting this statement here just to let any readers of this review know I might not have had the full experience with this title that some others had.

I really did love the story and plot as it was first put to us in this book: When do we stop being “girls”? When do we actually “grow up”? Is there a point in time when a Magical Girl stops being magical? Is it ever too late for someone to become magical, or can we bypass that issue by giving some magic to every girl so she can navigate the world with a little more power under her belt?

It’s impossible to read this novella and not think of South Korea’s 4B movement, which has only been growing in strength and numbers since 2015-2016 (that I know of). The women of South Korea are rejecting Korean culture due to its inherently patriarchal and misogynistic nature and often outright boycotting the presence of any males in their lives–sometimes even to the point of having no male friendships. The central conflict in this book hinges on how to handle feminine rage as the result of mistreatment by the patriarchy.

Sadly, this story is split in half for me. While the first half is entertaining and read smoothly for me, the second half is rather chaotic and doesn’t read as smoothly, resulting in a great deal of confusion on my part as a reader. The narrative and story felt a little choppy in places, and the ending didn’t quite make as much sense to me as I would’ve liked. While I absolutely loved how you could tie this story into the 4B movement, it really felt like an incomplete metaphor.

In the end it was fine, but I would’ve liked a little more to chew on.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review is rated three stars or lower, so it will not be posted to my social media. Thank you.

File Under: Fantasy/LGBTQ Fantasy/Novella/Urban Fantasy