"How did it come to this?" Mia asks herself as she faces the gullotine. A revolution in the empire has led to the imprisonment and eventual execution of the crown princess of the Tearmoon Empire, Mia Luna Tearmoon. The moment after feeling the guillotine on her neck, she awakens in the middle of the night. At first she believes it was all a horrible nightmare, until she finds her bloodsoaked diary with written details about the events of the previous timeline. Now, as her 12 year-old self, she intends to use her memories and her diary to stop the plague and famine that lead to the revolution. After seeing the suffering of her people, she has a new-found motivation. She does NOT want to get the gulltotine again!
As of writing this review, I've read the first two volumes. About 110 chapters, and over 600 pages. I give this series a 9/10. But let's break it down.
Protagonist 9/10
The main protagonist, Mia, may be a bit unlikable at first to some readers. Freshly from the previous timeline; she's still a bit selfish, but there's nothing like 3 years in a dungeon to brute force you into being a kinder person. Mia may not have the purest of intentions, but we see her grow as a person. She still acts selfishly at times, but never does so with too much malice. She's also not the most bright. In the previous timeline, she didn't pay too much attention to her studies. But in this new timeline, she spends a lot of time in the library trying to prevent the tragedies of the previous timeline. In doing so, she's gotten a repuation for being a kind person, and a genius. She is neither, but she's trying.
Side-Characters 8/10
In the previous timeline, Mia slowly watched as everyone (except two people) turned on her. Now she makes sure find capable people she can trust. Each side character we meet has their own philosophies and motivations, and they usually align with Mia's goals. For every action she takes; they optomistically try to find the best meaning for it, and her personality brings out the best in them. She isn't the genius they think she is, but it allows the characters' own strengths to really shine.
Plot 7/10
Now, given the premise, you may presume that we would see Mia handling the empire's finances, logistics,politics, and foreign relations. We do get these moments scattered throughout the series, but, they are not the main focus of the writing. The events of the story are mostly from Mia trying to fix and avoid problems through her interpersonal connections. Mutltiple times throughout the story, it switches to being more adventure genre. The occasional shift in pace can be refreshing, but at other times it can feel like you're reading a completely different book.
Writing Style 9/10
Although Mia is the main protagonist, the books are written in 3rd person. This is great for the story telling, as we get to see the internal dialogue of the other characters. We also get to regularly see the juxtapostion of the events and characters compared to the previous timeline. The narrator regularly breaks from the story to address the reader personally. In other books, I've found this to be very annoying. However, in this series, it greatly adds to the comedy. Mia has gained the title of The Great Sage, although she really isn't that clever or selfless. The characters all buy into it, and perform mental gymnasitcs to find deeper meaning in her shallow or non-sensical actions. These are funny moments that we're supposed to laugh at, narrator laughs right along with us.
Conclusion
Tearmoon Empire feels fresh. Mia is a selfish and naiive protagonist, but she's honestly trying to make the empire a better place for its citizens ( to avoid the gullotine ). In the process, she's also becoming a more kind and caring person ( by complete accident ). The world is easy to understand. No complicated fantasy magic system, it's just another world that follows our same laws of nature ( except for the 1 instance of time travel ). If you're interested in the premise of this novel, I highly reccomend it.
