A Lily Blooms in Another World by Ameko Kaeruda, Shio Sakura (Illustrator), & Tom Harris (Translator)
Light Novel Review
Originally Posted on Goodreads
IN THE HOUSE WE STAN COTTAGECORE LESBIANS!
After being reincarnated as the heroine of her favourite otome game, Miyako Florence, Miyako has one goal - make the villainess she use to obsess over in real life Fuuka Hamilton fall in love with her. After purposely causing her engagement to the game’s empty-headed hero Klaus Reinhardt to be broken off, Miyako rushes to Fuuka’s side to declare her love and propose that they run away together. Fuuka agrees but on one condition; if Miyako can make her say “I’m happy” within fourteen days she will stay with Miyako forever. Can Miyako succeed in winning the villainess's heart!?
A Lily Blooms in Another World is a short, light-hearted, sweet, romance about two young women finding themselves and love outside the strict society that has only deemed them worthy as brides and nothing else. While Miyako is our impulsive and straightforward character moved by her emotions, it is her earnest love for Fuuka that endears her to the readers. While Fuuka by agreeing to Miyako’s impulsive scheme is able to grow and find purpose outside the strict and limiting role her family and society had defined for her and put into practice things she had only studied - like herbal medicine and white magic - while living with Miyako in their secret cottage getaway.
The world the two girls threw away eventually does catch up to them. But, thankfully the tone never shifts too far from its light-hearted whimsy and Miyako is off to once again rescue Fuuka from her stifling noble life after some self-reflection and helpful advice.
A Lily Blooms in Another World is the perfect GL Romance for those seeking light-hearted whimsical romance. And reading this has made me energised to pick up the author’s other GL Fantasy-Romance Sexiled set in the same world and also out form J-Novel Club.
Major Tropes, Themes and Story Elements Included:
Key:
✓ High impact
✢ Low impact or relevance
✗ minimal impact or no presence in the story
✓ Explicitly GL - Including a declaration of love, kiss and HEA.
✓ Cottagecore Lesbian Aesthetic - They run away to live in a cottage for fourteen days while Miyako tries to get Fuuka to confess to her. On top of that we have background elements as farming (attempted), herbal medicine, white magic, (view spoiler), natural hot springs, and more.
✓ Playful Banter
✢ Fantasy - While it is set in another world and there is some magic used, it is hardly the main focus of the plot - which is the romance. So if you are looking for a rich, in-depth fantasy world, you may be disappointed by this book because of that singular focus.
✢ Asian-European Cultural Mix - We have characters with names that are a combination of Japanese and English - ie. Fuuka Hamilton - as well as Atika, the home region of the Florence Family being known for cultivating rice. There is also the character Shan-Li, a merchant who is from The Continent a region that can be inferred as being analogous to mainland Asia, specifically China. However, like the fantasy elements, the cultural elements are also never gone into depth and serve only as the backdrop to our heroines' romance.
✗ Fanservice and/or Erotica - While a somewhat fanservicey moment is present in one scene it never goes beyond the state of one character being flustered over the other's naked body and is neither gratuitous nor detailed in its description.