Villains Are Destined to Die (novel), Vol. 1 by Gwon Gyeoeul: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads 

Villains Are Destined to Die by Gwon Gyeoeul

Villains Are Destined to Die is a Korean isekai reverse harem/dating game light novel set in a fantasy empire. A Korean college student gets hooked on a dating game where a long-lost daughter of a duke returns and wins the hearts of her five suitors despite the fake daughter, Penelope, trying her best to kill her. There’s also a hard mode of the game, where one plays as Penelope. But try as she might, she always dies on that mode.

And then she wakes up inside the game, as Penelope. Knowing that she’ll die, no matter what she does, she sets out to improve her odds of survival. It’s not easy for her though. Penelope’s circumstances are too much alike her own life as a reviled daugher by a mistress of a wealthy businessman. She’s angry even, having just fled her miserable life, only to land in a similar situation.

Step by step, she improves her life, like gaining the ability to say what she wants instead of having to rely on the game’s dialogue that always gets her killed. She needs to reach 100% affection with one of the five men for the game to end, preferably before the real daughter returns and ruins everything in a few months’ time, and some of the counts start at zero, or even below. She’s even more careful after she realises there’s no reset button in this game. If she dies, she’ll stay dead. And she’ll die if the affections of any of the five love interests drop below zero.

One by one, she meets the men. Two of them are her step brothers who hate her the most. There’s also an insane crown prince, a sorcerer, and a former slave she buys from an auction and makes her personal guard. All are difficult in their own way for her to make to like her, let alone love. On top of which, the entire household hates her and tries to make her life miserable.

This was a good start to a series. I’d read the first volume of the manhwa adaptation and liked it very much, but the book was better. It’s fairly fast-paced, well-written and engaging. The new Penelope is a very different person than the Penelope of the game, and little by little, she changes everyone’s perceptions of her.

I liked Penelope and all the love interests were interesting and potential end-games. I don’t know if she has to win over only one of them like in the game, in which case any one of them will do at this point, or if she’ll end up with all of them, which would be fine too. No one is a sure winner yet, even if her guard is in a lead, and it’ll take the whole series before 100% affection is reached. Looking forward to reading more.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.