I'd like to make clear from the start that my criticisms in this review are directed to the author rather than the translators.

That being said, Lillian of Turin is... alright. Lillian herself is a chill, mature character. Most of the side-characters are likable enough, the plot is okay, it's a comfortable feel-good story to read with some surprisingly steamy kiss scenes. It's very similar to all the other works in this genre of "second chance at life/getting doted on" stories. It would be a lot better if the author was... more>> able to convey nuance a bit more skillfully. Everyone either loves or hates Lillian to the extreme. Those who love her are the Good Guys and they would basically die for her. Those who hate her are the Bad Guys, ect. The male lead becomes obsessed with Lillian immediately and the author tells us many times what a monster he is (from his own viewpoint) and how scary and cunning he is, but without actions to back any of it up, it falls pretty flat. The result is the type of "safe" yandere that has a lot of obsessive and crazy thoughts but won't actually do anything that might offend readers sensibilities. Pretty typical for this type of story.

There isn't really a "falling in love period" for any of the characters. It's always just "Bam! Lillian did something good and They love her forever now." Most egregious is her brother in the earliest chapters who goes from not caring and even being annoyed that his half sister (who, let's be clear, was 12 and had never done anything to him) was on the verge of death to being the Doting Big Brother after talking with the newly matured Lillian once. A lot of characters lament that as a kid Lillian acts too mature and doesn't act spoiled at all, but none of them cared about her when she actually was just a normal neglected child. They only like her once she's become a perfectly behaved and obedient adult woman in a child's body.

I apologize that this review ended up sounding harsher than I originally intended. All in all, despite these critiques, it's a decent read. The writing style is a little immature but I'm hoping that the author's future works will iron out these issues as they gain experience. <<less

I've only been able to afford the first 108 chapters on Tapas so far (the last will be released in three days!!) but A Match Made in Mana is, thus far, a lovely story that won me over for many reasons, not the least because the MC had the genuine conversation with herself: I always hated it when people in rofans feel like they have to follow the original story from the novel they migrated into but, now that I'm faced with it, I can understand why they did.

I will... more>> update with a more thorough review after I'm able to finish the story. Chapter 107 introduced another plot twist, and I must find out how it turns out! <<less