Tags: Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, School Life, Josei
Sub-Tags: Misunderstandings, Second Chances, Cute
Synopsis:
Viola wants nothing more than to break off her dull arranged engagement with Phillip. He’s the son of a duke, and Viola is thoroughly convinced she’s an unfitting future wife for a man of his station. Worst of all, he seems utterly uninterested in her. So when Viola is in a carriage accident, she takes the opportunity to fake amnesia in hopes of getting out of her betrothal. Little does she know Phillip is also an opportunist, and he takes advantage of the situation by feeding the “amnesiac” Viola a tale she can scarcely believe—that they’ve been passionately in love this entire time! Now trapped in her own lie, Viola is forced to play along. Can this curious couple outwit each other into happiness? Or will their bizarre web of deception get them both caught? (Source: J-Novel Club)
A Lie that Leads to a World of Love!
Liar, Liar
Featuring lies, love and truth, my latest review sees me return to the J-Novel Heart catalogue and their latest title – Fake It to Break It!
The story finds its protagonist, Viola, at an impasse. Stuck in a seemingly loveless engagement, she’ll do anything to find a way out. Luckily for her, the chance arises after she’s caught up in a carriage accident. Taking advantage of the situation, Viola pretends to have amnesia as an easy way to escape her engagement without repercussions. She is blindsided, however, when her fiancée also uses this as an opportunity. No longer dull and uninteresting, he regales the amnesiac Viola of how much they love each other, forcing her to find out the truth.
Whilst this series won’t win any awards for originality, the story is solid and written entertainingly and engagingly. Mixing up themes of misunderstanding and second chances, it finds the two leads locked in a battle to keep their versions of reality alive. As the two investigate to find the truth, they become closer to each other than ever before. Perhaps even realising that love can blossom between them where once there was nothing.
Parroting the Truth
Key to the series’ entertainment value comes from its deuteragonists, Viola and Phillip. Viola brings the comedic value to the partnership as her constant lies about her amnesia bring with it a house of cards. Not naturally gifted in the art of deception, she often only manages to blunder through tense situations. Phillip, on the other hand, brings along the intrigue. After Viola’s amnesiac event, Phillip undergoes a sudden personality change that forces Viola to investigate. Slowly picking apart his tangled web, she discovers that his newfound feelings may be older and deeper than she ever realised.
Both of their lies, however, are brought hilariously crashing down in no small part thanks to an overly talkative parrot. Whilst this brings with it its own convoluted misunderstanding from the past, this doesn’t stop the two blossoming lovebirds as they move to accept each other’s failings.
With all the misunderstandings put to rest, the last parts of the volume finds their relationship moving into a fluffier dimension. In a move that’ll likely have any fluffy rom-com enjoyer jumping for joy, the end of the story sees the sugar piled on for a conclusive happy ending.
They say two wrongs don’t make a right, but sometimes, two lies do. Solid and entertaining, Fake It to Break It makes for a great addition to the J-Novel Heart line-up, with a foray into misunderstandings and second chances.
Fake It to Break It Vol. 1
My Rating: 8.5/10
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You can read the first volume of this series digitally on the J-Novel Club website.
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