Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie, (Light Novel) Vol. 4 by Hiroro Akizakura

Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie, (Light Novel) Vol. 4 Reviews

• 
  Rebecca

  3.5 rounded up for much more satisfying plot this time around. I also love the dearth of stupid people in this series.
• 
  Jina

  So Lean redeemed herself a bit in this book as a friend, although I think she's still more of a toxic friend. Yes, helping in the big battle gets her points, but she and Cecilia won't always be living under dangerous times and thus it doesn't cancel out all the things she does out of her own selfish interests without considering the negative impacts those interests may have on Cecilia or their other friends.
• 
  D

  For what it's worth, I am not deterred and will read the fifth volume. This novel, despite having a major event inside of it, feels like it suffers from middle book syndrome, where, it feels like a book trying to establish some facts before we go into the end game.
  
  In this novel, we move closer to seeing a canon pairing (I believe), we learn what causes Obstructions, and we have some idea why choosing a Holy Maiden even matters. We also have major development for the romantic plot of who Cecilia might actually end up with, which is really just certain things getting cleared up, but I'll take it.
  
  I think this series should probably end with a fifth volume. As the author themselves explained, they lost steam near the end of writing this novel, and it certainly shows. Plot points are pulled out of thin air with regards to the Otome Game and Fantasy World building, which is not foreshadowed at all and is clearly just the author realizing they should flesh things out.
  
  The characterization is still very strong for what I will call the "Main Cast." The Main Cast being Oscar, Gilbert, Lean, Dante, and Cecilia/Cecil. When it comes to everyone else, however, they seem like an afterthought. Cast who exist just to move the plot along -- which is fine, but it also means I wish they would fade out instead of having scenes with 7+ characters, where half of them struggle to be relevant to the scene or story.
  
  I am worried this series will go the same way as Hamefura, in that it ran out of things to do or so and instead draws everything out by recycling plot lines, so I am hoping it will just wrap up in the next book instead. The biggest advantage this series has to Hamefura right now is that Cecilia/Cecil is dense, but not THAT dense.