I don't like the second ML. Honestly, I hate love triangles so he was doomed to begin with, but he was clearly in the wrong, yet people always like to fixate on the fact that first ML killed MC in their previous life (when MC even admits she deserved to die, she probably wasn't a great person). Problem is, the writer made Elise TOO saintly, so now the mere thought of her being executed ever is triggering people who have protag bias (which is the fault of the writer, Mary Sues are hard to fault/hate but are also not the most interesting of characters).

Readers will excuse anything if the guy is nice to the MC (and then condemn him to hell if he is wrong to the MC, even if he might be right in the context of the situation). Michael was a selfish brother who was eyeing his brother's wife, after ALREADY trying to displace Linden (who ended up developing into a proper character). What is likeable about him besides his inherent charm to MC - his other actions don't come across like "the nice guy" to the other people. Just because he thinks he is justified (protecting his mom, who DID THE WRONG THING TO BEGIN WITH) doesn't make him right to move in and try to take EVERYTHING away from Linden. People were actually cheering for Michael to swoop in and win Elise? The f*ck is this?!

Such a moment of "tragic backstory doesn't excuse actions" somehow not applying to Michael b/c he is a charming playboy who changed his playboy ways after meeting "not one of the girls" Elise. After reading KR novels, I feel like there should be a graph showing the proportion of sh*tty things you can do in relation to how nice you are to the female lead - seems like the allowance for selfishness goes up exponentially the nicer you are to the female lead (the antagonists were doomed, they are just cannon fodder. Female leads can run wild with any action, villainess or not). Too much protag bias in KR novels; it's why I stay away from revenge fulfillment/villainess getting revenge novels, I don't like female leads starting off so OP and then steamrolling the competition. I prefer isekai with the concept of bettering themselves or fixing mistakes - in most times, you see more character development from those novels.

Rant aside, I liked Linden more b/c he had more build up with Elise. He showed more character growth in contrast to his previous life (even if he grew into a lovesick puppy).

Elise had too many people tripping over themselves to get with her. Writer should have just focused on the core romance and developed it better. I don't need guys to glorify why MC is amazing; I need you to show it to me with her actions (but then, writer goes overkill and makes MC an OP workaholic). Conflicted about this book; it was like I was never happy with the direction with the writing - the MC was just too Sue-ish with no character development. Sorta dampened the entire story and character development of the others.

Also Elise should've ended with her friend Mill. He was her only ally other than her family in better or worse. And he's one of the few interesting characters in this novel, what a shame.

Personally, the more I think about this story, the more I get disappointed by it.

Maybe it's because I read the webtoon, where someone in the spoiler sections says she acts more girlish / younger than her mental age would suggest while in the novel she's more mature, but I feel like there was a lot of lost potential in Elise.

In her first life, as I mentioned in my review, she was extremely 'evil' to the point that it was unreal. Especially considering that.... there's sort of no justification for it? The rest of her family is the typical upright and honest family full of talents who are 100% loyal to the royal family, blah blah blah. And there's the old Elise.... who rather than just being a spoiled and arrogant noble miss, she's extremely selfish and willing to do anything to bring others down... it's like, where did this extreme personality come from??? Maybe it's explained later in the story but as of now, it just makes her seem like a trope rather than an actual character.

And then in her second life, Elise does a turnaround and becomes Saint Elise, where she becomes extremely kind and honest and everything good - basically an angel. Which wouldn't be so bad, if it she weren't constantly praised and uplifted as if she were some goddess in her third life - to the point that she just becomes unreal.

The point I'm trying to make is that personally, I felt it would've been so much more interesting if either a) Elise still retained some of her 'evil' / arrogant personality, which would make her seem more alive and not just a boring saint or b) Elise does become a boring saint, selfless to the extreme, to the point she has trouble doing things for herself and not for others since she was so burned by her sins in her first life, but instead of the story depicting it as something good, it shows that becoming an Angel TM isn't the answer either.

Basically, I feel the story and thus Elise's character would've been so much better and more complex if:

• She had an actual reason for her extreme 'evil' personality in the first life. (Disclaimer: She might actually have a reason / explanation, but as of now, the webtoon hasn't shown us why she was like that.)
• If the story actually showed that Elise being so extreme in her need to repay her first life's sins isn't actually healthy or realistic - no one is saying she shouldn't have reformed herself, but to the point of becoming someone who feels like she can't be the tiniest bit selfish? Idk it would've been so interesting if the story showed her struggling to care about herself / do things for herself rather than other people all the time.
• ALSO: Show her actually struggle adapting in the medical field in her third life - it was so boring how easy everything went for her. Like, I love the MC with her godly skills awing and surprising those around her who only doubt her / want her to fail just like everyone else, but there's a point where that gets stale and I'm starving for some conflict, to watch the MC actually have to fight for their goal rather than get it handed to them by the plot.

Anyway, idk if I'm getting my thoughts across, the story is okay as it is right now, but the more I think about Elise's character in her third life, the more I get annoyed w/ her Saint personality and the more I feel her character just feels empty and boring.

Oh, and while running away from soldiers from an enemy country out to KILL THEM the prince actually brings condiments to salt food. Hey he might as well have packed an 8-course meal while he was at it.

Secondly, the blood tower tragedy was built up to be so dramatic, how it shaped all the characters' lives. But then Queen Rebecca actually gets sent to the blood tower with her daughter because there was "irrefutable evidence" for the fact that she "made insulting remarks". It's not a very big problem but... it really highlights the lack of realism in this story. Even if the King was unable to cover the matter up, making insulting remarks is hardly a crime severe enough to warrant being confined to what was basically prison. The author could've replaced making insulting remarks with anything. Treason, adultery, you name it. Because this writing choice made me completely unable to take a main event that drives character motivations for both Linden and Micheal seriously.