I Ran Away to Evil

It turns out the Dark Lord is named Keith.

Princess Henrietta has never been vicious enough to suit her parents, the king and queen of Drendil. So when they send her to assassinate the Dark Magician King of Nilheim (who her parents say has been threatening Drendil), she fully expects the king will kill her despite her fighting skills. She ends up sharing scones with his minions instead.

It turns out the Dark Lord is named Keith. And he doesn’t much care for conquering other countries—can you imagine the paperwork that would require?

Henrietta decides to stay in Drendil for a while. After all, she prefers baking in the castle kitchens to combat training. And Keith discovers he rather likes having the bubbly Princess Henrietta around the castle.

But Henrietta’s parents aren’t willing to let her go so easily. Disappointed that Henrietta failed to kill King Keith (or that King Keith didn’t kill Henrietta), they launch an invasion against Henrietta’s new home. Henrietta and Keith must work together to repel the invasion and finally get their happily-ever-after.

What did you like about this story?

First off, I absolutely adored the LitRPG and romantasy cross over. I love both of these genres, and I had never seen them combined so beautifully before (in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them combined at all). 

Henrietta and Keith’s relationship is so cute—there are so many fun interactions that show them falling in love. The narrative models a healthy relationship, which is such a breath of fresh air compared to some other romantasy novels where “communication” is a bad word (I’m looking at you A Court of Thorns and Roses). 

And the narration was hilarious. There were so many satirical lines that made me laugh. For instance one of my favorite lines is when Henrietta describes her only interaction with the Dark Lord as a child: “He’d actually come to my tenth birthday party and cursed one of the palace fountains to pour blood instead of water. I’d thought that was really something, but Mother had fainted.” The story is filled with witty commentary like this.

The worldbuilding is also tons of fun—the idea of a “Dark Lord” contrasted with bureaucratic reality reminds me a lot of The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones. In this universe, silly and ironic things happen all the time.

The author also did a great job using dialogue to show characterization in a humorous way. For instance when a village guard tells Henrietta, “If you are a soy, no one will find your bones for I shall use them as chew toys for my young,” Henrietta replies, “You have children? Congratulations! How old?” This response is* totally* in line with Henrietta’s character, and it subverted my expectations in a funny way.

I loved all the side characters too. I felt connected to them without feeling like the narrative was trying to force me to connect with them. 

Any downsides?

The chapters are a little on the shorter side, which can feel a little abrupt sometimes (it’s a 425-page book there are 123 chapters). The narration also threw me off a little sometimes—it was dual POV from Keith and Henrietta, but Keith’s chapters were in close third person while Henrietta’s chapters were first person. I understand why the author chose to go that route (it can be super tricky to distinguish between multiple first-person POVs), and I enjoyed it for most of the novel, but there were a few places where I was a little confused about who I was following (Since they both refer to “Keith” in third person).

I also wasn’t as interested in the final portion of the novel (where they go to a Spring Ball). I’m not sure why exactly—I still enjoyed it, but it didn’t capture my attention as much. Perhaps because I was looking forward to more social intrigue/politics, and it turned out to be more action-focused?

I was also curious to know more about how the LitRPG system worked (I wasn’t sure why higher-level people were rarer, for instance), but I understand that this isn’t super important to the plot of the novel.

Final verdict?

I loved it! LitPG can be a pretty male-dominated genre (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), so it was fun to read a story in the genre specifically targeted toward women. Its humorous tone reminded me of So This is Ever After by F. T. Lukens, and I was laughing the whole time I read it. If you like LitRPG and cozy romantasy, this is the book for you!