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Gezenya Guen
This is actually a spin-off, but it definitely reads like Hyuga Natsu had a bunch of leftover ideas she couldn't fit into The Apothecary Diaries (as the story moved away from Maomao's home.)
And this book is the result.
This is actually a spin-off, but it definitely reads like Hyuga Natsu had a bunch of leftover ideas she couldn't fit into The Apothecary Diaries (as the story moved away from Maomao's home.)
And this book is the result.
Guen is in charge of buying women for a establishment that caters to government officials, so the girls are expected to be smart, educated, and accomplished. He is also Xiexie, the woman in charge of training them and managing the business as a whole (with his grandmother.)
The only other person who knows his secret is Fei, who isn't quite Maomao, but is in the same snarky gremlin territory. She's got burns that left her with a stone in her eye socket so heavy her head lists sideways...and later she tattoos the burn, making it look like flowers.
Each chapter is named after a different girl passing through (the sort of flip the girls like people do houses, selling them to rich men for a profit) and how they live life on their own terms despite a system that's clearly pretty lacking in options.
There's an early speech involving this line:
"You smile when you're happy? Please. A smile is a weapon. This is where women wage war. Your laugh is a threat, like a wolf bearing its fangs to the rabbit it means to devour."
"You smile when you're happy? Please. A smile is a weapon. This is where women wage war. Your laugh is a threat, like a wolf bearing its fangs to the rabbit it means to devour."
Also the illustrator here is best know for Galko-chan, and I remember recognizing the art when this book came out (in 2018) but I no longer do and have retained no memories of Galko-chan at all, which is vaguely worrying.
Also the first line in this thread should say "This isn't a spinoff" but doesn't, which is super misleading.
