The Villainess Is an SS+ Rank Adventurer

The Villainess Is an SS+ Rank Adventurer, Book 1

By: Kaye Ng

Narrated by: Brenna Larsen

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess.

Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read, and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.

Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At the threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle. Taking matters into her own hands, she escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.

©2023 Kaye Ng (P)2023 Podium Audio

No villainesses nor Rank SS+ Adventurers here

Normally I start off a review with the best stuff because I'm a positive person. But my conclusion actually contradicts my rating. I absolutely would recommend reading this book, as long as you take into account that it is NOT a story about an overpowered adventurer. It's a story about a spoiled little girl who may or may not be overpowered, but we don't really know because she never really does anything. So, despite the high rating, I'm not planning on reading anymore of the series, because I really liked this book but it was essentially the same 3 or 4 gags over and over and over and over again, and they were just good enough to be fun until shortly before the end of the book (Except the soap thing. That one stopped being funny after the 2nd time).

That said, I did rate this book really highly, given that first paragraph! And the reason for that is the delightful Brenna Larsen's narration. I've never heard of her before, but I'll be keeping an eye out for more books narrated by her. She's a very high energy narrator, and she pulls off the outrageousness of the main character perfectly, and the insanity that is the 2nd major character even better, honestly. I think the repeat gags might have lost their savor a lot sooner if they'd been delivered by a less capable narrator.

As for more detail on why I didn't love it? Like I said, certain expectations are implied by the title. Since the other series by this author is a high school slice of life series, I went in expecting the title to be misleading. But then the opening sequence made certain implications about Juliet's power level, which made it seem like the title maybe wasn't misleading. It was. The main character might be overpowered (Maybe? It's not really clear). But Juliet, is...extremely dumb. Most of the time. If I had to name a character she reminds me of the most, it would be Bill Murray's character in The Man Who Knew Too Little. Completely unaware of what's actually going on most of the time, an absolute bumbling fool 95% of the time, but things just kind of work out perfectly anyway. That's a great character for a movie. It even worked out for a book that was 3-4x as long as the movie. But by the end, I was ready for her to show some more dimensions. And it seemed like maybe she was going to for a minute! And then she was just Juliet again, and that was the moment I decided I was going to leave this confusing review.

Great book. I enjoy this authors style

Found this book after Lily Clariet. Can't wait for the next one. I work delivery and listen to Audible in the truck. so hopefully it comes soon

Brilliant Voice Work

The narration brought out the best in the characters and accentuated their dynamics with each other.

An LN in all but country of origin, and great

One could be tricked by the title and art into thinking that this is a translated light novel, but it's not. That doesn't matter, because either way this series is a treat, I've binged the first 3 volumes over the last couple of weeks and am waiting for the next one, and I'm already pre-emptively sad for that one to ber over. Juliette is a great MC, her attitude can on occasion be annoying, but that's quickly outweighed by the sheer chemistry between her and Coppelia, who might be one of my all time favorite characters. The narrator is amazing, I honestly don't know if the series would be nearly as much fun without her giving life to Juliette and Coppelia, she does it so perfectly that it's hard to imagine enjoying the series any other way.

Juliette is bumbling, yet somehow manages to bumble her way into succeeding despite all odds, and does it with perfect confidence.

Amazing!

It was really good. It really enhances the expirience to hear Juliette's lovely voice as she describes her evil schemes and outsmarts criminals. The narrator did an amazing of portraying her absurd and hilarious character.

Better than you’d think based on reviews.

I got this title during a 2 for 1 special—I tend not to buy books that have too low of a review. After listening, I think a rating of 4.1 is excessively harsh. I would give it more of a 4.5 or 4.6. It’s very light hearted and has a similar vibe to anime and other light novels. My only complaint is I found the main characters boon companion to have an annoying voice—not in love with the narrators choice there—it’s super high pitched and kinda harsh on the ears, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.

love it so much

Hilarious, and lighthearted fun. I'm on my 3rd listen through of it. check it out!

A fun read

The deliciously selfish yet clueless princess is a nice change of pace. A worth while listen.

An awesome start

I love how aloof she is but also the crazy things she sees has easy being something no sane person could or would do I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

Deeply Funny

I live for the humor and wordplay in this series. It is just so much fun hearing Juliette smash her way through all barriers set in her path like a flail. Excellent performance as well.