Reviews for The Monstrous Duke's Adopted Daughter

It's a story about an abused daughter who finds happiness amongst "monsters", as the true monsters are her "family" who hide their sharp teeth behind pleasant smiles. MC - Main Character TL:DR, If you just want a feel-good manhwa with simple plot and simple villains, this is for you. Art: 5/10 Nothing special. At the very least, there are no distracting moments with obviously edited 3D models or funky anatomy that will distract you from reading. There's a distinct lack of shoujo-esque flowery sparkle patterns if you're into that. Lots of block colours. The paneling layouts are good and not confusing. Plot: 3/10 It's a very feel-good manga that doesn't requireany thinking at all. Plot points involving the MC are very predictable, you'll know what'll happen from a mile away.

The antagonists– minus the Big Boss (can't comment further as I've dropped the story before they reveal themselves) are painfully stupid to the extent that when revenge is served, I wasn't satisfied at all. Might just be me. There were too many elements that forces scenarios to occur, which is always a bad sign.

There is an overarching plot that hasn't been touched at the point where I've dropped which concerns the monster Duchess, but obviously I won't know what happens then.

Why I dropped this:

It was good the first few chapters, but my opinion of this started deteoriating when it was obvious that the story was using cheap methods to get the plot going. At one point, the MC is naive (which is understandable since she was still a child) but to the extent of being OOC as to ensure she would fall into a trap while being amongst the safety net of adults around her.

That the antagonists are somehow able to survive every time they are "brought to justice" was my breaking point. The reusal of the same excuse from the villains for their crime when they should have long been dead felt like poor writing, especially since this manhwa's world has far kinder bystanders and side characters compared to most other medieval manhwas.

Likes:

The thing I liked the most about this manga is the Salvatore family. They are all lovable and despite the façade in front of the MC, they don't lose their sharp edge. Fun fact: The emperor is not like other emperors, the man actually has a conscience and used his position to garner advantages for the MC's side (which I've never read in other manhwa) no "my hands are tied tee-hee can't do anything because I have to be impartial".

I would have liked this manhwa if the antagonists were better written or the MC was older.

This is by far one of my favorite historical Manhwa that I've read. I genuinely don't understand anyone who's read this and says it's boring. It has suspense, romance, action and wonderful messages about found family, adoption and allowing others to love you. It should be mentioned that there's severe child abuse and violence towards children mentioned and shown in the series, so if you're very sensitive to that subject matter, this story may not be for you. The abuse shown isn't *super* graphic, but definitely read at your own discretion. In my opinion, the FL and pretty much all the characters are well writtenand fleshed out. The villians in the series are incredibly well written and they definitely keep the story interesting and the stakes high. I also love how the FL was able to pursue a romance in the series without taking away from the main plotline at all, and I appreciated how different types of love (familial vs friendly vs romantic) were explored in the series, and not put against each other. The author does an amazing job of allowing us to see why different types of love are equally important and how they work together to enrich FL's life.

Literally the only thing I think I would change is showing a little more of the FL's powers and her growing more comfortable using them/learning how to use them. However, the story is wonderful as it is. I genuinely can't recommend it enough, especially if you're already a fan of the historical genre and love a good revenge/ suspenseful story.

This manwha is the epitome of heartwarming. Leslie, our protagonist, suffered her whole life being mistreated by her family, who only sees her as a sacrifice. In the day of sacrifice, however, Leslie unexpectedly survives and discovers she is actually really powerful. Leslie always wished to be loved by her family, but after this incident, she realizes they would never love her, so she makes her scape. It's actually great seeing her standing up for herself, but she didnt' turn bitter. Leslie continues to be as sweet as ever, only no longer letting anyone put her down. Leslie is adopted by the duchess family, gaining two lovingbrothers and great parents. It's probably one of the fews manwhas I have read that actually portrays an healthy and loving family. Seeing how much Lelsie suffered, is heartwarming seeing her receiving the love she deserves.

The story starts when Leslie is twelve years old, but eventually she grows and has a nice love interest, one of the sweetes guys I ever seen. I also like that, when Leslie grows, she finds a girl friend her age. Honestly, there are too many romance manwhas where there is only a bunch of guys around one girl. I really liked this.

Funny, smart and healthy - read this, it will turn into a favorite.

Wow, such a beautiful story. Ignore all the bad reviews and just go read it. I saw a lot of comments saying it was boring but in my opinion it wasn't boring at all, not even for a chapter. Beginning of the story is painful I have to admit but later on it's just sweetness. I love how all the characters are written Fl is just so sweet it's impossible not to love her. Her family members are so well written I was simping for her brothers and her parents are so interesting I could read entire manhwa just about them. Few chapters about them just wasn'tenough.

The story is also well written I wish I could see Fl use more of her power honestly but it's still good enough. The story is not rushed and also not too slow, very well paced. Ending was sweet too. I just love it definitely worth re-reading.

A story about healing from childhood trauma and letting go of revenge. Which includes a whole lot of drama. The story is both wholesome and heartbreaking at the same time. The art style is pretty consistent throughout the story which is actually rate for a 150 chapter manhwa (i am honestly so glad it is) so no abrupt changes. The main parent being a female duke gives the story a very unique vibe with an incredibly loveable family. A lot of fantasy elements in this one so it is absolutely a very intriguing read. The main couple also is very slow burn since the story mainly focused onthe fl healing so it is not rushed. A very good read

*no spoilers I love this one so much! Highly recommended for sure! It’s not an Isekai so the little girl is actually just young but is desperate to survive so she asks a powerful family to adopt her. It’s show a child healing from her trauma while also bonding with her new family. I got to say, I barely see any historical manhwa where the family trope is more focused on the mom and daughter, but now after this, I definitely need more of it! So here’s what I rank: Plot: 9/10 Although there is a lot of filler chapters, the story is still heavilyfocused on the MC trying to survive. Adding in where she bonds with her family doesn’t really impact the plot since it shows how much her family would be willing to do for her later on. It does have the romance element, but it isn’t the focus until much later on.

Pacing: 10/10 If you’re used to read historical manhwa, then this is your most generic pacing you can get. The plot flows nicely along with time skips.

Characters: 10/10 The MC is strong willed and can light up a room. She’s fortunately not an old woman trapped in a child’s body so her actually acting like a child is adorable. The family and ML are all sweet and green flags giving the MC a warm and loving environment. The villains aren’t as threatening, but to a younger child, they were definitely the worst villains you could ask for.

Art: 10/10 I have no complaints about the art style, it makes the story very readable.

Overall: 10/10 Possibly one of the most sweetest and heartwarming manhwas I’ve come across. I’d say definitely give it a read! c:

TL:DR Overly indulgent wish-fulfilment manga with simplistic, one-note characters and a too-perfect protagonist. Entertaining enough if you want undemanding feel-good stuff but not very satisfying. Story: 5/10 It's a bog-standard wish-fulfilment shoujo fare (yes, I know it's a manhwa), you can predict basically every beat of the story from the beginning. Practically the whole manwha is just fluff, Leslie finds a family of characters that fawn over her constantly with no personality of their own other than protecting and caring for her. The first main conflict, the fight against Leslie's evil family, is simply boring. It's an effortless curb-stomp where the MC's adopted family wins handily. The second conflictis slightly more interesting, with a villain that seems like they're more complex but they end up as one-note as the rest.

In fact, there is very little tension in the manhwa's conflict. This is one of those shoujo manga where the female MC is surrounded by hypercompetent men that do everything for her, though this one breaks the mould by having a hypercompetent woman too. Novelty counts for something I suppose but it doesn't make it anymore interesting when you know any conflict involving the protagonist can be, and usually is, resolved by someone else with little difficulty. Everything just feels so 'safe' in a way, the most powerful noble family is on Leslie's side, the emperor is on her side, the church paladins are on her side - it's like the whole world is constructed to fulfil the fantasy of this self-insert character where she's never actually in danger. She even has this shadow magic (that's hyped up but barely ever used) that she can use if she's alone. Actually it mostly just seems like a tentacle thing with the 'shadow' aspect not really being relevant except once but that just goes into the way the world building is non-existence and seems entirely driven by what's convenient for the plot.

One of the main problems is that the protagonist is never allowed to actually do anything herself despite being the protagonist. It's always one of her family members or her love interest. Even in the final arc of the manhwa, she get's one moment to do something important herself (with her boyfriends help of course…).

Characters: 4/10

The protagonist, Leslie, is a bland Mary Sue that's kind and strong and that somehow never does anything on her own. She's mostly just fodder to self-insert yourself into.

The rest of the characters aren't much better. The Salvator family (who adopts Leslie) aren't well developed as characters, they exist to protect and fawn over Leslie and do little else.

Conrad, the MC's love interest, is perfect boyfriend who is always rescuing Leslie and has little character besides that.

Essentially the whole cast revolves around Leslie and their relationship to her with no interiority of there own., and it makes it very difficult to care about any of them.

Art

I'm very sure this whole manwha is just an excuse to draw lots of really elaborate outfits, very good outfits mind. Leslie gets nearly a new fancy dress every chapter and the men get suits as well. The character designs, as you might expect, are pretty good.

Unfortunately, the artist uses a lot of 3d CGI art. This isn't necessarily a problem but once I noticed it (halfway through the manwha to be fair) I couldn't stop finding it everywhere. the CGI is mostly subtly in the background but there are some foreground elements that are very clearly 3d renders and it's distractingly different from the usually high quality art style. Fortunately, the actual characters are never rendered, even the background characters are drawn in.

Overall: 4/10

As I said, it feels too ‘safe’ and driven by wish-fulfilment than any actual attempt to tell a coherent narrative. It's a manhwa so it's not actually shoujo, but it sure feels like shoujo trash. I do not recommend this, even as junk food it's not that good.