Villains Are Destined to Die Volumes 4 and 5 Review

Villains Are Destined to Die continues to keep its readers on the edge of their seats. We know it’s not a happy story as Ivonne from modern-day Korea, has been reincarnated as Penelope Eckhart, the villainess in a dating game that she used to play. The threat of death looms over her— she needs to turn the love interests’ affections on her to escape certain death.

However, neither the people in high society nor the game itself make life easy for her. Forced to attend a hunting competition with the nobles, Penelope is made the butt of jokes and gossip as she didn’t hesitate to brandish her weapon against noble ladies at an earlier gathering. Finally, when she returns after a year of seclusion and ‘penitence’, the noble ladies don’t hesitate to try to put her down. But Penelope is not the same person she once was, and she won’t take the bullying sitting down.

She fully intends to enjoy the competition but when her plan to hunt small prey turns into a face-to-face with a bear, it’s only thanks to one of the love interests, the Crown Prince Callisto, that she survives. It seems a turning point in their relationship until a group of assassins come to take Callisto’s life, and Penelope can’t allow them to succeed. Without any doubt, she knows that if something were to happen to Callisto, she’d be blamed, regardless of the real culprit, so she has to fight alongside him to escape the assassins and find help.

But they don’t escape unscathed. The Crown Prince is wounded by a dagger laced with poison and faints, so when help comes, Penelope is accused of the crime. And the nobles behind the hit don’t hesitate to spin the story in their favour to put all the blame on the youngest Eckhart. Not even her family believes her story, so it’s up to Penelope to prove her innocence and fight for her freedom.

While it’s true that Penelope’s behaviour was less than acceptable in the past, since Ivonne took over her  body, her personality has changed. She’s not rash and wild anymore—she thinks things through and thinks of the bigger picture. However, not everyone sees the change in her, not even her family. Her father and second older brother seem to be more open with her and realise that they mistreated her; little by little, they try to show their support. Is it enough? No, especially after what Penelope has had to go through. She’s closed herself off from everyone, and no words or small actions will be enough for forgiveness. Her oldest brother  still can’t see her as more than a troublesome orphan that his father brought home. He doesn’t believe a word she says and doesn’t hesitate to blame her, even when she’s not at fault. The behaviour is similar to what Ivonne experienced in her ‘real’ life from her supposed family, and while she tries to show it doesn’t hurt her, it does.

Penelope is a strong woman who is trying to survive by any means possible. She puts all her hopes on Eckles, the slave she bought, as the one who can protect her. She spoils him with gifts, but their relationship looks more like a dog and its owner. It’s not clear what Eckles’s goal is and what he thinks he can accomplish by staying at Penelope’s side, but from the way he behaves, it seems he has ulterior motives. Penelope’s relationship with Callisto is also progressing. The two had time to get to know each other more during their escape, but Penelope has a preconceived opinion on him. Their conversations showcase Penelope’s sassiness and allow Callisto to present as more ‘human’ and not just as the ‘mad dog’ of the empire.

On trial for her alleged role in killing the Crown Prince, Penelope has to lie to prove her innocence. She knows that people won’t believe her, but this becomes a turning point in the series, in my opinion, as people closer to her finally start to show their feelings and start regretting their choices up until now. However, it’s too late for Penelope to care about their concerns and accept their excuses. While the story is based on a dating sim game, Penelope still doesn’t seem able to obtain the love that the true main character is automatically supposed to get. There are instances where Penelope says she doesn’t care about her family or other people’s opinions, but deep down she seems to seek affection and loyalty.

The series gives a lot of depth to its characters, and in doing so it gives the characters traumas that they need to overcome. But it seems like the traumas from the main male characters are improving only thanks to Penelope’s help while she’s still on her own. Readers can’t help but cheer for Penelope to have her happy ending—whether that’s her surviving and going back to her real world of finding happiness with one of the characters and continuing to live in the ‘game’ world. I’m pretty sure that by now every reader has their top contestant as a love interest.

The art continues to be detailed with the characters’ expressions and backgrounds, and the dark colour palette adds to the story’s dark, gothic vibe. The only issues I had were in a couple of instances where I thought the translation sounded a little bit weird and I didn’t fully understand what the author was trying to say. I’m not sure if it’s due to the change in translator or how the dialogue was written originally in Korean.

Villains Are Destined to Die is written by Gwon Gyeoeul and illustrated by Suol. It’s published in the English language by Ize Press in both physical and digital format. Volume 6 has already been released.

Our review copy for Volume 5 from Ize Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.