What do you think?
Rate this book
悪ノ大罪 #3
悪ノ大罪：眠らせ姫からの贈り物 [Aku no Taizai: Nemurase Hime Kara no Okurimono]
303 pages, Paperback
First published August 27, 2014
2 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
悪ノP（mothy）
32 books38 followersSee also: mothy_悪ノP, stylized when it comes to other works adapted from his concept.
ニコニコ動画、YouTube等にて「悪ノＰ」の名前で
ＶＯＣＡＬＯＩＤ曲の発表をしています。
ニコニコ動画、YouTube等にて「悪ノＰ」の名前で
ＶＯＣＡＬＯＩＤ曲の発表をしています。
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 26, 2025
I put off writing this review because I feel very conflicted about The Gift from the Princess Who Brought Sleep. On one hand, the murder mystery approach was new and interesting, and I was fairly hooked (despite? because of?) knowing the identities of Margarita Blankenheim, Hanne Lorre, and Heidemarie Lorre going in. The prose was better than ever for Mothy.
On the other hand, there were a lot of bizarre choices made during the construction of the narrative for this book. The complete removal of the frame narrative that every novel up until this one was disorienting. Additionally, the fact that not only the circumstances behind murder was a mystery, but the identity of the murderer, as well as the identities of the investigators left readers with nothing to ground them in the story. And while I loved the extreme personal bias warping the narrative and the emphasis on inevitable cycles of fate that go alongside portayals of multiple identity in Mothy's previous novels, here it didn't land. Probably because the story was so obscured all we had was the POV, and while the reveals about the real people behind the POV's in the final act were well done and shocking, they prevented the audience from understanding events from a perspective in context. Making the book really only about the reveal. I hope that was sensical.
Mothy's world-building really breaks down in this novel too. I think he thrived on the loosely defined political sphere and feudal society present in the earlier books, and I would have not complained had he continued in that route. Instead he kept trying to explain an increasingly complex society, but instead of really thinking out how this would all work he kept dropping throwaway lines about crucial concepts changing the sociopolitical reality his characters inhabit, and then rapidly moving on. He also introduced several plot holes.
I just don't understand the choice to randomly mention a new continent has been discovered, where off page multiple countries and wealthy individuals are investing in race based plantation slavery, especially when there have been zero characters of that race even mentioned until that line, and he'll never mention how it's affecting anything. Or why Mothy mentioned that's where the murder victim's wealth came from and then never returned to it especially when his wealth and illegal activities caused his murder. I was shocked at the single paragraph that explained the entire history of the new organization called the World Police (which only operate in Europe), stating that they are a privately owned organization technically under the control of a single man who also owns the largest company in the world, but over time he just convinced all the governments that this was a good idea and they went along with it. Both of these concepts raise infinitely more questions than if Mothy hadn't tried to explain them. Also the mention that off page there is a string of Jack-the-Ripper-esque serial murders being committed by a clown? Like what was happening.
Also the reveal about Margarita being Eve was good and thematically relevant, but left me confused. If her consciousness doesn't sleep once the clockworker's doll is activated it can be assumed that this is contributing to her instability, and that Mikulia Calgaround never slept, but if Platonic never slept, why was this never mentioned or noticed by Elluka who shared a room with her? And I'm really hoping that the reveal of Eve living out her trauma and being manipulated, drugged, and abused as a child by adult men in every lifetime will be explored. At this point in the series it still feels like Mothy is working up to a sympathetic portrayal for her, as Elluka observes she has been broken psychologically, made to live out the same lifetime again and again, and turned into a demon (literally and figuratively within the Levin religion). Anyway I'm crossing my fingers that he continues to use her status as 'evil' and 'demon' to interrogate the application of those labels by society.
On the other hand, there were a lot of bizarre choices made during the construction of the narrative for this book. The complete removal of the frame narrative that every novel up until this one was disorienting. Additionally, the fact that not only the circumstances behind murder was a mystery, but the identity of the murderer, as well as the identities of the investigators left readers with nothing to ground them in the story. And while I loved the extreme personal bias warping the narrative and the emphasis on inevitable cycles of fate that go alongside portayals of multiple identity in Mothy's previous novels, here it didn't land. Probably because the story was so obscured all we had was the POV, and while the reveals about the real people behind the POV's in the final act were well done and shocking, they prevented the audience from understanding events from a perspective in context. Making the book really only about the reveal. I hope that was sensical.
Mothy's world-building really breaks down in this novel too. I think he thrived on the loosely defined political sphere and feudal society present in the earlier books, and I would have not complained had he continued in that route. Instead he kept trying to explain an increasingly complex society, but instead of really thinking out how this would all work he kept dropping throwaway lines about crucial concepts changing the sociopolitical reality his characters inhabit, and then rapidly moving on. He also introduced several plot holes.
I just don't understand the choice to randomly mention a new continent has been discovered, where off page multiple countries and wealthy individuals are investing in race based plantation slavery, especially when there have been zero characters of that race even mentioned until that line, and he'll never mention how it's affecting anything. Or why Mothy mentioned that's where the murder victim's wealth came from and then never returned to it especially when his wealth and illegal activities caused his murder. I was shocked at the single paragraph that explained the entire history of the new organization called the World Police (which only operate in Europe), stating that they are a privately owned organization technically under the control of a single man who also owns the largest company in the world, but over time he just convinced all the governments that this was a good idea and they went along with it. Both of these concepts raise infinitely more questions than if Mothy hadn't tried to explain them. Also the mention that off page there is a string of Jack-the-Ripper-esque serial murders being committed by a clown? Like what was happening.
Also the reveal about Margarita being Eve was good and thematically relevant, but left me confused. If her consciousness doesn't sleep once the clockworker's doll is activated it can be assumed that this is contributing to her instability, and that Mikulia Calgaround never slept, but if Platonic never slept, why was this never mentioned or noticed by Elluka who shared a room with her? And I'm really hoping that the reveal of Eve living out her trauma and being manipulated, drugged, and abused as a child by adult men in every lifetime will be explored. At this point in the series it still feels like Mothy is working up to a sympathetic portrayal for her, as Elluka observes she has been broken psychologically, made to live out the same lifetime again and again, and turned into a demon (literally and figuratively within the Levin religion). Anyway I'm crossing my fingers that he continues to use her status as 'evil' and 'demon' to interrogate the application of those labels by society.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2020
I was ready to call it the best book of Mothy's and give it 5 stars until the first half... Unfortunately everything went downhill very fast.
The first half I would describe as very fun, light and clever murder mystery. We have very interesting and likeable protagonist through which we unfold the mystery. Putting aside the fact that if you heard the song, you probably know who the murderer is, the song seemed cleverly wrapped up in this detective story.
The second half is... exhausting. There is so much going on I started to feel very tired. The mian problem were... plot twists, which there was so many of them, their number beats the worsts contemporary thrillers I've read (and they are infamous for it). There were even plot twists of plot twists! Most of them were very unexpected and not based on anything which made them lay really flat.
In conclusion - I am a little disappointed. This seemingly good book just doesn't deliver in the second half, but If you are a fan of Evillous you will probably read this book anyway.
[Based on English fan translation online]
The first half I would describe as very fun, light and clever murder mystery. We have very interesting and likeable protagonist through which we unfold the mystery. Putting aside the fact that if you heard the song, you probably know who the murderer is, the song seemed cleverly wrapped up in this detective story.
The second half is... exhausting. There is so much going on I started to feel very tired. The mian problem were... plot twists, which there was so many of them, their number beats the worsts contemporary thrillers I've read (and they are infamous for it). There were even plot twists of plot twists! Most of them were very unexpected and not based on anything which made them lay really flat.
In conclusion - I am a little disappointed. This seemingly good book just doesn't deliver in the second half, but If you are a fan of Evillous you will probably read this book anyway.
[Based on English fan translation online]
February 18, 2024
the thick is plottening but still no answer as to how the sins were made
July 13, 2019
[I read the Chinese version of the novel]
This book has an interesting concept and I love how the characters revolve around the plot and the idea. The characters are great with depth and good backstory, the illustration fits well with the plot and the vibe of the book. The writing isn't really something special but I love the idea behind the characters and plot. It's overall a very nice book and I would recommend it to people who like deep stories with intriguing characters.
This book has an interesting concept and I love how the characters revolve around the plot and the idea. The characters are great with depth and good backstory, the illustration fits well with the plot and the vibe of the book. The writing isn't really something special but I love the idea behind the characters and plot. It's overall a very nice book and I would recommend it to people who like deep stories with intriguing characters.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews