Last year, I reviewed the first volume of the manga adaptation of To Sir, Without Love: I'm Divorcing You. I said at the time that the story was somewhat uncomfortable, and that, paradoxically, it would have benefited from being slightly more explicit, and that I was curious to read the original light novels. Well, now I have, to the tune of the first three in their chapter-by-chapter release from Kadokawa, and I am here to report back: the novels are just as uncomfortable and slightly more explicit, which, as it turns out, doesn't help.

The most pressing issue with Kori Hisakawa's series is the central relationship. The idea behind this is sound enough - Byletta never wanted to marry, was forced to, and so is determined to divorce her absentee husband when he returns from war. He has other ideas, despite also never having particularly wanted to wed. I've certainly read plenty of romance novels with a similar premise, right down to the profession of the husband. It is, to put it mildly, a tried and true romance formula.

The "but" you can sense coming is that there's a lot of sexual assault and rape. (Which is still a relatively common trope, but one that's more prevalent in romance fiction of the 1970s and 80s; it's largely fallen out of mainstream favor.) It's all off the page, but Arnald still rapes Byletta on their deferred wedding night because he believes the rumors about her promiscuity (which date to her being sexually assaulted at school), and Arnald was raped as a young man by a woman who'd like to do it again. There is an argument to be made that he doesn't understand that what he's doing is bad, especially because the text is happy to tell us that he's solicited sex workers since his own assault. To a degree, he could be read as neurodivergent as well, based on his difficulties with interpersonal relationships, sexual or otherwise. But that opens up an entire other can of terrible worms because it equates neurodivergence with sexual misconduct, which is, to put it plainly, bad. Even if nonconsensual romantic fantasy is a genre you enjoy (and there's nothing wrong with that; fiction is fiction, after all), this is treading some very shaky ground.

All of Arnald and Byletta's sexual encounters are distinctly nonconsensual on her part - physiological reaction does not equal consent. It all smacks of an author who doesn't quite understand what they're writing about because both Arnald and Byletta do mistake physical pleasure with tacit consent. Byletta agrees to Arnald's plan to try to impregnate her to stave off divorce. Still, she also spends most of the first two novels being unhappy with their sexual relationship, not because it doesn't feel good, but because she doesn't actively want it. In volume three, the one time she makes the first move is specifically because she's been given an aphrodisiac, which actively supports the reading that sex is something she tolerates. After all, she has to rather than actively seek out.

Volume three does fare a bit better than the first two, however. This largely comes down to the political plotline that fully kicks into gear; while it was present in the previous book, things come to a head in the third, which allows both Arnald and Byletta to focus on something besides their uncomfortable relationship. It also features a scene where Byletta takes Arnald to task for parading suitors in front of his fourteen-year-old sister; this is a stern reminder that Byletta wasn't much older when she was made to marry Arnald and that she wants better for her sister-in-law. That Arnald listens at all is a hopeful sign that he's growing as a character.

On the plus side, the translation for this book is very readable, and the chapter release format makes it more palatable to digest. It's also a very wallet-friendly way to test the series out because each chapter is an affordable $1.99 as of this writing. Yes, it all adds up to the price of the full digital edition (put out by Yen Press), but if you don't like it after two chapters, you've saved some money.

To Sir, Without Love: I'm Divorcing You should be better than it is. Byletta is a strong heroine (albeit in a Strong Female Character sort of way), and the setting's politics are interesting. Gail, the no-chance (male) rival, is a good character, and Hisakawa doesn't just get rid of him when he's served his rivalry purpose in volume two but instead continues to factor him into the world. But the romance is so off-putting that it colors the entire series, and that may be a problem for readers besides me. If you're looking for true love, it's in short supply in this series – in a healthy way, at least.