Baroness Cassia was relieved to die. After ten long years in a loveless marriage to her mercenary husband Zester, she found peace in finally leaving behind a life filled with exhaustion and sacrifice. If only she had the chance to do it all again! And then—she did. Waking a decade in the past, Cassia finds time has turned back. The same husband. The same barony. The same crossroads. If fate insists on a do-over, she won't spend it suffering in silence. This time, she's living for herself—and this time, she's going on STRIKE!

Yet as the past begins to unravel, Cassia must ask herself: can she truly escape the fate she once accepted—or is she doomed to relive the same nightmare all over again?

Baroness Goes on Strike has story and art by Song Yeseul, based on a work by Ko Eun Chae. English translation and lettering by Crossed Hearts. Published by Crossed Hearts (January 13, 2026). Rated OT.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

I think we all know that things don't always work out as we'd wish them to. Cassia is getting a first-hand lesson in this – after ten years of an unhappy marriage, she dies of what looks like consumption, but instead of being freed from her burdens, she reawakens ten years in the past, on the morning after her wedding night. Aghast at the seeming injustice of this, she makes a decision: instead of being a meek, biddable wife who takes care of the barony while her husband's at war, she's going to please herself and relax. And that includes only sleeping with husband Zester the requisite number of times to ensure that she still has her beloved children, Rael and Lucy. No dumb divine being is going to jerk her around, no sir!

It's a refreshing start to a reincarnation/time loop story. In most cases, the reincarnated heroine is fine with starting over, but then she doesn't often wake up just after an event that can't be undone; in the pseudo-18th or 19th century world of Baroness Goes on Strike, consummating a marriage means sticking with it. So in Cassia's mind, she hasn't really gotten much of a reprieve at all. And to that end, she's going to act more like the twenty-eight-year-old she was than the eighteen-year-old she currently is. Her first act? Telling her husband that he sucked in bed.

As it turns out, this is the defining moment for Cassia and Zester. As the book unfolds, it becomes clear that most of the issue last time was that they simply didn't communicate. Cassia mistook her husband's anxiety about upsetting her as coldness, and Zester mistakenly believed that his wife, who out-ranks him nobility-wise, was made of spun-glass. Because she never told him she was unhappy (both in and out of bed), he had no idea, and because he never told her what he was afraid of, she thought he was just a cold warmonger. It's funny how people don't understand each other if they never speak.

Cassia's statement to her husband about how much she disliked sex has instant repercussions. Not only is his mind blown (because he enjoyed it very much), but it forces him to ask for help, something he'd never really done in the first loop. When his butler learns that his virginal master had zero clue what he was doing, he takes immediate action, hiring a sex worker to give him a stern (and detailed) talking to. But even without the lesson, Zester faces up to the fact that Cassia is a human person, not a doll, and this makes her have to realize the same thing about him: he's a person, not a toy soldier. Many a time loop story has stood on a thinner premise.

While some of the humor is absolutely at Zester's expense, for the most part this is a solid start to their story. Cassia's determination to do better this time, even if she still dies at twenty-eight, ignites something in Zester, even though he's unaware of their potential future. With pretty art and a solid translation, their story makes for a very enjoyable read, even if my review copy was sadly missing a few pages. As of this writing, readers have the option to order a basic edition or one that comes with an art card and fold-out for the same price, but whichever you chose, I think you'll have fun with this story.

Bolts
Rating:

If I had to describe Baroness in just one word, it would be inconsistent. The amount of tonal whiplash I felt after the opening chapter of this volume was incredibly severe, and while I eventually eased into the type of story that I felt like this volume was trying to tell by the end, it did admittedly take me a while to get to that point. When you start a story with a woman dying and having these intense regrets regarding the violent tendencies of her husband who she doesn't think truly cared about her and then have a majority of the book take on a much lighter, almost romantic comedy tone, I think me being off put was at least a little bit justified. This is another time loop story where a woman has a second chance at going through a troubled life that she had before, but now has the power of foresight to make the right decisions in order to live the life that she truly feels she deserves to live. I like the little things added to the story that make it stand out a little bit compared to others in this genre. The idea that this woman wants to get away from her husband as quickly as possible, but still wants to have the children that she grew attached to with him is a fairly interesting idea. Plus, the idea that she is trying to live more selfishly after having sacrificed so much for a life that she never asked for is also an interesting thematic caveat.

The book also looks gorgeous. I had the opportunity to review a physical copy of it and everything from the artwork to the quality of the material it was printed on is top-notch. I like the detail that the chapters are almost broken up like diary entries, and every chapter ends with a blank page that you could actually write in, as if you were also making note of the day-to-day life of our protagonist. There are even some really gorgeous looking artistic spreads that look like they deserve to be hung on a wall. But that doesn't mean the story isn't allowed to get comedic with its facial expressions or occasional dips into the more chibi art style. The character designs are also incredibly distinct from one another and I like the detail that most of them have unconventional hair colors.

My problem with the book personally is that it's trying to tell a seemingly serious and empowering story with a very lighthearted tone. One minute our protagonist is going into detail about how horrible and twisted her husband was because he seemingly is a mercenary that takes on any horrible job for hire, Then the next minute the story shows him getting yelled at by an escort he hired specifically to teach him about sexual education. It's very funny and I actually think the story works better when it leans into that comedic juxtaposition. But the way it flips back-and-forth between those tones every couple of pages is incredibly distracting. I think the book is trying to go for that contrast as a legitimate narrative beat. Our protagonist doesn't understand the type of person her husband actually is but we, the audience, are getting a glimpse into how he might actually be more caring then she gave him credit for.

The problem is that, like many other romantic comedies, there's piles of misunderstandings brought about by poor communication. Apparently these two have barely ever talked during the lifetime that they were together before this reset which makes sense in the context of the story but I think it's hard to enjoy the comedy of the misunderstanding when I know they could potentially lead to our protagonist's death. I think all of the pieces are here to create an engaging story, but they are smashed together instead of carefully placed next to each other. I can see the picture that this story is trying to craft, but it also creates an environment where I feel like I don't know what I'm going to get hit with every time I turn the page and not in a way that feels captivating. I would still give it a soft recommendation if you like these kind of time loop stories, but just be aware of what exactly you're getting yourself into because maybe then things will be a bit more bearable