Tearmoon Empire: Volume 4

This book is divided into two arcs. The first one sees Mia's attempt to stop her academy from falling apart, which not only introduces us to Ludwig's teacher, but also links back to Perujin nicely. It's nice to see how the side characters remain prominent in the story, instead of getting pushed to the sidelines once their role is over. While the narrator is still as snarky as ever, it is undeniable that Mia has grown a lot as a character. She might be shallow and petty, but she does care a lot for Tearmoon and its people. As this arc comes to a wrap, it opens up the path to more political intrigue since the academy problems were caused by the Greenmoons.

In the latter half of the book, Mia goes on a summer vacation with Esmeralda to an uninhabited island. It goes as well as you'd expect, since they get hit by a storm and end up trapped on the island. It's mostly a fun summer adventure that serves as a nice change of pace, but at the same time, Ludwig is also dealing with yet another political issue in Ganudos. Except this one involves the Yellowmoons as well, so we're slowly getting introduced to the Four Duke's families. I'm actually pretty impressed by how Mia seems to be just having fun, but the overarching plot never really stops moving.

Miabel's presence, on the other hand, does fade into the background in this volume. I guess it's inevitable since bringing her to see Esmeralda would complicate everything, so she's staying in Saint-Noel Academy and doesn't get much spotlight this time. The book ends with Mia still on the uninhabited island and Esmeralda lost in a cave, so it looks like the conclusion to this summer vacation arc is going to be in the next volume.

Also, the bonus short story actually fleshed out the court chef who fed Mia ambermoon tomatoes in the first book. At this rate, the supporting characters will need their own sheet.