I hadn't heard of Lady Devil before I saw the title pop up on NetGalley but let's be real I'm not as familiar with manhwa as I am with manga! So I requested it blind, it got archived before I downloaded it because I just didn't pay attention to archive dates, and here I am with a library copy several months later, still going in blind.

So straight off, all the other reviews will bring up So Taboo and questionable consent. I'm not super bothered by either of those things as it's a fictitious and fantasy setting and not meant to mirror real live at all. Inetta is a woman in her early 20s, a widow already, isolated for 14 years after sharing a childhood kiss with her twin brother. Like cool, okay, kids do that sometimes, not the greatest, but maybe not the best reason to lock this girl away in her chambers for literally 12 years, stunting her ability to have any real socializations or relationships with anyone outside her a) dying mother b) her personal maid. Like no wonder she has a crush on her brother at her age, he's like the shining sun of everything (so says everyone) and she can't even talk to a single other person. (Not even him!)

The demon situation looks like it's still getting worked out in volume 1 so maybe it'll be a little clearer/less messy in future volumes. I did like this more than some other manhwa I've read but I'm wondering if the really slow starts are due to them being web published first instead of magazine-published like manga usually is because I find the pacing a little out of step with what I jive with more.

Thank you to Yen Press/Ize Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review!

First off this graphic novel is very taboo. Anette and John are twins from a Royal bloodline. But in their mother‘s bloodline, there’s a devil‘s curse. And so far in this first volume it goes through what the curse is about and how they got it. Also them trying to resist each other. There’s other problems in the family. And they’re trying to figure out what’s going on with John. Also is Anette going take the second husband. So far reading it’s fine but pursuit of caution. Because there are some triggers that are not for everybody.

Lady Devil has a beautiful drawing style with a gruesome plot. The idea of ​​the imprisoned princess and the handsome demon is actually a fun storyline. The only problem is that it deals with incest, which I can't handle at all and is a dealbreaker for me, which unfortunately forced me to abandon the story. Maybe the plot isn't bad at all, but I can't overlook it.

The pacing was absolutely perfect, a masterclass in building tension and delivering satisfying resolutions. I found myself unable to put it down, devouring chapter after chapter late into the night. And the ending?

Lady Devil, Vol. 1 presents a visually captivating experience, thanks to Choco FUKI's intricate artwork that brings the gothic and historical settings to life. The illustrations effectively convey the dark and romantic atmosphere the story aims for.

However, the narrative itself raises several concerns. The plot centers on Giovinetta Valdemar, who, after a traumatic marriage, seeks help from a devil to avoid another unwanted union, resulting in her twin brother's transformation into a devilish figure. This premise leads to themes that many readers might find unsettling, including elements of incest and non-consensual encounters. Such content can be distressing and may not be suitable for all audiences. While the story attempts to explore complex emotional and psychological themes, it often does so without sufficient depth or sensitivity. The character development feels lacking, and the pacing can be inconsistent, making it challenging to fully engage with the narrative.

In summary, Lady Devil, Vol. 1 offers impressive artwork but is hindered by a storyline that delves into controversial and potentially distressing themes without adequate exploration or nuance. Readers seeking a gothic romance with dark elements might find it intriguing, but it's essential to approach with caution due to the mature and sensitive content.

A dark graphic novel with hints of dark relationships. Giovinetta Valdemar, is a princess who was brought up, locked in a tower away from her beloved brother.

When she eventually got married her husband was murdered during their wedding night and she returned to the tower. Years later she is once again betrothed this time to a much older nobleman who is known to be cruel. She prays to her devil ancestors and she is rescued when her brother, the exalted hero of their nation, turns into a devil at night.

This is the first volume of a story that is definitely going to be full of twists and turns and hints of possible incest. The artwork is good but the story itself is weird, overflowing with weird characters and dark events.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a re-read for me.
I used to read the manhwa, but couldn't do it anymore.
It's a good start for a volume 1, and I can't wait to catch up.

I was so torn on my feelings for this book. On one hand, I hated that the relationship was incest. I was not aware of this before starting the book and probably wouldn’t have read it if I had known that. Not only was it incestous between twins, but they are presumably the couple you are meant to root for. The younger brother’s relationship is really not much better.

On the other hand, I did actually really like some of the plot points. The art was also really well done, even if it changed in style and detail a bit throughout the book.

Overall, I didn’t hate the book but this is definitely not something I could see ever recommending to anyone either.

Ok, so this is a VERY taboo story and I can see why a lot of people disliked it. Butttttt if you're like me and you like to read things that make you go 'wtf did I just read?' then this is for you! I thought the artwork was great and the story line itself was ok. There are areas in the story that didn't make a ton of sense. Then again what monster romance really makes sense anyways? Idk I enjoyed it, thought it was easy to read along with, and I think there is a lot of room for the future volumes to improve!

Lady Devil 
Released 
Volume 2 July 
Supernatural, taboo, forbidden love 

This series definitely incorporated a lot of taboos, the big one being incest. If you can look past that, there is potential for the series. Volume 1 seemed to be more for setting up the series, not quite sure where the plot is leading honestly. There is a big focus on the twins' forbidden love and then adds the brother who currently seems to be their enemy. But this could take a turn and the brother could not be the enemy, who knows. It is interesting seeing two different perspectives of the devil of Ducommun locked away in their castle, one being that it was a gift and another seeing it really as someone trying to curse the family. At first it sorta seemed like the only one who had feelings for the other was Giovinetta but as the volume continues we see that Johanne was also hiding feelings as we discovered he had somehow acquired her dagger at some point and was hiding it away (he is definitely different from my original opinion of him). It does seem like as time goes that Johanne is starting to be more conscious when he transforms. It feels slow pace right now as I think only a couple days have passed from the start to end of this volume. I’m going to guess in the next volume the one who she is supposed to be betrothed to will appear. 

I did enjoy the art and will say I like Johannes better in his transformation 😆. Will I continue this series? Honestly, I probably will. I am curious where this series is headed. Even though it's laid on thick,I try not to think too much of their relationship and it has more of a historical feel so if you think back to during those times it wasn't uncommon to have what we see now as taboo relationships. I have read people have conflicting opinions on this series and a huge part is the twins relationship as a heads up. Personally, if you don't hyper focus on taboos in series, I would say give it a try.

This manga was very interesting. I personally didn’t like it for myself, but it may fancy someone else who reads it.

The writing made me feel like I was all over the place and I was confused by a few things that went on. I think with some fine tuning it could be really something!

This wasn't quite what I was anticipating. First, though, I did really enjoy the art. The illustrative style of this was really compelling and pleasing to look at. The story itself was what didn't work for me. The dialogue was stiff at times and struggled to maintain my attention. I also thought that the plot was a bit confused and muddled at times, and I really did not enjoy the romance aspect of this story at all. I strived to see how it could maybe tie into the plot/if it was commentary on something, or an allusion to a real world issue or concept, but it still just...was weird. Even without the incest, the plot wouldn't have held up, though. So.

Rating: 1.5/5

Let’s just say this wasn’t what I expected — and not in a good way.

First off, the taboo element? It wasn’t hinted at; it was front and center in a way that made me uncomfortable.

As for the plot — if you can call it that — it barely moved. The story hinged on a forbidden dynamic and an evil sibling, but neither was explored in a way that made me care. It lacked tension, urgency, or any real emotional weight.

The characters didn’t help. Not a single one stood out, and the FMC, though clearly shaped by a harsh world, didn’t come across as compelling or nuanced. Her backstory may explain her behavior, but it doesn’t excuse how unrelatable and flat she felt on the page.

Visually, the cover had potential, but the artwork inside was inconsistent — sometimes polished, sometimes rushed. Dialogue was stiff, forgettable at best.

And honestly? The incest subplot wasn’t even the worst part. The pacing, lack of character depth, and overall execution made this feel more like a draft than a finished story.

ARC provided by NetGalley, Yen Press, and Choco Fuki.

I gave it two stars but only because I did like the artwork.

I read dark romances and even taboo romances, but I can’t get behind an incestuous relationship that we are seemingly supposed to root for… if it had been a step brother, it wouldn’t have bothered me so much. But a twin brother? No.

This is not at all what I expected. While the art was beautiful and character design well appointed, I didn't enjoy the story too much. There was confusion and it was so negative and overwhelming that I found myself waiting for it to end.

I consider myself an unflappable reader, not much bothered by anything except bad writing. But this was just awful.

The entire story is based on incestuous relationship between twins. The brother and sister kissed once when they were six, and ever since she's been kept locked in the tower, and only briefly released for her wedding. That included a public consummation of the marriage, which she seems unfazed about, and the groom dying horribly that night. So she ended up back in the tower where she's fantasised about her brother ever since.

When her father announces another marriage for her, she wishes on the family demon that the marriage won't happen, and it turns her brother into a demon. And apparently, the demon's notion of breaking the engagement is to have sex with her (not shown). Her brother doesn't remember it the next morning, when the transformation is over, but she does. She was perfectly aware it was her brother she was with. She preferred it too.

Even without incest, the plot is just stupid. The entire society is so afraid of women losing their virtue that even siblings aren't allowed to be in the same room unsupervised, let alone men and women who aren't related. All it would've needed for her (already bad) reputation to be tarnished was to be found in the same room with another man. The demon part was wholly unnecessary.

The story doesn't really improve, when the younger brother, who is a monk, shows up (and eventually calls in his brethren for exorcism, which fails.) The first thing he does returning home is to sexually assault their nanny, which based on her reaction, is something he's accustomed of doing. When all the characters are this disgusting, therer's really no point in rooting for them or reading more.

DNF'd at 35%

Starting with the protag kissing her brother at 6, I was hoping it was going to move away from that. Then married and consummating a marriage at 12-ick, but its a medieval book and nothing graphic was drawn out.

DNF'd as the book doubled down on the incest and had her now transformed into a devil brother kiss her and try to have sex with her. Not for me.

The idea was interesting but nothing much happened during this book and I wonder if next ones will give us more information. As a first volume it’s not full of events to interest me to continue, but I will give it a try.

TW: incest

trigger warnings for: incest, sexual assault,

What do you do when you accidentally turned your beloved brother into a demon? Well, you do your best. Unfortunately, for XXX, her best isn’t all that great. She’s been sheltered most of her life, kept innocent of worldly affairs, and is in love with her brother John, which makes her feel even more upset in knowing she’s the one who crused him to become demon possessed. The demon unleashes John’s own desires … which involve his sister, leading to an incestuous romance.

Meanwhile their younger brother, a failed monk, is determined to ruin them both by revealing their secrets and becoming the heir. It’s a mess of pining, longing looks, guilt, lust, and a sort of madness. It’s beautifully drawn, and I think it can be taken in many ways. Giovinetta is kept achingly ignorant by the men who control her life — not knowing how food is made, how to socialize with anyone, kept locked in a tower with only her nurse. She’s kept innocent and ignorant so that she can be controlled and manipulated by her father, her brother, her nurse …

While it’s meant to be Lanister coded, it also comes across to me as very Christian Fundamentalist coded — not so much the incest as the control, the manipulation, the religious trappings, the ignorance and confusion and how easily Giovinetta was led into making poor decisions because she had no way of knowing better, because all of those around her failed her again and again.

This graphic novel will not be for everyone, and that’s perfectly fine. The sex scenes are implied, the violence never lingers and isn’t overly gratuitous and the art is beautiful. The story, though, is a bit flat. Because Giovinetta has such limited company and is kept in a tower for most of her life, she doesn’t really know what’s going on and … doesn’t care. It’s all about her love for her brother, her worry for him, her growing madness as she gives into lust and the desire to be touched, held and loved as, for fourteen years, she has been locked in her room.

It’s a complicated story. I liked it, but I do wish it had done more, story wise. However, this is only the first volume, so who knows where things go from here? Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

So this wasn't for me.
Originally I liked the idea of a lady making a wish to a devil to save herself from her situation, however I didn't realize that this would include an incestuous relationship.
Other than that, I found that the dialogue was lacking and nothing really interesting happened through this first volume to make me want to read the next one.