TL;DR: When Edward Cullen told Bella Swan "You're my personal brand of heroin" in 2008, I didn't think I understood what that meant... until I read FIDWTM. This is most certainly a pure, unadulterated drug that’s injected directly into my veins every week. This is my Bella Swan. This ridiculous, over the top, and sometimes heartbreaking manhwa gets me kicking my feet and rolling around in bed from all the emotions that it elicits. Is it, like, good? Who tf cares? I love it! L;DR: Does it actually deserve a 9/10? No, probably (definitely) not. Objectively, this story isn’t new or groundbreaking. But as someone experienced in thistrashy girl-oriented isekai genre, having followed it from its beginning stages, I can quite safely say that Father, I Don’t Want this Marriage is the only series I’ve been keeping up with consistently. The characters, art, and overall fun that I get from reading this series is unparalleled in the modern apocalypse of trashy otome isekai.

It’s got a bit of a rough start—the story begins pretty bloodily, then transitions to a typical plot that we’ve all seen before. A fan dies… reincarnates… villainess… changes the story… (yawn). But after the first several chapters, the characters really begin to grow on you, even as the misunderstandings (and oh boy, are there misunderstandings) start to pile up. The setup is quite frankly silly, but somehow, it works. It made me want to watch Juvelian develop past the relationship with Mikhail, to know more about the title Father, and I quite desperately awaited each episode to see the eye-candy prince Max.

The romance seems perfectly tailored to my favorite tropes—although this bad boy burns slow, so if you’re not a fan of the long journey (and the friends we make along the way) you can look elsewhere. But there’s a reason Max is a fan favorite in the otome isekai community. Where other male leads are cold, controlling, abusive, and a whole lot of other not-fun buzzwords, Max is a wonderful breath of fresh air. Isn’t it every girl’s dream to see a guy who’s only got eyes for the girl? Tired of the overplayed Cold Duke Of The North (TM), Max is just perfect for my tastes in romance manhwa.

And behind Juvelian and Max’s cat-and-mouse antics, there’s the setup for a deeper, darker story. I don’t wish to spoil anything, but I will say this is the only otome-isekai to get the ninjas in my room to start cutting onions.

If I had to chart this series on my otome-isekai holy trinity of Romance, Drama, and Fun, Father, I Don’t Want this Marriage would be getting full marks. So while yes, it is mindless self-insert fantasy… it’s a damn good one. And I will proudly give it that 9 out of 10 for how well it does its job of servicing to the lonely teenage girl within us all.