note: spoilerfree review Nina the Starry Bride is a hidden gem that I stumbled upon almost by mistake and what a fortunate mistake it was It is one of the best josei/shoujo fantasy manga I have ever come across. It does seem criminally underrated though so here I am with a review to make it justice STORY 10 Nina is a girl that lives with her family like any other girl her age. Well except for the fact that her family consists only of two poor children which she calls her brothers. Their sole chance to survive is to steal be it jewelry or other valuables from rich people. Even so their lives are quite enjoyable and they are actually having fun all because they are together. And when you are together with the people you love you are happy right? Well yes thats true. However one day the little brother gets sick. Life may have been hard until this point but now it was hard and painful. After all they could do nothing to help the boy. At least until the older brother found a solution to get the money he needed for the medicine: to sell Nina to the slave traders. Luckily for her though instead of being sold into slavery she becomes the replacement of the recentlydeceased princess of the kingdom as to cover the mistake of those who failed to save her. It is a great story always managing to somehow keep you on your toes. As much as I want to tell you even more about it this is supposed to be a spoilerfree review so Ill hold back. What I can say though is that it wont disappoint and be ready for some pure strong real romance. ART 9 The art is amazing it is such a good fit for the style and atmosphere of the story. It is rather lovely and adds a lot to the charm of the manga. The covers especially looked very nice they had starry fantasylike ornaments and the beginning of the chapters had those as well. CHARACTERS 9 Great characters they are surprisingly complex and feel real. I could probably meet some people with a number of their traits in real life. Also the chemistry between the main characters is off the charts really. I dont even know them personally and it is not like I could ever do that but I can see how strong their bond is even if all I know is from some chapters of a book. The protagonist Nina has a very strong unpolished personality at the beginning she is a stubborn brat and remains that way. Make no mistake though it is quite the positive trait in her case for she is unafraid and ready to do anything for the people she loves. Nina grows a lot as a person and as a princess and we love to see it She is honestly such a nice character a very caring and strong girl and I admire her devotion. Also she reminds me of Yona from Yona of the Dawn. ENJOYMENT/OVERALL Nina the Starry Bride was definitely one of my most fun thrilling reads in the past few months. I was actually really surprised myself by how much fun I had while reading it. I strongly recommend it. 20/10 for enjoyment