Queen Abigail Friedkin longs for one thing only: to spoil her beloved daughter Princess Blanche and give her the best upbringing any child could dream of. But it wasn’t always that way. Abigail used to envy her daughter’s beauty....
Queen Abigail Friedkin longs for one thing only: to spoil her beloved daughter Princess Blanche and give her the best upbringing any child could dream of. But it wasn’t always that way. Abigail used to envy her daughter’s beauty. She would seize upon any opportunity to mistreat the child, whether by slipping needles into her shoes and dolls, forcing her to wear garish and constricting clothing, or cutting her down with cruel words and a sickening smile. But everything changed when one day, a children’s clothing designer from Earth was reborn as the evil queen. The new Abigail has one mission: “I must get closer to Blanche!” But how can she convince the poor child that she has nothing to fear after all?
TL;DR: This is a super cute volume, but one that also boasts a surprising depth, engaging with the themes of reconciliation, redemption, and reclaiming joy. For more details on both the obvious charm and hidden depths of this manhwa, continue on below the jump! But be warned, spoilers ahead.
Hot Takes
sleepy: Honestly, I started reading Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom vol. 1 expecting something generic and lackluster, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! Isekai stories where the main character dies of overwork are a dime a dozen, but this volume packs in substance and intrigue while maintaining an airy, adorable tone. I find myself flipping through the pages every so often just to admire the lovely art, something I’ve never done for other series. Super excited to see where this story goes!
claire: For my part, this is actually my second read-through of these delightful chapters, which I originally encountered about a year or so ago on the Tapas app. And I must say, I’m really enjoying this in its physical form! Somehow, the lush artwork by Mo9rang pops even more and feels even more full of energy and expressiveness. Great job, Ize Press, in making an excellent adaptation to book format with this one!
Laura: This manhwa was everything I didn’t know I needed! A fun family-focused story with sprinkles of fantasy (aka magical mirrors) and the touches of fairy tale whimsy (but with a twist), wrapped up in bright and fun art that keeps you turning pages! Like Claire said, thank you Ize Press for publishing this story in physical form because this first volume is a new contender for my favorite physical manhwa of 2023!
Reconciliation in the Family
sleepy: Throughout this volume, Abigail works to restore the fractured relationships that were destroyed by her old self. Part of that involves working through her strained marriage with Sabrian, the king. And I appreciate how one of the first things Abigail speaks with Sabrian about is raising Blanche well. Even if they never interact as anything more than strangers sharing the same house, Abigail wants to unite with Sabrian on one thing: being good parents to Blanche. Even if she can’t salvage her marriage, she commits to passing on something good for her daughter.
One of the big questions being asked here is “What is family for?” What is the golden thread tying these otherwise strangers together? And what can compel them to keep the thread from fraying apart? Abigail has to answer these questions in order to learn how to love Blanche well and face those who don’t truly desire Blanche’s happiness. Sabrian finds himself forced to confront these questions after seeing Abigail’s genuine efforts to be a good stepmother to Blanche. And Blanche herself begins to heal from her pain as she learns what being a daughter actually looks like.
Laura: That is really well said, sleepminusminus. I agree that Sabrian is forced to confront the question of “What is family for?” I think this is why I struggled with his character throughout this first volume. He is not completely horrible, but I definitely want to see him “level up” as a father–which makes Abigail all the more amazing! Right from the opening chapter, she is already saying she wants him to “fulfill” his role as a father and forget about fulfilling his duties as a husband. Her desire to see this is so opposite to how Sabrian acts that it makes Abigail all the more compelling as a heroine who really is doing all she can to break the previous cycle of family dissonance and hurt that has gone on for years.
claire: So true! This story really does bring to mind the “ministry of reconciliation” that is so key to Jesus’s life and continued work in the world today. Scripture says of Christ not only that all things are reconciled in him, like on a historical, global, and even cosmic level, but also that his heart is to tend to the small things too, to restore individual families, and specifically fathers and children: “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…” (Malachi 4:6). This is precisely what Abigail is playing a part in: through her overflowing, abundant love for Blanche, Abigail is actually restoring to the girl not just a maternal relationship, but her paternal relationship too. How powerful is that? And what a model for us as we seek to walk in reconciliation too: it flows easiest out of love. I’m excited to see what the impact of this developing father-daughter relationship will be, and how that may speak to our own stories as ministers of reconciliation.
Isekai as Redemption Story
claire: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the isekai genre is fundamentally about redemption. After all, the one thing every series has in common, apart from the “other world” aspect, is that the MC is granted a second chance at life, a fresh opportunity either to do things differently or to enjoy a different set of circumstances. But there’s something special about Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom in that it’s not just the MC who gets a second chance, but the family that she’s reincarnated into as well.
sleepy: The isekai structure works so well for this. Abigail finds herself reborn into a new life and a complex web of ruined relationships she had no choice in. Often when this trope is used, the protagonist deftly weaves through all those relationships with their charisma and carves out a better life for themselves. But not so here. Abigail has to do the hard work of discerning the tragedy and brokenness that characterized her old life. Like a seamstress repairing the ripped sleeve of a dress, she has to carefully pull out all the loose threads of her past so that she can make amends.
And what’s especially interesting about Abigail’s story in this regard is that it’s her own actions that led her to this point. Yes, she’s a new person—she’s not the manipulative and materialistic Abigail that took pleasure in others’ downfall. But it’s still her responsibility to rebuild her life from the rubble she made of it. In some ways, this reminded me of the Christian journey. Even though we’re new creations in Jesus, we still wrestle with the ways sin has damaged us and our world.
claire: Right? I was so impressed with the hard work Baekhap is doing as Abigail to rebuild trust and redeem the villainess. Whether or not it’s “her fault” is beside the point: this is the reality she now inhabits and she has a choice to either feel herself the victim of a horrible fate and give in to that, or to take action and try to rebuild what has been destroyed, even if it “shouldn’t have to be” her who takes on this responsibility. There’s a powerful parallel here for us in our lives as believers, because we are called to be peacemakers, regardless of whether or not we were the ones who started the war, and that is what Abigail is doing!
But she’s also having fun while doing it! And that’s really where we see Baekhap’s own development and the redemption of her seemingly pointless death in her past life: she died because of overwork and diet pills – she got those two core things “wrong” (work-life balance and resisting social pressures) and paid the ultimate price. But now, she’s reclaiming the joy and playfulness that led her into her original career, while staying away from the destructive behaviors that ruined it for her the first time. How’s that for a redemption story?
sleepy: It’s a lovely redemption story, and a hopeful one, too. Despite the hand we’ve been dealt, despite the hurt and bitterness that might color the pages of our stories, despite the pain we’ve caused ourselves and others in the past, there’s always room to pick up the pieces and begin the work of restoration. It might not always be easy, but it’s always worth it.
That thread of hope empowers each of our characters to push forward. Abigail strives to protect Blanche from the same overwork and social expectations that crushed her in her past life. Blanche wrestles with her fear of her mother in light of all the abuse, but pushes forward in hope that the change she sees will last. And Sabrian also seems to be wrestling with something from his past. It doesn’t feel like he truly dislikes Abigail, and from a panel depicting a ghostly figure overshadowing him at one point (a curse? his first wife?) it appears there’s more to his character than meets the eye.
Laura: I agree that this really is a special isekai story because, like you said Claire, this story is not just about Abigail. It’s about Abigail, Sabian, and Blanche, which has me all the more invested in this story of second chances for a family that others didn’t feel needed a second chance. It seems more often than not that it’s a norm for fictional families of royalty to go their separate ways, and as a result, in the eyes of their subjects and people, nothing seems to be “wrong” per se. As long as they fulfill their duties, there is no need for things to change in this family despite the lack of intimacy Sabrian shows and the mistreatment shown towards Blanche by her tutor. It’s why Abigail’s actions are so shocking to those around her because she is destroying that idea and showing that the lack of reconciliation should never be accepted as “normal.”
I think that was shown even a little bit in Baekhap’s life as a children’s clothes designer too. As long as she did her job well and did what was expected of her–such as being thinner–then life should be fine. It was “normal.” However, this story shows that accepting that kind of unhealthy normal shouldn’t be something society readily goes along with and I loved how she had a second chance to pursue her passion once more, but like Claire shared, in a much healthier way. I was truly glad it wasn’t something she had to “leave behind”’ simply because she was in a new world and body. How wonderful it is too that now she can use that very same passion to reconcile with Blanche by making the cutest clothes for the cutest daughter!
Societal Pressures and Childhood – Reclaiming Joy!
sleepy: Speaking of societal expectations, one thing I loved about this volume is how it approaches the relationship between Blanche and her responsibilities as the future queen. There’s a heartbreaking scene at the end where Blanche is being scolded by her etiquette teacher for failing to carry herself as a child of her status should. “For a woman, beauty is the first and most important thing,” Blanche’s teacher chides, condemning her to a future of cold gazes and restricted diets, devoid of happiness or real fulfillment.
Sadly, this story is all too common. So many children (and adults!), desperate for acceptance and affection, fall prey to visions of the good life that actually result in loneliness and self-harm. Abigail knows this well from her past life. She tried to conform to the expectations of her job—a job that she enjoyed!—and ended up working herself to death.
But instead of just telling Blanche to live her own life, free from whatever her etiquette teacher or anyone else has to say about it, Abigail presents Blanche with a better vision of the good life. She invites Blanche to accept the candies being offered to her and reassures her: “I’ll bring you all the sweet things the world has to offer every single day. So please don’t cry Blanche, and instead, smile as bright as the sun.”
In other words, Abigail isn’t telling Blanche to set aside all expectations and live for herself—she tells Blanche to live up to her expectations: expectations that are for Blanche’s genuine good.
claire: This is so key. The supposed freedom to “do whatever you want” is another kind of prison, after all. Good parenting takes on that burden of discernment and values while the child is growing, shielding them from a level of complexity that they can’t handle yet while training them to one day be able to navigate it on their own. “Train up a child in the way that he should go…” said Solomon. But what we often forget is that training is not a set of rules and commands. Instead, it’s about modeling, empowering, and creating a safe space to practice and fall and get it wrong without world-ending, traumatic repercussions.
Laura: Maybe it sounds weird to word it this way, but I loved seeing Abigail’s anger at how Blanche was treated in being forced to diet! Her anger reflected so much of my own and I think it’s how every parent should react in that situation! Seeing Abigail so passionate in saying that Blanche is still a young girl, and that she (Abigail) would do whatever she could to ensure that Blanche could wear, eat, and do what she would like was deeply satisfying. To add to that, it also felt especially moving in relation to how Abigail reflected on her past life and how many people commented on her figure and her need to diet and such.
claire: So good, Laura! This really leads to the last thing I wanted to highlight about this volume, and that is the way that Abigail protects Blanche from needing to be an adult at age eleven. One key pattern in single-parent families is the tendency for the eldest (or only) child to grow up quickly, and to step into the role of adult and support for their parent at a young age. Now, this isn’t quite what’s happened with Blanche, but she has nevertheless been required by those around her to become an adult by the tender age of eleven, and it is the advent of Baekhap as her stepmom that gives her permission to be a child again, to have those burdens lifted from her shoulders as they are carried by an adult instead. In real life, this is often a rocky transition for the child and sometimes it doesn’t even take place–the child and step-parent end up competing for the attention of the parent/spouse. But here, Abigail is determined to cut right through any such stuff and instead shower Blanche with the cushion of love she needs as she learns to be a kid again, to let go of all the adult standards and requirements she’s been shouldering all this time. It’s not going to be easy for Blanche, but she’s got the ideal stepmom to help her.
Parting Thoughts
From the cute cover art and the entertaining blurb, this story appears to offer a fun read with some fairy tale inspiration. However, the further we read, the clearer it became that this story has more to offer than simply a good time. Abigail is not only inspiring wonderful change in her family, but she is also having an impact on us readers with the thought-provoking messages her actions proclaim, like we discussed here today. I think all three of us are eager to read volume two and see what unfolds next for this awkward little family that is slowly but surely coming together more than in name only!
Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom is published by Ize Press, an imprint of Yen Press.
