Ima receive a lot of hate for this, but I think this is great. The introduction really had me in tears over the seemingly unjust treatment of Aristia.
The story has multiple themes like nature vs nurture, love, and the importance of communication.
I am not going to lie, I felt indifferent towards Ruvelis since I knew nothing about why he treated Aristia so badly. I’m glad I did because his backstory really showed the importance of nurturing a child. It really raised the question in my head of “how can we push a child to be perfect, with no room for imperfection, and expect the child to be ok?” Everything is not ruvelis’s fault.
Just like society today, we see ruvelis fall into the social expectation.
Now I’m going to get some heat for this, but I would like to compare this to racism in the American society today.
I’m Asian, so the social expectation that I’m smart and will excel in academics forced me to excel in academics. This helped me. However, when I think about the unjust views of others ethics, I become... saddened. Many Latinos, blacks, whites, middle easterners, and other ethics fall into a category of expectation. Unfortunately I had many friends who I watched fall into slots like a casino. The probability of rising in society increasing with social expectations they heard as kids.
This is why it’s important to raise kids in an encouraging household so they rise above expectations. This does not mean don’t punish them, (I remember getting a few whacks in the head for not behaving in public). This is why I feel indifferent and not hate towards people I don’t know including ruvelis.
If ruvelis was an evil man, by nature; We would have seen the exact same exact circumstances as before the time loop. Instead we see ruvelis console with himself, coming to terms, accepting, and changing his ways; when he realizes the unfound hatred he harbors in the difference of treatment. We see him grow and I find myself admiring that.
Aristia also grew. Before the time loop, she was like a cog rotating and forever bottling her emotions due to not having anyone to express it to. I am so happy to see her confidant and able to openly express herself.
(This is getting longer than I expected so ima try to wrap this up and skip some details).
I love how the story dives into “can you love someone who did you wrong... again?” I, myself, could not. I know I am a selfish coward. Just like I have done to my mother, I would have ran away from destiny.
Aristia, on the other hand, stayed and thought over how she can protect her family and country.
If you got to this part, this is where I got tired of writing this comment and I really wanted to get back to rereading this story. This story about how overcoming fear, prejudice, and a reminder that how we treat others, affects their future.