A Magical Girl Retires

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon (trans. Anton Hur), 160 pages.

The protagonist of this book is a depressed millennial who's spiraling debt has her unable to see any point in continuing her life. But, luckily for her, her suicide attempt is interrupted by a magical girl who looks like an angel, with the gift of clairvoyance and a message that she is more important than she could ever have imagined. But the being a magical girl isn't like it is in the stories, and her greatest threats remain existential.

This adorable little book had a really interesting premise, and I was really excited to read it! Unfortunately, I found the execution a little weak. This may partially be due to a weak translation, which couldn't help but remind me of the kind of cadence people use when they're talking about themselves on the internet. It's an easy read, but it doesn't feel like it particularly delivers on its premise, or explores most of its themes in a very meaningful way. Not terrible, but I would recommend
Unbreakable by Mira Grant for a better execution of similar themes.