Not satisfying.

No actual spoilers, I promise- FL constantly tells herself and others that she is strong, logical, and independent. No. So much no. Her actions rarely fit anything she says. It's frustrating. As a reader, it's almost insulting, because it's almost like she's lying to us. Tbf, it's 90% because she's lying to herself. And tbf... I do that some, too. It goes on for the whole story.

A couple big plot points just kinda vanish without ever being clarified (*cough like that childhood incident cough*). They were huge at first... then so much unnecessary emo back-and-forth pining interrupts until you finally forget. Even a couple characters randomly stopped showing up. Did they die...? Get a different job...? Author got bored of them? Sorry, anyway...

The 2nd and 3rd MLs are far better love interests, as well as better characters in general. They have distinctive personalities and backgrounds, love FL in complicated but true ways, etc. The ML's best points? Occasionally being considerate of other human beings. Like calling for a doctor if someone is dying in front of you. I mean, the bar is on the ground. Tiny example is ML asking his chef to make something the FL likes for the ONE LUNCH he requests her to join. She's a warm-and-tingly mess over it. ...I always care about what my guests like to eat... that's just being a decent person? Ugh. It's wild how much better the other dudes are than the ML.

Idky I torture myself with stuff like this. I read this ages ago, but it's legendary for the general results. I chose to reread and remember what was bad. After reading a ton of these stories... yeah. I remember. It's not bad overall... just very unsatisfactory in most ways. Leaves you disappointed.