Started out decent but gradually ran downhill which disappointed me. :( It was a semi-solid story, but it lacked depth and intrigue between the characters, resulting in shallow understanding of them and little-to-no-care about their fates. The author’s intention of making the characters actors was what broke my immersion. And if that was actually a relevant decision, then I would agree that reading this story felt like a drama. It lacked inner monologue and depth to fully understand everyone’s motivations. For example, Kangjin was just a huge idiot who couldn’t decide who to love, or rather, he always went back and forth confusing the reader why he would suddenly switch. From staying with one dude, saying he loved him, to then promising another they should run away together. In my eyes, he was just an indecisive cheater who would bend his ass on a whim. Despite Jungkwon having many reasons for the reader to care for him—debt and such—he was nothing but a shallow-written character. I had sympathized with him being financially tortured, but even then, there was nothing in store. In a few scenes, his words seemed to suddenly cure the other’s depression effortlessly, which was so rushed. Take Roah for example. What… impact did he have on the story except for being a meaningless character? He could’ve been removed from the story and it still wouldn’t leave a stain on the major plot. One thing that rips the characters apart from truly making you care is that they all lacked direction—inconsistencies in their writing that often emerge, accompanied by lack of understanding their motivations. Chisoo was a cold-hearted mafia boss, unpredictable and had always kept everyone on their tippy toes. Then he becomes some… conflicted corporate guy with a soft heart? I get it, but the transition with his personality felt so jarring and honestly way too rushed. He felt like a totally different person. He was made to be some mysterious evil guy, then the story suddenly expands more on the context around the organization that pretty should’ve been revealed earlier than later. Interactions between the characters felt so little, and the time the characters had spent together was so short, there was barely any connection to understand them on a deeper level. All in all, the climax and resolution was lackluster, making the ending meh. Since this is the author’s first work, these issue are fairly common. Unfortunately, my original post had to be re-written (accidently reloaded) so there may be some things I had missed while writing. Other than that, decent read.
Started out decent but gradually ran downhill which disappointed me. :(
It was a semi-solid story, but it lacked depth and intrigue between the characters, resulting in shallow understanding of them and little-to-no-care about their fates.
The author’s intention of making the characters actors was what broke my immersion. And if that was actually a relevant decision, then I would agree that reading this story felt like a drama. It lacked
inner monologue and depth to fully understand everyone’s motivations. For example, Kangjin was just a huge idiot who couldn’t decide who to love, or rather, he always went back and forth confusing the reader why he would suddenly switch. From staying with one dude, saying he loved him, to then promising another they should run away together. In my eyes, he was just an indecisive cheater who would bend his ass on a whim.
Despite Jungkwon having many reasons for the reader to care for him—debt and such—he was nothing but a shallow-written character. I had sympathized with him being financially tortured, but even then, there was nothing in store. In a few scenes, his words seemed to suddenly cure the other’s depression effortlessly, which was so rushed. Take Roah for example. What… impact did he have on the story except for being a meaningless character? He could’ve been removed from the story and it still wouldn’t leave a stain on the major plot.
One thing that rips the characters apart from truly making you care is that they all lacked direction—inconsistencies in their writing that often emerge, accompanied by lack of understanding their motivations.
Chisoo was a cold-hearted mafia boss, unpredictable and had always kept everyone on their tippy toes. Then he becomes some… conflicted corporate guy with a soft heart? I get it, but the transition with his personality felt so jarring and honestly way too rushed. He felt like a totally different person. He was made to be some mysterious evil guy, then the story suddenly expands more on the context around the organization that pretty should’ve been revealed earlier than later.
Interactions between the characters felt so little, and the time the characters had spent together was so short, there was barely any connection to understand them on a deeper level.
All in all, the climax and resolution was lackluster, making the ending meh. Since this is the author’s first work, these issue are fairly common.
Unfortunately, my original post had to be re-written (accidently reloaded) so there may be some things I had missed while writing. Other than that, decent read.