This review may contain spoilers
My country is tropical and I never experience winter but this drama totally give me the wrong impression that winter is warm lol. I've always loved stories that take references from books and movies, and this drama did it so well. The lines are poetic, yet in no way cringey. Eunseob's and Yoontaek's loves are the perfect definition of selfless love, and although the women seem selfish, but they love them in their own way. Many might be disappointed by the ending, but for me, it's perfect. For me, the definition of happy ending love doesn't have to be together. Even married couples often need to live apart for years and still a happy couple. It's okay to just meet once in a while. What's important is understanding, trust, and the thought of keeping each other precious. Even though they're not physically together, but their hearts are one. It won't be a happy ending if Haewon had to leave cello and teaching just to stay with Eunseob, and she knew he wouldn't want that either. Therefore, this truly is the best ending for them, and they're happy with that so it's good enough for me. Was this review helpful to you?
Warm, Cozy, Heartwrenching
This drama is really nice and wonderful. It brings out many emotions from the viewers and you may find yourself empathizing with the characters. The pacing is just right and is great for binge watching. Recommended watching while drinking tea or coffee for those chilly nights. Overall it's a really good drama and I highly recommend it. I found myself empathizing with Eunseop. The cinematography is nice and it sets the mood and the music really suits the drama. The side characters are also really lovely especially the book club members. The short blog posts at the end of the episodes are really cute.Was this review helpful to you?
Seo kang joon is the most reason for me to watch this drama . He is extremely handsome . His acting is marvelous . His chemistry with park min young is great and sweet . I love them together .
They are cute and sweet . I am also impressed by the scenery of the village . The story is so warm and cozy . I live with this drama .
Totally I love love love this drama. I highly recommended , specially in these days .
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This review may contain spoilers
healing but it will tear you apart first
a melodramatic slow-burn romance, in which two broken people find solace in one another and try to heal.i'm writing this two months after watching it and, to be honest, the romance didn't resonate with me as much as the theme of sisterhood did. strangely, i think the most memorable scene for me is a flashback in which hae won is braiding her grandmother's hair, along with her mother, and aunt, laughing. it's a very simple scene, but i think it spoke the most to me.
'hey, don't die. if you die, i'll die. your mom will die too. our mom will die too. that's how it is. even if we seem not to care, that's what will happen.' though their sisterhood isn't shown through affection, it is very much shown through their sacrifice. hae won's mother did not hesitate in taking the fall for her younger sister, so long as hae won could still be cared for by someone. of course, this had a huge impact on hae won and how she was perceived.
this doesn't mean to say that i disliked the romance aspect, though i would have felt the same had they decided to make hae won and eun sub have a platonic relationship. for me, i saw love, but i don't think i would say that it's the typical passionate romance shown. it was a nice change but i could have done without. i also could have certainly done without the love triangle- seeing eun sub never had reciprocal feelings for bo young, it felt like an unnecessary element, beyond maybe demonstrating another reason as for why bo young and hae won may not be able to reignite a friendship, at least to how it was before.
it felt like as the story progressed, the leads were becoming as vital as the secondary characters. at times, i felt overwhelmed at times by certain revelations and kim bo young's persistence. maybe that was the point, feeling overwhelmed made us feel just a fraction of what hae won must have felt, but in terms of being an enjoyable experience, i wouldn't say it was as cosy as you'd anticipate.
one thing that particularly irked me was the portrayal of hae won's abusive father. yes... people are multi-faceted. humans are complex and unreliable, but rare kind actions do not cancel out the formidable actions. one can act kind without being kind. in fact, his ability to be kind only makes it worse that he chose not to. i honestly cannot say that i think either the aunt did anything wrong. had he had access to them, i firmly believe that he would have killed them. i understand that self-defence laws differ, but it felt frustrating that it couldn't be just ruled as manslaughter. i don't think forgiveness is necessary, nor always possible, especially in cases of domestic violence so severe, and i didn't like that it felt as if they were being forced to forgive, when there was more than one victim.
i think i would say that i preferred jang woo and eun shil's romance plot. it was definitely a little more cliche, but that kind of familiarity felt nice in this format. jang woo was probably my favourite character.
i suppose a takeaway for me is to not leave things unsaid. hae won's mother thought that correspondence and honesty would have hurt hae won, and so she distanced herself, even after her release. perhaps, it's not our right to choose what someone knows and to choose to endure their pain for them, seeing as we don't know how much future damage we may be causing, even if our intentions are pure. 'if you're family, i believe you should all share the pain together.'
my other takeaway i suppose is don't trust men except from eun sub?
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Healing thought provoking slow burn drama
The adage that things come into your life when you need them is true with this drama for me. The characters and messages are deep and meaningful. If you are looking for the typical drama, this probably isn’t for you but if you have the patience to move at a slower pace you will be richly rewarded. The best part for me were the journals at the end of each episode and the final journal during the closing credits was profound. The casting was excellent and the OST is lovely. The characters had depth and maturity. I rewatched the final journal at least 5 times to savor it and let it really sink in to my soul.Was this review helpful to you?
Very lovely and relaxing
This series was one of the most relaxing and sweetest series for me personally. I enjoyed the village life and I wish I could try to live such a simple life someday where everyone knows everyone, and where people actually cared for each other. I totally enjoyed it and it made me feel like I was living with them. I enjoyed the acting of the male lead, he seems so sweet. Lovely music and lovely colors and scenes.I would have wanted the ending to be just a bit different, since I expected so. However, it was definitely worth watching and I enjoyed every bit of it.
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Quiet and slow drama which is perfect for book lovers
This drama is really different. The main character is the small town, in a sense.There's a quietness and slowness and an overall ambience in this one, it's very controlled in an artistic sense. The drama uses a lot of season metaphors, and as a season it's definitely November with November feelings. Cinematography is beautiful. The drama is slow so I felt it was better to also watch slowly, some 15-20 mins a day. That way I could enjoy the townspeople interactions, and the range of characters. Lee Jae Wook's acting and character were particularly delighful.
What also was really likeable and fun, was the book club, with the old and young members mixing. And the bookshop as a setting, cosy and warm. In contrast FL's house and family were cold and icy.
The two main characters past and traumas were less interesting to me than the townspeople scenes. The drama wasn't really that romantic - I had expected more and the romance was kind of empty (purposefully and in line with the psychology and past of ML & FL characters but still something of a letdown). I didn't fully understand the main characters, especially the ML remained a mystery. This is because we get to learn about the main characters and the two families' past very slowly. The past comes to light mostly in the latter half.
So this takes a lot of patience and it's not for moments when we need entertainment or quick rewards. It's a perfect drama for book lovers and I definitely didn't waste my time putting an effort to watch such a different drama.
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MEH BORING
It was very interesting in the start and had me hooked and I watched a ep after an ep but honestly it got boring after 3/4 episodes… they were showing so much of that fl’s auntie it had me pissed. I thought this show would have been more about the male and female lead but I couldn’t be more wrong. they had Chemistry for a bit and it was cute but it’s like he totally lost interest in her after they started to date. idk he was always out and they both were just a bit awkward on how she would always invite herself to go with him and he would just say “oh okay” like😀 They were much better when he liked her and she didn’t.It didn’t make sense, like the chemistry wasn’t there when they were dating and he had no emotions whatsoever other than just smiling a small smile at her here and there.
if you want to watch this for romance DONT EVEN BOTHER.
It’s sooo focused on the ml Family and the fl family and idec abt them. HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL with the visuals but lost it.
The only thing I loved watching was the ml’s sister. She was honestly such a fun character and brought a smile on my face. I kinda wish it was more of her and the guy she liked story even tho he was low key a ahole. She carried in my opinion 🤷🏻♀️
Overall it was a 4/10 I skipped to their parts most of the times but still were very less of romance while the drama is literally “Romance” themed. meh next please
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This review may contain spoilers
I love the calm, the healing and the slow-burn romance this show brings with it.
Mind you, it is a very slow romance, which I’ve realised is not everyone’s cup of tea. So, one might want to keep that in mind going into this show. But slow or not, it is a beautiful story of love, support and healing and I’m all for it. The show uncovers the demons of our two leads and also the supporting characters like the aunt and mother of our female lead and masterfully shows how they deal with them (successfully or unsuccessfully). I also quite like how they keep the show real. They don’t show some magical healing journey where the characters reach enlightenment at the end of the 16-episode journey. In fact, you don’t see many of the characters getting a proper closure in terms of healing, some of them even run from it but that’s what makes it so relatable - just how human it is. Healing is a journey and they have all started on it and that’s wonderful in itself.I quite like the chemistry between the leads - it seems very awkward and natural at the same time - just how their characters are supposed to be. I like how they are not overpowering with their support for one another and instead give each other the space to heal and grow as they like instead of forcing them to simply move on. Also, while they respect one another, you see them having their own individualities. For instance, the FL does not forgive her ex-friend (very rightly so) but you see the ML maintain cordial relations and conversation with her instead of being mean to her just for the sake of the FL. I like how that depicts a very healthy take on relationships.
I also quite like the ending. While I acknowledge that running away was not the best move for the FL, that definitely happens in real life and it was endearing to watch her grow from it. I also liked how the ML’s feelings are vocalised about the same and how he seems to complain (rightly) yet does not seem to complain. I don’t know if I’m able to explain it, but it is beautiful.
I am not a journaling person but ML’s cute way of journaling definitely has me interested in the idea. It’s so heartwarming and beautiful. Also, random, but absolutely love the name Irene - it matches the aura of the show so well.
Everything about this show is really great and I would highly recommend this to everyone. It is very heartwarming and endearing.
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This review may contain spoilers
Healing drama with cute supporting romances
I started this drama on a whim, and I'm mostly glad I did. It's a slow ride, but it does have its moments. The supporting characters' love stories were cute. The "will-they-won't-they" nature of the two stories was engaging enough to avoid being overshadowed by the rest of the drama.The main romance got kind of bland, to be honest, and I wasn't really invested in it towards the end. Don't get me wrong. The relationship was cute, but maybe it's because the subplots in the last few episodes completely eclipsed their romance. It's hard to focus on the fluffy romance scenes when you get sucked into a captivating domestic abuse/murder/cover-up/family secret plot. I just lost interest in the mains' romance.
Probably wouldn't watch again, but it's a nice break from other outlandish dramas out there. I might consider rewatching if I ever want a break from ludicrous plot twists and unrealistic love polygons.
P.S. I do have to write a small appreciation to Lee Jae Wook for subverting my expectations in yet another drama. After the ML revealed his crush, I kept waiting for the "I secretly love the FL too" fake best friend reveal (like in so many other dramas), but he remained genuine to the end. Favorite character by far.
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Beautiful
I adore this show! This is a different kind of drama. This show is calming, meditative and slow and yet somehow never boring. It’s about a girl who returns to her countryside home town and reunites with a former classmate who now runs a bookstore. Each of them have scars from their past that they must overcome to be together. The acting and cinematography are incredible. The OST is beautiful and carries each scene perfectly and serenely. This is now in my top 5! I hope this show sets the example for future kdramas of this qualityWas this review helpful to you?
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