Do not miss out on this drama!
This drama made me smile so much. It's a story of healing and love and heartache. It's hilarious and sad and beautiful. I loved it very much. This is one of those dramas I know I will rewatch again, chasing that feeling of watching it for the first time that I will sadly not feel again in quite the same way. But in the words of Winnie the Pooh: "How lucky am I to have had something that makes saying goodbye so hard."Run, don't walk to watch this drama. I don't think it's for everyone, but if this drama is for you then I know you will love it as much as I did.
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Promising Premise & Cast - Plot/Writers Failed to Deliver
I had picked this drama for the fresh storyline, promising cast and hint at the mystery element. It never started off on a ground-breaking level but was decent till the first half. Post that is when it went downhill - in terms of romance and mystery which even the good actors could not salvage. Sharing my take - short and detailed review, on whether you should binge or skip it ....❤️ Nutshell Review:
My Lovely Liar is a drama about a woman who can hear lies and runs a successful business to help people detect lies and save themselves from fraud. Despite her unique abilities, she struggles with trusting people – unable to make friends and form relationships easily. She meets a famous music producer with a mysterious past who she is attracted to. She is wary of starting a relationship with him but to her surprise, the guy is genuinely very truthful making her comfortable and they embark on a relationship while growing individually. But their relationship is tested when in a turn of events the guy shares about his past – which rings a bell (quite literally) in the girl’s ears, which can only mean one thing - he is lying!
The drama goes on to explore how the woman understands this guy (her Lovely Liar), investigating the mysterious past with him while discovering the nuances of her unique ability. Together they also navigate romance, past relationships, family, friends, new acquaintances and how it all shapes up their lives for better or worse…
❤️ What is Worth Watching:
♥ Good-Looking Leads: Kim So Hyun and Hwang Min Hyun
♥ Depiction of how social interactions and power of belief helped the main leads overcome their inhibitions
(works only for the first half though - the above formula cannot save the whole drama)
❤️ What Does NOT Work:
✘ Second Half of the Drama
✘ Wasted opportunity to utilize a good cast
✘ Wasted effort on romance and mystery – directionless since second half.
✘ Missed using drama to drive a social message on – habitual lying, frauds, dirty games in politics, police, music/media industry, journalism etc.
❤️ My Call - Binge or Skip:
SKIP IT! - Unless you have started it already and want a closure – then finish it (on 2x speed, maybe?)
OR you are a fan of any of these actors and just want to watch it for their sake.
---------------------------------------------------- ✧❅✦ DETAILED REVIEW ✧❅✦------------------------------------------------
✧❅✦ WHAT WORKS ✧❅✦
♥ Good-Looking Leads: Kim So Hyun and Hwang Min Hyun
♥ Depiction of how social interactions and power of belief helped the main leads overcome their inhibitions
(works only for the first half though - the above formula cannot save the whole drama)
They are a good-looking pair and delivered well from their end (can’t help if the writing is poor). Kim So Hyun is renowned for her acting skills, but this was my first time watching the ML. To me like many idol-turned-actors, he is not just a pretty face but was decent. Not groundbreaking but not a carboard cutout either. Sure, he has room to grow, I will not watch any new work of his solely for him, but he is someone who can do well given a good plot and directions.
Through each other and the support from friends and acquaintances, the main leads see that while there is still a lot of bad in the world, they can still open to each other and many more and not everyone will betray them. They grow as individuals as they support each other, get support from some people around them and in turn manage to support others who can use their respective talents.
✧❅✦ WHAT does NOT WORK ✧❅✦
✘ Second Half of the Drama
✘ Wasted opportunity to utilize a good cast
✘ Wasted effort on romance and mystery – directionless since second half.
✘ Missed using drama to drive a social message on – habitual lying, frauds, dirty games in politics, police, music/media industry, journalism etc.
The first half was decent & I expected it to get better, but rather it gradually becomes worse with the last 2 episodes just being super-meh, Especially feel bad for: Kim So Hyun (FL) | Seo Jung Yeon (ML Mother) | Ahn Nae Sang (FL Father) | Park Kyung Hye (FL Friend & Tarot Reader) | Jin Kyung (ML Mother) – because they are popular and some senior talents of the industry.
Also, Ha Jong Woo, Lee Si Woo – they were new for me but under-utilized else had so much to offer.
Worst misuse of Yun Ji On's talent: Have seen him in Tomorrow and he was remarkable. He was going to be here as well but the writers did him dirty with the latter half and ending.
✧❅✦ My Take on Themes ✧❅✦
Like countless recent dramas, the story progresses quite well in the first half (till Ep 8) and goes downhill after that in terms of writing. Therefore, even good/decent performances of the cast are not able to leave an impact both in terms of romance and mystery, which I felt were the two focus themes of this drama. Given the fresh storyline and some renowned names in the cast lineup, the expectations and excitement were high, but the bad writing could not sustain it and hence the ending was weak.
• Romance - 6/10
Could be an unpopular opinion but I liked the romance build-up in the first half. Not everyone can have the heart-and-flowers, bring you the moon kind of love story. I liked that the protagonists were wary of romance given their past experiences, but eventually believed in each other. They were awkward at first but that added to the charm. Neither were they boring as we witness some hot kisses (well, thankfully they were not the usual fish face/cardboard kisses of drama land).
But perhaps the writers & audience wanted more in terms of toe-curling, fluff romance and that is what degraded the romance angle for me as it lost the point how they were as individuals, and it looked very out-of-character to me. Even the romance of the supporting characters seemed strained and forced. Rather the writers gave us romance where it was unnecessary (parents of FL, other store owners) and forgot where required (ML/FL, Syaon/Chi-Hoon).
• Mystery - 4/10
The title "My Lovely Liar or Useless Lies" initially intrigues with questions like: who is the liar? what is he lying about? is her power foolproof? What is the past incident? But the initial anticipation dwindles after Ep 8, with random cliffhangers, changing suspects, plot twists deviating from the who-dunnit theme and making it boring. Even when the curtain is lifted to reveal the culprit & motive; it does not have a shocking impact, rather is quite expected at this point and therefore dull.
Hence Final Verdict:
SKIP IT! :(
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There were good and not so great elements of the show.
This was a drama where I was very excited for the cast, Kim So Hyun has some hit or miss dramas, but she always acts well beyond her years and I still can’t believe she’s only 24. Hwang Min Hyun was pretty good in Alchemy of Souls and let’s face it, he has a very nice face to look at.The premise of the story is interesting, the FL, can hear lies and she happens to meet someone who basically doesn’t lie (even though the title is called My Lovely Liar, but when you watch the drama, I guess that is kind of explained).
I like the cast and the secondary cast was pretty good. Very entertaining and everyone has their quirks. I like that I mostly didn’t recognize anyone else and so it was nice to see fresh faces (to me that is).
The drama basically has low angst which could be considered good or bad. I found some parts a little slow and boring, but I rather have that then silly angst.
The villains of the show were really annoying. You know that villain who is just “crazy” and never seems to listen to anyone even when everyone is saying he or she is wrong, but they will not simply listen. Yeah, that was fairly frustrating to watch. To have the bad guy pursue the ML for so long and for one solid reason was very annoying to watch.
The FL’s mom was very annoying too. I loved her in Dr. Romantic but I will not want to watch her in a “bad” role anymore. I couldn’t take the mom character at all. I truly wanted to fast forward her scenes because they made her so over the top and kind of ridiculous
As much as I love the leads, there is ZERO chemistry between the two. I truly felt like I was watching two pretty actors recite lines to each other and maybe that has to do something with post production. There are a lot of moments of dialogue without background music and I found that really odd.
The drama is fairly predictable and I figured out everything by the 4th episode, that doesn’t really hinder my experience because to me that wasn’t really the main part of the show for me. I was just interested in the leads getting to know each other, so suffice it to say, I enjoy the first half better.
The show could have easily been cut down to 12 episodes, but I didn’t fast forward anything so it’s an easy show to watch, or to have something on the background. I started to read webcomics as I was watching the show towards the second half and I was completely fine in following the storyline (I don’t know Korean, just FYI).
Overall, watch it for the leads, but the storyline / over plot is fairly lackluster.
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Dude Can't Catch A Break
I'll be honest... my feelings are a mixed bag with this drama. I reposted my same review that's on Viki with more add-ons on here.First off, I'm tired of the majority of K dramas where there's always a very clingy girlfriend or female friend to the point where they're suicidal over the dude. It's sooooo annoying. Like the SFL is a straight up stalker with obsessive traits. She just cannot take no for an answer no matter what her manager or the ML tells her. She either refuses to listen or twists the ML's words so that she can continue living in fantasy land and justify her obsessive and possessive traits. The two men raise their voices at her and nope, she gets scared but doesn't change. Ugh. I just roll my eyes now with this overused trope.
It's time to write women better and stronger especially in any Asian drama because women deserve some empowerment without coming across as a stalker who can't live without the man she wants, or a woman of "lower class" pursued by a rich dude or a women who IS rich but then she's a cold-hearted b*tch. I wish some writers would read the book, "Why Men Love B*tches" and write about a drama about THAT. (Btw, every women should read that follwed by 'He's Just Not That Into You'". I assure you, it's a game changer.)
Another reason that I'm struggling with this show because like another reviewer stated, "There's too many obnoxious people on this show." Yes I get it, that's dramaland but this ML just can't cut a break. If it's not the ex's brother, it's a reporter, then the singer, then it's the exortionist, and the plagiarizing composer. Then the FL's ex will soon come into play too and let's not forget her mother. Anyways, someone is always invading the ML's privacy or space. Don't even get me started on when the FL took off the ML's face mask. O.M.G. That made me so livid. Can you imagine if the roles were reversed and the ML did that to a FL? I was so disappointed in that scene. Anyways, with all these toxic people, sometimes viewers just need a break from all them too.
Mind you, I like the ML and a huge fan of the FL but I gotta admit, the ML acts the same as he did in Alchemy of Souls. Same lost look at times and shy demeanor. But he did show some range when he was angry, so that was good but still could've been more pissed off. When he turned down the SFL, he had his mask on so you couldn't really feel the weight and seriousness behind his words.
There's a part where the FL finally catches the ML in a "lie" but I had to wonder why the writers didn't show the FL distancing herself from the ML after hearing what he "lied" about? That would've been a natural reaction. Instead, HE pushed her away.
Also, I'm not a fan of the way K dramas always use drunken scenes to bring the leads closer together. Like seriously? Getting black out drunk on a date is the biggest turn off. Then there's the trope where the lead has to carry or go with drunk person home, get passcode access to their place, and puts them in bed. If they're not drunk then they have a passed out kind of fever and of course, the opposite lead stays overnight to make sure they don't die. Lol. I mean, alcoholism can be a big problem folks. In some countries, we call that a "red flag" if you're getting drunk on the first three dates.
Anyways, I'll try sticking it out til the end but some parts seem draggy to me. I may change my rating later but so far it's a solid 8 from EP 6.
Update:
I dont know when I started to watch this in fast foward but it was getting really draggy. There just wasn't enough "oophm"... that extra mysterious-ness around the death of the ex or even enough excitement between the two leads. Not enough chemistry IMO. It just got messy because everyone was lying except the ML and SML. On top of that, it becomes difficult to tell the difference in sounds when the FL could hear the truth and the lie. You were basicallly waiting her "that-person-is-lying-look" or slight nod or the button press. It was becoming tediously repetitive. At this point, I was just waiting for the answer to come on who the murderer was.
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Interesting Story
The drama starts off pretty awkward. FL's dress style at that time was really bad. The stylist was not able to make the FL look like an in-character. The acting however was great, I'm a big fan of Kim So Hyun and I know her capacity as an actress, the ML, Hwang Min Hyun portrayed his character well. I'm satisfied with the actor's performance, the only thing that upset me is the story progression. The story progression is terrible, the plot is becoming uninteresting for 16 episodes. It would have been better if the drama only had 12 episodes. But since it has 4 episodes that still remain I will look at it in a positive way since so much can happen in that 4 episodes and the plot may still have some twist that can reverse the terrible story progression. I'm just hoping that the drama ends up well since it included great casts.Was this review helpful to you?
Pretty Good So Far !!
I'm writing this after finishing episode 9. Honestly wasn't expecting this series to be all that good but it's very entertaining & with a good plot. It starts a little slow but they're just setting up the story first few episode then it starts getting interesting. Honestly would recommend it for anyone that's on the fence about watching it. I'm interested to see where the story goes for the last 7 episodes. The ML & FL have great chemistry. The characters are well written so far every character has ''character''. I'd give it a solid 8.5 - 9 so far. Hopefully the story doesn't fall off as it goes towards the end.Was this review helpful to you?
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The Best K-Drama I've Ever Seen
I've been reading some other reviews where people claim this show has poor acting or it loses the plot half way through. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion, so I'll share mine. This show to me was absolutely perfect. They could not have chosen a more perfect cast, both leads and all the supporting characters felt important and special and each actor did a fantastic job. This show holds so many beautiful and complex moments that left me emotional and provoked deep thought and insight. I believe this show is more than worth your time and I couldn't be happier that I found it. The ending scene parallels the beginning in such a beautiful way, I've never seen a better ending for a K-Drama. I hope you truly give this show a chance because the mystery and romance are executed wonderfully in my opinion. 10/10 no question.Was this review helpful to you?
A reverse repunzel
The male lead was the repunzel here who was locked in a tower due to people surrounding him. The male leads acting was superb and he did an introvert very very well. Even till the end he remains an introvert. If you want behind the scenes, Min Hyun is so much more vocal.This is my best ROM COM SINCE 2019. Last I enjoyed a drama so much was one spring night.
This drama, was so special is how nothing was special but the end product was so amazing. Things I loved was how two really cute loners were drawn to each other. The male lead was such a cutie and female lead was very natural too.
After I binge watched it a third time, I realised it was time for me to submit a review for this drama 😊😎
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A healing and comfort drama, the chemistry between Male Lead and Female Lead very good
This drama offers you everything you need. Romance, healthy relationship, thriller, comedy, enjoyable music & more.Doha and Solhee present to us one of the greenest, most healthiest relationship between the male & female lead character in K-Drama land & not make the female lead as a damsel in distress. They present the importance of communication, trust, showing sincerity, being honest, making an effort, protect, help & understand each other & love unconditionally.
Hwang Min Hyun and Kim So Hyun great pairing. Their chemistry on & off screen is one of the most wonderful i have ever seen. Endearing & magical. They were more than phenomenal in my eyes.
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An okay romance with a dull mystery
This is the kind of drama that would be much better as a pure romcom, as the mystery just drags it down. It's hard to balance these two genres, and this drama didn't have either the writing or the acting to pull it off. Some of this is to be expected - it's hard to write a mystery show when you give the FL the ability to tell if people are lying. That just makes solving problems way too easy.The main reason I watched this in the first place was because I was curious to see how MinHyun's character would be, it seemed it would be different from his previous shows with a darker element. But it's more of the same, he's a nice, somewhat bland lead, and the FL is more of the same. Here it makes the mystery part of the show even more dull to watch. Neither of them seemed to be able to show passion in general.
The positive is that some of the side characters grew on me. I liked the other characters who work with the FL, and I found the characters in the ML's life generally interesting as well. All of them just seemed more lively/interesting than either of the leads. It's not exactly good when you finish a show and wish you could replace both the leads with the side characters instead.
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What can I say about this show is that it’s unremarkable. I wanted to watch it because of Hwang Min Hyun, who was great in “Alchemy of Souls,” and the premise of someone who can hear through people’s lies, piked my interest. But the execution fell short, perhaps due to the flimsy source material, budget constraints, lack of inspiration, or whatever ailed this sad excuse of a drama that could have been great, but settled for mediocrity. As individual actors, Kim So Hyun and Hwang Min Hyun were not too shabby. As Mok Sol Hee, she was spunky and conflicted at the same time because of her supernatural ability to detect lies. It’s no surprise that she has trust issues, which explained her backstory with her previous fiancee.
On the other hand, the male lead was as mysterious as he gets, hiding his identity from almost everyone because of a past incident that pegged him as a suspect in a murder case. Because of this intrigue that I kept watching this drama, to see how it unfolds. The first half of the drama was decent until it lost steam. Speaking of which, there’s not even a semblance of heat between the two main characters to justify a romance. Not even a tiny spark to light a fire. But you know who has chemistry? Mok Sol Hyun and Lee Kang Min. So much so that I wished they gave Do Ha’s role to Seo Ji Hoon instead. I would have rooted for this ship, hands down.
As for the secondary characters, they are even less memorable, except perhaps for Yun Ji On, who plays a complex character. I was really impressed by his portrayal of Jo Deuk Chan, the ML’s best friend, who happily plays second fiddle. But the rest of the cast were technically just props, perhaps to fill a body count, and move around to make the drama look substantial when it’s not.
Then the plot twist and the whole fake-out at the end was disappointing. And coupled this with the fact that two of the female characters here used emotional blackmail as manipulation is very unsavory for me. I’m not really one to justify this, but in the end, this is not a romance story or even a murder mystery, but a drama about obsession, whether it’s for a one-sided love or a love lost, for misplaced justice, for a twisted truth or for greed of money. So while there’s a semblance of a message is there, it failed to deliver.
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A Slow Burn Mystery That Surprised Me
As I settled in to watch this K-drama, I admit I had tempered expectations due to its low rating in other site. Initially, I tuned in solely to support Hwang Min Hyun. The first few episodes felt average and predictable, and the chemistry between the lead characters didn't quite click. But then, something changed.The show gradually revealed its true colors. As investigations unfolded and truths came to light, I found myself hooked. It's a slow burn mystery—one that sneaks up on you. Suddenly, I cared about the characters, and I was rooting for them.
What Worked:
1. Plot Twists: Just when I thought I had it all figured out, the story surprised me. The unexpected turns kept me engaged.
2. Character Development: The slow start paid off. Characters grew on me, and their complexities added depth.
What Could Be Better:
1. Chemistry : While the chemistry improved, it took time.
Verdict:
Despite its rocky start, this drama is worth a try.
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