This review may contain spoilers
It has flaws, but the show is genuinely good.
This adaptation receives a lot of hate (mostly regarding casting and love teams), but I strongly suggest you try watching it first before judging the entire series. Since the story is now halfway through, and a whole new vibe is expected next week, I decided to rate the first half of the adaptation. Before the other readers attack me, I first read the novel back in 2017 (I think it was April 2017, as it was still ongoing then) and re-read it recently (last July 2025) after seeing the adaptation news.
For the Performance and Acting:
I absolutely love the 1890s cast (the Montecarlos, Alfonso, and Flores families)! All of them did justice to the roles they portray. They deliver their lines properly. The acting feels natural and not forced. I also love the Isabella family in the present timeline, their family dynamics are wonderful. Also, I love the bond between the Montecarlos sisters, and how protective they are of Carmela. I only wish they would show more of the bond between Carmela, Donya Soledad, and Don Alejandro.
For me, Heaven and Jerome did justice to Carmela and Juanito. Heaven brings out the bubbly, funny, and rebellious (or headstrong) side of Carmela, although I think she fails to show the dramatic (maarte) side of the character, especially in the present time. Overall, she does a great job, and her facial expressions are so cute! As for Jerome, all I can say is wow. I doubted his casting as Juanito at first, but he is doing a great job. His line delivery is swoon-worthy, and I love his expressions when he’s jealous. He successfully captures Juanito's charm (his endearing, always-smiling side). Kudos! And I don't know if it's just me, but Heaven and Jerome have amazing CHEMISTRY. I'm excited to see how they portray Carmela and Juanito in the next half of the series. For Joseph, I can genuinely feel Leandro’s passion and determination to win Carmelita back again. He is a perfect fit for Leandro! While many fans wanted him for Juanito, I think he is better suited as Leandro. Now, I understand why Viva picked these three (Heaven, Jerome, and Joseph) to be the main leads.
What I didn't like was the acting of the actors who portrayed Shae and James in the first two episodes. Their performance was weak, even cringe.
For the episodes:
To be honest, Episode 1 and 2 are not great, especially the first episode. I didn't like the editing and pacing in these two episodes. In Episode 1, the montage for the Arch of the Centuries was too long and became annoying. Also, the editing of the school scenes felt off. In my opinion, the story involving Carmela, Shae, and James could have been better fit into Episode 1. Episode 2 should have focused more on how Carmela learns about the story of Carmelita and how she travels back to the past. The pacing was just too slow for these first two episodes.
The rest of the episodes are great! I love how the story progresses once she goes back to the past. I love that they added POVs of other characters, such as Helena, Juanito, and Josefina, which were not in the novel. I also like how they developed the relationships Carmela has with the characters in the past, especially Juanito. I just hope they show his entire POV in the final episodes for the viewers to fully understand him.
As I mentioned, I didn't like the editing in the early episodes. There were scenes where Carmela's voiceover was not loud enough to hear, and it didn't match her expressions. However, I noticed when I rewatched the first two episodes that Viva One has already fixed the voiceovers and corrected that one scene where they forgot the VFX. For the recent episodes, the editing is okay, and the cinematography is improving, which is nice. I just hope they maintain the current editing for the remaining episodes.
For the storyline:
The storyline closely follows the novel, and I'm deeply grateful for that. Many people said the storyline changed, but NO, it did NOT CHANGE. This is an adaptation so it's expected that some scenes will be written out. I've observed that since Episode 3, each episode covers about three to five chapters of the novel, which is great. There are also scenes in the adaptation where novel scenes are combined to fit the episode better. I just hope the next half of the series doesn't feel rushed, because I think Episode 9 ends around Chapter 22 or 23 of the novel, and the remaining chapters leading to the epilogue are quite long. It took me about an hour to read one chapter! I hope they don't written out too many scenes.
Overall, it is not a bad adaptation. It has flaws, but the show is genuinely good. This story is a masterpiece, and the show is doing it justice. I think people should give this a chance. The hate is clouding the judgment of a good show. I suggest viewers just bear through the first two episodes, as they are not the best (especially those school scenes, I really disliked the acting there), but the scenes in the past are great (Episode 3 onwards).
I'm so excited for the next half of the series! I'm sure we'll need a lot of tissues.
P.S. I hope they include the firefly scene. It is one of my favorite scenes.
For the Performance and Acting:
I absolutely love the 1890s cast (the Montecarlos, Alfonso, and Flores families)! All of them did justice to the roles they portray. They deliver their lines properly. The acting feels natural and not forced. I also love the Isabella family in the present timeline, their family dynamics are wonderful. Also, I love the bond between the Montecarlos sisters, and how protective they are of Carmela. I only wish they would show more of the bond between Carmela, Donya Soledad, and Don Alejandro.
For me, Heaven and Jerome did justice to Carmela and Juanito. Heaven brings out the bubbly, funny, and rebellious (or headstrong) side of Carmela, although I think she fails to show the dramatic (maarte) side of the character, especially in the present time. Overall, she does a great job, and her facial expressions are so cute! As for Jerome, all I can say is wow. I doubted his casting as Juanito at first, but he is doing a great job. His line delivery is swoon-worthy, and I love his expressions when he’s jealous. He successfully captures Juanito's charm (his endearing, always-smiling side). Kudos! And I don't know if it's just me, but Heaven and Jerome have amazing CHEMISTRY. I'm excited to see how they portray Carmela and Juanito in the next half of the series. For Joseph, I can genuinely feel Leandro’s passion and determination to win Carmelita back again. He is a perfect fit for Leandro! While many fans wanted him for Juanito, I think he is better suited as Leandro. Now, I understand why Viva picked these three (Heaven, Jerome, and Joseph) to be the main leads.
What I didn't like was the acting of the actors who portrayed Shae and James in the first two episodes. Their performance was weak, even cringe.
For the episodes:
To be honest, Episode 1 and 2 are not great, especially the first episode. I didn't like the editing and pacing in these two episodes. In Episode 1, the montage for the Arch of the Centuries was too long and became annoying. Also, the editing of the school scenes felt off. In my opinion, the story involving Carmela, Shae, and James could have been better fit into Episode 1. Episode 2 should have focused more on how Carmela learns about the story of Carmelita and how she travels back to the past. The pacing was just too slow for these first two episodes.
The rest of the episodes are great! I love how the story progresses once she goes back to the past. I love that they added POVs of other characters, such as Helena, Juanito, and Josefina, which were not in the novel. I also like how they developed the relationships Carmela has with the characters in the past, especially Juanito. I just hope they show his entire POV in the final episodes for the viewers to fully understand him.
As I mentioned, I didn't like the editing in the early episodes. There were scenes where Carmela's voiceover was not loud enough to hear, and it didn't match her expressions. However, I noticed when I rewatched the first two episodes that Viva One has already fixed the voiceovers and corrected that one scene where they forgot the VFX. For the recent episodes, the editing is okay, and the cinematography is improving, which is nice. I just hope they maintain the current editing for the remaining episodes.
For the storyline:
The storyline closely follows the novel, and I'm deeply grateful for that. Many people said the storyline changed, but NO, it did NOT CHANGE. This is an adaptation so it's expected that some scenes will be written out. I've observed that since Episode 3, each episode covers about three to five chapters of the novel, which is great. There are also scenes in the adaptation where novel scenes are combined to fit the episode better. I just hope the next half of the series doesn't feel rushed, because I think Episode 9 ends around Chapter 22 or 23 of the novel, and the remaining chapters leading to the epilogue are quite long. It took me about an hour to read one chapter! I hope they don't written out too many scenes.
Overall, it is not a bad adaptation. It has flaws, but the show is genuinely good. This story is a masterpiece, and the show is doing it justice. I think people should give this a chance. The hate is clouding the judgment of a good show. I suggest viewers just bear through the first two episodes, as they are not the best (especially those school scenes, I really disliked the acting there), but the scenes in the past are great (Episode 3 onwards).
I'm so excited for the next half of the series! I'm sure we'll need a lot of tissues.
P.S. I hope they include the firefly scene. It is one of my favorite scenes.
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