This review may contain spoilers
It could've been better
I enjoyed this drama, but I did have many problems with it. The first 15 episodes are dedicated to their childhood/high school life. I enjoy high school dramas, although they've been getting repetitive for me. I think some of the messages about family were heartfelt and important. For example, when the FL was struggling to understand the toxic relationship between the ML and his mother. Yeyun's situation with her father and the sentimental words of the FL's mom helped her understand. Both of these set her up to not get swayed by the ML's mom's insolence. It's a common occurrence in dramas for ML or FL to be insecure and back off simply because of a malicious authority figure. Besides this, in those same 15 episodes, I enjoyed the FL's mindset, the way she carried herself, and her ability to stand on business (for lack of better words).My problem comes in the second half of the show. The ML proceeds to ghost his friends again and does it to the FL in the worst way possible. The FL moves on to college and cannot get over him or even leave him alone. She searches for him, finds him, and is soon pushed away by him AGAIN. Throughout this, she persists. I applaud her for seeing his actions past face value and recognizing his trauma that fuels his behavior, but she should have let him go. He was willing to hurt her, leave her in the dark, all for the excuse that he thinks he's not enough. He could have been enough. He finally got his freedom from his mother and chose to be what she thought he would be without her path. I am not ignoring the hard times that he fell on with his cousin, never. Shit happens, but he became what he said he wouldn't without math. Then he proceeded to go back to what he hated and prove to his mother that he did need it. I'm saying all of this to show that his character didn't have much growth for me. He was self-deprecating, ran away from his problems, and still, when they finally got into a relationship, he had no confidence. When she said she was finally going to leave him, she should have done it.
On the topic of flat characters, the FL. I don't think she's actually a flat character. I, in fact, enjoyed her character in the beginning, but I was the usual trope where they make the FL seem like she has nothing going for her at all. She was bad at studying, didn't know what she wanted for the future, and was overall made to seem less than the ML. I HATE that trope, but at least she didn't lack in EQ.
My last, perhaps controversial words will be: The FL should have ended up with Yu Qiao, even though Que Yeyun liked him.
Was this review helpful to you?
