It's a pretty cliche novel, not that there's anything wrong with liking cliche, but the best thing this novel can offer is probably the very pretty cover. Mild spoiler warning.

The plot is typical and goes the way you think it will (and it probably will in the future), but slower-paced. At 106 chapters, I'm pretty sure it is not going to end anytime soon which is unfortunate because it does not offer very many interesting plots and our leads' relationship is only going 2 steps backwards after 1 step forward.

The... more>> ML is unsurprisingly an archetypal stoic character who only cares about practicality and profit. He does not care or respect the FL much, sees her as a servant (his words not mine) and remembers to drop little disparaging remarks every now and then to put her in her place. Honestly, if I were FL, I would at the very least roll my eyes at his bullsh*t but too bad our poor little FL is too obedient and docile and says 'yes', 'I'm sorry', 'we'll do as you like' every chance she gets. That being said, yes he's kinda of an ass, but definitely not the worst there is out there (the bar is subterranean).

Meanwhile, the FL is characterized by her apparent calmness and dignity by pretending that everything is fine (or so she tries) but falters when she gets into scathing situations and ends up being somewhat walked all over anyway. One thing bothersome thing though is the robotic apathy she has to everything; never wanting joy or a better life or a will of her own, not a single display of reasonable dissatisfaction in reaction to the unpleasant ways ML treats her, like when he says some sh*t or sexually assaults her. Other than those, she's a pretty boring person but I won't hold that out of all things too hard against her.

From the synopsis, I was expecting a lot of anguish and drama but I didn't really get all that surprisingly (so far). The main (?) conflict was kinda weak and could have been easily solved if FL had a better head on her shoulders. Unfortunately, minimal character development for the leads even after this many chapters (actually it was just starting to tick for the ML... god dammit).

As a side note, I noticed something off with the translation on woopread. Either I'm reading the wrong raws (probably not?) or the translator is making things up... Take that as you will and read what you want. Personally, I didn't want to read something much too adorned of the translator's imagination that it becomes unfaithful and inaccurate to the original writing. By the way, the original writing is quite fine (good enough for a web novel) so why the need to add frills?

Overall, it's not terrible... I'm kinda curious about how it'll go but it's too slow and stunted for my liking and the characters are barely tolerable so I'd probably be better off reading something better. <<less

"Han" is a Korean word that has no English translation, and is described as an internalized feeling of deep sorrow, resentment, grief, regret and anger.
Source: Eunice Kim

*Please don't read if you don't like long reviews and bunch of spoilers and forgive me... *

Anyway, the word "han" is basically the perfect description of the novel Bastian. Actually, all of the novels of the Korean author Solche are "han" like that, with highly toxic relationships.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. So I encourage people to read and decide for themselves.

But beware...

It can be considered a good novel in the way that can arouse strong feelings in the readers, either revolt for the behavior of male lead or hope for a happy ending.

Solche's novels always follows the same pattern:

I loved and laughed really hard about the comment of the other reviewer xuexxi, explaining that Bastian "wasn't the worst male lead that there is out there because her bar is subterranean." Her bar is really deep...

Anyway, this can be hypocritical of my part but this and all the other novels that have heroines being r*ped and ended up getting together with the "hero" rapist (and I saw a lot of them) always makes me wonder...

*Would I be able to tolerate and read this kind of novel if I suffered r*pe?

*Or would the author would write something like that if she/he suffered r*pe?

*Would I be able to forgive the rapist and love him/her?

*Are the authors influencing a r*pe culture, making younger people believe that it's ok to r*pe if in the end there's love?

*In the end what are the messages the authors are trying to convey? The fake idealized romance that women should support everything and that is noble to sacrifice everything in the name of love and that that love is capable of overcoming everything and suddenly and completely change a bad person? 🤔Probably I'm thinking too much, after all it's only a novel...

Warning ⛔️! You don't need to read, because there is a lot, but a lot of spoilers... 🫥

I completed the novel through mtl (machine translation)

This novel is too similar to Problematic prince... but here I just found the ML awful, I have skept the first chapters and are reading the last parts; Bastian is becoming different and the way he tries to redeem himself if touching, even though he is a narcissic pe*vert and a total jerk.

But I do agree with the review that the story somewhat encourages toxic relationships and female acceptance... which is dangerous.

Moreover, I really do think that as an author, the plot should be changed, otherwise, it looks like more... more>> a way to cure oneself rather than improving the writing (though writing could be seen as a cure but not only).

Spoiler

Like in Problematic prince, it's a cinderella story with a control-freak ML and a innocent FL and again a despicable father. There are misundestandings, and again, a miscarriage and finally Odette found finally peace in living alone in the countryside. The ML tries to see her again and feels really sorry for what he has done...

[collapse]

I really like Odette, the way she take care of her family, her courage... but my, so many chapters to torture her and without any real support except the dog. I would like to know how it ended but really, it's painful and I won't recommend this book. <<less

I usually didn't like angsty novel but I accidentally read the manhua version of this novel and was curious about what happened next. Then I got very dumbfounded by how toxic the relationship between MC and ML became.

They married because of contract but since the beginning it's an unequal contract because ML had an upper hand in it. ML actually honored the contract before MC betrayed her. After that, he fell into a rap*ng spree which was quite disturbing to read.

As for who's in the right or who's in the... more>> wrong, I think both of them was equally wrong. ML was cold and indifferent. He never told MC about his feeling and never bother to explain anything when there was any misunderstanding. Moreover, he also had an ambiguous relationship with other woman. No wonder MC felt insecure and couldn't trust ML. Meanwhile, MC was too prideful to ask about anything and she always thought the worst of ML. And she betrayed ML when she already knew that he had a bad relationship with his step-mom. No matter the reason, betrayal is a big no. Moreover, Tira, the one she betrayed ML for, wasn't even worth it. She should know that the conflict between ML and his step-mom wasn't actually her business to begin with so she should just told ML truthfully from the beginning.

However, MC's betrayal didn't warrant ML to se*ually abuse her. I know he was hurting but who told him to never tell MC anything and made MC felt that she was always on edge?

After realizing that he couldn't live without MC, ML actually became a perfect lover, something that could actually be done since earlier. And MC also began to reciprocate, not letting her pride clouded her judgement on ML. Side stories decribed their life after getting back together which was so sweet and enough to soothe my wounded heart caused by a series of tragedy in this story. <<less

Loved this novel. Even though there's a lot of suffering and drama while going through the story, the payoff is so good at the end.

It has some of the usual elements in a Solche story so I recommend reading only if you like pain before a happy ending like I do. Not recommended for the faint of heart and be sure to read all the tags if you're not sure whether you can handle the story.

Also note that many of the valid criticisms stem from the belief that the novel... more>> promotes toxic relationships. That's fair to say (I myself have complaints about the writer's common trope of the abusive male lead) and I wouldn't discount that possibility but I think that most people reading a story would know to draw the line between fiction and reality. I think it's slightly insulting to the average reader's intelligence to assume that they cannot discern this for themselves. At the end of the day, you are responsible for your own media consumption.

Overall, I enjoyed the frustration, the sadness, the anger, the happiness that the FL experienced and I enjoyed the experience of reading the whole story too. <<less