This review may contain spoilers
A Misled Mess: Abandoned Premise, Classist Tropes, and Zero Astrology Logic
I picked up Spooky in Love for one reason: a cool supernatural premise filled with haunting, paranormal mysteries, and occult crime-solving. Sounds great, right?
Wrong.
Instead of an episodic ghost-solving mystery, the paranormal plot gets hacked to death—pun fully intended. In its place, we are forced to sit through a painful, zero-chemistry "slow burn" romance where the leads just stare at each other for hours doing a slow waltz of "maybe I like him, maybe I don't."
Then, like clockwork, out comes the same tiresome K-drama bullshit: corporate inheritance wars, boardroom backstabbing, and classist propaganda. If you’re born a blue-blood elite, you’re automatically beautiful, noble, and a saint. But if you’re a commoner or an orphan? Congratulations, you’re immediately written as the parasite and villain of the year (looking right at you, Min-hwan). I am so sick and tired of these tired, elitist tropes. Grow up—it’s 2026. Move past the classist propaganda already.
To make matters worse, the writers tried to sound clever by throwing in Saju (Bazi / Chinese Astrology) via the grandmother’s absurd warning: "Don't get close to anyone born in the year of the Water Monkey (Ren Shen / 1992)."
As someone who has actually studied Bazi for years: this is absolute, uneducated nonsense.
Bazi does not work based on just a birth year. Millions of people are born in a single year—there is nothing uniquely cursed about an entire birth cohort. If the writer actually knew anything about astrology beyond surface-level pop-clichés, they would have at least brought up a Day Pillar clash, which actually explains personality friction and constant interpersonal conflict. It just goes to show how lazy the writing really is.
Final Verdict: Do not waste your time. It’s the same old classist, trope-heavy garbage masquerading as a supernatural mystery. Utterly disappointing.
Wrong.
Instead of an episodic ghost-solving mystery, the paranormal plot gets hacked to death—pun fully intended. In its place, we are forced to sit through a painful, zero-chemistry "slow burn" romance where the leads just stare at each other for hours doing a slow waltz of "maybe I like him, maybe I don't."
Then, like clockwork, out comes the same tiresome K-drama bullshit: corporate inheritance wars, boardroom backstabbing, and classist propaganda. If you’re born a blue-blood elite, you’re automatically beautiful, noble, and a saint. But if you’re a commoner or an orphan? Congratulations, you’re immediately written as the parasite and villain of the year (looking right at you, Min-hwan). I am so sick and tired of these tired, elitist tropes. Grow up—it’s 2026. Move past the classist propaganda already.
To make matters worse, the writers tried to sound clever by throwing in Saju (Bazi / Chinese Astrology) via the grandmother’s absurd warning: "Don't get close to anyone born in the year of the Water Monkey (Ren Shen / 1992)."
As someone who has actually studied Bazi for years: this is absolute, uneducated nonsense.
Bazi does not work based on just a birth year. Millions of people are born in a single year—there is nothing uniquely cursed about an entire birth cohort. If the writer actually knew anything about astrology beyond surface-level pop-clichés, they would have at least brought up a Day Pillar clash, which actually explains personality friction and constant interpersonal conflict. It just goes to show how lazy the writing really is.
Final Verdict: Do not waste your time. It’s the same old classist, trope-heavy garbage masquerading as a supernatural mystery. Utterly disappointing.
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