catherine
This review may contain spoilers
This was honestly a lot better than I expected it to be. I'm not a huge fan of the "they break up because of stupid misunderstanding and get back together later" plot and so I had been avoiding this, but I ended up really enjoying this one. I should've known the writer of ALSB and PYHOMS wouldn't let me down!
I'm usually a huge friends-to-lovers trope fan and even though I felt for the second lead in this drama, I actually didn't have SLS and I felt like the main lead was actually really soft and proactive, despite being indifferent to other people, he was always really nice to the female lead from the very start and it was refreshing to see a ML so upfront about his feelings to the FL and SFL.
I also have to say that Zhou Xiao is EXACTLY THE KIND OF FEMALE LEAD THAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR, and she's exactly the type of character I relate to — very independent, crazy with her friends, chill about most things, and unassuming when it comes to romance. In so many dramas the female ends up being ditzy when they fall in love and that never happened to ZX. She was super smart when it came to things OTHER than romance and even in a relationship she had so much of her own thinking and independence and focused on friendships.
The big plot point actually didn't bother me at all and I feel like the pacing was done really well. It wasn't blown up into a tragic sob story and was more of a "this is why things are the way they are." The build-up to it was there from the very first episode with his mom's phone calls. Still, I've never been a fan of time jumps and that was no different with this one — I felt like the characters were never the same afterwards.
Also, the sismance was really good! Honestly I could have seen more of it but it was super fun to see how they stood up for each other when romance fell through or when they needed help. It's kind of one reason that I loved the FL so much — she was still there for her friends even after getting in a relationship.
The family aspect was overall pretty good as well. The FL's dad annoyed me a little but ultimately I really liked the little tidbits of humor throughout the drama and how the different family dynamics worked.
I kind of wish that the SML had gotten a better plotline because he could've been a lot more in terms of his own character and not just "the sidekick," and the same could've been said for the studious roommate that never got her own sub-plot. Ultimately though, I really enjoyed this drama and honestly will now watch ANYTHING by this writer!
I'm usually a huge friends-to-lovers trope fan and even though I felt for the second lead in this drama, I actually didn't have SLS and I felt like the main lead was actually really soft and proactive, despite being indifferent to other people, he was always really nice to the female lead from the very start and it was refreshing to see a ML so upfront about his feelings to the FL and SFL.
I also have to say that Zhou Xiao is EXACTLY THE KIND OF FEMALE LEAD THAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR, and she's exactly the type of character I relate to — very independent, crazy with her friends, chill about most things, and unassuming when it comes to romance. In so many dramas the female ends up being ditzy when they fall in love and that never happened to ZX. She was super smart when it came to things OTHER than romance and even in a relationship she had so much of her own thinking and independence and focused on friendships.
The big plot point actually didn't bother me at all and I feel like the pacing was done really well. It wasn't blown up into a tragic sob story and was more of a "this is why things are the way they are." The build-up to it was there from the very first episode with his mom's phone calls. Still, I've never been a fan of time jumps and that was no different with this one — I felt like the characters were never the same afterwards.
Also, the sismance was really good! Honestly I could have seen more of it but it was super fun to see how they stood up for each other when romance fell through or when they needed help. It's kind of one reason that I loved the FL so much — she was still there for her friends even after getting in a relationship.
The family aspect was overall pretty good as well. The FL's dad annoyed me a little but ultimately I really liked the little tidbits of humor throughout the drama and how the different family dynamics worked.
I kind of wish that the SML had gotten a better plotline because he could've been a lot more in terms of his own character and not just "the sidekick," and the same could've been said for the studious roommate that never got her own sub-plot. Ultimately though, I really enjoyed this drama and honestly will now watch ANYTHING by this writer!
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