- #1
It's a good one. The trope sounds familiar but fortunately, the author executed it well and added some unique elements.A lot of people will probably feel offended with FL's behavior towards her child. But in my opinion, that is FL showing kindness in her own twisted way. She has been hurt too much to feel sympathy or empathy, let alone love. In her opinion, it is kinder to crush all hope at once so that the child can move on than letting them hopelessly run after it for life. Also, she states it over and over that the child was not born out of love but purely for business. So she does not feel any obligation to love that child. I think people should give her past a chance before outright detesting her. I mean, she's not right but she has her own set of beliefs that make her character interesting.Spoiler
After marriage, at one point, FL did grow to trust ML a little. But she was too busy trying to survive to let ML know that. Later on, a bad incident and a misunderstanding happened that they both didn't try to resolve and FL's feelings went back to negatives. Also, ML didn't love her either. They both had their own trauma to deal with, were not ready for a relationship and hurt each other trying to protect themselves. It was only around the end of her pregnancy that ML grew to love her and he didn't even realize it till quite later after she left.
[collapse]The ML, at first, can be a bit irritating. He makes assumptions without knowing everything and judges too hastily. He also feels that his judgments are right. But his character development is quite good. He actually realizes his shortcomings and tries to correct them. And to be honest, aside from his assumptions of FL and being insensitive, he's actually a decent person. And what I like most is that he realizes that his sad past and trauma do not justify his behavior and he apologizes for it.The FL... Her past is pure suffering. And not only her past, even after marriage, she was being ab*sed by her adoptive parents (This is revealed in the first few chapters). To survive, she killed all her emotions. She fells that she is unable to love and is scared to love or bond with others. This is one of the reasons why she left the child. Also, she really didn't feel "love" or attachment for them when she left. The summary is not a joke.Also, I'm happy that child actually kind of acts like a child? Not some kind of unnaturally mature child-shaped human. I mean, yeah, she is more mature and intelligent than a typical child but it's within the tolerable range.Another thing I like is that how FL is frank about s*x. It pisses me off when they act like shy virg*ns even though they've had plenty of s*x and even a child before!Although the ending was kinda sudden (some extras would've made it better) and there were some points where I felt the presence of plot armor, it's a quite good read. The villains were there for kinda no reason but I think as the emotional journey is the main focus of the novel, it's excusable.Anyways, it's an good-ish read. Deserves a chance.