- #1
I thought the premise sounded fantastic, but the story just ended up disappointing me. I couldn't connect to any of the characters. So many of them simply aren't believable. Children do not behave as children do--for the young, ab*sed ML who clearly has a number of behavioral/personality disorders, I can buy it, but even side characters are cruel and calculating in a way children of their age shouldn't be capable of. I don't know if the author has ever interacted with kids, but real children don't behave like adult sociopaths in little kids' bodies as often as they do in this story. The ML is also super manipulative and unhealthily possessive from a couple chapters in, which at first I accepted because of his troubled background and actually thought made his character more grey and interesting. I'd hoped this could be a humorous but touching story of growth and healing between this lost and hurt ML and the unconditionally loving MC, but I could later sense that it was just going to lead into another unhealthy, controlling, manipulative, and frankly abusive relationship between mean, icy ML and soft, delicate flower MC, and I'm really sick of that trope by now. (I actually dropped it before their relationship could really develop, so I could be wrong about that direction, but I honestly doubt it!) The MC also seemed like a kind and funny guy to start with, but I was so turned off by the way he Spoiler
coldly turns his back on the male protagonist, who also happens to be a tragic, ab*sed, lonely (and manipulative and creepy, because every ab*sed kid turns out to be a tiny sociopath, duh) child who really badly needs affection.
[collapse] Side characters pop in and out but are forgettable and honestly don't do much for the story. Other than my issue with the characters, I can't really remember much of a plot at all, so I guess I can't comment on that.