- #1
I want to start by saying it is very well written and translated (kudos to the translator). My rating reflects that the politics in the story are fascinating and the male lead is very interesting. He is intelligent, resourceful, flawed and aware of his flaws. He does not believe in fairy tales but will do his maximum to be courteous in the limits of his culture. But I don't appreciate the female lead, for now at least.She is for me the personification of a damsel in distress. She was raised to be powerless and naive. We were never presented with any skill or quality she might have developed during her life though she might have some yet to be revealed. Thus she is a permanent victim of her circumstances and of the men in her life, be they her father, her previous husband or even her current one. It is realistic, we know why she is that way but it is still painful to read, maybe because if raised the same I wouldn't know better.She did try to take control of her own destiny but it was limited to making contact with her husband and since then she has been dragged along like luggage. Maybe the story will surprise me down the line, I wouldn't be surprised since it looks like the scene is being set and nothing is done yet. But for now she irks me.Her only visible good point, for me, is her willingness to accept and adapt to her circumstances. She was told to make the best of it and she truly tries. But for now all it has brought her are several crying sessions and a first night that was too close to r*pe for my comfort. Marital duty is one thing but making her in so much pain she can't sit for a day is another. This is not a story where female pleasure is the center of s*x scenes. Once again realistic but still painful to read.If nothing I said about her bothers you go ahead and enjoy.