Romance is a Bonus Book (2019)

Lee Jong Suk really knows how to pick roles. I watched this after The Crowned Clown and honestly I'm so glad I did. From heavy historical emotional drama to chill plus realizations about life drama, it balanced out my emotions. The first episodes of the drama were quite different somehow not that enticing in my point of view but as it goes on it keeps getting better. The one that got me hooked more with the drama is the appearance of the second male lead, I got really Second Male Lead Syndrome vibes with the drama. I also like how they make the story progressive in a gradual and neat way. Most of the characters are also endearing and nice to look at, each having their own unique roles.

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No Chemistry

The show does a great job of showing the harsh reality of being a stay at home mom who is returning to the workforce. I like how the friendships between the women on the show are portrayed. But that is about it. The leads just had no chemistry, they were not believable as a couple. The age gap was not a big deal, these are both adults in their 30s who have known each other for a while, so I don't see any need for pearl clutching as far as that goes.

The FL wears her age well but the show goes out of their way to make her frumpy and plain, I guess because she is a mom. The character is too naïve for a 39 year old woman with a past career who has experienced some things. Her awful wardrobe was a real disappointment, especially contrasted against the ML's who was almost always dressed as if he walked straight out of a fashion magazine. She was always slouching in gigantic clothing or in clothing that was too old for her. There was just something very off-putting about her, so the romantic interactions made me cringe.

I have seen some complaints that they didn't show Dan-i talking/worrying about her daughter enough--you know, because once a woman has kids, we are only allowed to exist and act as mothers and never care about anything else. The premise of the show is that the FL is breaking out of her stay at home mom, mistreated wife role. Her daughter is safely at boarding school. This is about Dan-i getting her life back on track and that is what the show focuses on. If it was supposed to be a show about her as a mother, that would be the plot of the story. It is safe to assume that in the moments we don't see, she is interacting with and worrying about her child. I am glad they don't focus on that, because I don't care about that. Nobody needs yet another show where women are only seen as an appendage to somebody else - mother, wife, secretary, etc. Women who are mothers should be portrayed as people who have thoughts not pertaining to their children and who are allowed to exist outside of their children.

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I was very impressed with this drama! I think maybe because it is a Netflix original, it seems a little more progressive than many of the Kdramas that we know of. The female protagonist is strong-willed and independent while still being feminine and vulnerable, the male protagonist is warm and supportive to his love interest while still being calm and aloof in work conditions. It also touches on some of the societal issues like the expectations of women in the workforce/family/marriage, the stigma of being a divorcee, casual sex and even consent.
Kang Dan Yi (Lee Na Young) is a 37 year old divorcee who lies on her resume to get a job after finding herself homeless and without many options. Cha Eun Ho (Lee Jong Suk) is a 32 year old head editor who is Dan Yi's oldest and closest friend from middle school who also is hiding a secret of his own.
There was so much to love about this drama.
- As the story revolved around books and publishing, the feel of the story felt like a book too, with some beautiful prose after each episode. Being a book lover myself, it was fascinating to see behind the curtain of book publishing, the amount of time, care, effort and money goes into the release of a book. The narration of the story from either side of the main characters was really beautiful too, it helped to see inside their hearts with how they saw and felt about each other.
- The relationship between Eun Ho and Dan Yi is one of the healthiest I've seen in kdramas, it's supportive, full of love and affection (both platonic as well as romantic). Though he has been in love with Dan Yi for quite some time, he never forces his feelings onto her, preferring to hide his feelings before jeopardizing their lifelong friendship. One of my favourite lines from this would be where he is having a battle with himself and his subconscious tells him "Love isn't about ownership. Just because you want her, doesn't mean you can have her."
- There was of course, the slight multiple love-triangle trope that we all love hate to love that's so common in kdramas but in this one, it didn't feel forced and neither of the secondary characters were cloying and scheming like so many are. I actually genuinely loved the secondary characters, especially Song Hae Rin (Jung Yoo Jin) Dan Yi & Eun Ho's workmate. She's incredibly intelligent, feisty, ambitious and takes great pride in what she does while also being very sweet and caring.
- My favourite thing about this drama was the portrayal of the older women in the workforce - the female director of the company and the head of the marketing team. One appears to be cold and calculating, She's unmarried and a workaholic. The other is just going through a divorce and can't wait to let her hair out and explore her newly found freedom. Together with Dan Yi, they start a hesitant friendship after a night of drinking, and as most of those kinds of nights go, they bond over shared war stories. That was definitely one of my most favourite scenes!
- I was shocked but mostly impressed with some of the things that were said in this drama. Dan Yi says a few times that it has been a while since she's had sex and how she 'needs to get laid'. It was refreshing to see a Korean woman owning her sexuality like that while not being overtly sexual or vulgar about it. Also another moment of shock/awe came when one of Eun Ho's exes is revealed to be gay and they approached it in such a 'normal' way. It didn't feel forced at all and I was really impressed with how a gay character wasn't made into a stereotypical caricature or as an automatic afterthought.
- I loved how this drama showed the sacrifices that women are expected to make in society: go to school, get a job, get married, have children, the end. However, what happens if life doesn't work out that way? Dan Yi gave up her job to start a family and it was extremely hard for her to get back onto her feet after such a long hiatus. Even other women who gave up their personal lives to focus on their careers felt threatened by Dan Yi because they were scared of losing what they worked and fought so hard for. This had a little bit of a feminist feel to it and I LOVED IT!!!

Overall, I can't praise this drama enough. I loved how they told the story, I loved how they showed a wonderful relationship between two people, how they should be loving, caring and supportive of each other, no matter what the world thinks of them. After the final credits rolled I got the same feeling as I do from finishing a very satisfying book. It felt warm and filled my heart with hope and happiness. I would definitely re-watch this. Hope you love it too!

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IF YOU ARE UNDER 25 YEARS OLD THIS DRAMA NOT FOR YOU SO PLZ STOP WATCHING !!

If you aren't into cozy ,easy and smooth dramas plz stop watching !! If you aren't intoo books , writing or poetry , philosophy dramas plz stop watching !! If you are waiting for crayz story and plots plz stop watching !! IF YOU ARE
BUT If you want an easy story-line drama who focus on real issues with the most smooth way so yeah this drama for you !!
the drama was so easy to focus on the adult who stopped working for any reason and can't find a decent job when they are back again !! it give you a breath of air that if you tried so much it would work at the end just try your absolute best !!!!! and maybe in all the hell you would find a love !! a real one in the way too and everything would be complete again !!

Story !!

it was so smoothing , easy and well written !! the mix between the poetry and philosophy in the script was sooooooo good it's rare to make this kind of mixes in light dramas like this !! i was watching till the end of the EP that little words they put in the end like a kids story was so refreshing to read .. i felt like i read a book not watching a series !!!!!
they focus in divorce , politic , how difficult for adults to make a come back to their work life again and the age gab love too believe it or not it's a big real issue in some countries !! so much stories in the series that it went so easy with each other with no boring feeling !! and again if you aren't into reading or underage plz stop watching you want getting this drama at all !! even the second lead actor or support ones had their story and ending too !! it was complete drama for me i felt satisfying !! i never actually seen a drama like this for so long !!

Acting
all of them were good !! the chemistry between all of them were on point not just the main lead actors no even the support ones killed me !! i came for just lee and stayed for all of them ...
but i can say that Kim Sun Young was so damn good !! man she made me believe her and cry my eyes out with her !! i felt he pain man :(

Music

were good smoothing and makes your soul and imagination fly with the senses all the time !! it was beautiful for me


Re watching

i watch it twice already ^_^

Overall everything was good .. you won't really understand it if you are so young or not into classic !!! so stop bulling my beautiful series plzzz

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The story of Kang Dan-i and Cha Eun-Ho fulfilled me. I used to be a avid reader (not as much anymore), and this just warmed my heart. In the first half of the series, we get to see how much Eun-Ho loves Dan-i. The little remarks and the jealousy (which she is oblivious to) at the beginning just made it feel real. (Eun-Ho was jealous of Mr. Umbrella AKA Ji Seo Joon).
The second half broke my heart and put it back together, from when Dan-i quit to when she was hired again. Her journey is a bonus book in my heart. Plus the line, "The moon is beautiful." Everything has more meaning. Especially at the end of the episodes when they had little recaps or moments written down. This was such a gift. I would definitely rewatch it.

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Realistic, beautiful and admirable

FIrst of all let me tell you the amount of times I’ve tried to watch it and couldn’t get through the first episode then after all this time finally gave it a show mostly because of Lee Jong Suk but was pretty surprised by how good it is.

PROS
*focus on book publishing and creating was brilliantly executed and viewers were drawn to how personal and how much hard work is poured while creating a book the whole process was unique and interesting to see

* Lee Jong Suk has character is really enjoyable and the way the story develops it and the emotions portrayed by the actor are phenomenal

*storyline even though it is pretty basic but it keeps you attached and not get boring I’m the kind of person who skips a-lot while watching but this show was good enough to watch without skipping a second

*initial platonic relation between ML and FL is admirable and their development is cute

*second lead couple development is just awwhh they’re too cute
SPOILER

ever though they didn’t get together till the last episode they were still cute af

SPOILER END
*side characters are intriguing and enjoyable

*the whole stereotype of woman returning to work and facing challenges Initially is catered really well

*cinematography is just beautiful makes my heart fluster at times

*end credit of writing is admirable and beautiful

CONS
*ML and FL romantically lacks chemistry that I had prepared all ready the lead actresses can’t act at times and idk felt pretty annoying I mean Lee Jong Suk has really great chemistry with pretty much all his costars ( well couldn’t stand the FL in Doctor Stranger but let’s talk about that on another occasion) you could feel the love and admirations he had for the FL character but even after they started dating the FL was just blank Idk it’s not because of age gap because many actors with age gap has best chemistry take eg. Something in the rain or it could be because the FL is married she might have felt uncomfortable and couldn’t really get on the character well I could not really feel any chemistry between them should have just kept their platonic relation till the end tbh ( lmao will get attacked because of this but whatever)

*FL having a child was totally useless and ignored and as a mother it felt she didn’t really focused more on her child like if she quit working because of taking care of her child after 10 years suddenly why did she just leave her child completely off the hook and cared more about her job suddenly didn’t really made sense to me honestly one movement she left her successful career for her kid and then boom child is just gone doing whatever the F viewers couldn’t catch up with

*the story felt draggy at times would have been better if it was a 12 episode show then a 16

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It was kind of slow in the beginning, but it picked up quickly. The story about the publishing industry, the process of how a book gets made was really interesting, especially if you like writing and books, which I do. The May-December romance of a divorcee and her best friend did not blossom until towards the end, but I can't help but swoon over Lee Jong Suk's pining over his BFF. The struggles of the female lead Dan Yi of trying to get back into the workforce is heartbreaking but it is the realism of the drama that makes you want to root for her, even though she has to resort to a small white lie to get her foot in the door. Overall, this is one drama where I was invested in the fate of the main characters.

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An Underrated Rom-Com

I am sorry to say that I have frequently disregarded Romance in a bonus book. Despite it being on my watch list for nearly a year, I have often chosen not to start watching it because it doesn't appear particularly unique from the outside; it seems like an ordinary Rom-Com, infact I did not think it would even be enjoyable. As a result, I have consistently overlooked it.

I must admit that this drama follows the typical Rom-Com formula, incorporating the expected tropes seen in many other Rom-Coms. What sets this show apart is that it executes those tropes perfectly!

If you have an affinity for romance, this show is perfect for you. The cast is exceptional, and I can assure you that by the end of the series, you will develop an emotional connection with these characters. I know I did. It was almost bittersweet when the end came around.

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Mostly everything is achieved by lies

The story was sweet at the beginning I believe it had potential but when you add up almost every achievement the female lead has done is mostly by lying. She lied to her best friend about living in his house because somehow is more embarrassing to ask for a friend for help than fool him into believing he hired a cleaning lady and live in his house without him knowing at all... Then she gets her job by lying but I guess that's the only way she was ever going to get a job. Also the fact that somehow they tried to put this " a single mom can achieve this" but her daughter appears like 1.5% of the drama and all through video calls? Never visits hers or actually gets to struggle the work life and mom life together so its very unrealistic and does not show the actual struggle cause her daughter is just gone in a high porcentaje of the drama. The romance at least for me felt kind of forced I couldn't match both leads together and ship them as a couple. I enjoyed more the side stories than the actual main story.

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