Wann

:gloomy doom face:

I don't know how to rate this.

I knew, from the GIVE TO THE HEART series, that Ano, Ganok & Chio had a tulmultuous​ relationship. At some point to the ends of which Chio's sexual relationship with Ano is, at best, dubcon. I just...

:rolls around agitated: WHY IS IT SO HARD TO RATE??

Any justification I make for why Chio is treating Ano this way sounds like victim-blaming, but it's not really that. Saying so would be too easy an explanation. Ano loves Chio, she does, but to her love & physical intimacy & "doing stuff men and women do" is a nightmare. Her "guardian" used such against her as a way to keep her in line. But she doesn't explain that to Chio or Ganok, she doesn't see a REASON to because to her the fact her work, her brilliance, is not undermined nothing else matters.

She doesn't see that Chio supports her every effort. That everything he's done has been to protect her and the joy she finds in her research. She doesn't understand that he doesn't do any of that as a way to manipulate her but as a way to help achieve her every wish. Chio's "interest" in her stems from about as selfless a place as it can.

But they're adults. Her constant abuse and distance, which she has good reason for but which she never explained to him, has become entangled with his own inferiority and self doubt. Resentment builds as Chio sees her treat Ganok no differently, but pushes him away. Hatred festers as everything he's done to protect her goes unnoticed by her.

He doesn't see that she can treat Ganok that way because her feelings, while true & deep, are not ROMANTIC. Ganok doesn't make her heart pound or confuse her into wanting things that are at direct opposite to how she thinks she should feel. The physical intimacy she instinctively wants with Chio is at war with her conscious belief that such things will lead to him manipulating her.

Familiarity breeds true contempt after all. But under it all his core reason for being exists - protect her at any cost. Protect her dreams. He'll become any monster he has to, to make that happen.

Oh and the dubcon part - when we first see the scene (back in GIVE TO THE HEART) she's screaming "no! stop it!" and Chio more or less believes he's a monster for forcing her. Later in the series we learn that Ano wasn't telling him to stop because she hated him or didn't want him she just was terrified. She admits to having always loved him blah blah blah

I'm thinking part of that terror has to do with the scene we see between her and her Guardian here. Ano states "that stuff" men and women in love do repulses her, but she's dense as fuck when it comes to emotional nuance. I can easily see how after her one experience was so traumatic she'd have issues separating the two.

So I don't know. This series is as problematic as the first series (this is a prequel to that), but then in all honesty this storyline/character behavior is no different then most k-dramas so...whatever. I love Wann-unnie so it doesn't matter to me quite frankly. Just keep drawing Ganok so beautifully...… (mer)

THIS SERIES.

So this is the final book in the series - some of you may remember the issues I have (up to and including THE ROMANCE IS MESSED UP). But Wann as a creator is a favorite of mine and for some reason I can't quit her work ;-; Like her other series [b:Can't Lose You: Volume 1|1470484|Can't Lose You Volume 1|Wann|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347333088s/1470484.jpg|1461434] is also highly problematic (again THAT ROMANCE IS MESSED UP. Also Ilya! :sobs:), but its one of my favorites. (I haven't read [b:100% Perfect Girl, Volume 1|356334|100% Perfect Girl, Volume 1 |Wann|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347684263s/356334.jpg|346505], though I plan on buying it all eventually)

This series...ok. In no particular order we have an aloof, domineering, arrogant jerkhole of a main guy (Ganok), a reckless tstl heroine (Sooyi), a charming would be rapist genocidal maniac secondary love interest (Niroo), a bratty selfish bitch (Ano) and a callous cold-hearted asshole (Chio). These are our main characters folks. In my opinion NONE OF THEM DESERVED TO LIVE AND THEY ALL DESERVED THEIR FATES.

And they're all in FINE form in this final book up until you know the last half when a sacrifice from Sooyi makes them regret all their decisions to certain degrees. But her sacrifice is mostly in vain since Margot the wonder computer AI more or less pulled a God Complex and made it all ok in the end.

:flips table:

AND YET I HAD REAL TEARS IN MY EYES AND DREAD IN MY HEART. though to be honest Wann pulled a similar trick in Can't Lose You, so I shouldn't have been that surprised .

In the end this was a roller coaster ride that I'm only partially sure I enjoyed. I'll have to reread it all back to back to kind of ascertain how I feel.… (mer)

Welcome to volume 5 of "Give to the Heart" or as I'm going to dub this "Stab in the heart" cause seriously Sooyi & Nariga, that is NOT how you repay someone who saves your life.

We continue with the back story parade to find out that Dior is completely hopeless (I still love him), Ganok is severely malformed when it comes to emotional development, Nariga is one Nice Guy cliche away from being a Doormat and Sooyi has no sense of self preservation.

(I'd also like to point out Sooyi has gone through four hair color changes on the covers)

On the one hand the amount of communication issues these two suffer from is ludicrous. At some point I hope we find out whats up with Ganok's responsibility. Also Chio is a BITCH. "wah we gave up our humanity so you should too!" shut it you blond toad. Where's Ano?… (mer)

Welcome to volume 5 of "Give to the Heart", it's with a heavy heart (ha!) I must report in a more somber tone the tragedies of this volume.

We get to the crux of why Sooyi ran from Ganok and refuses to be his wife (despite her feelings) and it's heart breaking. The failures of humanity play out as Sooyi desperately begs her townspeople to save themselves. Why do people need to suffer for another's greed and jealousy?

Because of her inability to understand Ganok's need to be an individual, Ano set into motion Sooyi's hometown's destruction. because of his petty jealousy, Chio gave Ganok an ultimatum that served the good of no one. Because of his arrogance Ganok left Sooyi to come to her own erroneous conclusions about who he is. Because of his greed the mayor sentenced his entire town to death.

I understand why Sooyi is disgusted with humanity and the gods. Why bother being a better person when you lose in the end?… (mer)