I rated this 9 because parts of it are incredibly well done, and also because I enjoyed it so much and it warmed my heart.
The story portrays a seme who is my very favorite type of seme, in that he is incredibly perceptive about human nature and the internal struggles of the uke, and he is also deeply compassionate. All of his actions, even those of domination and manipulation, are done with a higher purpose, and motivated by love. But he doesn't just have good intentions, he knows what he is doing, and he gradually gives his uke exactly what he needs to heal and feel love and loved.

Some people think that romantic relationships and love shouldn't be tangled up with healing psychological and past wounds but I disagree and think that compassionate and intelligent love can be one of the healthiest ways to heal the past, for many people. Granted, the way that the past traumas of the uke were healed in this story was a bit too rushed and convenient. I didn't find the resolution scene with the brother to be entirely believable (within the world that the story creates), however, I think that's just that it happened in a single scene, and it might have been better if that subplot resolution was carried out over several scenes interspersed throughout the story, to give the brother adequate time to change. The reasoning and explanations of the thinking of both brothers was believable to me so it just needed a bit more time to play out. The way it happened, it kind of had a humorous bent that was entertaining though.

Besides that one protest, the rest of the story was gorgeous to me. The relationship between the two main protagonists feels very right to me, and very sweet and interesting. I'm fascinated with characters who use their understanding of human nature to manipulate others, not for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the people they are manipulating. It's very rare to find stories where sadism/domination are portrayed in a positive way that's not all rapey, and I love how this story plays that aspect out. I love that their roles are not as they seem at first, and I absolutely love that there is no malicious intent whatsoever in the seme.

... Last updated on December 9th, 2019, 12:40am

Although this is an S & M manga, it was done in way that is atypical for BL. An explicitly dominating S uke with a mutually consenting M submissive seme? Hell yes! I also liked that it talked a bit about who is actually dominating who, despite what actions are actually done.

Usually mangaka's use bdsm to make an excuse for rape to be acceptable, but not in this story. This one actually consists of two consenting adults that care about each others well being and have trust in each other, during and outside of sex. The only thing I really disliked was the resolution with the brother, it just bothered me; it was too rushed and too nice for the subject. Overall the couple is very cute, and although it has rape, it is not between the main characters.

I kinda get the idea the author was going for, but her execution needs a lot of work to make it more focused and exciting, because even all the graphic smut could not help save this from becoming a chore to read, especially towards the end when morals and backstories were shoehorned into the plot just for the sake of making the story more than just your run-of-the-mil PWP.