Well, that was a disappointment. I wish I didn't waste my time binge-reading this. It's important to know before starting this series, that this ends on a cliffhanger. Unfortunately, the author is very immature and isn't going to finish this series because people ship Adam and Rozy. The series might come back in the future, but I've lost interest.
Premise
The story itself starts off promising. After finishing her shift and heading home with a headache, college student Rozy wanders into her neighbor's apartment by accident and witnesses him murder a woman.
I was disappointed because I thought there would be more interactions between Adam and Rozy. The dynamic between Rozy and Adam could've been so much better. Female detective-like protagonist and the serial killer Male antagonist, living in an isolated building as neighbors. The story writes itself. There was serious potential for tension between them.
Characters
The author made Adam very attractive. There's plenty of shirtless panels of him that are clearly intentional. His character design is seriously my type. An eerily calm and soft-spoken gentleman who is secretly f*cked up in the head always makes an intriguing character for me. It's too bad he murders exclusively women.
"You know me. I don't like killing men."
"It just...leaves a bad after taste."
"I couldn't help it. He tried to soil what belongs to me."
I hate him 😀
Rozy. I like her but she's seriously flawed. She's smart, but not exceptional. She can't keep her cool and can't read the situation well. It annoyed me when she started telling everyone Adam was a murderer. She seems to be very emotional about getting her friends to believe her. I appreciate the theme about trust, but I wanted more strategy.
"If I were to tell them that Adam Bahri is a serial killer, do you think they will believe me?" No.
Some scenes showed a more independent, cool side of her. I wish we could've seen more of that. I would have preferred a strong-willed but psychologically conflicted female protagonist; someone who is determined to uncover the truth about Adam but is careful not to raise doubt and suspicion. This could've been executed better if there were more mind games and the author focused on creating an elaborate psychological thriller. The themes of paranoia and gaslighting could play into this. The cat and mouse chase would've been really exciting. The writer hints at this in the story.
"So . . . I fell into his trap"
"If only you had stayed calm, you could've spun the situation to your advantage"
"You know how predators play with their prey?"
"He probably thinks the way you react is amusing."
"He probably likes you."
but never pulls this off and instead plays it safe until the end. There's a long wait between scenes that move the plot forward and random university moments. I kept reading because I could see how easily this COULD be peak.
Hawa. I can't continue this review without mentioning her. I called Rozy the protagonist, but Hawa is the central heroine. The reason there's barely any interactions between Rozy and Adam is because most of the plot is about the fake relationship between Hawa and Adam. Which is insane because the first cover showed only Adam and Rozy.
I had a bad feeling when Hawa was first introduced. I did not like Hawa. Her personality irked me and I'm not a fan of princess characters who everyone adores. It's like the author wrote a shoujo heroine into a thriller.
I thought she would become less important. But the focus completely shifts to Hawa. When Hawa isn't on screen, Rozy is thinking about Hawa or talking to someone about Hawa.
I'm not exaggerating. Hawa is the only character who matters in this story, and yet she doesn't have much to her either. She's nice, pretty, cares about others' feelings, sheltered, falls in love with an older man her best friend hates and... that's it.
Rozy is undeniably the more fitting heroine for this story, or she would be if she wasn't pushed aside. She is treated like the loyal bodyguard for princess Hawa. We still don't know why Adam went after Hawa. I thought Hawa was just a pawn, so he can torment Rozy and get information on her. But then halfway into the series it becomes less clear what he's doing. I hated seeing the Season 1 [Part 2] cover omg. Princess Hawa and the two male leads fighting over her. What is this, a love triangle??
There were so many chapters where it was only Hawa and what she was doing. I skipped so many chapters like this because they're so boring. Rozy really became a side character in her own story. The bickering between Rozy and Adam was entertaining to read, but not enough to justify these scenes. It ruined any tension left between them and both Rozy and Adam's characters suffered for it. Even Alex mentions this in chapter 35
"Are you not scared of Adam Bahri anymore?"
This says everything about the major whiplash in tone and the undeserved shift in their dynamic. I wanted something more heavy, less comedic. Considering the subject matter . . .
Adam was written to be manipulative, but it isn't impressive because Hawa is really dumb.
"What makes a stranger a stranger?"
"I hate people who always assume the worst in others."
Honestly, she should've been killed off, or at least exit the story early. It would've been the wake-up call Rozy needed to take this threat seriously. Hawa's role is to give Rozy a reason to be involved in Adam's case. It's natural to be concerned for her friend (because Adam was clearly going to murder Hawa), but they made Rozy out to be this obsessive, emotionally dependent girl who's just too attached to Hawa 🙄 She's too focused on keeping her friend safe, when she should be trying to save herself. Her character was really held back by her need to protect Hawa.
Rozy is undeniably the more fitting heroine for this story, or she would be if she wasn't pushed aside. She has a unique character design compared to most webtoon female protagonists. She's a loner, street-smart and controlled while still being relatable to the audience. If they made her less emotionally impulsive, she had great potential to become a worthy opponent to Adam.
Story/Plot
Did I mention the plot revolves around Hawa? I'm not exaggerating. The author builds a side plot early on about a sexual harasser on campus. Hawa tells Rozy not to talk to her anymore as punishment for trying to come between her and Adam. I thought the story would finally give Rozy more freedom and develop the other characters that were introduced. Again, it becomes a save the princess Hawa plot. The character that was introduced as the sexual harasser was actually a red herring and there's not much closure about what happened with him. We've been curious about him since early into the comic but that entire sideplot ended abruptly.
Apparently, readers were supposed to think Adam was the serial rapist on campus, but that wasn't obvious at all. It's not clear if Adam is a sexual sadist or not. He clearly has psychological issues because of his mom, and the story makes parallels between Hawa and his mother. Despite it taking up most of the plot, their relationship still manages to feel rushed. Chapter 42, Hawa babies him like a little kid and I guess he likes that. Then Adam asks her to marry him and start a happy family together. This fool said yes. Chapter 44, he makes her choose between him and Rozy, and of course she ditches her best friend for the guy she just met.
Adam started off as a strong antagonist but ended up being really lame. When he wasn't cheating on Hawa and murdering women, he was playing the perfect, flirty boyfriend. The relationship was obviously fake, but the story seemed to play it completely straight. I started to wonder if I was reading the right genre. I'm not sure if I was supposed to be invested in their relationship or not. I could not take him seriously anymore when he started calling her babe.
The series only started to pick up near the end when Rozy started to act on her own. After dealing with all the Hawa plot, I was locked innnn. The cliffhanger was both amazing and infuriating. We finally get Rozy and Adam alone face-to-face without any pretense. This was the moment we had all been waiting for.
"Let's talk"
Then the series ends.
Spoilers
The author leaked some spoilers around the time they quit the series. If they actually are siblings, then I could see Adam being the obsessive older brother who's been searching for her. It would make the date scenes with them fighting suddenly more thematic. It would also give him a clear motive for targeting Hawa and not harming Rozy. He wanted to keep an eye on Rozy and isolate her further.
But I really don't like this plot twist. Rozy is so loyal to Hawa and even Alex because she sees them as her only family. There's no way she would forget her older brother. If anything, she would be searching for him. I'm not really interested in him having a sister because that's not relevant to his backstory.
I wanted to learn about Adam's mother and his foster family. He said he dropped out of college on his way to become a surgeon, but who knows if that was true. We were trying to figure out why he murders women with wavy hair like his mom. Unless maybe Rozy and Adam were foster siblings? That would explain why she forgot him and could potentially tie everything together.
Misc.
The Malay setting might throw you off. I wasn't sure what was a cultural difference and what was Hawa being stupid and annoying. Like Hawa saying yes to Adam's bullshit proposal after 2 months of dating. But even Rozy points out that's moving too fast. She calls him Abang Adam and lets him touch her, but doesn't realize he's hitting on her. Hawa's father is a polygamist, but she hates cheaters so apparently she's not fine with it. I'm used to Korean webcomics and thought the background characters in hijab were foreign students. But it didn't bother me. The author avoids religion in this story and it's similar enough to any modern Korean comic set in university.
The pace of this story is too slow and not worth pushing through. None of the side characters introduced really matter. Like Ravi, who wasn't a bad guy, was a pretty pointless character. He's in love with Rozy, and tries to help her out but doesn't make much of a difference. Towards the end, Rozy tells him
"But if the reason you're helping me was because you wanted something more. . ."
"I'm sorry, but that will never happen."
Then he leaves.
Huh?
Rating
This story was pretty average. I can understand why it attracted so many readers. The cool female lead, the serial killer male lead, her alliance with the cop, good art and the promise of a thriller. It could've been an enjoyable read. But it wasn't. It drags on and on and there's little to no reward.
It's difficult to recommend this to anyone. It's too comedic for the thriller fans and too disturbing for anyone into romance. It couldn't even be called a dark romance. The protagonist is treated like a side character in her own story and Hawa is so oblivious to the main plot, it's impossible to root for her. I was waiting for her to break up with Adam or die. Finally, now we're getting somewhere.
I was so angry when I realized this series was never going to get finished. Don't be like me babes.
The only reason I started reading this was because it's somewhat similar to Secret Alliance.
both series have a boyish female lead
both have a crazy male lead everyone came for
both have an annoying side character who took over the story
both series disappointed me greatly
5/10
(-9)
