3/5 Stars

This is a quirky, and cute.

Just the Two of Us is a Contemporary Romance set in Korea.

We follow our main character Soohyuk, who is a very talented pediatric emergency medicine specialist with a dry and cold personality that is off putting to the people around him. Soohyuk moved from the United States to Korea as part of an exchange program. While on his way home from work one day, Soohyuk meets Yuna Lee, an owner of a restaurant. Although wary due to past traumas both open up to each other and begin to fall in love.

It very much reminds me of a K-Drama.

What I liked:
- I liked the slow character development of Soohyuk.
- I really enjoyed exploring the past of both of our main characters and being on a journey with them to heal from their respective past traumas.
- enjoyed the love dynamic and juxtaposition between both of the characters.

What I didn't like:
- This is most noticeable in the first half of the book but there are some parts of the book that can be jarring. This would benefit extremely from tighter editing. It may be a translation issue.
- This book also leans heavily into the cold but smart asian guy who only cares about work and can not connect with his feelings. Although our character does show growth I did not enjoy this.


Thank you to Netgalley for providing an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I tried really hard to like this book. The premise seems promising. The main character is an interesting person, and the love interest is sweet. But...where is the heart of this book? Was it lost in translation? The writing was really stiff. I kept wondering if the main character was on the spectrum but we aren't let in on it. I am enthusiastic about books that represent all different types of identities and mental health, but this character seemed to not have any emotions, and I couldn't tell why. The plot of the story is also very slow. He is a doctor and he meets up with the woman to order lunch from her. Her brother gets ill, and then the woman moves in with the doctor to save money. It's all very inexplicable. If you read this book and understand what the angle here is, please let me know. I tried. So hard.

I really wanted to love this - it had all of the components of a good drama/fluff piece... but I think that the translation really does this a disservice. The word-to-word translation might be great, but i think there's cultural translation that's lacking. There's stuff that's rude in Korea that just doesnt' translate without explanation.

I was drawn to this book because the cover looked so lovely. The romance inside was even better! Such a sweet and fun read.

This book was quite bizarre. The writing was very cut and dry and while a lot happened, not much happened. I loved the descriptions, but was not a fan of the style of writing or the plot.

<b>Actual rating: 4.5/5</b>

Just the Two of Us is the first book in this series. It is set in Korea and has two points of view: Sookyuk, a pediatric doctor, living in Korea for two years with the plan to search for his birth parents and Yuna, the chef of her own restaurant that just delivers home-made meals.
First of all, the two main characters had amazing and powerful background stories and their emotions felt just so real.
As well as that, the plot was astonishing although a bit slow. And last but not least, this book made me laugh more than I can count: it was hilarious even though some heavy themes were &approched.
Overall, this book was great and I can't wait to read the sequel to continue on with this story and these characters.

This boik is nice and well written without typos that sometime are in ARC
Nice story well va developed that has one gigantic flaw the cultural difference between WEST society and EAST society rules and comfort zone and privacy
Some parts sounded strange to me
The Ruth’s is slow near to boring
And the evil cliffhanger
I hate them
Omg
3 stars



I just reviewed Just the Two of Us (Book 1) by Ryu Hyang. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Just the two of us by Ryu Hyang, Stephanie Cha is an adult romance, Soohyuk: a pediatric emergency medicine specialist. A man who never eats something someone else gives him. Yuna: a chef who makes boxed lunches. A woman who panics and collapses whenever she meets a man, due to trauma from her past.

I felt the story to be very stretched out, I wanted to read the book seeing the Asian character and culture, so thought it would be different. But it was just the same. The unwanted information kind off ruined the book.
_______

Thanks to NetGalley and POPPYPUB for this eARC in exchange for a honest opinion.

2.5 stars

This book was super interesting to read! I loved how the main character slowly warmed up over the course of the book. Even though he was rude and blunt, you could see he was a good person because he never treated people rudely when they didn't deserve it. The translation was a little weird. Some of the details seemed to make no sense in the order the paragraph was organized and some sentences came off as redundant and choppy which made for a slow read. Otherwise this was a sweet book!

This book was really amazing, my first time reading a korean novel, and it makes me remember kdrama. It's a really romantic novel, i was so drawn till the last page. Please when will the second book, be released.
I loved Yuna and Sooyuk, infact i loved everyone, and can't wait for everything to unfold. Especially the love life of our macho man.
I'll post my review on my page @r.o.n.n.i.e.e.e on. IG soon enough
Can't wait to read more relaxing, and soothing words

The colorful cover and the enticing summary tricked me into thinking this was going to be a great contemporary romance. Sadly, it wasn't. I wish I could have loved this; I wanted to. But I soon discovered that the book wasn't what I was expecting. It was a challenging task trying to read and finish this novel. I don't even know how I managed to do so. I found the structure of the book to be confusing. There was no reason to keep going since we already knew from the beginning how the conflict was going to end. I didn't connect with any of the characters, especially Soohyuk. He came off as unlikeable and rude. The book tried to handle many pressing issues but without any real care. Some passages even left a bad taste in my mouth because of how poorly tackled these issues were. The writing style and editing were also bothersome. The book kept jumping from one thing to the other - it felt incomplete. At times it was almost impossible to understand what the author was trying to say. I won't read the second one unless there are significant changes to the writing style and translation.
Arc kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I knew this was a two part book when I started, clue in the title, but usually there is some sort of story within a story. Not here It really is just half a book. What there is is enjoyable but I can't give many stars to a book that just seems to stop. Not my cup of tea i'm afraid.

I'm a sucker for a good romance book—bonus points if it involves my pride and joy homeland—but I had my hopes set too high for this one. The first page was a big red flag in terms of translation. I'm not sure whether the translator learned Korean as a second language or whether English was acquired after Korean, but the prose is incredibly awkward and clunky at times. I understand wholeheartedly that translating a work into English is no easy feat, especially with Korean, but I really hope the sequel for this book receives proper editing and perspectives from multiple translators.

The plot was much better than I expected it to be. Two protagonists with dark pasts who find each other and inevitably fall in love. The way this was written seemed more fit for a Korean drama screenplay or Webtoon, but what can I say—the best stories we bring to life are ones we create in our minds. The relationship between Soohyuk and Yuna was slow and steady (much like the buildup to this plot) but worth the wait. I enjoyed learning about the characters and their backstories, and the way Hyang laid out the roadmap for readers was thoroughly planned out. I felt a part of me resonate with both of the characters; a quality that was innately human and parts of experiences we all go through in life.

Sookhyuk lives his life behind the shadow of the label "orphan," a taboo topic in Korean culture. He has a soft spot for children and strives to be the best pediatrician in his field. Adamant on making sure no child ever feels the pain he felt, he still can't shake off the weight of his past. Yuna comes from a history riddled with psychological trauma, another taboo among Korean society. As both battle their demons, they seek solace and find comfort in one another.

As I was reading this, I kept imagining episodes of a drama instead of a movie narrative, so again—I really feel like this would have excelled as a screenplay. I cannot stress how important and crucial translators are in the process of publishing!

Depending on accessibility and changes made to the translation, I don't see myself going out of my way to read the sequel. This book had so much potential but I can only pray it sheds light on the role of translators and editors. Fingers crossed for the sequel🤞

Thank you NetGalley and POPPYPUB for providing me my first digital ARC for an honest review!

Just the Two of Us by Ryu Hyang is a rom-com Korean drama centering about two people who complement each other despite the polar opposites they stand on; a stoic, eccentric pediatrician named Soohyuk and loveable blogging chef named Yuna. It's a slow burn romance, not a cup of my tea, but it plays out a natural scheme of falling-in-love so I think it is an okay read because the build-up of getting some romantised elements is really satisfying after witnessing them denying their feelings towards each other for quite a long time.

At first, I couldn't get used to its writing style, particularly the execution of the translation. Since this book is originally published in Korean, it feels awkward to read the translated one. There are some noticeable jarring words in which I find unfitting to be put in sentences and to be related to situations that the author wants us to imagine. Some scenes I couldn't understand, it's a lot worse at the beginning of the story but then it's getting better when coming through the middle of the story. Seemingly the word choices are important to be highlighted here because they do really give some impact to readers whether they want to continue reading this book or not. I'm not sure if the translation is lost due to the cultural differences, I just hope this book will get properly edited, and perhaps ask for assistance from people who possess a good command of Korean and English language literacy.

However, it doesn't mean that the story is overall bad. There are some aspects that I would like to shower praises besides the aforesaid amazing build-up, one of them is the characterisation. Soohyuk is a guy whom you always label as a typical protagonist whereby he just gives everyone a cold shoulder but then only show a frail side of him towards the heroine and kids (he's a pediatrician). I must say that I'll always fall for this trope 🤣 love it. In this story, Soohyuk's cold demeanour stems from the past experiences he has had during his childhood; a domestic violence incurred by his stepfather. Thus, he resolves not to let any kids experience the same experiences he has gone through by becoming the best specialist in this field. Same as the female lead, she has encountered a gnawing trauma by being confined in a small space (claustrophobia) and being molested by a man. Love begins to blossom when these two could fill in each other's void.

Reasons why I rated it 2 stars is because of the poor translation and the abrupt ending; a cliffhanger that doesn't provoke me to read the sequel. I almost abandoned it after passing the first few chapters but then, I love watching k-dramas and this book has bits similar to it. So I beared with it till the end, just casually enjoying the story without focusing much on its writing style.

Thank you Netgalley and POPPYPUB for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the premise on this one, but sadly I did not finish it. Quite a few triggers throughout, very slow start and the translation/writing made this difficult to follow. I also didn't really connect with the characters.

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read and review this novel! Unfortunately I think the story and the dialogue got lost in translation. It was hard to follow for me. I really love the idea of the story.

This was a delightful love story about Soohyuk the crabby, strict, and demanding pediatric emergency room doctor, and sweet, loving, chef Yuna. A wonderful novel about family, trauma, perseverance, and love above all things.

I’m sad to say that I didn’t finish this one. I don’t know if it was the Netgalley app or just how the ebook was laid out but it was just too difficult to read

I liked the diversity in characters, but ultimately, this book wasn't for me. It had a cute and lively premise, but I found the writing to be jilted.

I liked this as it’s the type of thing I normally like to read but with a cultural difference. That did make it more of a challenge to read at times but otherwise I liked it.