This was fun and a book that really grabbed me and was such a good sequel! and I just loved to see how all the characters

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

This has been on my TBR for several years now, and I can’t seem to make myself finish it. I’m sorry! I’m sure someone will love it, but it just isn’t for me.

Translation issues and the pace of the plot were the reasons I did not enjoy this book as much as the first one in the series. It seemed to move very slowly though it did answer some of the questions that Book 1 left open. If you try it, definitely read Book 1 first. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I read the 1th book and like it fine, but this was just confusing and boring... sometimes something happends...but not really? and both characters were ...sort of confusing and wierd.

This checked off everything I look for in a book. Was not disappointed. Really enjoyed this book. I will read more from this author. Must read. go and read this, so good.

I just reviewed Just the Two of Us, Book 2 by Ryu Hyang. #NetGalley

Tried reading this one and it just was not meant for me. This does not mean that it is not a good book, I just was not in the right place to be reading it and have decided to not try picking it up anytime in the near future.

This was a great sequel! It really gave me so much k drama vibes. The characters' development are one of the reasons why this book is amazing. They gave more depth in each character and felt like they all have their story to tell. The plot was even greater than the first one but I like them both. This book played like a series and it was just utterly heartwarming.

I adore the writing style tho it could have been so much better next time! I love the family trope in this book. The bond and connections between them are admirable in a way that it makes my heart flutter. Love the ending too!

Thank you so much for the ARC!

I enjoyed the first book in this series. Sadly, this sequel did not go how I hoped. It was a slow read for me, and difficult to understand at times. I hope to read this duology again in the future and have a more enjoyable experience.
Thank you NetGalley and PoppyPub for the opportunity to read Just the Two of Us #2.

A complicated book that takes concentration to keep you on track - personally unenjoyable for me and difficult to finish

Like the first book in this series, I didn't connect to this at all. I think it might have been badly translated as I felt the writing rather clunky.

Honestly, I was expecting so much more from this than what I got. It just didn't click for me. I liked the first one, but this one didn't hold me the way book one did.

TW:Rape,Sexual assault(Context: The female MC was sexually assaulted in the past but it's dealt with in a very problematic manner.She gets raped and assaulted by the Male MC which is romanticized.)I also references from the books as evidence.
Age warning:18+
Yuna,the main female MC doesn't like to get touched given her history but I don't think the way you treat trauma is by repeatedly touching someone without their consent no matter how insignificant those seem.
Soohyuk gives her warning,doesn't ask for permission,both of these things have a difference!!
"𝙄𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙝.𝙎𝙤𝙤𝙝𝙮𝙪𝙠 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙥 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙.
'𝙈𝙧.𝘾𝙝𝙖..'𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
𝙄𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨,'𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙.𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤.
'𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩,' 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜.𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩,𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙, '𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙪𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙤𝙬.'
𝙔𝙪𝙣𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝.𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩...'"
And this whole problematic thing continues but unfotunately I donnot have the paitence to type it all; so let's deconstruct it.
When Soohyuk wraps his arm around her shoulder and kisses her forehed without consent,she pushes him away that too it's mentined 'nervously' not 'playfully' but he continues to 'pull her even closer'.Also who calls their boyfriend 'Mr' in a very serious tone like they are speaking with someone they aren't close with.
Again he basically declares that he will kiss her and he does.He does a lot more than that too 'unbuttoning her coat buttons', forgot to give his so very gentlemanly warning this time I suppose.
I don't know how survivors get over their trauma but just a article I read now (https://www.self.com/story/sex-after-...) said,the first step towards healing for survivors is to set boundaries so they can connect, Soohyuk literally disrespects every single boundary Yuna places.
Fast forward to chapter 4,they were having dinner that Yuna cooked and finally I was enjoying learning about food from different cultures but next the moment was ruined.
They got drunk but Yuna seemed to be the one more intoxicated.Also from another article I read,even if both parties are drunk the sex is not consensual unless it is implied from before in a relationship.Even though they are in a relationship,Yuna had never been comfortable with any sort of physical contact..
Even though Yuna thinks,"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝?𝐍𝐨,𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲,𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞."Despite this it doesnot make sense that someone who flinched when their hand was being held would be okay with having sex without their trauma flashbacks.
Okay moving forward,Soohyuk says,"𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭."Yuna literally asks,"𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠?"
then Soohyuk jokes,"𝐍𝐨𝐩𝐞.𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭.𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨?"Sure he joked about it but it's creepy.
Followed by some cringey dialogues like apparently our female MC is finally going to be transformed into a 'proper woman'.
The problem with the smut scenes,it's not possible for me to deconstruct the whole thing but honestly a few quotes should do it.
"𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝,𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞,𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥"
Sex can be bad,awkward but no one should be scared!This is so messed up that she liked that his hands almost were out of control maybe if only it was followed by a line 'but she knows he is in control and would never hurt anyone especially her' then I would have excused it.
"𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧.𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝.."
This is a 'yelp','scream' not any form of orgasm or pleasurable moan.The Male MC claims to love her and didn't bother to make sure if she is okay,ask what is wrong.I repeat sex isn't supposed to hurt this bad.
"𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬,'𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧."
This is scary not romantic in the least.Yuna opens her eyes because he scares her into doing it.
"𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲,𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐡𝐞𝐫,𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠,'𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧"
Again just declaring,not asking just because they started doing it with a 'yes' doesnot mean the job is done,setting boundaries are important.Was Yuna ready?No.He took off her clothes suddenly too.
"𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫,𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟.𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫" Okay,good so he knows she is in pain but then just an unneccerary para later he thinks"𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫...."
Non-verbal consent exists she is not only uncomfortable but hurting!!There is more but I just don't have it in me to pinpoint more.Also I don't think it was necessary for me to even explain this further to let anyone know how problematic it was,the first red-flag when he touches her without permission should be enough.The romanticization of it all hurts more
"𝐘𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲"This was after it all.A painful sex,without any sense of boudary and where she had no control over her body is not going to end her trauma,but add to it.
Still hoping that she wouldn't end up with Soohyuk and this would become Yuna's journey or she would find someone else I read the epilogue but alas!she ends up with her.Which is not surprising since it is being marketed under the genre 'romance' which feels so wrong. (less)

This book was better the first book but still not great. I wish a little more effort would have been put into the translation of this book. So many areas where the translation was choppy or repetitive could have been edited. The story has some steam but overall it was not an enjoyable story. Not for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to POPPYPUB for providing me this arc via Netgalley!

So, I might have requested this book without realizing that this was the continuation of the first one and not a standalone in a romance series.
Still, I had some problems with this book individually.
- the writing was really weird, but I'm not sure if it's the author or the translater's fault, since I think the book was originally written in Korean.
- the point of views really confused me
- I didn't like the couple, didn't feel any chemistry and wasn't even rooting for them
- the book was quite long but it felt like there really wasn't nothing to it, which makes me believe that the first and second one could have been merged into a much better one
- many triggers and no trigger warnings
- why does the second book have the same as the first? It could have been something like "still the two of us"

This book made me sad, because I love k dramas, but maybe these kind of cheesy lines only work if Park Seo Joon's saying them.

The second book in this series - will Soohyuk find his family and will he end up getting together with Yuna? A great read, but I think you need to read book 1 first. Loved the characters and hope Soohyuk's brother gets his own book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really wanted to read this and continue the story because I'm a sucker for reunions between long lost family members. This gave me that but I'm not ~very~satisfied with it.

The romance was pretty bleh. I looked the cute couple moments but the tension plot sections weren't good. The first time they had sex was also bleh. After that every time explicit scenes came, I skipped them.

It was easy to quickly read though. I finished a book after two weeks and this was it. Read it in two days.

I like this book but didn't get everything because I started without having read the first one! Go for it.

I would like to thank NetGalley & POPPYPUB for an eARC. In book 2 we get the answers we are looking for. Soohyuk finally finds out who his parents are. It was emotional to read. Yuna and Soohyuk relationship continues to grow. I did have some trouble with following along. I'm giving this book a 2 out of 5 stars. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It's always interesting to see what comes after the HEA in romance novels, something that's more often than none, inevitable. we get epilogues and glimpses into their lives but not often full books. So I love how the other continued their story so we see the after of the Happily Ever After!

Thank you to NetGalley and POPPYPUB for the earc in return for an honest review.