I really enjoyed the story.
I loved seeing the characters develop and create a space between them, where they felt comfortable being themselves. The main character is putting a lot of pressure on himself and the other character gives him an escape from that.
I really liked the contrast in their personalities, and I would like to know a little more about their love interest.
The drawings are wonderful and convey the character’s story and feelings beautifully.

I really struggled with this and DNF'd after 43%. I couldn't understand what the author was trying to do with the main character. Whether he was serious or happy go lucky. The relationship between the two main characters was non-existent (bar 1 part which never happened again) and there were too many speech bubbles for it to read well.

This was actually a short but cute story though it didn't really captivate me as much... the character development could have been better. It seems as though the main character is facing problems that are easily fixed but he's making a big fuss out of everything and is kinda oblivious to the people around him. I also didn't really feel the connection between him and Shunwen. The art was really beautiful though and I'm glad I got to read the story.

2 stars

I couldn’t get invested in the story or the characters. Felt like we didn’t really get to know the characters that well, especially Shunwen. The story didn’t feel fleshed out and kind of seemed like the author wasn’t sure what they wanted to do with the story, characters and romance.

Cute story and lovely art but it felt "unfleshed out". I didn't feel like I knew the characters or what they were like.

The story was enjoyable and I was happy to watch Hezhan find acceptance. I just wish that Hezhan’s lonely past had been revealed to Shunwen in some way so he could understand the cause of Hezhan’s desperate need to be liked. It wasn’t a superficial desire, it was an intense fear of being alone again - as revealed in Hezhan’s nightmare. Without knowing that background information, it seems like Shunwen definitely accepted Hezhan but didn’t truly understand him. I so wish he had been given that opportunity to understand and we could’ve seen Shunwen comfort Hezhan that he wouldn’t be alone rather than just encouraging him that it’s okay to not meet expectations or to say negative things sometimes!

3.25*

The best way to describe this manhua is short, but sweet. The two main characters bring out the best in each other, particularly in helping Hezhan be himself around others. I found Hezhan to be a relatable MC, as I'm also someone who was putting on a persona and overexerting myself in extracurriculars when I was younger. The build-up of these repressed negative emotions needing to be released was accurate, and I was glad to see this represented so well in a manhua. There's definitely something to be said for someone seeing you at your worst, like Shunwen viewing Hezhan's private outburst, and that not negatively influencing how you view the other person. I enjoyed watching Hezhan grow as a person and let down some of the walls he had built up over time.

All of that being said, this manhua was not without fault. It was too short which led to the pacing and romantic developments feeling a bit rushed. It definitely could've used at least another couple of chapters to really flesh everything out. In particular, I feel like we didn't learn much about the love interest, Shunwen. I think going more into his motivations and characteristics would have balanced everything out better. I also think there could've been more on the romance side of things. There were very sweet and cute moments, but they were sparse. I also would've liked a bit more story after the confession scene.

Overall, a good, quick read not without its issues. I would absolutely read more from the author going forward.

Cute book. I do like that we learned a lot about the main character, but I found that I didn't know a lot about his love interest, and I wish I got to learn more about him to create a more balanced and well-rounded story. But I did enjoy it and think it was a cute book with a cute dynamic

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

A cute manhua... but it just never really grabbed my attention and I struggled to get through it. Too much event stuff, too much stress for our MC, too much why is no one helping him out more. I would have just loved it if it had focussed more on the love part of it all. I mean, that part was pretty nice and I did like how the love interest brought out the best in the MC, showed him that he could be honest and that people will still love and like him. I did like seeing the MC grow as the story continued and the last part was so sweet! The art was pretty. But yeah, I just wanted more gazes. More romance. More swoon.