Romance is a bonus book
I don’t know what it is aboutNoona Romances(Korean dramas where the woman in the main pairing is older than the guy), but they’refrighteninglyeffective at reducing me lớn a quivering puddle of girlish sighs và swoons.
Bạn đang xem: Romance is a bonus book
And I’m a grown woman!
Maybe it’s because they’re generally more nuanced, và the problems plaguing our leading couple reach beyond the guy being popular và sought after by every girl in school.
There are higher stakes and long-lasting consequences.
And that’s exactly where we begin with Romance is a Bonus Book (akaLove Is a Bonus Book); a breezy, sentimental drama about second chances starring Lee Jong-suk & Lee Na-young.
Lee Jong-suk plays cha Eun-ho, a young, successful author who also happens to be editor-in-chief at a publishing company called Gyeoroo. Lee Na-young plays Kang Dan-i, a childhood friend several years his senior whose fallen on hard times due lớn her divorce, inability to lớn find a job, and newly minted status as a single mom. Dan-i was once a superstar in the marketing world, but gave it all up to lớn take care of her family.
Now that she wants back in, she faces age discrimination (Honestly, how can you blame someone foraging?) và malicious comments during interviews about being out of the workforce for too long.
Sounds bleak, doesn’t it?
Well, what I adore about this drama is that it’s not! Dan-i is resourceful and refuses to lớn stay down. This is largely thanks lớn screenwriter Jung Hyun-jung’s character-building and propensity to bình luận on the social issues women face in South Korea. She incorporates them into her dramas (I’m looking at youI Need Romance 3), but has a way of doing it without coming off preachy.
In the first few episodes, we learn a lot about Dan-i’s day-to-day life. Her mornings are spent cleaning a sauna she’s too qualified lớn work part-time at, and her afternoons consist of endless interviews for jobs in her field. We also learn the specifics ofwhyher life is the way it is. The loser we see her marry at the beginning of the first episode has bankrupted them trying to keep his business afloatandcheated while he was at it.
Theaudacity!
A year later, and Dan-i isn’t even bitter. She’s just trying to get by and tư vấn her teenage daughter who goes khổng lồ boarding school overseas.
There’s something honest & relatable about Lee Na-young’s portrayal of Dan-i, so you can’t help but feel for her.Deeply. When she breaks down in the dark, empty house she used to lớn live in before the divorce while picturing how happy she once was, I teared up. Then she falls asleep và wakes up to the sound of heavy machinery and a demolition crew outside. She was secretly living in the house with no electricity or running water, but is now fully homeless.
/3/Board/List">Image courtesy of tvN
Which isn’t as bad as it sounds, because now the narrative has given her an excuse to lớn move in with Eun-ho AKA Lee Jong-suk; the man whose smile could power nguồn a small city. If you think this is going khổng lồ be a big change for Dan-i, then you’re wrong, because she’s practically been living at his beautiful, spacious trang chủ anyway! She actually got rid of his housekeeper and has been the one cooking and cleaning, so she could earn the wage instead. Remember when I said Dan-i was resourceful? Yeah, I wasn’t kidding.
The plot really jumps into motion when Gyeoroo (the company Eun-ho works for) holds an mở cửa interview; meaning anyone can apply. Even people who only finished high school. Suddenly Dan-i’s college degree and accomplishments in the kinh doanh world disappear, and she’s sitting in front of a stunned Eun-ho at the interview applying for a demeaning, entry-level position.
Which she gets.
Xem thêm: Khô Gà Nhà Làm - Phá» Gã Nhã San Jose, Ca 95122
Now everything is out in the open, and Eun-ho finally realizes just how far his closest friend has fallen. As a character, Eun-ho is mature (most of the time) và supportive. You can actively see the different kinds of love he feels for Dan-i thrumming beneath his skin in almost every scene.
That’s the beautiful thing about Lee Jong-suk’s acting. Even though people question his versatility, he never fails lớn make you believe his total adoration of whoever is acting opposite him. In real life, Lee Na-young iselevenyears older, và theystillhave chemistry.
It’s not the explosive kind, but the warm, oozing kind that feels lượt thích hot chocolate sliding down your throat on a cold day. Even how Dan-i and Eun-ho meet is adorable. She saves him from being hit by a car when he’s a wee lad, & while recuperating in the hospital, she forces him to be her lackey. Eun-ho buys her snacks và brings hermanhwaand other books to read. They bond over them và become inseparable. Throughout the series, we’re even treated khổng lồ flashbacks of them during various stages of their friendship. That’s why it’s so satisfying when they finally realize there’s attraction lurking between the bonds of a relationship they thought had been finalized by time.
In fact, by the time they kiss it already feels lượt thích canon.
Aside from the formidable acting and dreamy tone ofRomance Is a Bonus Book,it also boasts a colorful supporting cast. At the forefront is our second male lead, Ji Seo-joon (played by relative newcomer Wi Ha-joon). He’s another younger man vying for Dan-i attention. They banter & talk about books because he’s a popular cover designer, but there’s nothing compelling making you want to root for him and Dan-i. He’s just a xinh đẹp stranger that lent her his umbrella and returned a shoe she’d lost. With Seo-joon, Dan-i got to feel lượt thích Cinderella for a little while, but there was no great love lost, so as the viewer you’re not really made to feel bad when she eventually chooses Eun-ho.
I vì chưng love the fact that Seo-joon got to lớn have a little secret that added an interesting element of mystery lớn the drama. He turns out to lớn be the illegitimate son of a wildly popular author named Kang Byeong-jun who disappeared after giving his publishing rights to lớn Gyeoroo. This is essentially the B plot of the drama, và about halfway we find out that Kang Byeong-jun is Eun-ho’s mentor. He disappeared from the public eye lớn hide his impending Alzheimer’s, & Eun-ho is secretly taking care of him in a quaint countryside house.
In the end, Eun-ho facilitates a meeting between Seo-joon and Byeong-jun, và Seo-joon gets to see his father before the Alzheimer’s takes him.
The last thing that makesRomance Is a Bonus Bookso good are all of Eun-ho và Dan-i’s colleagues at Gyeoroo. Some are zany, some are tyrannical, và some coast on their wealth. But they’re all three-dimensional. They’re fleshed out và have their own backstories & motivations. You end up shipping characters you didn’t think you cared about and liking characters you started out hating.
One of those characters is Go Yoo-sun, Gyeoroo’s second-in-command, và Dan-i’s direct boss. Remember how much you hated Meryl Streep inthe Devil Wears Prada? Take that hatred và multiply it bya thousand, and that’s how I felt about Ms. Go. She started out so cold and seemed to lớn want lớn make sure Dan-i stayed in an entry-level role. But once again, through masterful character-building, you over up finding out she’s actually fair và doesn’t really have it out for Dan-i. She’s just a stickler for the rules.
Even the dreaded second female lead ended up being a sweetheart. Dan-i and tuy nhiên Hae-rin (played by Jung Yoo-jin), one of the senior editors at Gyeoroo become allies after working on a difficult project together. She tries lớn give Dan-i opportunities lớn grow and doesn’t try khổng lồ destroy her even though Hae-rin has had a crush on Eun-ho for years.
Of course, the inevitable happens and everyone at the company finds out Dan-i lied about not going khổng lồ college & having no experience. There’s a big fallout, và she does the noble drama sacrifice và quits. But it’s short-lived. Ms. Go (shockingly) refers her to a job at another publishing company, & after some time has passed, Dan-i ends up right back at Gyeoroo in a position more suitable for her skills and experience.
It turns out everyone misses her & the hard-working spirit she displayed every day. The drama then establishes that Gyeoroo is her home and everyone there, including Eun-ho, is her family.
In fact, my only criticism of this drama is the pacing. So much information is given lớn us at the beginning, by the over it starts dragging a bit. None of the conflicts are particularly shocking either since the show aims to lớn portray everyday life.
If you’re only into dramas where there’s a big reveal at the over of every episode,Romance Is a Bonus Bookmay not be for you. But if you enjoy soothing, character-driven narratives or just want khổng lồ watch a woman reclaim a life she thought was lost, then you’re in for a beautiful journey.
Of you want lớn give this show a chance, then you can kiểm tra it out on Netflix!
Drama Milk contains ads và affiliate liên kết that keep the lights on over here. The ads use cookies to aid in your viewing experience. If you like what you see then consider whitelisting us from your adblocking software so we can keep doing what we do!
