สี่ปีแล้วเหรอคะเนี่ย? ได้มีโอกาสได้กลับมาอ่านใหม่อีกครั้งค่ะ เอาจริงๆ public school เคยเป็นเล่มโปรดของเราสมัยโน้นแหละ(i’d love Edward like a stupid girl) แต่พอได้กลับมาอ่านใหม่ในมุมมองของคนที่โตขึ้นมาระดับนึงแล้วในปี2022 ก็ได้เห็นอะไรหลายๆ อย่าง
ส่วนเรื่องที่ไม่ชอบก็ต้องเป็นคาร์แรคเตอร์เรย์นี่ล่ะค่ะ(ตอนเด็กน่ะชอบนะ ดูเป็นเด็กตาเศร้า) เพราะว��าเรย์เป็นคนที่มีอะไรอยู่ในใจเยอะแยะแล้วก็มองโลกในแง่ดีเกินไป (like—he be like ‘Edward r4ping me now but I’m ok and glad because I love him’ duh what—)
Because my last 2 reads, especially the last one, were pretty disappointing, so when I saw this on kindle unlimited, I borrowed it immediately, even though I have been avoiding this popular BL series for a long time since I prefer stories with fantasy elements and I’m never a big fan of aristocractic boarding school stories but I needed to read a BL novel that is solid and well-written to cleanse my palate. And it got the job done!
Rei is a biracial child born out of wedlock between a Japanese mother and a high-ranking British noble. He was raised solely by his mother in Japan until she passed away when he was 12. He was taken in by his half-brother in England since his father also passed away a few years earlier. There he met his nephew, 14-year-old Edward, who was the only truly friendly person with him. All that changed two years later when Rei enrolled into the same elite public school and into the house of which Edward was the head boy, despite Edward demanding Rei to return to Japan so Edward forbade Reinfrom interacting with any of his schoolmates.
Just like in most of other works by this author that I have read, this also features an asshole seme. But Edward’s assholeness is actually more forgivable than others because he is, after all, just a 16-year-old boy himself while also dealing the suffocating expectation from his nitpicking noble family and relatives, and being gay AND having caused a scandal before Rei showed up in England had not helped his pressure cooker situation. On the other hand, I usually hate doormat character BUT it’s not surprising that Rei would have ended up like this. At the time when he was the most vulnerable and the hungriest for being loved, Edward was the only one who cared about him. And the book later talked about how his world got smaller due to Edward’s restrictions and how he eventually tried to break off from Edward’s shackles. The dubcon at the end was not surprising, to be honest, and I hate to say it, it’s probably one of the hottest dubcon I have ever read. It really shows how much Edward had been suppressing himself from loving Rei.
And btw this book also deals with blatant classism, racism, and homophobia.
นายเอกโดนกักกัน ข่มขืน โดนหลอก โดนgaslight แต่ไม่เคยโกรธพระเอก ขนาดตอนตัวเองเจ็บตัวและรู้ความจริงว่าพระเอกรู้สถานการณ์ที่ตัวเองเผชิญอยุ่ประมาณนึง ยังคิดแต่สงสารพระเอก คืองงมาก เบียวสายเลือดสีฟ้าอะไรของมัน noblesse in the worst way possible
The best Japanese BL series I've ever read. This first novel is just the beginning of the series, so only reading this is not enough to see the development of Ed and Rei's relationship. The story is mainly about their boarding school lives. Ed and Rei used to have good relationships back then when they were young, but suddenly Ed started acting kinda cruel, and controlling toward Rei. To be honest, it just gives us sad and heartbreaking feelings. You will sympathize with Rei and cry with him. Also, you will be confused why Ed acts like that. But the second novel unravels their true feelings.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
A very well written novel about two kids who really don't know anything about love and it hurts to watch the two of them fumble their way towards adulthood. I'll be honest - the five stars may turn into four if volume two doesn't convince me of Ed's motives - his actions towards Rei are really cruel. But even so, while I didn't like the last forty pages as much and I am curious where she is going from that end, overall it was exceptionally well written.
wooo, another misao novel. which means tack on that frustrating unrequited love drama and asshole semes troupe. i literally just finished this thing, so let me start out with what i liked first:
as always, i love misao's writing style and the way she describes things. i also like the fact that the story started out in the present when rei was 16 and then would go back to when he was 9 years old. for a bit the story's setting would shift between the past and present to give us an idea of how rei got himself into this current mess, and i much preferred it that way than for the story to start from the past and chronologically take a linear path.
the side characters (apart from gilbert, because, let's be furreal) are awesome (!!!!). orlando was like my hero in this thing, a breath of fresh air where i couldn't help but exclaim "yes. thank you". ted and mike, though they play minor parts towards the end, still have me screaming for more of them, as well as the other fine arts club members. the way they treated rei with open arms was... ugh, it was so cute. i was super happy for rei until ed came and eff'd things up.
I LOVE THE FACT THAT THIS TOOK PLACE IN ENGLAND, AAAH. it's nice to read something... not in japan. i mean, i know i'm reading a japanese novel, but you know. it's just nice, okay.
misao loves to give her ukes a sad, lonely life, doesn't she? i felt attached to rei's character since from the time he was young, he was lonely. all he wanted was to love and be loved. i don't want to dabble into his life and how it affected his personality since... this is a review, not a summary. but what i like about rei? how pure this kid is. he's like a precious jem that i want to polish and protect from all the asshole semes everywhere. and i love how whenever someone insults someone he loves and cares about, he doesn't think twice but to attack. he's naturally a kind soul who is shy as I DON'T EVEN. but one word about his mama, his new friends, etc., and yer ass is gonna get slapped. rei, my baby, like. go find your happy....
what i don't like about this?
how ignorantly attached rei's love towards edward is. it's really not what i don't like about this novel, per se, but more like what i don't like about rei specifically. in the beginning, i felt like he was finding any reason under the freakin' sun to love ed, and when he did, he latched onto that feeling so hard like a bear gunning for that sweet, luscious honey. to the point of........... alienating himself from anyone and anything around him. it's sad. it's freakin' sad. it was pretty hard to read about how lonely he was in that public school, even though hey, he kinda did it to himself, but STILL. the way misao's described his painful solitude was just. sob. IT WAS SOB OKAY?
EDWARD. AAAAH. AAAAAAAAH. it's pretty freakin' obvious that edward has feelings (YANDERE FEELINGS, OMFGGG) towards his precious rei. but he sure as heck isn't showing it though because he insults the guy both in public and private, alienates him, abuses him, rapes him (more than once, sdkjksf aaaah) etc. there were some parts, GRANTED, when i softened up to him. like during the flashbacks. and when ed cared for rei while he was sick. but most of the time? pfft. especially during the last 2 chapters? PFFFFTT. then again, misao has this thing where she turns asshole semes into a hero in shining armor or some shet, so i'm sure later on in the series, i'll, SOMEHOW, love (????) the guy (????).
what i also don't like about this? IT DRAGS OOOON IN THE MIDDLE. i feel like misao could have wrapped this up if she wrote 100 less pages. or 50?? yeah i get it, rei is lonely and hurt and in love. ed is an asswipe. orlando is awesome. gilbert is a salty hater. but there were times where i would sigh and be like, okay lady, c'mon, i get it, let's move ooooon. thankfully the last few chapters sped the pace a bit. and the last 3 chapters? heh. HEH.
so with that said, overall, i liked it. i'm itching to read the 2nd book. how the effff this is gonna turn out, i don't even know. but i am SOOOOOOO shipping rei with orlando. fight me. ya, it's not gonna happen because bl logic, but here's me hoping the warning that gilbert gave rei about orlando was gil's way of being a salty troll.... :/
more ted and mike, please. and less.... of ed...... being an ass would be... great. thanks.