Have you ever been so smitten with someone that you were just so grateful he existed? Tipong makita mo lang siya, solved ka na. Kahit hindi mo siya makausap o makasama, inspired na inspired ka.
That was the case for Dawn Karsen Navarro, a die-hard fan of a prominent singer and songwriter, Dior Kobe Gallardo.
Kahit pa laging General Admission ticket lang ang nabibili niya at halos kasinglaki lang ng gagamba ang natatanaw niya mula sa upuan, marinig niya lang ang boses ng binata, kuntento na siya.
So, when luck pulled a trick on her poor heart, she didn't hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity. She went from being in the farthest row to being in the backstage, from seeing only a glimpse of her idol to a face-to-face encounter, and from hearing only a fraction of his life to knowing everything there was to know about him.
She had made a lot of progress.
But, why did she go back to being seated in the farthest row? Why did she go back to being just a mere fan? After everything they vowed, why did she go back to being a stranger in the midst of the crowd?
FACTS ABOUT INKSTEADY 📌 "I'm Idy, and I started writing on [Wattpad] on September 9, 2020". 📌 She's born on July 16, 2000. 📌 BS Psychology, Class of 2022 📌 She's from Luzon, in the Philippines 📌 She likes cats. 📌 She has over 600K followers on Wattpad
DNFed for many reason, but let me just say few of this story’s issues that I can remember since it has been months since I first read this.
1. Inconsistency in characterization. Maraming questionable things na ginagawa ang mga MC na very out of character. Hindi ko alam kung para lang ba maging quirky sila or mag-appear na nakakatawa (which is over the top sometimes). They were unbearable.
2. Writing style. Like, I get it, this book is written in TagLish and it is a contemporary romance novel, but what’s up with the female MC? Akala ko ba hindi siya marunong mag-English (okay, well, she can but she’s not fluent in it). It was heavily implied since they even joke about her English, but then sa inner monologues niya nag-e-English siya, and for what? I find it absurd.
3. Shock factors. Urgh, don’t get me started on this. The author went on and told her readers that this is a feel-good, light story only to FORCEFULLY shock them at the climax with unnecessary twists. For what? Para kunwari mapaiyak ang readers since they all eat up whatever you feed them?
4. Oh, and what’s up with branding yourself as a mental health advocate writer when you can’t even tackle the said issues properly? You are a graduate in Psychology, you should know better that books like this can affect these readers in many ways unimaginable.
5. And please do proper trigger warnings at the start. Don’t just do it in every start of a chapter — it doesn’t help. Dapat sa una pa lang, alam na ng readers ang papasukin nila, hindi ‘yung bibiglain mo sila sa gitna kung saan attached na sila sa story. You should know better.
One of the best reads I've had. My eyes are still puffy from all that crying. Inksteady's writing keeps getting better and better every story. It was very heartwarming and mind-opening especially for people with down syndrome.
My life is full of wonderings pero sa umpisa palang there's a satisfaction sa isip ko na magiging okay ang lahat. It's because of Kobe's love for Karsen.
Characters: Si Karsen ung tipo ng character na gusto kung maging. She has a soft-kind heart, sobrang niyang maintindihin gaano pa kahirap ung sitwasyon she will always find a hole to look for the beauty of it. She choose to do the things that make her happy but what I love the most about her is she knows when to leave and stop pleasing someone just to like her.
Kobe- The love he had for Karsen- that's what make them a circle of family. At first I know how deep and intense his love, even I got scared because that kind of love sometimes break the good relationship that both couples have. Maybe they get jealous so much to the point that they just want to keep their partners isolated. But Kobe make me believe otherwise. He's matured enough to to take care of his family. When they are still a couple he said to Karsen that she should leave him whenever he makes her feel worthless because he knows that a good partner shouldn't do that.
This story tackle about the genetic disorder down syndrome. I can tell how hard it is to take care of someone whose suffering from this kind of sickness. I, myself, experienced it. I've been babysitting my almost 5 year's old nephew, he has down syndrome. Patience. One word, that's the merely thing you need to show them ur love. Idk about myself but I can feel my tears flowing whenver ate Kat got included in this story. Maybe I longed for someone's love like that.
I love this author for not just writing stories but also spreading awareness. Everytime I read her stories I feel like I found someone who can understand me, her stories makes me feel drained, sorrowed and pained. Like i've been inside of every pages of her book, i'm the one who experienced it and feel it.
If you're looking for something light and easy to read I don't reco her stories (esp college and ITMOTC) but if you wanna know how to take care of someone whose suffering from MDD, down syndrom or any psychological aspects you better read her stories.
" I will love you Karsen until you won't have a choice to love yourself too."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Inksteady is one of the authors that make me scared of reading their work. Because all of it was full of emotional damage! Like literally! Didn't know what got into me and decided to read this story of hers and as always it was one of a hell ride.
Wasn't really a fan of an idol and fan romance type of trope but this one's good! I love seeing how Kobe (the idol) fell for Karsen (the fan), seems surreal but hell there's a reason for that.
One of Inksteady's specialty was tackling different issues connected with our mental health, and on this book she chooses people with down syndromes. I love how she depicts people with down syndromes, what are shoulds and donts, and what are the things people with their condition experiences in a daily basis. Also, another thing about her works? Imperfect characters... super flawed and very realistic. And for me? That's what makes her characters perfect.
I didn't cry as I did with her past works, maybe because I was reading this outside and I didn't have the audacity to cry. 🤣 But it's painful and I loved the lessons that this book gave to me.
4.5 ✨ AAAAA this is the first book I’ve read from ms idy and it’s so good !! the plot & how everything was executed is so good! was on a verge of a reading slump but this book made it go away <3 <3
Dawn is such a cuuuuute sunshine girl 🌞 love everything about her honestly && I definitely love reading books about being one of the MCs being an actor/actress, it’s just so interesting to read about being part of that industry. 😭 And Kobe, he’s so niceeee I mean ????? mamahalin, iingatan, pagsisilbihan, aalagaan, jojowain, aasawahin, mamahalin habang buhay, to have and to hold in sickness and in health for richer or poorer to love and cherish from this day forward until death do us part YES FATHER I DO! emz
anyway, this story also has a lot of lessons about down syndrome, autism, etc. which is so nice! 🤍
also istg I hate Jason Hernando? Hernandez? I forgot. anyway, he’ total douchebag nonetheless. and also, the second-lead-syndrome I got from Marcus lol he’s so 💚✅🍀🧩 !!! aaaaaa 😩😩😩
and Gayle, of course, our cutest baby <3333 she deserves every good thing in the world I love her 💗💘💞
another addition to my favorite stories written by idy. (this story and ttw are my favs.)
i read this a week after it ended on wp, and i swear, idy never disappoints! just like her other stories, it is a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
i squealed and laugh during the first few chapters. however, it is also painful especially while reading the female lead's point of view. i fell in love with both fl & ml. i mean who wouldn't? right? you will know once you've read this one.
it was def a good read. one thing i love abt the author is she's ready to tackle common misconceptions abt certain societal issues and even societal issues in general. this is well-written. the fact that she did not omit details about the issues tackled here (such as the cause and effect and how important it is to be open-minded if u encountered such things). she used wp as her platform to spread awareness by writing stories that are very informative and will serve as an eye-opener for her readers.
Mild Spoiler Alert - CW only . . . this story tackles issues such as physical violence, cyberbullying, and verbal abuse. (as much as i could remember)
took me long enough to finish this story because I did not have much free time + it was a bit underwhelming (though I understand that because the writer herself had a disclaimer that the losers' club series is lighter compared to the college series).
also, this kind of writing style is getting tiresome for me— the one where the prologue up to the last chapter would be from the female lead's POV, and the epilogue would just be from the male lead's POV. I just hope the writer would break free from that writing style and develop her own, which could make her story/series even more unique.
apart from that, the reason why I would rank this story lower than idy's other stories is because its plot wasn't as unique as the ones I read before (CTS, LTS, & TTW).
Hindi talaga ako fan ng ganitong trope but I still love this one.
Sa characters, hindi deserve ni Karsen lahat ng mga nangyari sa kaniya. Mahirap maging mahirap. Iyong mga pinagdadaanan niya, mabigat at kung ako ang nasa posisyon niya, baka ako na mismo ang susuko. Nairita lang ako sa part na pumunta talaga sila sa bahay ng parents ni boy (forget his name) just for them to apologize. May trauma pa si Karsen no'n and I understand that he was too hurt to know the truth but it's not an excuse para mamilit. Buti nalang, na-address 'yon. Muntik ko nang i-drop ang book dahil do'n. And tbh, I find this story boring. Maganda, yes. Pero 'yong flow ng story, predictable. Siguro hindi pasok sa taste ko but overall I still love and appreciate this.
The first book I have read among all the works published by the author, and probably the one that catalyzed the inevitable incessant goal to read more of her works that followed. I really liked how distinct the personalities of Kobe and Karsen are from each other. I could say these differences even made them more compatible. I loved the conflict and resolution of the story and I especially favored the decisions Karsen have made after the incident. Even though one might beg to differ and say Kobe did not deserve it, I personally prefer when the female lead holds the torch and not the one left wondering.
i thought i was in for a cute idol x fan trope with the main conflict being the fans not liking their relationship. i did not expect to read how much karsen has gone through in her life.
i am just not too much of a fan of how the plot twists were revealed. it felt like it never had it's proper pacing, and sometimes the reveal is just there as it is, a conversation karsen shouldn't hear but she's always conveniently present, no story build-up or anything. the confrontation doesn't even feel satisfying because it happened so fast.
still a great read! lahat sa'yo 'yan, kobe?! ang swerte ni kobe kay karsen!!!
the amount of times i cried while reading this book LOL it’s actually ridiculous.
i couldn’t help but notice the inconsistency of karsen’s character though. it was implied throughout the whole book that she wasn’t the best at english but then she’d have her monologues in english like ??? girl make it make sense. but other than that, everything else kept me entertained. eddie’s lines were funny especially the tiktik line HAHAH
this is my first inksteady book and i enjoyed it. i will be reading more of her works in the future.
Out of all the wattpad books I have read, inksteady's books are the one I love. The composition of the book, it is well written an well versed. The plot twists - muy bien 🤌🏼
FOR THE DEEP FEELERS ONLY. (not the typical cliche, all easygoing stories) You have a lot of takeaways from each book. For me it made me aware of different mental health issues or disorders and I can't wait to reread all of the books once I have the physical of the book.
Cheers inksteady! Ease your mind and you take a lot of rest. We will wait your beautiful mind.
Love it. I couldn't find much flaws in this story. Kobe is literally the personification of a green flag and i love Karsen so much. She's such a nice and hardworking girl. The story itself was very cute at first but it got heavier as the story progressed. Really good! I love how Ms.Idy writes. I enjoyed every single one of her works and she incorporates lessons that are relevant and needs to be discussed in our story. My favorite wattpad author so far.
This was an enjoyable read, especially the first half. It had all the ingredients I enjoy: a lovable hero, a likable heroine, a cute kid, slow-burn romance, witty banter, a bit of angst, and an interesting plot. Kobe and Karsen’s chemistry is the kind of romance readers swoon over. It's pure and heartwarming. And I really loved Gayle’s cuteness.
I started reading this book a year ago but I wasn’t into the plot yet, it was so painful to think of but idk I tried continuing the book and was able to finish it today.
Galing ni inksteady! Iba talaga kahit mapanakit worth it. I’m glad her books are improving <33
I love the stories and the plots especially that I'm a fangirl. However, I think masyadong mabilis ang galaw ng lahat. Also, I personally don't like the male lead's name, reminds me of my old friend (someone irrelevant from my life). Lol
This book is not bad yet its not that good like the other stories that miss author wrote.
I literally cried while reading this story, it's probably because i can relate to karsen sm. This story is very masakit but nothing compared to taming the waves.
i'm not new to the plight of inksteady's women and their miserabilist nature, having read chasing the sun. sometimes it gets a bit dragging at some parts and becomes too melo. but it's always ALWAYS admirable how she writes her women, and it resounds on every page. 3.5!
This made my emotional masochism so glad. The warning saying this was a light read was so wrong. Thank you for making my eyes puff the whole day of july 2. LOL