While I do like the story, it feels kind of underwhelming; very little of the narrative is focused on the murders (did we ever find out about the recent murder Alex committed that Clark was upset about?) and Alex's therapy sessions, as well as the actual investigation process, and I do wish we'd gotten more flashbacks of Alex and Choi's pasts rather than broad strokes, as well as Oliver and Clark's romance. It felt like that common issue in BLs that the romance takes precedence over fleshing out the individual characters and worldbuilding. I'm surprised, since the story was originally planned as 15 chapters but the author expanded it to 50+ chapters, so I was hoping for a bit more. But I'd also be down for a sequel. I also feel really bad for Oliver since he likes Clark, only to be emotionally disappointed, then falls for Alex, who, weirdly, doesn't really care about the fact that Oliver loves him (can someone explain that to me? I thought he fixated on when people loved him) and kills him because Clark didn't share his romantic attachment. I also wasn't a big fan of the art style, but I can move past that.
But the ending?! 10/10, no notes. I was expecting Clark to fall into that whole Stockholm Syndrome situation or just NOW happen to open up his emotions and thus fall for Alex. I was ready to be let down, but the ending was so satisfying. Of course, like I said, I do wish Clark had some kind of growth; his fascination in Alex prevented him from calling the police and reporting him, and his callous attitude led to the disintegration of his relationship with Oliver and the termination of Oliver's life. But you know, since Choi is still alive at the end, I'm potentially up for that ship.
While I do like the story, it feels kind of underwhelming; very little of the narrative is focused on the murders (did we ever find out about the recent murder Alex committed that Clark was upset about?) and Alex's therapy sessions, as well as the actual investigation process, and I do wish we'd gotten more flashbacks of Alex and Choi's pasts rather than broad strokes, as well as Oliver and Clark's romance. It felt like that common issue in BLs that the romance takes precedence over fleshing out the individual characters and worldbuilding. I'm surprised, since the story was originally planned as 15 chapters but the author expanded it to 50+ chapters, so I was hoping for a bit more. But I'd also be down for a sequel. I also feel really bad for Oliver since he likes Clark, only to be emotionally disappointed, then falls for Alex, who, weirdly, doesn't really care about the fact that Oliver loves him (can someone explain that to me? I thought he fixated on when people loved him) and kills him because Clark didn't share his romantic attachment. I also wasn't a big fan of the art style, but I can move past that.
But the ending?! 10/10, no notes. I was expecting Clark to fall into that whole Stockholm Syndrome situation or just NOW happen to open up his emotions and thus fall for Alex. I was ready to be let down, but the ending was so satisfying. Of course, like I said, I do wish Clark had some kind of growth; his fascination in Alex prevented him from calling the police and reporting him, and his callous attitude led to the disintegration of his relationship with Oliver and the termination of Oliver's life. But you know, since Choi is still alive at the end, I'm potentially up for that ship.