NOT WRITTEN BY ME BUT BY A RAEDER NAMED CALAMANSI:
Very angsty read with a long stretch of conflict and slow burn romance. "Sweet potato" if we go with slang terms. May not be to everyone's tastes but this kind of tear jerking angst is right up my alley lol so I might be biased! A story of two broken people meeting each other at the wrong time and hard-earned love. There are themes of betrayal, sacrifice, devotion, and remorse. The tone is sombre throughout like the title suggests. In my opinion, the characters do have depth despite the stereotypical rich ML poor MC setup. Even the misunderstanding trope is handled tastefully and doesn't feel so juvenile. The plot is interesting, though it is pretty cliche and nothing out of the realm for mafia trope. The lengthy flashback in the middle serves as a huuuge piece of the puzzle which explains how their relationship ended up where it did in the present. It does take a little bit of patience to power through because the character development is slow. These characters are flawed. MC may come across as weak at first, but I think he's actually pretty strong-willed! He's just someone who's been dealt an unfair hand over and over again and beaten down by life. I wish he had more of a backbone because it hurts my heart as the reader. ML is an emotionally constipated jerk hiding under unresolved resentment, which makes it hard to love him at first tbh, but I came to understand him as the story develops. Also he's homophobic (internalized) so beware if that triggers you. Contrary to what some readers make of it, I actually loved the ending,
I'm so moved by the way MC loves so deeply, and how by the end he refuses to let that love become another form of self-sacrifice. The ML probably didn't suffer enough (lol), but I don't think that's what the MC wanted in the first place. He's never regretted loving him, he only asks for his love to be returned in kind. To him, he made those sacrifices simply because he loves and wanted to.
I think their resolution is about finally meeting each other eye to eye where love is no longer something only one of them carries, not about punishment to earn ML his redemption. The final scene was actually so beautiful and poetic to me I find myself thinking about it often :' (
TLDR; mafia drama with slow burn angst and unresolved feelings from the past
NOT WRITTEN BY ME BUT BY A RAEDER NAMED CALAMANSI:
Very angsty read with a long stretch of conflict and slow burn romance. "Sweet potato" if we go with slang terms. May not be to everyone's tastes but this kind of tear jerking angst is right up my alley lol so I might be biased!
A story of two broken people meeting each other at the wrong time and hard-earned love. There are themes of betrayal, sacrifice, devotion, and remorse. The tone is sombre throughout like the title suggests.
In my opinion, the characters do have depth despite the stereotypical rich ML poor MC setup. Even the misunderstanding trope is handled tastefully and doesn't feel so juvenile. The plot is interesting, though it is pretty cliche and nothing out of the realm for mafia trope. The lengthy flashback in the middle serves as a huuuge piece of the puzzle which explains how their relationship ended up where it did in the present.
It does take a little bit of patience to power through because the character development is slow. These characters are flawed. MC may come across as weak at first, but I think he's actually pretty strong-willed! He's just someone who's been dealt an unfair hand over and over again and beaten down by life. I wish he had more of a backbone because it hurts my heart as the reader. ML is an emotionally constipated jerk hiding under unresolved resentment, which makes it hard to love him at first tbh, but I came to understand him as the story develops. Also he's homophobic (internalized) so beware if that triggers you. Contrary to what some readers make of it, I actually loved the ending,
I'm so moved by the way MC loves so deeply, and how by the end he refuses to let that love become another form of self-sacrifice. The ML probably didn't suffer enough (lol), but I don't think that's what the MC wanted in the first place. He's never regretted loving him, he only asks for his love to be returned in kind. To him, he made those sacrifices simply because he loves and wanted to.
I think their resolution is about finally meeting each other eye to eye where love is no longer something only one of them carries, not about punishment to earn ML his redemption. The final scene was actually so beautiful and poetic to me I find myself thinking about it often :' (
TLDR; mafia drama with slow burn angst and unresolved feelings from the past