*deep sigh* Let me first start off by saying that I had incredibly high hopes for this drama. I started it once before and I put it on pause before I finally decided to sit down and actually finish watching this one. This was a difficult decision for me to make, and I don't doubt that this review is going to be another one of my NOTORIOUSLY long reviews. If you're not a fan of those, I suggest you scroll/click away right now because I have a LOT to say and I'm going to say it! As for everyone else, buckle up!

As much as I found myself enjoying this drama, I also found myself unwilling to move forward once I got to the amnesia plot. Typically, I'm not a huge fan of amnesia storylines. However, I thought I could push through with this arc because I was enjoying the drama otherwise. Alas, I was wrong. There's just something about the main character not remembering anything while we, the audience, are privy to every single thing that's happened up until that point that rubs me the wrong way. It feels icky to me, and I don't like it. In fact, it actually fills me with anxiety and I hate feeling that way when it's unintentional. But I digress. I don't like that they dumbed the FL down during this time period though. As a character, she was fine enough but she lacked that intelligence that she had before she lost her memory and that wasn't very enjoyable for me. That was the first pet peeve (or "ick") that hit me like a ton of bricks.

The second pet peeve (or "ick") is a ME problem and I'm completely fine with admitting and accepting that - I don't like the main couple. *runs away* Yes, I know it's sacrilegious to say that because I can see that most fans loved these two, but I'm unfortunately not one of them. I was fine with the FL's relationship with her teacher because I saw their dynamic as most people would see it as a teacher/student, master/disciple/, mentor/mentee relationship. I loved their dynamic, although I never viewed it as romantic. But when his .. reincarnated self (?) was introduced and started sniffing around the FL, I was completely taken out of the story. No offense to the actor, but I felt like he was too old for the FL. I feel like this relationship would have worked FOR ME if they either aged the FL up or aged the ML down. Strangely enough, I don't mind age gaps/age differences in my ships but I definitely minded it in this case and I'm unsure as to why it bothered me so much. I can't put my finger on it. After I've slept on it some more, I'm sure I'll figure it out but that's not going to be any time soon. I couldn't view this ship as a romantic ship with two people who were romantically and sexually attracted to each other because the ML was so much older than her. In my favorite ships, I have to feel some sort of romantic/sexual tension in order to enjoy it. I felt like these two would have been more of the elderly couple, asexual, sexless type had I continued watching it due to the ML's age, which sounds horrible but it's the way I felt. Yes, I'm well aware of the censorship embedded into all C-Dramas, but I'm mainly talking about the fact that there should be the promise of something more, something sexy and seductive, between two characters in order for me to enjoy and root for their love. That promise didn't exist in this plane for this ship. It's like we know we're not going to get anything that raunchy, but I still need to pick up on the tease of something hotter underneath the surface and I didn't get it with these two.

Finally, this is the first time in my entire FANGIRL life that I've said this and I'm shocked by it. I found myself rooting for the FL to get with the SML. I've NEVER been a fangirl who has fallen prey to the second male lead syndrome. Never. This is the first time it's happened to me, and I'm still uncertain on how I feel about that. I LOVED the SML until he screwed up. He was beautiful, he was protective, he went against his abusive father to save her, and he was honest and upfront about his feelings for the FL. But then, That Awful Thing happened and all of my excitement left me. I found myself stuck in a conundrum of sorts because I didn't know how I was going to move forward with this show. I hated the amnesia arc, I was bored by the main couple, and the SML was saddled with That Woman Who Refused to Die/Go Away! So, all of that made for a very interesting recipe for disaster because I wanted to keep going but I knew I had to drop it. That was the last straw for me. I had nothing else keeping me tethered to this show, so here we are.

One last thing before I go: I didn't care for the side couples/characters either. They weren't even enough to keep me interested in this show. I skipped/fast forwarded through all of their scenes. Unfortunately, the side couple's interactions in this drama made me completely remove their spin-off sequel from my watchlist altogether. I know that there's a possibility that I could have enjoyed that drama more than this one, but this one left such a strange and unpleasant taste in my mouth that I wanted to completely cut ties with this verse.

Do I think I'll pick this show back up in the future? Doubtful. Would I recommend it? Yes? It's not that bad honestly, but there's no way I would have been able to enjoy this show had I kept watching it. It's not bad and some people may enjoy it, but I'm not one of them.