Some books which made an impression on me and finally finishing Kdrama Lovely Runner.
Lovely Runner (2024) - can finally say I'm on the Ryu Sunjae/Byeon Wooseok train after watching this drama in full. Very different from the webtoon and webnovel but the story of time travel and saving Sunjae is still there in all versions. It warmed my heart seeing Eclipse perform EVE's I'll Be There and I saw Kim Seheon share this on an Instagram story last year. Lovely Runner was on my to watch list but I had other things to commit to. The music in the drama is absolutely perfect. Matching all the emotions between Sol and Sunjae and other characters to describe the angst, the happiness and cute moments for everyone. I pity Kim Taeseong who got the second male lead syndrome in the past and present but if I was Im Sol I would still cherish him as a good friend no matter what. I adore the chemistry between the two leads.
Age of Arrogance/City Of Arrogance - I need to read the web novel for this but I did enjoy the webtoon. As a reward for defeating an enemy, Asha Pervaz is allowed to choose a husband of the noble society. She instead picks the dethroned Duke Carlisle who surprisingly accepts this as a marriage of contract. This is indeed a slow burn romance and it takes many chapters for them to openly confess to one another without the awkwardness. Asha is a woman who is rather naive when it comes to romance (as you go further, you see why) but will not hesitate to fight and protect her people. I found Asha and Carlisle to be a power couple now in general and the artist did great with how they presented these characters on the pages. I also appreciated the sisterhood amongst the would-be rivals for Duke Carlisle's affection. Asha didn't encounter major bitchiness thank goodness.
The Wizard's Bakery (Gu Byeong Mo) - Told from a first person POV of a young boy who ran away from home because of toxic family members, this story is rather chilling and does not shy away from controversial issues like assault or mental health problems. The protagonist has a stutter but in his mind he speaks so well. I found this utterly relatable. The ingredients in each pastry were exotic and not the typical things you would find in bakeries. That would explain the magical effects. Would you eat a Time Rewinder? I might. But of course there are side effects for each product so you would need to consider the risks.
Every Moment Was You (Ha Taewoan) - a quick read which has lots of poems and short essays on the author's experiences with relationships and life in general. There are four parts to separate the honey moon season, the present and then an eventual breakup.
Noona Fan - Cho Ara is from a wealthy family but is humble and too nice for anyone's liking, which leads to being taken advantage of by her ex-fiance. To mend her broken heart, she starts to fangirl Shooting Stars and dives into cooking then eventually opens her own restaurant, leading her to hire a new manager who happens to be her bias' older brother.
I was surprised with how the story turned out but I was naturally drawn to the plot since it involved a fanwoman/Noona fan who was a huge fan of a boy group way younger than her and her original scheme to hire her bias's older brother as the new manager of her restaurant sounded too good to be true.
Of course there is growth in this story as you go along and it doesn't sound as predictable or stupidly cliche. Min Joon's hyung is a delightful character who ticks a lot of boxes, even if he doesn't come from a rich family. Hyun is self-made and smart. Dealing with the stigma of being an older fan is discussed and you can see the ageism from the younger fangirls when they see any women who are older being just as passionate as they are. The side stories after the epilogue focus on other characters in the group Shooting Stars as well as other side characters that are associated with Ara.
I like that this story was not as predictable and awkward. Dealing with your favourite member of a group rather professionally takes some skill and I think Ara was mature enough to keep her fangirling and work separate where possible. There are moments where you think OMG Ara and Hyun are just being difficult but it's only because we as the readers know what is going on with the sense that Hyun learns about Ara's Noona fan side and Ara knows Hyun is Jun's older brother.
Break Room (Lee, Miye) - I like the idea of a reality tv show involving office workers who were nominated by their colleagues as villains due to their bad habits. This novel had potential to be quite exciting. I just didn't expect it to be rather short. The epilogue was abrupt and we didn't get any gripping moments with the contestants. Everyone has a nickname in relation to their habits in the office, especially their break rooms.
Weak Hero - I avoided this originally because I wasn't sure if I'd be up for the violence and didn't want to be reminded of how much I hated school. But I thought I'd try a few chapters to see how I felt before watching the Kdrama version (haven't watched it yet). One or two chapters soon ended up being 20 chapters a night and I eventually finished reading the webtoon quite quickly. A personal record for me where I was not disturbed or distracted by anything. I'm glad I accepted the art style and the English translated names as the storyline kept me reading.
A coming of age story based on bullying at school and the victims getting their revenge. It's largely thanks to the main character Grey/Yeon Sieun who doesn't look like he can hurt a fly at first glance due to being quiet and constantly studying...but never judge a book by its cover. The moment he makes friends, the world opens up and he encounters more thugs and craziness in his life. Due to certain experiences, he hides his combat skills until the time is right.
To have a loyal group of friends who are your Ride or Die is worth it here. All the main characters and not just the antagonists have a history which shapes them to the person they are now.
EDIT: 27/11/25 spoilers warning I've finally watched both seasons of the drama adaptation and got emotional again as I had to relive some tragic moments that happened in both versions. There are eight episodes in both seasons so a lot of what you see in the webtoon isn't included and there are a few details which have changed in the drama. For example, Beomseok has been written as more sympathetic here compared to the webtoon and there is more of his backstory featured. I have been 'third wheeled' in old friendship circles back in the days of school so that inferiority complex is relatable, however despite having a lot of trauma on my end (and still have issues which I'm analysing myself) it never went as insane compared to Beomseok.
I was not keen on how season 1 had to add a female character like Yeong-i as a trigger to further issues for Beomseok and his friendship with Suho and Sieun. It's just a reminder of how bothersome it was to see fandoms where (mostly) fangirls would hate on the female for ruining their BL/slash etc fantasy. But even when it's the reverse i.e. fanboys hating on the male character for ruining their femslash and whatnot it also annoys me.
With Class 2, this was something I was looking forward to after seeing a clip of Lee Junyoung as Geum Seongje/Wolf Keum and that was what prompted me to start reading Weak Hero before diving into the drama. His portrayal was perfect and Seongje easily became a favourite character while reading the webtoon even if he is psychotic. I think the casting for most of the characters featured was excellent and it was also the first time I saw Park Jihoon acting. He wasn't showing his cute wink boy from Produce 101 season 2, he turned into Yeon Sieun, a quiet genius who kept to himself and far from a sociable butterfly.
The last battle had the same outcome with the main antagonist although it was presented differently. A lot of people didn't like how Donald/Baekjin was written off in the webtoon and the drama shows an ambiguous angle to how he met his end. If I had to pick I would say I preferred the webtoon ending and there was no actual victory between either side.