Romance Is a Bonus Book (2019)

EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN STORY

when I normally watch shows, I normally binge-watch them but something about this show made me take it easy also maybe the fact that I had work and school at the same time. Here is my take on the show:
- everyone is like a book you might think you have read it but when you go over it again you realize that you might have missed some lines.
- do not be scared to explore new books, take your time till you find the one that is meant for you.
- everyone has their own story and everyone is a different story. enjoy each one you get a chance to read.
- not all books are meant for everyone so do not be angry that no one whats your book as your book is not meant for them.
- the cover of every book is just as important as the content so always take care of your books.
- no book is worthless as they all have value as we need to learn how to value every book even though they are not ours.
- we might not know where we want our stories to end or sometimes the journey might not turn out the way we wanted. Do not be taken aback by this but continue to write your story for you would make it out of your tunnel and find your ending.
I hope you all enjoyed this show the same way I did
"THE MOON IS BEAUTIFUL" till next time.

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I really liked this series, as for me it was a big step out of what I usually go for- not a melodrama nor lots of twists and turns. In all, it had really great pacing and honestly three reasons made me go for this: Lee Jong Suk, the background of books and how it ties into everything, and the single camera work. I was very interested to see how a series using single camera filming would look and I think the director made really good use of everything they had.

THE STORY
I really enjoyed how it was a simple office comedy, with some established mysteries and nuanced characters. Most of the characters went through a lot of growth, and it was nice seeing leads and their seconds leads that weren't "too" perfect or messed up. I enjoyed the relationship dynamics between the two leads, and the change in how they realized the extent of their feelings. They had such a healthy relationship and were there for each other in thick and thin. I also appreciated that there wasn't a breakup from misunderstandings that led them apart- they knew each other for a long time and their relationship transition reflected that. They respected each other to not try and solve each others' problems, but rather lend small helping hands and a shoulder to lean on. They kept their intimacy while keeping their individuality. I found it pleasantly surprising that they managed to keep their relationship and living situation a secret from almost all of the office until the last episode- though I wish the reveal was a little better hehe. I don't have much to say about the story from how I really appreciated the pacing and the storytelling seeming so simple yet so important. The transition in relationship between Seo Joon and Hae Rin was believable and pretty and I enjoyed how their chemistry was shown together and the difference between how they treated each other to realizing they valued each other as more than friends- it was very natural. A few things that could have been done better though was Dan Yi's daughter- she kind of disappeared from the plot and I wished she would have been more integrated. Secondly, the story between Byung Jun and Eun Ho was good for the plot, but I wished that they showed a bit of their memories together earlier, because I couldn't feel much for the dying writer when he was lying there.

Just a personal note: Eun Ho's love for Dan Yi was so pure and you could tell these two were soulmates from their interactions of them being each others' home. I also found it so cute and smooth that he would always be confessing his love for her even when she didn't realize it. I loved the conversations that they had that urged them to think- especially when Dan Yi is sorting out her feelings and Eun Ho basically told her she was professing her love there and then.

THE CAST
I think the cast was well-casted and they really reflected their characters very well. I don't have much to say because I thoroughly enjoyed their portrayals. As usual, I'm a LJS fan and I felt that his EunHo was so alive and real, and him and Na Young had great chemistry! I appreciated how Ha Joon was able to portray Seo Joon as well- how he can show his attraction for Dan Yi but also show that there wasn't much chemistry between them compared to how he seemed friendly towards Hae Rin but had such great chemistry!This is the first main role I've seen Ha Joon do and I'm really glad he got this role because his Seo Joon was perfect and loveable.

MUSIC
I don't have much to say about the music- because it was really relaxing and brings a smile to my face. It's the type of music that I first hear and I'm like "it's good" (with a shrug) but as I hear it more I like it more and more. I think what made me give a higher rating for music was how well it was integrated and helped reflect the mood perfectly. The music in general was well-made and to my personal taste- I really enjoyed the piano background songs. My favourite OSTs would definitely be Take My Hand by Jannabi and SOMEDAY by The Black Shirts.

REWATCH VALUE
A nine for me! Not much else to say, I loved this story and the themes and motifs a lot :) Good for easygoing days and when I don't want to think too much about an overcomplicated plot.

CONCEPTS
The mini monologues at the end of Eun Ho and Dan Yi's thoughts at the end of episodes really helped the nostalgic and thoughtful feelings of the plot and the motif of books was well integrated to the point of it enhancing the plot a lot and not being overused. I really enjoyed the aspect of how books were integrated, especially the "moon is beautiful" words and the scene in the theatre when they were practically writing a letter to each other. I think the story in general had a lot of meaningful messages that will stay with me for a while.

CONCLUSION
I'm starting to enjoy these more "indie" projects that I'm finding that seem to be the trend nowadays with popular actors. I'm really glad I started this series and it left me with a lot of satisfaction. It's not perfect, but it had a wonderful message and the storytelling paced very well and thoughtfully that all the messages came out. I appreciated the fact that nothing seemed overly rushed or glossed over and the videographer also did a very good job in the scenes that they captured.

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Awesome

Awesome
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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At first glance and from only the first episode you'd think this will be that usual not so special drama that's all about the romance ( the corny title doesn't help) but the deeper you get into it the more this drama surprises you and excedes your expectations greatly. It has a bit of everything that makes a kdrama perfect to me: it is touching, full of love, deap meanings, lovable and indearing characters, life lessons, warm relationships, and it had some surprising touch of mystery and suspense that no one ,or at least i, had seen coming.

This drama takes us on a trip to the books' world and the publishing industry and all the hardwork and dedication that gets put in it as long as all the love and effort that gets poured into creating every single book and its publication. This beautiful show taught me a lot of valuable things i didn't know i wanted and needed to know.

From now on i will treasure books even more after this original, insightful dive into the inspiring literature world.

All in all i absolutely recommend you to watch it and not let the first few episodes or the title fool you into thinking it's just a simple cheesy romance like many others, after all we shouldn't judge a book by its cover ;)

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Great Story

Well this is like my 5th time watching this series. The main actors have great chemistry and the secondary plots are very well interwoven together. After my 5th time it's still one of my most favorite series to watch. Nothing's perfect but this is one of the closet stories I've watched that came very close. The struggle of getting a job and feeling useful is real. I guess any cultural has some of the same pitfalls. But it seemed like they did bring up some real issues but essentially swept right pass them and made them seem acceptable. That is probably the largest single flaw to this series. Another company sharing something they should not have is wrong in any culture especially after that character already had issues with putting time in for a job. Another problem is making someone the scapegoat and lying but then basically getting away with it and the people in charge allowing. That should have just as severe consequences as well. Other than this one particular story thread the rest of the story is very well done and is hugely enjoyable. Even though the ending ends up great it seems somewhat tainted because of this minor but big social problem that they put into the story but sort of glossed over it in the end. Then again I get the feeling that it happens every where in the world and not just in Korea.

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I loved the story line but there were 1 or 2 things I'd change about the story line. I admit i cried a good few times. I didn't like Seo Jun, he seemed a bit of an asshole the more you watch. I was a bit upset for Hae Rin since she had no idea about their relationship. The ending was beautiful and heart warming. I overall loved the show but i could fine some things that could have made it better. i don't have anything else to say about it so...
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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Completely took me by surprise...so good!!

Wow I really wasn't expecting a show titled "Romance is a Bonus Book" to be so good. I'll start off by admitting my bias with noona storylines since I just appreciate how many opportunities for trope subversion it provides. The noona angle, along with the fact that our protag is an older divorcé needing to get back into the workforce just felt so real.

This show is much more character driven than plot driven. It's great to see how the characters develop (mainly Dan Yi) throughout the series. It also has such a colorful cast that it never feels boring, despite not a lot necessarily happening plot wise. I will admit that Eun Ho doesn't feel like a character that ever changes, but to me I'm very okay with that. Despite the description of the show, it is about Dan Yi ONLY in my eyes. It's about her journey figuring herself out despite everything set up against her (namely, being a divorced mother with over a decade gap in her career). It's an issue that is decidedly female in the sense of societal pressure for women to quit their jobs to be the homemaker. It's just a refreshing show in so many ways, with the protag, the writing (Dan Yi actually talks casually about her sex life which is just amazing), and the conflicts (never feeling like a melodrama, just real sh*t that happens). ** MINOR SPOILER One extremely minor issue I have is how sidelined her daughter is... like they could have at least had one ep where she makes an appearance and bonds with Eun Ho, but it's a very small qualm.**

Guys, just trust me and push your way past the first episode which has a different tone than the rest of the show. If you like shows that focus on well developed female characters you'll like this one. Just overall a very warm, unassuming, quiet, and REAL show (while also being very cute lol).

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a drama unlike any i've seen

i'm gonna start by saying i never write reviews for anything because it's not my thing, so you can tell this drama moved me to the point of feeling the need to write about it.
first of all, speaking story-wise: i saw a few people complaining that they felt dani's past life as a divorcee and her life as a mother weren't explored enough, and i partially agree, but i chose to see it not as it being something that was excluded from the narrative but instead a choice made to show her story moving forward, and not dwelling too much on the past events. of course that's still part of her, and it shows that her daughter is the most important thing to her, but this story is about her building a new life and i feel like it's meant to inspire women to find their truth and their own charms and talents apart from the things that people use to define them.
so this is not a story about dani the mother, or dani the ex-wife, it's about current dani who decided to live her own life, return to work and meet that inspiration again that fuels her inside. this is made clear on a scene where she tells eunho that she was happy people were calling her by her own name again, because she was being acknowledged as a person. that's what i thought was most beautiful about this drama, and i was SO PLEASED to see that they carried her development until the end without letting the romance part of it outshadow her plot. i've seen countless dramas that do this, and it's the thing that turns me off everytime.
and i liked how they built up eunho's story with writer kang byeongjun too, i feel like this drama successfully balanced a lot of topics without mushing it all together and hoping for the best, it shows that dani has her own life and eunho has his too, and they don't have to make the other one's problems their own, as long as they stay by the other's side to support them through it.
overall, this was such a wholesome and envolving story, it showed a healthy relationship growing without any annoying breakups or angsty fights for the sake of having more story to tell. they had plenty of situations going on that made each episode entertaining and fun, so much that i glued my eyes on the screen and forgot about everything else (and i have ADHD so this says a lot), but without that cheesy overdone format that every romance drama follows (build up of the relationship, they get together for 2 eps, suddenly something happens and they break up until the last two episodes where they somehow solve it and live happily ever after). that's what i enjoyed the most

now i wanna talk about the ML a little. i always knew LJS but hadn't yet watched a drama with him, and i gotta say i was immediately infatuated with him, there's a charm and a grace about this guy that makes him so adorable and dreamy. talking cha eunho wise, AHHH he has become one of my favorite characters. he might be the stereotypical perfect-guy made for viewers to swoon over, but they really hit the jackpot with this one because he's mature, honest, kind, caring, understanding, i just wish he was real ngl. a man like this is very unreal and fictional but i enjoy it because i don't watch dramas to have a glimpse of reality, i watch them to feel warm and fuzzy inside.
when he told dani about his feelings and that it took him long to tell her because she would worry that he might suffer for her, his words really made my heart jump. he delicately told her that loving her never once made him suffer, and she never made him feel pain or frustration. this shows how pure eunho's love for dani is, he saw her so highly that even if they never got involved romantically nothing would change.
he's hardworking, kind to all coworkers despite his high status in the company, even the way he "rejected" haerin was nice and polite, done in a way as to not make her feel embarrassed. he was always honest to his feelings too, that he couldn't get into a serious relationship because he was already in love with someone else.
despite the age difference between him and dani, he was never portrayed as a little boy running after a much wiser and determinated woman, but a well-established and mature guy who deserved to be by her side. this was also partially the portrayal by the two actors, whose chemistry was so genius that the viewer could feel their relationship switching naturally from a noona-dongsaeng dynamic to a man and a woman one. i confess i was scared at first that i would always have that feeling like "ok they love each other but it doesn't feel like THAT, they feel like siblings" but like i said, the actors did a fantastic job together. i think eunho's words perfectly describe it, we don't know the exact point in which the seasons change, but we feel the difference in the air little by little.

about the secondary leads, i love how they both had feelings for the main leads but none of them acted immaturely about it. i feel like in any other kdrama, haerin would be portrayed as the jealous hag who upon discovering the man of her dreams is in love with her coworker/friend, would try to destroy their relationship no matter what. there's even a scene where she tells herself that she likes both of them too much to do anything petty so she accepts the reality and moves on while showing genuine happiness for the two of them.
and on the other side, if this was any other drama, seojun and eunho would continue having a little feud but no, when he was "rejected" by dani he also accepted it like a grown person and didn't bother her again, even after finding out the two were indeed dating. his story was very beautiful, how he kept looking for answers because all he wanted was to be recognized by the father he admired so much. a scene that particularly moved me was when he and eunho went to see writer kang byeongjun. there was such a tenderness and care between the two male characters that's rare to see, how eunho held his hand to comfort him was a genuine display of affection by two men in a drama without it being a gag. what a beautiful scene. also related to seojun, the part where he finds out dani is a mother and a divorcee did a great job at showing that there is still a taboo but also not making a big deal out of it.

the other characters were great too, my only complaint would be the portrayal of director go as a bitter and petty woman who was mad at the world because she never got married or had kids. plus there was very little development on her part until the very last episode where she showed a drastic change and got together with president kim. i wish they had given her character more attention instead of antagonizing her and then giving her a rushed happy ending.

other things i saw people complaining about regarding this drama, plot-wise:
"why did eunho not contact dani after the divorce and didn't help her out with anything?" i think the show made clear that up until then, they weren't contacting each other as much (which is the most realistic thing about the two of them because as an adult i never know what's happening in my friends' lives either) so therefore weren't so present in each other's lives, and also that dani was always the kind of person to keep things a secret from him because she knew he'd worry and go out of his way to help her. i mean she was cleaning his house in secret and living there while making him think she had a house and a stable financial situation after all.
"why did eunho not do anything when director go stole dani's promotional catchphrase?" despite him being a founding member, she was chosen as director of gyeoroo which means she is his superior in a way, and questioning it would make it too obvious that he was close to dani, which at the time would be an uncomfortable situation at their workplace. he questioned her about the marketing credits in the book though, and she gave a response that made sense, so eunho told her she was right but that she didn't have to be rude about it and could've just explained it to dani and the team which i agree. plus i also believe that he takes his workplace very seriously and didn't want his feelings for dani along with his high position to become some kind of advantage to her, because he knows that's not what she wants and that as an adult she's capable of handling her own issues which again, i appreciate so much. despite all his qualities, eunho wasn't portrayed as the prince charming and dani wasn't the damsel in distress, because frankly i've had enough of this kind of dynamic in romance dramas.

the photography is beautiful and the sets used all felt so warm and comfortable that i'm already missing it. this drama really feels like a warm hug and the winter setting makes it even more romantic and lovely. the OST was also great, with songs that had a dash of sweetness and innocence which matched well with the scenarios.

to conclude this very long review which idk if anyone will even read, this has become one of my favorite kdramas for sure and i can imagine myself coming back to it when i need some wholesomeness or when i wanna see lee jongsuk's pretty face again ? i started this without expecting anything but it pleasantly surprised me and i think that, just like they said in the show about the books, not everyone will resonate with it and it depends on where you're at mentally when you watch it, but for me it fit perfectly. it's definitely not gonna be for you if you enjoy intense, heart wrenching, angsty romance stories but if you came in looking for a drama that displays a healthy relationship that's easygoing and discomplicated this is the drama for you.
*sighs* now i have to find another drama that suits my taste as much as this one, something tells me it is NOT gonna be easy but ??

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Another drama that I watched in less than 24h

This drama has honestly all that I needed.

A "normal" storyline, just a cute love story between two friends, which was really well built throughout the drama. A side-story with a little bit of cliffhangers, and answers I was waiting for.

A lot of side characters with interesting development, and relationships, which brought so much to the story.

Some heartbreaking or heartwarming moments.

A hot ML (not gonna lie, I watched this drama for him, and I'm not desapointed), as well as a hot SML, with great acting skills.

Great OSTs, which made me happy or sad, and were all beautiful.

Basically a great drama that I'll recommend to anyone.

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