Circle of Love (2023)

Thin line between love and hate.

In an uncannily similar vein with Maid's Revenge, this mini drama is just a chock full of the worst red flags. So if you are going to be triggered by a toxic alpha male and an intense but abusive love-hate relationship best steer clear of this drama. If however you can suspend moral outrage and present social norms for ~240 minutes then you are in for one helluva hot and wild ride.

Plot-wise, Circle of Love must be part of Youku's addictive toxic trilogy which rehashes the dark Republican era Romeo and Juliet revenge trope we saw in both Maid's Revenge and Bride's Revenge. Determined to avenge her family, Gu Meng ambushes her former fiancé, the formidable warlord Xiao Hongye. Her pathetic attack is foiled and she finds herself captured and conscripted as a maid in his household. She conveniently experiences memory loss, allowing herself to fall in love with her nemesis over and over again as he domineeringly uses and abuses her in the most thrilling... ahem..., I mean unacceptable, completely unacceptable ways. What I like about this version is that Gu Meng is smart and she has a plan. She can go toe to toe with Hongye and it is literally tit for tat in terms of these star-crossed lovers' ability to do terrible things to each other. The actors light up the screen with their intense, sensuous chemistry and do an amazing job showing us their gut wrenching internal struggle as they explore the thin line beween love and hate.

I could tell you that I watched this for the tight plot, which is actually well designed and has a nice twist. But that would be a lie. This is all about Li Jiulin's dark, complex and masculine good looks, his amorous smouldering gaze and his taut tanned chest. His steamy portrayal of the controlling, possessive, passionate, cruel and yet oddly vulnerable Hongye had me giggling and cringing at the same time. And the way he manhandles the inflamed and writhing Gu Meng who obviously loves to hate him had me chanting unconvincingly to myself "This is so not ok!!!". If there is any takeaway from this short, dark and titilating tale of love and hate it is that if your enemy is a smoking hot man beast, satiate yourself thoroughly before giving him a few bullets to remember you by. I found the ending a bit mean spirited but ultimately satisfying and appropriate.

This is a classic dark and thrilling bodice ripper romance that comes with all kinds of health warnings over outdated gender norms and inappropriate behavior. This is not the kind of thing to try at home but it can still be enjoyed vicariously with the air con switched on high and a nice glass of wine. Don't judge me for enjoying this enough to rate this 8.0/10.0; the best of the three in my opinion.

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I want the main leads together in another show!!!

This is was great show. I wish it would've been longer than 12-13 minutes. The ML is an asshole but it's been so long since i have seen such characters in dramas.. it's my guilty pleasure?

The Acting was GREAT. The cast is top notch. The chemistry between the main leads is the main thing that keeps you watching this drama till the end.

i LOVE the OST.

The ending scene of two years later didn't even make sense so i will pretend it did not happen. But i wish FL would've known the truth about the actual culprit of her family's death and the true villian is zhou zichen. BUT THEN AGAIN, she would've been guilty of killing the ML and kill herself out of guilt rather than loving ML too much to stay alive. So i guess it made sense for her to die first.

And this way... FL actually is the one that kills ML... and i so wanted this to happen. ML deserved to die from FL's hands!!!!

I hope we get to see both main leads together in another show, probably a modern day office romance drama! Their chemistry is reallyyyyy good and they'll look even better together in Modern day dramas!!!

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