Scan barcode
snuggleslut's review
The main character is annoying and misogynistic and is clearly written by a cis man. Only three chapters in and it has used so many misogynistic, fatphobic, ableist, and elitist language. It's pathetic and though i loved the cover page and love indomee, it wasn't worth putting myself through this book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia, Ableism, and Misogyny
bookswithgreentea's review
3.0
2.5 - I read the English version.
If anyone has a reading prompt for "unlikeable character" or need something to post on the subreddit r/menwritingwomen, this is the book for you. I wanted to love this book because the cover is cute, and the premise is interesting but the storytelling was too choppy and too repetitive.
If anyone has a reading prompt for "unlikeable character" or need something to post on the subreddit r/menwritingwomen, this is the book for you. I wanted to love this book because the cover is cute, and the premise is interesting but the storytelling was too choppy and too repetitive.
metafiktion's review
2.0
It was solely my love for Indomi/ee that kept drawing me to this title every time I encountered it on a shelf, eventually overcoming even my general indifference towards romance novels. So you can imagine my disappointment upon discovering that Indomie is not, in fact, a central focus of this book. Really, why even put it in the title if you’re gonna cop out with “instant noodles” in the text? Man. (I read the English version, so maybe some kicap got lost in translation, idk.)
“Love”, too, barely makes a convincing appearance, though we are definitely on solid ground with “lies”. The book is clearly written to be fun and humorous, but I really couldn’t get into it; mostly I just felt strong second-hand embarrassment or anger at the cringey situations everyone got themselves into all around. I kept hoping for something — anything — to like in the shallow, entitled, fatphobic protagonist, but... nope. I will say that the book is somewhat redeemed by plot twist/s that are marginally better than that implied in the blurb, but other than that, you’d be better served getting your Indomie fix elsewhere.
“Love”, too, barely makes a convincing appearance, though we are definitely on solid ground with “lies”. The book is clearly written to be fun and humorous, but I really couldn’t get into it; mostly I just felt strong second-hand embarrassment or anger at the cringey situations everyone got themselves into all around. I kept hoping for something — anything — to like in the shallow, entitled, fatphobic protagonist, but... nope. I will say that the book is somewhat redeemed by plot twist/s that are marginally better than that implied in the blurb, but other than that, you’d be better served getting your Indomie fix elsewhere.
phobosm's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This is the very first book I'm reading on my brand new ereader and yet this book made me want to fling my brand new shiny ereader across the room. Hard. I am actually shocked that this book managed to get through publication, and then translation, and then re-publication in another language.
Let me begin by saying that Ratu is the single most self-centred, superficial, spiteful and toxic character I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. Now, it is fine to have an antagonistic main character as long as that character manages to redeem themselves by the end of the story . Putting the character through retribution and punishment for all the shitty things they have done is not redemption. It doesn't even give readers satisfaction to see her being punished for her actions since all that resulted from said punishments was Ratu moping about, feeling sorry for herself, and generally making herself look like, for lack of a better term, a big pathetic loser. That is to say, she learnt absolutely nothing from her retribution. I initially thought that Ratu was intentionally written to be painfully unlikeable for the purpose of illustrating a point or a message of some sort. How wrong I was. There was zero character development. Zero. I don't understand how we are supposed to root for the main character when she is pointlessly rude/mean/bitchy/vile/etc with absolutely no redeeming quality about her.
The pacing was atrocious. Ratu and Hans' enemies-to-lovers relationship literally developed over a single page, and consequently their attraction to each other and the formation of their relationship made no sense. At one point Ratu wondered why Hans even chose to continue socializing with her. I do too. The author clearly did not care about their relationship enough to bother expounding on it so I don't see how readers could care either. The prevailing dynamic we ever see between the two of them throughout the whole book is Ratu obsessively trying to "get revenge" over Hans by doing anything in her power to make him feel like crap.
I'm truly baffled as to how we're supposed to believe that they actually fell for each other and ended up together. Let's not forget how Ratu jealously and possessively stalked Hans' female friends while being completely condescending towards them even before she had gotten together with Hans. Oh, and I wanted to laugh when I read this part:
"Hurting Hans makes me so happy. I don't think I ever really hurt him before. I loved him too much. Because he was so handsome, I couldn't do anything cruel to him."
Okay but what about the time literally after your very first date with him when you taunted him to the point that he quit his job?
On the same vein, the sheer amount of contradictions and inconsistencies in this book is astounding. I would have simply chalked it up to the author intentionally making Ratu an unreliable narrator who is a hypocrite if not for the fact that multiple parts of the story beyond just Ratu's internal monologue also had inconsistencies.
And... don't get me started on how toxic the people around Ratu are. Her parents are completely selfish and apathetic to their own daughter (her mother started off as having some semblance of compassion, but eventually seemed to become a cold-hearted emotionless robot as the story progressed). Her "closest friend" perpetuates her body-image issues by constantly calling her "fatso".
There are soooooo many issues with this book but I'm really tired after slogging through this book so I'll list out some of the important ones that I bothered to note down as I was reading:
- stereotypes about "gay best friends" who "talk about makeup with you"? Check.
- stereotypes about comparing Koreans with Korean pop idols? Check.
- stereotypes about radical feminism being linked with lesbianism? Check.
- slut-shaming? Check.
- purity culture and making a big deal out of virginity? Check.
- fatphobia? Check.
- rationalizing cheating? Check. (Seriously, Ratu's utter lack of guilt and lackadaisical attitude towards her unfaithfulness is alarming)
Going back to the issue of pacing, the book felt like the author had created a story that had become so convoluted and choked up with drama that he didn't know how (or had no more time?) to finish the story. The result was a story that ended unnaturally abruptly. Needless to say, it was a very unsatisfactory ending that left me with more question marks than answers.
The biggest irony I found in the book had to be when Ratu proclaimed in the ending that "God is just" because of the "miracles" that swept her out of her misery. Honey, if that's justice then God probably doesn't exist.
Let me begin by saying that Ratu is the single most self-centred, superficial, spiteful and toxic character I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. Now, it is fine to have an antagonistic main character as long as that character manages to redeem themselves by the end of the story . Putting the character through retribution and punishment for all the shitty things they have done is not redemption. It doesn't even give readers satisfaction to see her being punished for her actions since all that resulted from said punishments was Ratu moping about, feeling sorry for herself, and generally making herself look like, for lack of a better term, a big pathetic loser. That is to say, she learnt absolutely nothing from her retribution. I initially thought that Ratu was intentionally written to be painfully unlikeable for the purpose of illustrating a point or a message of some sort. How wrong I was. There was zero character development. Zero. I don't understand how we are supposed to root for the main character when she is pointlessly rude/mean/bitchy/vile/etc with absolutely no redeeming quality about her.
The pacing was atrocious. Ratu and Hans' enemies-to-lovers relationship literally developed over a single page, and consequently their attraction to each other and the formation of their relationship made no sense. At one point Ratu wondered why Hans even chose to continue socializing with her. I do too. The author clearly did not care about their relationship enough to bother expounding on it so I don't see how readers could care either. The prevailing dynamic we ever see between the two of them throughout the whole book is Ratu obsessively trying to "get revenge" over Hans by doing anything in her power to make him feel like crap.
I'm truly baffled as to how we're supposed to believe that they actually fell for each other and ended up together. Let's not forget how Ratu jealously and possessively stalked Hans' female friends while being completely condescending towards them even before she had gotten together with Hans. Oh, and I wanted to laugh when I read this part:
"Hurting Hans makes me so happy. I don't think I ever really hurt him before. I loved him too much. Because he was so handsome, I couldn't do anything cruel to him."
Okay but what about the time literally after your very first date with him when you taunted him to the point that he quit his job?
On the same vein, the sheer amount of contradictions and inconsistencies in this book is astounding. I would have simply chalked it up to the author intentionally making Ratu an unreliable narrator who is a hypocrite if not for the fact that multiple parts of the story beyond just Ratu's internal monologue also had inconsistencies.
And... don't get me started on how toxic the people around Ratu are. Her parents are completely selfish and apathetic to their own daughter (her mother started off as having some semblance of compassion, but eventually seemed to become a cold-hearted emotionless robot as the story progressed). Her "closest friend" perpetuates her body-image issues by constantly calling her "fatso".
There are soooooo many issues with this book but I'm really tired after slogging through this book so I'll list out some of the important ones that I bothered to note down as I was reading:
- stereotypes about "gay best friends" who "talk about makeup with you"? Check.
- stereotypes about comparing Koreans with Korean pop idols? Check.
- stereotypes about radical feminism being linked with lesbianism? Check.
- slut-shaming? Check.
- purity culture and making a big deal out of virginity? Check.
- fatphobia? Check.
- rationalizing cheating? Check. (Seriously, Ratu's utter lack of guilt and lackadaisical attitude towards her unfaithfulness is alarming)
Going back to the issue of pacing, the book felt like the author had created a story that had become so convoluted and choked up with drama that he didn't know how (or had no more time?) to finish the story. The result was a story that ended unnaturally abruptly. Needless to say, it was a very unsatisfactory ending that left me with more question marks than answers.
The biggest irony I found in the book had to be when Ratu proclaimed in the ending that "God is just" because of the "miracles" that swept her out of her misery. Honey, if that's justice then God probably doesn't exist.
More...