Yaongyi

The battle between self-confidence and fitting others' expectations hits with edges of reality, making it understandable why this series is doing so well.

Jugyeong could get lost in horror movies and mangas and just disappear, but life isn't that simple. As the ugly duckling of her family and a teen, she's bogged down more and more with concerns over her looks and takes every cruel comment about them to heart. Deciding to take fate into her own hands, she dives into the world of makeup, and after many tutorials, becomes a master. Add a switch of schools to her carefully crafted appearance, and she's soon at the top of the popular ranks even online. But it's more than just about looks. Her hobbies are anything but acceptable in the popular circles. So, she ends up living a double-life and hopes no one discovers her secret...until someone swipes a manga out of her hands.

This read hits home more than I expected it would and delivers several messages the age group (and even slightly younger ones) need to have reconfirmed again and again. Jugyeong is hit with the realization that only the attractive people seem to receive the better end of the social life. She's bullied at school and in other places, and assumes that all of this has to do with her outer appearance...which it does to an extent but there's more. Her mission to find acceptance takes an almost fantasical touch as she transforms into a 'goddess', allowing the two sides to come across like night and day. But it's here that the book starts swooping in with deeper messages. It's not just her looks that change, but how she interacts with those around her as she stifles her true personality...not to mention the troubles a double-life causes.

The graphics bring each moment across well and let the reader really sink in. There's a nice play between dark and light to underscore the moods and undertones. Some of the facial expressions caught me a little off-guard, but they allow the truth behind the facade to glimpse through.

As an extra note in this first volume, the author also touches upon the problem of self-imaging on the internet and begins to open up the question of how much and to what degree a person should display themselves just for likes and attention...which I was glad to see.

There is a beginning hint of romance in these pages, but it's just a whisper as the friendship doesn't even fully exist, yet. And there is a nod toward a possible triangle, but even here, it's only a faint possibility and may fade in volume II...who knows. I'm already looking forward to picking up the next volume and discovering how she deals with things from here. I received a complimentary copy and found the message very important and well done.… (más)

In middle school, Jugyeong Lim didn't wear any makeup and only cared about listening to whatever music she liked and watching her favorite cartoons and movies. She and a good-looking guy bonded over music, and she found herself wondering if maybe he was interested in her. Then she learned that he'd started dating one of the pretty girls who bullied her. Depressed, she decided that the problem was that she wasn't good-looking enough, so she dedicated herself to learning how to use makeup. It wasn't easy, but with lots of practice and advice from online strangers, she learned how to transform herself into a flawless beauty, just in time for high school.

Because she begins attending a school that's farther away, she doesn't run into any old classmates and is able to completely reinvent herself as one of the popular and pretty girls. Of course, it's all a lie, but Jugyeong doesn't see a problem with that...until she meets Suho Lee. He's hot, but also a complete jerk. And, horror of horrors, he has discovered her secret. Can she keep him from revealing the truth about her appearance and ruining her high school life?

Yeesh, the bulk of this was excruciating. Just about everyone was incredibly shallow, and I'd hope that it was all a setup for Jugyeong to eventually discover that turning herself into a completely different person wasn't worth it, except that the volume started with a glimpse of her at age 21, still basking in the attention her perfect looks and social media presence gave her while relaxing and being herself only while at home.

The sad thing is, I can't say that Jugyeong was overreacting when she worried that all her friends and admirers would ditch her if they knew what she really looked like. Literally everything about her was a lie - she even lied about her personal tastes to fit in with whatever her supposed friends approved of. Even if they were fine with her real appearance, the person they'd become friends with didn't really exist. But if they ditched her after her secret got out, Jugyeong would almost certainly think it was solely due to her ugly appearance rather than the giant web of lies that was her public life.

Anyway, Suho is good-looking, seems to be rich, and enjoys the same books and movies Jugyeong does. He's also rude and insulting, but he's equally so whether she is or isn't wearing makeup, and he occasionally does nice things out of the blue. He's clearly who Jugyeong is going to end up with, but first we must have a rocky road featuring a scheming ex (possibly - at the very least Sujin Kang doesn't seem happy that Suho is paying attention to someone who isn't her) and a gross player who is naive Jugyeong's first date (a setup arranged by Sujin, of course).

There was nothing about Jugyeong's natural appearance that she liked - her makeup wasn't about enhancing her best features, but rather completely changing herself. Her makeup routine and eyelid glue/tape routine were depicted in detail multiple times. The eyelid glue/tape application scenes (for creating a double eyelid), in particular, felt like a how-to for readers. It left me feeling uncomfortable, and I'm really not sure what this series is aiming for. Oddly, Jugyeong was able to see a chef with large burn scars as pretty, just not herself.

Subtle this series is not, and the way most of the cast is focused on physical appearance to the exclusion of everything else made me grit my teeth. So why am I still considering continuing on with this? There are some decently funny moments and great facial expressions (Yaongyi's use of "ugly facial expressions" to humorous effect reminds me of Gintama or GTO). Also, the drama has the potential to be addictive, if cliche.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (más)