Goong 3

So Prince Shin is a real jerk. It seemed like he was getting nicer, and he was even beginning to confide in Chae-Kyung a little bit. But he goes back to mistreating her in pretty short order. His behavior at Prince Yul’s party was nothing short of appalling.

To be honest though, Prince Yul’s behavior leaves something to be desired in this volume, too. I still have no idea what the ulterior motives were for inviting Shin’s old girlfriend to his party. There’s a scene where Shin spells out exactly why his old girlfriend attending the party was awkward. It seems to make everyone else mad, but I thought it was a pretty awesome thing for him to do. I mean, how often are these awkward shoujo situations actually addressed like that? Almost never. Nobody else at the party appreciated it (I thought he did it to diffuse the situation a little, which wasn’t the case), but I sure did.

Actually, I really, really like Shin’s method of dealing with things. It’s his reactions that make him a jerk. For instance, he’s pretty straightforward with everything about Chae-Kyung. Chae-Kyung isn’t nearly as direct with him because she’s shy and he’s pretty agressive and teases her mercilessly. One of the main points of contention is that Shin actually hears Chae-Kyung when she asks if he still likes his girlfriend. Shin is prepared to give her a straight answer after thinking about it for awhile, but Chae-Kyung doesn’t actually want to know. She reacts poorly when he tries to tell her, and… well, he acts even more poorly (and kind of scary) to her. I don’t think I’ll ever trust him, but I definitely like his straightforward nature.

The cliffhanger from last volume isn’t resolved as… jucily as I thought it would be, but it did help shed some additional light on Shin and his direct nature.

And… for additional intrigue, Yul makes no secret of the fact he is sort of attracted to Chae-Kyung, and Shin makes no secret that this infuriates him. Also, Yul’s mother is trying to score some points in the palace. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on (only because my only monarchy knowledge comes from England, and the Korean system is a bit different), but ultimately she wants Yul to rank above Shin as the Crown Prince. Hmm.

If you couldn’t tell, I am 100% hooked on this series. As I said before, it’s really amazing how it puts the typical shoujo royalty story in a modern perspective, and how well it shows Chae-Kyung’s suffering, even after she’s drawn into her storybook marriage. The drama is all good, and the characters, both good and bad, are really shaping up wonderfully. I can’t read these volumes fast enough.

This was a review copy provided by Yen Press.