Goong 5

Wow.  Things happen very, very fast in this volume.  Yul’s Mother pretty much starts in right away knocking Chae-Kyung down a couple more pegs, and there are plenty of plans in place to get Shin in trouble in England.  Seeing him squirm is quite fascinating, mostly because his thoughts are generally kept secret.  He gets the gist of what’s going on pretty quickly, but there’s no real way for him to stop what’s happening, and you’re left wondering at just how angry/frustrated he really is over the whole situation.  It’s a good effect.

Chae-Kyung really isn’t taking the bullying very well.  She keeps getting sicker and sicker, and with Shin away and not answering her calls or e-mail, well… that leaves Yul.  I’ve actually come to dislike Yul, because while he is the only person who treats Chae-Kyung like a human being, he seems to have no problems scheming and doing things behind people’s backs.  But his feelings for Chae-Kyung are at least genuine, which makes me enjoy the scenes between them a little more.  At least, when Shin’s not around, because I still don’t think it’s out of the question that he’s sometimes nice to Chae-Kyung to get a rise out of Shin.

There are a couple really amazing scenes that just sort of happen.  It’s neat that the storyline sometimes breaks to do this, because its an interesting way to inform the reader without having to explicitly tell about certain situations.  The first one was when Chae-Kyung, in full ceremonial dress, helped a small boy grab a snagged balloon out of a tree and put a finger to her lips to let him know not to tell.  Other than her wistfulness about the boy being outside the palace wall, it wasn’t particularly deep or meaningful (or, at least, I don’t think it was), but it was a nice scene all the same.  The other scene happens when Chae-Kyung’s parents see her on TV and comment on how she looks ill, but has been gaining more and more confidence in her public appearances and seems to be getting further and further away from her family.  There’s a couple of sad nuances buried in this scene, but again, I liked the additional and random perspective from Chae-Kyung’s parents that we wouldn’t have otherwise seen, since the main story would never really had occasion to visit their home.

The relationship between Chae-Kyumg and Shin continues to be the biggest draw for me, though.  On one hand, it’s almost infuriating to see the two of them together, because at this point it’s clear that Shin also has feelings for Chae-Kyung, and yet the two of them can’t help but say stupid things that hurt the other’s feelings.  Chae-Kyung seems the most guilty of this, but after the way Shin treated her all this time, I can’t blame her for her caution.  The interaction between the two is almost painful to read though, because there’s something extremely awkward and hostile in the air whenever the two of them are together, regardless of intentions.  Of course, the two also have to deal with people constantly interrupting them and otherwise making their lives miserable, so it’s not all on them that they can’t get along.

Uhhh… did SoHee Park just pair Prince William and Eunuch Kong?  Is that okay, to slash the Prince of England like that?  It’s both terrifying and very amusing.

The volume also leaves off with one of the worst cliffhangers I’ve ever seen.  I’m willing to expect anything from this series since horrible things seem to happen to the characters on a regular basis… but something tells me volume 6 won’t really go there.  I’m sure there will still be top notch drama, though, and I really have to say that there’s no painfully awkward couple quite like Chae-Kyung and Shin, the Prince and Princess of Korea.  I’m very, very, VERY much looking forward to how things will play out next time.

This was a review copy provided by Yen Press.