100% Perfect Girl: Vol. 2

by Wann

Synopsis
Who can resist a king's proposal? Not even headstrong Jay Jin, try as she might. So after High School, it's off to the Kingdom of Roinne with her fiance, Jarte. But will she survive life as Queen-in-waiting? Can she persue her art studies or make friends from behind a wall of bodyguards? How will she deal with Jarte's tragic past, and the jealousy of every girl in the kingdom? And how long will Jarte wait for her love to bloom before he takes what he wants by force? Beware, Jay Jin, is that sudden flash from the camera of some reporter, or the pistol of an assassin?

Review
Well, I think this story gets more and more foolish as time goes on. I can forgive a lot of strange things, like how obsessive Jarte is, or how rude he is under the guise of caring about her safety. These kinds of things are typical for romance stories. But what really gets me -- and I should know better -- is that there is always some sort of contrived interruption in the characters' relationship. I mean, things are going along well enough, and then at the end, something awful has to happen (we actually find out what in the next volume). In this case, it's kidnapping. Not that I don't doubt it could happen, but geez, how cliche. Gotta find some reason to stop the relationship, because otherwise, they'll get close enough to have sex, and then we'll lose all the sexual tension! Oh no!

As far as other parts of it go, it's ok. Jay tries to figure out her life as royalty, and finds out how suffocating that can be. At least Jarte's reluctance to fall in love is explained (his mother was kidnapped and killed), and it seems pretty reasonable. Jay is still boring and uninteresting, so I still don't know what he sees in her. The two are getting closer to each other, and it's fun to watch. What's not fun is how Jay keeps pushing Jarte away physically. They joke and laugh about it, and play it down, but it doesn't seem realistic to me at all. Don't women have a sexual drive, too? She always seems to be able to keep a cool head, and not let him get too close. That only seems like it would be that easy if you had no sexual desire at all. Well, whatever, keep up the stereotype that men are animals, and women are frigid.

I don't know why I read the next volume. I guess blind hope that it would get better. Well, you'll see my opinion of that later.

Final thought: I read more, but I'd stop here if I knew what was good for me.

100% Perfect Girl: Vol. 1

by Wann

Synopsis(from the back of the book)
Jay Jin is a headstrong teenage rebel, determined to prove she's serious about making art. J. Max is the tall debonair foreigner, in Korea on business, with more -- much more -- to his background than he lets on. On the surface, it would seem as though Jay and J. have nothing in common... until a chance encounter in a hotel lobby sparks a mysterious attraction.

Will true love prove strong enough to overcome the language barrier, not to mention the thousands of miles separating two attractive people? Then there are the interventions of friends and family who think they know best... as well as a disastrous encounter with a spicy chicken kebab!

Review
It's a typical Cinderella-type story. Uber-rich, handsome, and single Prince Jarte disparages the concept of falling in love at first sight. He's never been interested enough in any woman to have a long-term relationship. Until he meets Jay. She's apparently the 100% perfect girl for him.

Except she doesn't seem to believe it. Oh, she likes him well enough, and they seem to have fun together, but she's all-too willing to let him go back to his country without her. It's not that she doesn't want to be with him, but she doesn't think she can have a hold over him or something. So he invites her to go with him, but she hesitates, even though he's willing to help her reach her lifelong goal of becoming a prominent artist.

Of course, it all turns bad when Jay starts thinking that he's paying attention to her, buying things for her, being nice to her, etc, for a "reason." I've always hated this "development," because it depends on the characters not talking to each other about their true motivations. Seriously, a five-minute conversation could clear everything up:

"Gee, are you buying me all this stuff to get in bed with me?"
"Hell, no! I'll prove it by not expecting sex from you."
"OK, great, thanks!"
Ta da!

But this isn't what happens, and after that the series takes a rather sudden turn, which I won't spoil here.

Jarte is a rather intense character; clearly he used to be devoted to his work, but after he meets Jay he's devoted to her, at the expense of everything else. I'm not really sure what he sees in Jay. She's cute and spunky, but that's about all I know about her.

The artwork is nice, and the author really likes lips. One thing I really can't stand, though, is her use of real pictures as backgrounds and settings. She tries to hide it, but I can tell, as it's quite jarring. I think it's OK to use real pictures as a reference, but please, don't just copy, paste, and touch-up.

Final Thought: I'll get the next book to see what happens.