About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the novel or novel series Ang Ang : Hard-Boiled Love.
Content Warning: There may be references to gun violence, BDSM (including violent, dangerous, forced, and consensual nonconsent play), hostage situations, violence, blood, social gap, power imbalance, prejudice, stalking, gang activity, experience gap, sexual assault, mentions of suicide, blood, vandalism, self-deprecation, homomisia, overwork, obsession, revenge porn, gossiping, acid attack, mentions of murder, mentions of rape (due to presumed consent), self-harm, excessive drinking, mentions of police, peer pressure, mentions of embezzlement, nonconsenting porn, coercion, slut-shaming, sexism, mention of domestic abuse, ableism (including use of the r-slur), manipulation, bullying, mentions of kidnapping, statutory rape, child abuse, disordered eating, PTSD, confinement, self-harm, military, conscription, gambling, suicide as a threat, sex work, enslavement (in terms of BDSM play), mentions of homelessness in a derogatory manner, drugs, drug smuggling, sexual harrassment, break ups, suicidal ideation, attempted murder, religion, and arranged marriage, as they appear in the novel or novel series.
Synopsis:
Kim Gyuwon has seen all manner of horrors, having worked as a mercenary for most of his adult life. He’s big and buff and has a cool and calm demeanor. Add on the scars on his face, and he’s feared by most people who come into contact with him. What people don’t know, though, is that contrary to his external appearance, Gyuwon is soft and submissive inside. He also longs to be in a gay, dominant/submissive relationship with someone. Specifically, he wants to be a sub. But Gyuwon knows that the odds of finding a man who wants to dominate someone who looks like him are slim. So, as a last-ditch effort to find happiness in his personal life, he quits his job and takes a job as a bodyguard for the infamous Yoon family in hopes that he will be able to save up money, get plastic surgery, and finally seek out a dom for himself.
Gyuwon’s charge is the youngest son of the Yoon family, Yoon Hwayoung. Hwayoung, as his name suggests, is gorgeous, and he is beyond beloved by his family. Though Gyuwon knows he’d be underserving of having such a partner, romantic or otherwise, he can’t help finding himself attracted to him. The two get along just fine for a time until Hwayoung makes Gyuwon swear to him that Hwayoung’s personal life is private and shouldn’t be reported to his family. Gyuwon was only hired to protect him, so he agrees. What Gyuwon doesn’t realize is that they are about to take a trip to a place called Dungeon, and it is none other than an underground gay BDSM club.
Gyuwon is simultaneously stunned and excited. Never has he seen something like this, much less from someone like Hwayoung. He once again hopes to find a dom like Hwayoung, but little does Gyuwon know that Hwayoung is acutely aware of Gyuwon’s preferences. Furthermore, just as Hwayoung is Gyuwon’s type, Gyuwon is exactly the kind of person Hwayoung wants to dominate. Hwayoung fully intends to make Gyuwon’s dreams a painful and pleasurable reality.
Review:
The formatting is really unfortunate. I hate it when dialogue from different people is sprinkled throughout a single paragraph. It makes it so hard to read and understand who is speaking and when. Compound that with how poorly this is edited, and this is nearly impossible to read in some sections. I hate to say it, but the awkward phrasing, random articles added unnecessarily into sentences, and the like make me feel like this was AI-translated or translated via Google Translate and left unedited. I was so excited about this title, which only makes this all the more disappointing. Of course, there’s always a chance the original novel is just poorly written, and I try my best to give the benefit of the doubt in that regard.
However, having read the manhwa, I’m inclined to believe this is just a poor translation and edit. I adore the manhwa thus far, so it’s hard for me to imagine the quality of this novel became the higher-quality manhwa released on Tappytoon, but maybe I’m wrong. The manhwa does suffer from similar poor phrasing and missing pronouns (as opposed to articles), but it is an adaptation rather than just a translation, so maybe that’s the difference. It probably doesn’t help that I’ve been reading a danmei series published through Seven Seas, and it’s so high quality compared to this that it isn’t even comparable. With this being my second review of Mullebooks that I’ve had quality issues with, I think it might be a publisher issue, and that makes me really sad since they seem to be picking up so many Korean novel licenses. They’re still new, so I’ll keep supporting them in hopes they get better, but I don’t have much hope.
Now, on to the story. Each volume contains multiple ‘arcs,’ some of which are oddly called ‘epilogues’ even though they make up over half of the volume. While some of the arcs are more story-driven than others, this is most definitely 98% smut, if not more. It’s very much an insta-lust story with Hwayoung seemingly having super strength and the interesting ability to identify subs versus doms just by looking at them. I personally don’t mind heavy smut titles, and in some cases, I prefer it, though it was hard to enjoy this one due to the quality of the writing and editing. I thought I had enjoyed BDSM titles before, but this took humiliation play to a level I didn’t even know existed, so if you’re looking for some hardcore play, look no further. However, it is worth noting that a safe word is not established until after a couple of plays, and some plays include watersports and other excretions that will remain nameless. So, if you have a weak stomach and desperately need safe play scenarios in your BDSM, turn away now. I have a pretty strong stomach, but even I got a bit queasy. I’m not here to yuck your yum, though, so if this is what you’ve been looking for, have at it.
What story there is is pretty weak since the focus is certainly on the neverending slew of BDSM play between Hwayoung and Gyuwon, but some arcs interested me more than others. The first storyline is probably the weakest, with Hwayoung being stalked, the stalker being found, and turning out to be a character we’ve never seen or heard of, nor ever see or hear from again after their introduction. The gambling storyline was alright, though, once again, it’s Hwayoung coming in to show off how all-powerful he is and saving the day. But then there is the arc where Gyuwon’s past comes back to haunt him, which works in tandem with Hwayoung’s new stalker, who happens to be his boss. This is the strongest storyline and helps humanize Hwayoung, which he desperately needed. It also helped show off more of Gyuwon’s background and the non-submissive side we don’t usually see. These arcs do a great job of developing our main characters from one-dimensional doms and subs into real people with emotions and agency beyond what they have during their play. I would’ve loved more of this, but these all begin toward the end, so we don’t get much. I would happily forgo a lot of the smut in the beginning for more storytelling like this (with a better edit, of course).
Results:
This is a massive miss. Unless you are really desperate to see some hardcore BDSM play, the quality of these volumes just isn’t worth the price tag. I do my best to give the benefit of the doubt for translated work because I’m never sure how faithful the translation is to the original, but this is the second title I’ve read from this new publisher. The quality is on par, if not worse, than the first title I read from them, which has me questioning if they are the problem rather than the source material. It does have its bright spots, though, but that really only makes the poor quality all the more painful. Ultimately, I would not recommend this.
Have you read Ang Ang : Hard-Boiled Love? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!