I'll begin by saying that I had no previous expectations from this drama (i.e: I haven't seen previous adaptations of Dangerous Liaisons, nor did I have any formed ideas of any of the actors. This was my first time seeing most of them in a drama, save for Woo Do Hwan, who convinced me to start this.) so I hope to give an unbiased review here.

I admit that I went in expecting a darker drama (given the background of the original source material and how it ended, from what I'd read up on), even if it was stated to only be a loose adaptation. About halfway into the drama, I figured that wasn't going to be the case but the possibility still remained for them to incorporate a more sinister twist towards the end. Again, that proved to be quickly debunked too, but it would've perhaps been for the worse if they'd tried to angle it that way, given the quality of the writing and directing on the whole.

It was neither a good or bad thing as such but I wasn't sure what to think for most of the drama. There was definitely a lot of potential, but poor execution on the whole. The editing was very notably sloppy and the way the scenes transitioned from one to another felt very jarring and distracting on numerous occasions, detracting from whatever mood they intended to convey at the time. I don't think I've ever witnessed such messy editing in a long time.

On the whole, it felt very backwards and forwards both in terms of the plot going around in circles both in terms of the background/side plot with the parents, but they still succeeded in keeping me somewhat interested, so kudos for that I guess? Another thing to note was that I got frustrated a lot while watching this drama (which is again both a good and bad thing) likely due to a combination of the poor writing/editing and the execution, in addition to some of the characters - I honestly don't think I can say there's a single character in this drama who I haven't gotten annoyed at during some point in this drama and not wanted to yell at while watching this, haha. (I think only Hye Jung and her boyfriend are safe). But that goes to show that the actors delivered for the most part - Moon Ga Young stood out to me in particular, as did Woo Do Hwan and Kim Min Jae. The main trio really did shine in their roles, and really made you feel a whole range of... emotions aimed at their characters, depending on the point in the plot or the scene. Kim Min Jae in particular really took me by surprise.

Regarding the main actors, people are definitely too quick to hate on Joy and the majority are being overly critical. I don't have very high expectations of idol actors in general and this was the first drama I've seen her in, and while her acting was definitely not outstanding or particularly great, I'd at least say it was passable and didn't detract from the drama in the slightest. I agree the drama was a mess, but she's definitely not the main culprit for it and not solely the one who should be dragged down for it - blame the writers and production team too, not only the actors.

The chemistry between the main couple was a bit hit and miss for me. In certain scenes, I felt it was pretty solid, but in others not so much - however, I think a lot of that has to do with the way it was added in, for example, when it was fluffy romance that didn't really contribute much to the plot, I could feel myself getting a little bored. I can see what they were trying to go for, but I don't think it worked as well in some scenes than others.

Music: The music added a nice touch but didn't really stand out to me too much, save for maybe one or two tracks, though I appreciated the cello music tying in with Soo Ji as a character and also giving a kind of classy touch that suited our rich main characters well enough.

Ending: I won't spoil, but I definitely felt the ending was rushed and unrealistic, had too many loose plot points that didn't wrap up properly and weren't addressed. The writing and tone of the drama overall continued to be messy and that unfortunately meant that they left themselves with too much to work with for the ending, so it felt rather lazy and poorly constructed on the whole. I guess they at least remained consistent with that one.

Overall verdict? This is by no means a masterpiece, but if you're willing to let yourself be entertained, frustrated and see Woo Do Hwan on screen, then maybe, just maybe give this a chance. I've definitely seen a lot of better dramas, but this isn't as bad as many people are making it out to be.