I had picked this drama for the fresh storyline, promising cast and hint at the mystery element. It never started off on a ground-breaking level but was decent till the first half. Post that is when it went downhill - in terms of romance and mystery which even the good actors could not salvage. Sharing my take - short and detailed review, on whether you should binge or skip it ....

❤️ Nutshell Review:

My Lovely Liar is a drama about a woman who can hear lies and runs a successful business to help people detect lies and save themselves from fraud. Despite her unique abilities, she struggles with trusting people – unable to make friends and form relationships easily. She meets a famous music producer with a mysterious past who she is attracted to. She is wary of starting a relationship with him but to her surprise, the guy is genuinely very truthful making her comfortable and they embark on a relationship while growing individually. But their relationship is tested when in a turn of events the guy shares about his past – which rings a bell (quite literally) in the girl’s ears, which can only mean one thing - he is lying!

The drama goes on to explore how the woman understands this guy (her Lovely Liar), investigating the mysterious past with him while discovering the nuances of her unique ability. Together they also navigate romance, past relationships, family, friends, new acquaintances and how it all shapes up their lives for better or worse…

❤️ What is Worth Watching:

♥ Good-Looking Leads: Kim So Hyun and Hwang Min Hyun
♥ Depiction of how social interactions and power of belief helped the main leads overcome their inhibitions

(works only for the first half though - the above formula cannot save the whole drama)

❤️ What Does NOT Work:

✘ Second Half of the Drama
✘ Wasted opportunity to utilize a good cast
✘ Wasted effort on romance and mystery – directionless since second half.
✘ Missed using drama to drive a social message on – habitual lying, frauds, dirty games in politics, police, music/media industry, journalism etc.

❤️ My Call - Binge or Skip:

SKIP IT! - Unless you have started it already and want a closure – then finish it (on 2x speed, maybe?)
OR you are a fan of any of these actors and just want to watch it for their sake.


---------------------------------------------------- ✧❅✦ DETAILED REVIEW ✧❅✦------------------------------------------------

✧❅✦ WHAT WORKS ✧❅✦

♥ Good-Looking Leads: Kim So Hyun and Hwang Min Hyun
♥ Depiction of how social interactions and power of belief helped the main leads overcome their inhibitions

(works only for the first half though - the above formula cannot save the whole drama)

They are a good-looking pair and delivered well from their end (can’t help if the writing is poor). Kim So Hyun is renowned for her acting skills, but this was my first time watching the ML. To me like many idol-turned-actors, he is not just a pretty face but was decent. Not groundbreaking but not a carboard cutout either. Sure, he has room to grow, I will not watch any new work of his solely for him, but he is someone who can do well given a good plot and directions.

Through each other and the support from friends and acquaintances, the main leads see that while there is still a lot of bad in the world, they can still open to each other and many more and not everyone will betray them. They grow as individuals as they support each other, get support from some people around them and in turn manage to support others who can use their respective talents.

✧❅✦ WHAT does NOT WORK ✧❅✦

✘ Second Half of the Drama
✘ Wasted opportunity to utilize a good cast
✘ Wasted effort on romance and mystery – directionless since second half.
✘ Missed using drama to drive a social message on – habitual lying, frauds, dirty games in politics, police, music/media industry, journalism etc.

The first half was decent & I expected it to get better, but rather it gradually becomes worse with the last 2 episodes just being super-meh, Especially feel bad for: Kim So Hyun (FL) | Seo Jung Yeon (ML Mother) | Ahn Nae Sang (FL Father) | Park Kyung Hye (FL Friend & Tarot Reader) | Jin Kyung (ML Mother) – because they are popular and some senior talents of the industry.
Also, Ha Jong Woo, Lee Si Woo – they were new for me but under-utilized else had so much to offer.

Worst misuse of Yun Ji On's talent: Have seen him in Tomorrow and he was remarkable. He was going to be here as well but the writers did him dirty with the latter half and ending.

✧❅✦ My Take on Themes ✧❅✦

Like countless recent dramas, the story progresses quite well in the first half (till Ep 8) and goes downhill after that in terms of writing. Therefore, even good/decent performances of the cast are not able to leave an impact both in terms of romance and mystery, which I felt were the two focus themes of this drama. Given the fresh storyline and some renowned names in the cast lineup, the expectations and excitement were high, but the bad writing could not sustain it and hence the ending was weak.

• Romance - 6/10

Could be an unpopular opinion but I liked the romance build-up in the first half. Not everyone can have the heart-and-flowers, bring you the moon kind of love story. I liked that the protagonists were wary of romance given their past experiences, but eventually believed in each other. They were awkward at first but that added to the charm. Neither were they boring as we witness some hot kisses (well, thankfully they were not the usual fish face/cardboard kisses of drama land).
But perhaps the writers & audience wanted more in terms of toe-curling, fluff romance and that is what degraded the romance angle for me as it lost the point how they were as individuals, and it looked very out-of-character to me. Even the romance of the supporting characters seemed strained and forced. Rather the writers gave us romance where it was unnecessary (parents of FL, other store owners) and forgot where required (ML/FL, Syaon/Chi-Hoon).

• Mystery - 4/10

The title "My Lovely Liar or Useless Lies" initially intrigues with questions like: who is the liar? what is he lying about? is her power foolproof? What is the past incident? But the initial anticipation dwindles after Ep 8, with random cliffhangers, changing suspects, plot twists deviating from the who-dunnit theme and making it boring. Even when the curtain is lifted to reveal the culprit & motive; it does not have a shocking impact, rather is quite expected at this point and therefore dull.

Hence Final Verdict:
SKIP IT! :(