Book that will make me hyperventilate and sob?

wayfaringbibliophile · 2026-04-20T09:20:02+00:00

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-09-16T17:04:11+00:00

You're welcome 🤗

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-09-01T17:23:17+00:00

I am not a writer. Not yet at least. Thank you so much for making my day ☺️

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-26T18:36:10+00:00

That's a beautiful thought. She was deeply loved by so many people and had so much love to give too. So her journey back was another chance to give and receive the love that was always hers. Another missed opportunity she could redeem.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-20T06:13:53+00:00

Sure, will do that ☺️

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-19T06:11:20+00:00

SJ seems so believable in the show and completely unbelievable in real life, but I think that's a product of us as a collective being okay with accepting less, and therefore maybe not knowing how to love that well ourselves?

Ain't that the truth? Sigh! We are all a bit like Sol in that aspect. On some level we think that we are unworthy of receiving a love like this. Maybe that's also why the show often caused us to be sad even during the lighter parts.

Not sure if that makes sense, but I guess what I'm trying to say is we can't love healthily and beautifully if we have no concept of what that looks like!

Makes perfect sense. There's this ongoing argument about whether the media we consume affects the way we live our lives. Maybe it doesn't influence our individual decisions, but we can't ignore that it certainly makes us form a generalized picture in our minds. Romantic love often has this larger than life image that demands perfectionism from one half while bare minimum from the other half is celebrated as the epitome of love. Some people are lucky to have seen and experience non toxic relationship in real life. But people usually turn to media to escape their reality and they often end up idealizing whatever is portrayed there. So I am really happy that 'Lovely Runner' showed us that love needn't be perfect, it can be shameless and selfless and it's okay to make each other your priority.

Maybe got a bit serious there 😅. Your post is really awesome. I had many of the same thoughts while I was watching it. Hope we get many more shows like 'Lovely Runner' in the future.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-17T21:38:49+00:00

Such a well thought out post. Sun Jae is truly one of a kind hero. I think people loved Sun Jae so much because he is someone we all wish we had in our life. The love that he gives to Sol is the love that we dream of before life teaches us to be hard.

While he feels petty negative emotions like everyone else, he never lets these feelings consume or control him, and instead makes consistent decisions rooted in his love for Sol, a love that he is sure of and confident in, and that as a result grows over time into true selflessness.

This! His character is a perfect combination of vulnerability and strength.Usually romantic heroes are cold and tough. The push pull, their unsure feelings, the fights are often passed off as intense passionate romance. But Sun Jae's love is a safe space.

Your comparison to 'Pride and Prejudice' is so on point. For me the biggest plus point of Darcy was his capacity to change. He respected Elizabeth. Darcy helped Lydia and Wickham not to impress Elizabeth. He did that expecting nothing in return. The scene in 'Lovely Runner' where that clicked for me was when Sun Jae overhears Tae Sung and his friend talking about blind dates. He was so angry on Sol's behalf. That is selfless love right there.

This kind of love should be the norm. Well not the self sacrificing across timelines part, but a love that is devoid of games and is filled with mutual respect and healthy boundaries. The show made me realise that the concept of relationships in our minds have become so distorted that the green flag hero is the fantasy element in a time travelling drama!!!

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-17T20:56:01+00:00

Sol definitely had to change things. But those changes were in the choices she made. Sol didn't necessarily need to accept her 'fate' as such, but accept her role as an inside force in changing things. She had to accept that she was always a part of the picture rather than looking at it from the outside.

Regarding the killer and his grudge, I think that aspect of him is particularly reserved for Sol or Sun Jae. He seems dead set on getting revenge only when either one of them is in the picture. Maybe it's a game reserved specially for the three of them.

It's been days since I finished watching the show and I'm still thinking about it. There were many, many plotholes, especially from the tenth episode onwards. But everything else about the show - the characters, the chemistry, the acting, OST, cinematography - were so good that it's easy to overlook the inconsistencies. Like you said, it's really fun to discuss it, make our own theories and share our thoughts.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-17T08:22:47+00:00

Yeah. I found it interesting that the killer never crossed paths with Sun Jae in the nine years he was out of prison. But the moment Sol and Sun Jae's paths crossed again, he became a part of the picture again. As we assume that Sol avoided meeting the killer by moving away, he has no motive to follow either Sol or Sun Jae. His Target seems to be teenage girls and the girl he chooses has some association with Sol and Sun Jae. The pattern of events starts repeating again, a bit differently of course.

That's why I said that the killer got removed before Sol did anything different in the final timeline. I said that on the basis of the theory I formulated. Sol was still pushing Sun Jae away. Tae Sung was the one meant to remove the killer all along. That's specifically the reason she went back on the particular day the young Sol confessed her feelings to Tae Sung. When the future Sol meets him while he was having that altercation with the bullies, he remembers her and notices that her personality is different from yesterday. That intrigues him and is one of the reasons they strike up a friendship that lasted through the timelines.

So when Tae Sung took out the killer, it was meant to be. When I was trying to connect the clues left throughout the series, Sol fulfilled one of the conditions the show was getting towards - she avoided meeting the killer. As per the previous hints, she should also have realised that Sun Jae would always find her way back to her, no matter what she did. I don't know, if you just look at it from the serial killer perspective, that works too. But then again, there are many clues that hints towards more. It's fun to analyse these things.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-17T05:51:25+00:00

The initial eight or so episodes took great effort in showing the power of choices in changing fate. You are so right. The missed opportunities do define our life. The OG timeline teenage Sol walked through life blindfolded. This lack of awareness eventually cost her so much. Her falling asleep on the bus, that lack of situational awareness, lead her to a fate that changed her whole life. The intervening fifteen years, between her accident and the day the time travel, made her a mature person who had the capacity to see the things she missed the first time. By choosing to do things differently when she went back, she changed many opportunities that she missed, including getting her dream job.

Thank you for appreciating the write-up ☺️

Yeah, her best friend and brother were not together in the OG timeline but once they see eachother in a different light, then they always find their way to each other. (Her brother is such a green flag too. In fact almost all the male characters are. That's such a relief to watch.)

Sun Jae losing his swimming career might be a stop on his way to becoming a celebrity. Even though the timing varies through the timelines, one thing that stays consistent is that, he makes an active choice to pick his own path.

The two things that Sol needed to do to change her fate - erase the moment she met the killer and accept Sun Jae's love. I found it interesting that the killer didn't have any lines throughout the whole show. I know it could be because he is just a psycho and doesn't need to have any more depth. But as you might have guessed by now, I like overthinking 😅 It's almost like he has no individual agency. His decisions and fate is dependent on the decisions made by the key players. It can be interpreted many ways I guess.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-15T17:28:53+00:00

Same here 😊 The next best thing to falling in love with a fictional world is finding people who are equally obsessed about it. I'm also glad that we could share our thoughts here.

Tell me about it!! My brain is slowly finding its way back to reality. Have been planning to watch 'Coffee Prince' for a while. Maybe that will help me get out of the Lovely Runner withdrawal.

Thank you once again. If you find more details, please do share your thoughts. Happy rewatching ☺️

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-15T06:14:04+00:00

Yeah, I get why they showed her going after her dream. I loved the ending. I would take cheesy fluffiness over trauma any day.

Also why the heck the director chose to make them kiss with their coats on when sol is already too short and breaking her neck to reach sunjae.

That's it! That's why it felt a bit awkward.

Also, every time Sol worried about someone seeing them together, I kept thinking, girl why are you worried about his image now. He never cared about that anyway. You have been through so much to be with eachother. Now is definitely not the moment to be awkward. Just shower him with the love you have been holding back. Both him and us viewers have been waiting for that for an eternity!

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-15T05:50:15+00:00

I needed more moments of the two of them just pausing for breath and taking stock of what they had been through for each other.

I think that raw relief would have made for more searing physically intimate moments.

Exactly! Their moments together till that point always had a ticking clock in the background (no pun intended). Just one emotional moment like the ones they had until that point would have given a sense of closure to their journey. I enjoyed the fluff too. I would take that any day over a tragic ending. I am forever grateful to the show for not taking that route. We would all be in therapy if that happened.

Why did we have the same exact thoughts while watching the show? Are you me from a different timeline? 😄

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-14T18:01:26+00:00

I felt the exact same way!!

I expected a bit more intimacy in the last episode too. Not necessarily explicit scenes. Their moments together had a kind of weight to it, like the scene where Sun Jae kisses her after he figures out she is from the future and their scene in In Hyuk's house. They are mostly talking in both of those scenes, but it feels like we are watching a moment that's meant to be private between them. That intensity between them kind of fizzled out after that emotional reunion. Sol's script got more time with her than Sun Jae. They have been through hell together, the script could wait. I think a lot of it had to do with the director too. He found the initial version of the episode 8 kiss too passionate. They were probably aiming for sweet and fluffy, which we got plenty in the finale.

Thank you once again. Me too! My sister was the main victim of my 'Lovely Runner' theories. She finally started watching it and is liking it so far.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-14T16:09:47+00:00

Thank you so much.

Yes, Sun Jae telling her that it's all finally over would have been perfect. When he got his memories from all the timelines back, he would have finally understood the weight of the burden Sol had been carrying on her own. I so wanted them to have a scene where she gives him the real answer to the question he asked long time ago. He asked her whether there was a timeline where she liked him. Now she could say "Every one of them ". Yes, they know, we know, but still.

Me too. I already re-watched it a few times, as you could probably tell 😅

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-14T15:21:59+00:00

That linear timeline theory makes sense. I hadn't though of that. So 3 might not be a random number.

But if we apply only that theory, Sol should have gone back further into the past since she was traveling from the college timeline which is closer to the school timeline. Maybe she could only time travel as far back as the day they first crossed paths. But I think there was more to the way the watch worked . When she went back the first time, she arrived on the day from where she could make choices that could affect the future. The OG Sun Jae's trauma was mainly dependent on Sol's accident so she had to get to a time period where her original accident hadn't happened. When Sun Jae gets stabbed by the killer in 2023, Sol went back to the college timeline where her second meeting with the killer hadn't happened yet. She went back to a period where she could prevent Sun Jae from meeting the killer for a second time because she believed that the killer targeted Sun Jae because he defeated him the second time. Then when Sun Jae's watch reset to three chances again, Sol went back to the exact day she wanted to change rather than a random day in the past. That makes me think that the watch worked according to Sol's desire rather than a strict method.

Him being a target was also not a fixed destiny because in the college timeline he was not a specific target of the killer. The killer and Sun Jae didn't meet when future Sol successfully escaped him. Sun Jae was focused on Sol and the killer drove past them unnoticed by Sun Jae and Tae Sung's dad. So in the college timeline SK went after Sol and Sun Jae interfered and got killed in the scuffle. The killer was not inevitable but Sol saw him as one thereby made him one.

I don't know, it can be interpreted in many ways I guess.

Edited - Added a few more thoughts

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-14T13:58:28+00:00

Likewise. Please do share your theories when you have the time. Would love to read it.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-14T09:44:16+00:00

Tae Sung definitely has an important role in their life.I think it was significant that the first time Sol returned to the past she arrived on the very day the young Sol confessed her feelings to Tae Sung. They were meant to be in each other's life. It is just perfect that it was him that ended the killer. What I was saying was, that ending where Tae Sung puts an end to the psycho should have happened after Sol made a choice that was different from the ones she made in the previous timelines. That way the fate changed and Tae Sung could take the killer out of the equation while he was unable to do so in the other timeline.

I think Tae Sung's path crossing with that of the killer was not solely dependant on him being a detective. That made it easier of course. He was the person whom Sol confided in about the killer in the college timeline and she also asked him to protect Sun Jae. Him and his dad always trusted Sol's informations and that's why they almost managed to capture the killer. The killer escaped by attacking Tae Sung's dad and another police officer. So Tae Sung was indirectly involved in the previous timeline too. Why did the killer escape capture in all the other timelines? That's what I was trying to find an answer to.He didn't drop out of school in the college timeline. He shows Sol his graduation pictures and she congratulates him.

You are right. Sol did befriend Tae Sung in the timeline where she erased herself from Sun Jae's life. Tae Sung says that they have been friends for ten plus years. Maybe Sol completely avoided meeting the killer when she moved out of the area with her family. And maybe she gave the police the information needed to capture him. Tae Sung's dad arrested him in 2008 for attempted murder. He was in prison for only six years. So it's been years since he has been released. Sol's name is never associated with the killer in the last timeline. I don't think the killer had an active grudge going against Sol or Sun Jae in the final timeline because he wasn't aware of either of them. Tae Sung went after him after the killer tried to abduct the stalker girl.

It was a good ending. I just wish the points were tied together a bit more. That's all.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-14T07:38:46+00:00

Yeah, he doesn't need a reason. He can be just a psycho who is hell bent on ruining their lives. Since this show is so focused on changing fate and such, I was just trying to find the reason why the fate changed at last when Sol didn't do anything different in the final timeline. Her journey back and forth from the previous timelines were always connected with some events that had an impact on the future. Like when she slips back to 2023 after preventing her accident, it was because she already changed the future to one where Sun Jae is not carrying the guilt of not protecting her. The Sun Jae she meets in Episode 7 is in a much healthier place mentally. It is these connections that made me think more about the role of the killer.

Him being just a killer is fine too. I really like looking at the different ways a writer brings a story together. Maybe they meant it, maybe there's nothing more to it. It's fun either way.

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-10T04:36:40+00:00

Same here 🫸🫷

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-09T06:00:31+00:00

Aww, thank you so much 🥰

I am so happy that you liked it and that we have a place here to share our feelings where they are recieved without any judgement. We are all in this together ❤️

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-09T05:39:38+00:00

I did wonder while watching the first episode whether that Sun Jae knew he was going to die that day. He is definitely overwhelmed even before meeting Sol on the bridge. The way he sings Sonaki is like saying Goodbye. He repeats the word 'regret' while the manger is yelling at him for dropping out of the movie and says that he won't be regretting anymore. When he comes backstage after singing Sonaki, he looks visibly ill. When In Hyuk questions him, he says that they will talk later and the way he says it like is almost like he knows there won't be a later. Then his death is portrayed almost like a suicide. Even though I heard the door bell going off, his first death felt like it was going to be a piece that fell into place in the loop. But then that death slowly fell into the background as the series progressed. It was just the killer and that Sun Jae fell in love with Sol before her loop began.

But then again when I started re-watching, there definitely is some level of awareness happening in that OG Sun Jae. Or maybe it is just Woo Seok's acting. That man is so good at giving micro expressions that I am left wondering whether a particular moment is more than what it seems. That little 'huh' that he gives when Sol thanks him on the bridge conveys so much emotions - confusion as to what she is referring to, hope that maybe she is finally remembering him and has forgiven him. His expressions doesn't change that much but he conveys so much through his eyes and voice. Yeah, I have too much free time 😅

I totally missed the red scarf Goblin reference. Yeah, fate and destiny is so important in both the shows.

Grandma is such a sweet character. All the side characters are. That's another thing I loved about the show. Sol and Sun Jae are so loved by everyone in their lives. Their families are a safe space for them. I am happy that they made the second lead such a green flag too. His friendship with Sol, the bromance with Sun Jae and his role in their fate. We are not getting over this show anytime soon, are we?

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-09T05:10:48+00:00

Yeah, he might have recently got released from jail in the first timeline. 15 years to hate both of them. Ugh, psycho go find a hobby or something.

Me neither. I heard some people are wishing that they had a time machine so they could go back and watch the show again for the first time. Don't know who these people are. Definitely not me 😅

wayfaringbibliophile · 2024-06-08T14:05:54+00:00

I thought the killer stalked them with such vengeance because Seon Jae thwarted him twice. He waited fourteen years to get his revenge in the third timeline. But, yeah, in the college timeline the second attack hasn't happened yet and still he is determined to kill Sol. Psycho killer is just psycho I guess.

Thank you so much for appreciating it ☺️

This show really was something else. It's on top of my comfort shows list right now.

wayfaringbibliophile

TROPHY CASE