Monday, March 14, 2016

Snow Drop, Vol.1, Chapter 4: The NPC

The chapters are divided pretty unevenly in the first volume of Snow Drop, and this is the shortest. It starts with So-Na solidifying her role as a Mary Sue by being admired by the boys from afar.


Ha-Da complains to So-Na that he didn't get Ko-Mo's number. So-Na, to her credit, tries to tell Ha-Da that Ko-Mo's a guy, but doesn't get the chance. Instead, he begs So-Na to get Ko-Mo's number for him. Since he doesn't know that Ko-Mo is Hae-Gi's brother, I don't know why he thought So-Na would be capable of getting Ko-Mo's number. So-Na accepts the challenge anyway, and decides that she doesn't need to talk to Hae-Gi. She goes back to her preferred MO of stalking.

Even her body guard comments that this is weird.

While she's stalking Hae-Gi, it's revealed that Hae-Gi is dropping out of school to work as a model full-time. His mother has suffered brain damage, and he needs to work to pay for the surgery that might heal her. I know enough about neurology (and have worked with people with traumatic brain injuries in the past) to say that while it might not be impossible, but it's extremely unlikely that his mom would ever be 100% herself again, even if the surgery was successful. Of course, as Choi Kyang-ah never gives us specifics of the surgery, or what exactly is wrong with Hae-Gi's mother, it's hard to say. But there's a reason that brain surgery is so difficult. Everyone's brain is mapped out differently, and...

Okay, I could talk about neuropsychology for awhile, but that's not why we're here. Even if neuropsych is one of my favorite things ever.

The other thing that bugs me about this is that So-Na finds out all this from overhearing a conversation between Hae-Gi and another classmate. It's not that it's an overheard conversation - as convenient as it is - it's the classmate that bothers me. We don't know anything about her. She has no name, no background, and we know nothing about her. I would like to, though. She genuinely cares for Hae-Gi and doesn't want him to drop out. She knows about his mother and how much trouble Ko-Mo gets into. It's already been established that Hae-Gi doesn't have any friends, but it sounds like he's confided in this girl. She seems sweet and concerned, not manipulative and haughty, like So-Na. This is the girl I want to root for. I want So-Na to drop off a cliff, and for Hae-Gi to date a sweet, sensible girl that doesn't bring any more drama into his already dramatic life.

That doesn't happen. In fact, this is the last time we ever see this girl in the series. She's not a character; she's a sounding board. That's really unfortunate, because in the few pages she's in, I already like her a lot more than any of the main characters.

And that's it. The final chapter of the first volume of Snow Drop.

It wasn't that good.

Final Verdict: I don't know.

Here's one thing I know for sure: I don't want to keep these books. I own every volume in the series, and most of them are in pretty good condition, so I'd be okay selling them. The problem with my copy in particular is that it has an ink stain that goes through several pages. I might consider giving this to someone who's okay with that, but I don't know anyone my age who would enjoy this series, and I wouldn't want to give it to impressionable, adolescent minds. Like mine was, when I read it.

Anyone out there want a slightly used copy?

No comments:

Post a Comment