- Status: Completed
- Where to read: Tapas
- Chapters: 73
- Genre: Modern Romance Manhwa
- Creator: Gyogyo Park – the same creator as Selfish Romance
- Release year: 2021
- tropes: time travel, assertive FL, stalking, enemies to lovers
In high school, he thought she was a bully and she thought he was a huge jerk. Years later, Haneul and Dahae meet again… because their siblings are getting married! But tragedy strikes the newlyweds and their loved ones are left to wonder how they could have saved them. Haneul and Dahae awake to find themselves in high school again—and their siblings are alive! With only each other and a diary to rely on, can they weave a new destiny for their siblings? Or will fate unravel all the same?
What makes Goodbye, In-Law! good, and what makes it bad (spoiler-free)
Goodbye, In-Law! is definitely worth reading. It is one of those stories you will have a hard time putting down once you start reading. But without spoiling anything: The beginning is definitely better than the ending. There is a series of events that should feel like huge plot twists but don’t get enough time to be explored. And when too many of those events happen shortly one after another, it can feel out of place for the reader. Is it still a good read overall? Definitely. And it does have a happy ending, although there is a price to pay.
Another thing that makes it stand out from other regression stories: In many of them the regressors magically remember every date, every feeling and every important event. Goodbye, In-Law! makes it believable by adding the diary that changes with the different events.
Does the amnesia arc kill the enjoyment?
For me it felt unnecessary, but it didn’t kill the enjoyment. It was woven into the story as a price they had to pay in order to go back in time and change the future for their siblings. And it’s important to know if you detest these writing choices: She does get her memories back, but not in one go and only partially. It is heavily implied that she will remember everything, though. I think author Gyogyo Park chose to write it so readers get to see the somewhat cold and calculating Haneul grovel for love.
If you want to dive deeper, keep reading, but there will be spoilers for the series. I will hide the major spoiler though, so don’t worry.
Art and ending
As a fan of Gyogyo Park’s work, it is a treat to read Goodbye, In-Law!. You can see how much she has grown with Selfish Romance, but her art in Goodbye, In-Law! is still crisp and clean. With the occasional chibi segments (as seen above)
The ending is happy, but it does feel bittersweet.
Show MAJOR ENDING Spoiler
After they find out who the stalker is, the storytelling starts feeling out of place. First Dahae goes after him alone, which feels completely stupid: she is a minor and doesn’t even have a weapon. Then Haneul saves her, but the stalker kills himself in hopes of turning back time again (because he went back in time too). In the process Dahae faints and wakes up 8 years later without her memories. And it turns out our sweet fated couple Taegang and Mirim didn’t get together. We do see them patching things up, the stalker turns out to be alive but stuck in the hospital barely hanging on, and Dahae does get her memories back slowly, but not all at once. I am not a huge fan of the ending because the story flow changed quite drastically, but I like that it’s not an all sunshine and rainbows ending. And it’s nice to see Haneul groveling a bit.
Romance
The romance in Goodbye, In-Law! is a fun slow burn. They start off as enemies, constantly bickering and fighting. They played pranks on each other for almost a year. The dynamic is good because it feels like they are on equal footing. There are lovey-dovey moments, but not too many butterflies-in-your-stomach moments, if that’s what you’re after.
Characters
The characters in Goodbye, In-Law! are well written. There isn’t a single one-dimensional character, not even the stalker feels one-dimensional. There is a second quite important couple (Taegun and Mirim) who you are gonna root for throughout the comic, and there is a very manipulative high school student, Hyeshin, who surprised me because as a reader you constantly think: Does she maybe really not know what she is doing?
How are the ML and FL
Dahae is our female lead. She is strong, loud and takes matters into her own hands. I love her because she decided in high school that she is becoming a model and doesn’t question herself. Saving her sister is all that matters to her, and she cares about those around her.
Haneul is our ML. He lost his parents quite young and became kind of rigid because of it. When he lost his brother too, he snapped. He can feel a bit cold and distant at times, but I like that we get to see his thought process as a reader, and he always comes around and apologizes.
Read if you…
- are in the mood for a modern regression story with multiple regressors
- love when the characters aren’t completely black and white
- like it when there isn’t only romance. We do have the main couple that gets together, but even when they do, you keep reading because you want a happy ending for Taegun and Mirim
- love a regression story where they actually think rationally. It feels believable and they don’t have everything figured out.
Skip if you…
- detest amnesia arcs. This does have one and it doesn’t feel necessary, although it is not badly written
- don’t like manhwas with stalkers in them. This gets quite gruesome in the end
- are in the mood for a 100% happy ending. Although Goodbye, In-Law! has a happy ending, it’s a bit bittersweet because of the price they have to pay
- mainly read romance for the lovey-dovey kiss scenes right now. Goodbye, In-Law! has about 3 kiss scenes that are just brushed over.
