I admire your patience because, to be honest, I couldn't connect with it as much as you did. I completely agree with you that the beginning is incredibly slow; I find those kinds of submissive protagonists so difficult to get into these days. I understand that the appeal lies in seeing her "bloom" and stop being a "stone," but the process felt endless, and, as you say, the shy girl-popular-boy trope is so overdone. Plus, Kai's "now yes, now no" attitude drove me crazy. Nice eview.