By Courtney
Save the Dae by Waegul is one of the biggest surprises to me on this year’s book club calendar. I didn’t know what to expect going into this read, and once I strapped into this rollercoaster of a story, there was no stopping it. At first, I had to get over the fact that it’s a high school story, complete with school uniforms and seat assignments, but our main characters are super-seniors who are fully 20 and 21 years old. That was the first terrifying loop of the coaster that had me feeling upside down. From there, my stomach kept dropping with each twist and turn.
The main character, Won Dae, is abandoned by his family and bullied for being an orphan with a dumb name by everyone around him. Heavy right? Well, it’s nothing compared to what his counterpart, Yoonwon, has been through. My biggest trigger in any story is self-harm or suicide, and this story had a heavy dose of that in the love interest’s back story. Not only that – but he uses that trauma as an excuse to mistreat and miscommunicate with poor Won Dae for the entire first fifty chapters.
Now, you might be thinking, “Sounds like you hated this story, right, Courtney?” Surprisingly, I loved it. Despite the unusual setup of adults in their senior year of high school, the tragic trauma dumping of the backstories, and the toxic, abusive behavior, or maybe because of it all, I ended up fond of these characters. That’s what you get when you mix amazing art, stunning character design, and growth that starts in the basement and has nowhere to go but up.
As far as ongoing stories go, which I usually hate waiting for updates on and stay far away from, this has to be a new favorite. I’m excited to see where these characters can go from the messed-up places they began in – and I’m dying to know if we’ll get to watch them go to college together.
I also really love and relate to the power dynamics of their financial inequity. I came into my relationship dirt poor, living on student loans and half starving when I met my husband. He couldn’t have been more different from me and offered me everything in the world. Much like Won Dae, I had to navigate the line between having a man provide for me and feeling like that would mean he owned me or I owed him something. That is a tricky subject to navigate and a very real dilemma for many women – which is why I love BL so much. It truly is a genre where women can discuss women’s issues in disguise, and that is brilliant and so cathartic.
I have so much to say about this manhwa, but as it is ongoing, I’d like to reserve any final judgments or recommendations for it and revisit it when we have a final resolution. So expect another blog and maybe another podcast when this rollercoaster finally comes to a halt and the story wraps up! If you haven’t already listened to the podcast episode on Save the Dae, it is available as of today! Let me know what you think, and as always, thank you for reading and listening along with the book club! Until next time, remember sometimes the delusion is the solution!
Yours in Deep Delusion,
Courtney