u/skyisjusthere

I don't even know if this is an insect or not. It just randomly appeared today. But this was scary, man, seeing this thing out of nowhere.

Apparently I'm supposed to give my geographical location for ID requests. I'm from a south Asian country, is that enough? Or do I need to specify my country??

So I finally finished my second book of the “if you can" series (first one was kmiyc) and boy, I got a lot to talk about.

Let's start with the things that I liked about this novel. This story has quite a cliche plot, rich alpha ml and poor omega (former beta) mc fall in a messy complicated relationship and later get married, very basic Cinderella plotline. But, cliches can be good too, and this was one of them. Despite the basic plotline, I really felt for the characters. Even though both main characters were quite frustrating.

Let's start with Koi..oh Koi, this boy has made me want to rip my hair out a number of times (but still ily koi). He's the epitome of a frustratingly naive character. Yes, his naivety was cute when they were high schoolers. But his monologue got a little annoying once they were adults, especially after they got married. Like, I just don't understand how Koi cannot realize Ash's insanity over him? Like he thinks Ash is this amazing guy..and yes he is a good partner, to some extent I guess. But Ash is very manipulative and secretive with Koi, and his nature really is a turn off.

Well back to Koi, it's not like I don't like his character, I love him, actually. I love both Ash and Koi. Especially pre time skip Ash and Koi were both very cute and likable. But things started falling apart bit by bit because of Dominic Miller wanting to separate the two. The pre-timeskip part is my favorite part of the novel. It felt really soft and sweet and I genuinely enjoyed how Koi got more and more comfortable with Ashley and how he made Ashley slowly let his guards down around Koi. Their love felt so special and pure.

Apart from the exceptions, the moments in Ashley's internal monologue about locking Koi up. That really gave me so much anxiety. And also how Ash had almost 🍇d Koi not one but twice, I felt like my heart was about to pop out.

I kept muttering to myself “No Ash no! Don't mess up please. Don't hurt Koi.”

And honestly I don't think Ashley could even live knowing the fact he hurt or forced Ashley. He would actually go insane. He's so insane about Koi, I love it and hate it. Like yeah he's so gentle, loving, caring and protective of Koi. But his love is also very possessive, obsessive and manipulative which actually is insanity. I really can't understand how Koi doesn't realize it. This is why Koi's naivety annoys me in the later parts of the novel. But there were times he actually stood his ground, so I don't hate Koi. Both Koi and Ashley are very flawed human beings. Considering both of them had faced childhood traumas and Ashley had his brain damaged due to not draining his pheromones, it's understandable to some extent. I wouldn't call their relationship fully a healthy one. Both of them are very very codependent on each other's existence, to the point Ashley had even considered once that he'd kill himself if something ever happened to Koi while giving birth.

I really hate that Ashley is not honest with Koi and manipulates him. Even if he revealed his true twisted intentions, I don't think Koi would dislike him or even remotely think of Ashley as strange. Because that's how much Koi is also obsessed and in love with Ashley. I don't understand why Ash just doesn't trust Koi. On the other hand, Koi trusts Ash too blindly. At least he has Ariel who sometimes gives him some reality check, or else he'd be completely clueless.

Despite all the messiness in their relationship, I still think they really genuinely love each other. I could feel the rawness of emotions in this story. Which really made it feel real.

Now onto the side characters! I think Ariel and Ms. Bernice are my favorite female characters ever in a mlm novel. Ariel's no nonsense attitude is so admirable. She does not put up with anyone's bullshit and isn't afraid to call out her friends. And she also stands up for them. I just love her through and through. I love Koi and Ariel's friendship.

And Ms. Bernice, I know she's also a flawed character, but I still loved her presence in the story. And especially after her backstory, it made me sympathize with her and she apologized genuinely too. I really liked her development. Even though she wasn't any major character.

And now, onto the Parenthood of Ash and Koi. Not Koi wanting to have 12 children lmao and Ash only wanting 1 😭. They ended up having exactly half of what Koi wanted. The segment where Koi just kept getting pregnant and Ash kept spiralling, that was funny I'm not gonna lie.

But in all seriousness, I don't think both of them were mature enough to raise that many kids and it shows in how their children turned out, plus the extreme alpha problem with each of them (except Bliss). I feel like their childhood and relationship with their parents reflected their parenting methods.

Koi had an abusive father. He lived his whole life trying to be invisible, trying to avoid his father because he knows he's hated by his father. That's why he wants to unconditionally love his children no matter what. But in return, he doesn't understand how to discipline children.

On the other hand, Ash also had an abusive father, though it wasn't physical like Koi's. Dominic was controlling, treating Ash like possession, bounding him within rules. And Ash did the opposite of what Koi did. He chose the harsher way. Yes, he did what he could do to discipline his children after Grayson nearly almost killed Koi. But I think both of them didn't connect with their children like they needed to. Ashley literally just accepted in his mind that if his children are extreme alphas, they are already a lost cause. He didn't give his children a chance. And Koi couldn't raise the kids properly either. But it was clearly possible, because we see Chase having a normal relationship with Josh in KMIYC despite his extreme alpha trait. Chase's bad attitude only stemmed from his childhood where he felt like nobody understood him. Yes, Ashley and Koi both had tried, but that child's needs weren't met. Ashley didn't really understand emotions properly.

They had failed Grayson too, along with Stacy. Like, they were born as extreme alphas, but they were just children, I feel like Koi's inability to discipline his children and Ashley's inability to connect with them caused what Stacy and Grayson became. They never helped the twins to try to learn and understand emotions.

And onto Nathaniel, he's the scariest one among the siblings. He carries on the Law firm legacy. And from his interactions with Ashley we can tell he's not right in the head either. Even Ashley gets chills from being near Nathaniel, THE Ashley Miller. And from the hints in the novel, it seems that Nathaniel has probably inherited traits from his grandfather, Dominic Miller. And that makes me all the more curious to read [Run away if you can]. But before that, I gotta read [Eat me up if you can].

Anyways, that was a long rant. But in all seriousness, I liked this story a lot. Ashley, despite his insanity, is super hot lmao. The spice was great too, but it got a little repetitive with the whole leg obsession. I'm ngl, in the end I just skimmed through those chapters because it felt the same.

So..

[Lick me up if you can] gets a solid 7 from me. How much will you give it?

And fun fact: The reason I started lmuiyc is because of Ash and Koi's cameo in the new dmiyc manhwa.

I'm excited to read all the other novels in the series. I'll come with a review each time. And kmiyc review coming soon.

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What is the highlighted sentence supposed to mean? And what exactly is probability and plausibility? I am having a hard time understanding the concept of probability and plausibility.