By Corina De Armas for Aber Stoat Books
Rating: 6 out of 10
Spice Level: 1 out of 5
Ages 13 to 17, Grades 8 to 12
Cover: A
Su-Ae is dating Minu, but he’s literally the worst boyfriend. Instead of acting like a loving boyfriend, he constantly belittles and humiliates her, behaving more like her bully than her partner. He acts more like her bully. Even his best friend, Eunhyeok, can see right through Minu’s awful behavior. Su-Ae’s closest confidant is Ra-im, the girl with a difficult upbringing that Su-Ae considers her close enough to be a sister since she has been living with Su-Ae’s family.
Everything changes when Su-Ae opens her locker and discovers a mysterious phone filled with anonymous messages and an album of stalker photos of herself. The sender taunts her relentlessly about how pathetic she is for being with Minu.
During physical education dodgeball, she is paired with Eunhyeok while Minu is excited to be paired with another girl and instructs that girl to aim for Su-Ae's legs; he’s the worst. When Su-Ae counteracts, hitting the girl in the head, Minu scolds Su-Ae in front of everyone, but Eunhyeok comes to her rescue and reminds them of the rules of the game and breaks up the tension.
One day, Su-Ae catches Eunhyeok peering into a classroom. Shocked, he tries to stop her! The betrayal is real, but Su-Ae finally gets a spine and stands up for herself.
This series had me hooked from the very beginning! Between the mysterious messages, messy relationships, and jaw-dropping betrayals, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Su-Ae is easy to root for, especially as she slowly gains confidence and refuses to let others define her worth. And Eunhyeok? The way he quietly supports her while calling out Minu’s nonsense had me cheering.
The beginning panels zooming in on people’s love meters confused me and gave me Love Alarm vibes.
If you love romance packed with drama, friendship, betrayals, mystery, and a heroine learning to choose herself, this one is absolutely worth picking up. The cliffhanger had me immediately reaching for the next volume! (6/10)
Tropes
Bully Romance (often high school/college era)
Stalker
Love Triangle
Betrayal
Trigger Warnings
Bullying
Thank you to Kkokkalee, Webtoon Unscrolled, and NetGalley. I received advance review copies for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Bookshop.org (Print)
Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boys by Faith Erin Hicks (print)
Please Be My Star by Victoria Grace Elliott (print)
Fall In Love, You False Angels 1 by Coco Uzuki (print)
True Beauty Vol 5 by Yaongyi (print)
More Titles by Kkokkalee & Dledumb
Operation: True Love Vol 2 (print)
Publisher: WEBTOON Unscrolled
ISBN: 9781834110363
288 pages
Categories:
Young Adult Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Romance
Young Adult Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Coming Of Age
Young Adult Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Humorous
Perfect for fans of romantic dramas with hints of the supernatural, this binge-worthy graphic novel follows high schooler Su-ae as her life takes a turn for the unexpected after she discovers a sentient flip phone in her locker.
Phones are perfect for sending messages, snapping photos, and most importantly, talking to your friends. One thing Su-ae didn’t account for, however, was that her phone would be able to talk back.
Su-ae discovers that Jellypop, a flip phone stored in her locker, is sentient—and Jellypop has a lot to say about Su-ae’s love life. High school romances are never easy, and Su-ae’s relationship with her nonchalant boyfriend seems to be going nowhere.
Lacking the charisma of her step-sister Ra-im is one thing, but seeing the growing sparks between her and Minu just adds salt to injury. It’s up to Jellypop to help Su-ae navigate the peaks and pits of teenage love, and finally get the high school love story she deserves!
This volume collects episodes 1 to 10 of the sensational WEBTOON comic with over 260 million reads, Operation: True Love.
Author Bio:
kkokkalee is a South Korean comic writer. They launched Operation: True Love on WEBTOON in 2022.
Author Residence: South Korea
Dledumb is a South Korean artist. Dledumb has been serializing Operation: True Love on WEBTOON since 2022, where they are responsible for the artwork.
Social: instagram.com/dle.dumb
Illustrator Residence: South Korea
Please “heart” this post to help others find us!
Links in the post support our indie bookshop.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.