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Title:  Goong Vol 3

Author:  Park SoHee

Publisher:  Yen Press

ISBN: 9780759528727

May Contain Spoilers

ChaeKyung is trying to settle into her new life at the palace, but with her sarcastic husband constantly giving her grief, she’s finding herself missing her old life.  Things have certainly become much more complicated since she married Shin and became the Crown Princess.  She’s fallen in love with Shin, much to her dismay, but his constant teasing is driving her to distraction.  With Yul adding to her problems by inviting Shin’s old girlfriend to a party, she is worried that Shin still loves Hyo-Rin.  How is she going to survive her new life, now that she’s in love with the Crown Prince?

Goong is starting to pile on the drama, and the series is becoming a lot more fun because of it.  ChaeKyung is caught in a whirlwind, first being forced to marry Shin, and then having to leave her family and move into the palace.  Everything is different for her now, and she has to watch what she says and does because she lives in a fishbowl.  To add to her stress level, she has fallen for Shin, and with his unending attempts to get the best of her, her heart is in for a rough ride.  Add in Yul and his scheming mother, the former Crown Princess, and ChaeKyung has a busy life ahead of her maneuvering through the palace intrigue.

While ChaeKyung’s clumsy attempts to hid her feelings from Shin are entertaining, I am enjoying the power struggles between the adults in Goong even more.   Yul’s mother is determined to have her son back in power, and Shin’s father seems to be helping her out.  When they were younger, she chose the Crown Prince over the calling of her heart, and once Yul’s father died, she was forced to taste the bitterness of regret.  Not only was she forced to leave the palace and give up her title, she also lost out on the love of her life.  Shin’s mother isn’t too happy with all the attention her former rival is receiving, and she doesn’t hesitate to let her husband know how she feels.  She understands that there is a danger to allowing the former Crown Princess to return to the palace, and that Shin’s position will be a little more unstable with some of Yul’s former regard returned to him. 

There are a lot of subplots to keep things hopping,  and the relationship between ChaeKyung and Shin is fiery and extremely volatile.  They make some progress, think they understand each other a little better, and then their self-doubts and egos rear up and push them apart again.  Add in all of the outside distractions, and Goong promises to give them and their quest for happiness a long, hard run.  My interest in the series was tepid at best, but the increased complications, which promise to only get more trying, have me looking forward to future volumes. 

Though I don’t care for the superdeformed art that Park SoHee throws in whenever ChaeKyung is trying to hide her feelings from Shin, the rest of art is starting to make a big impression.  It is very elegant, capturing fine details in folds of clothing and locks of hair, and highlighting a wide range of emotions as ChaeKyung struggles to not be overwhelmed by her new circumstances.  With all of the beautiful people she is suddenly surrounded by, it’s no wonder that she is feeling a bit out of her element.  The illustrations of all of the hunky guys have a dream-like quality to them, almost as if ChaeKyung blinks, she will wake up and discover everything was just a figment of her imagination.

Goong is shaping up to be a powerhouse of emotional teen turmoil that will appeal to fans of Boys Over Flowers.  

Grade:  B