Title: My In-Laws Are Obsessed With Me

Author/Original Story: Han Yoon Seol 

Artist: seungu

Rating: Teen

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Reincarnation

Hosted On: Webtoon

Official Link(s): Official Korean, Official English

Official Summary:

Pereshati Jahardt is a count’s daughter who got remarried after her mother’s passing. When her father died, he left her all his fortune. Then, Pereshati’s greedy stepmother and stepsister conspire with Pereshati’s lover to kill her. However, under mysterious circumstances, Pereshati is brought back to life and travels back in time before her murder. To buy some time before getting her revenge, Pereshati visits the handsome yet notorious grand duke, Therdeo Lapileon, to marry him. During her visit, she uncovers a horrifying secret of his family. How will Pereshati deal with it? Will she be able to take her revenge?

My Thoughts:

An adaptation of the Korean novel with the same name, My In-Laws Are Obsessed With Me is yet another one of my favorite webtoons out right now. This webtoon is like… several of my favorite tropes all smushed together in a sexy trenchcoat.

It’s a reincarnation webtoon, of course, with Pereshati – and I think… I would like to know more about how this character got that name – dying once at the hands of her abusive family and then coming back several years earlier with the intent to fix things in her miserable life. Then it’s a marriage of convenience storyline with Pereshati proposing to the cursed grand duke Therdeo Lapileon so that he can protect her from her family while she boosts his family’s reputation. Then there’s a found(ish) family. Mostly, it’s that Therdeo’s family – at almost every single level – is actually obsessed with Pereshati and want her in their family forever. There’s also a mystery component as Pereshati quickly realizes that the poison that killed her in her first life might be comprised of the Lapileon family’s cursed blood… something that should remain in their veins.

 The story begins with Pereshati’s proposal and just steamrolls on from there. After Pereshati wakes up after dying in her previous life, she resolves that things have to change. She needs to be protected from her opportunistic, evil family and the most powerful man in the land after the emperor himself seems to be the cold and cursed grand duke. Problem is? Therdeo doesn’t exactly want a wife… due in part to the way that his family’s curse – kept secret from everyone – is that their blood kills people who aren’t part of the family on their fathers’ sides. That’s part of why he accidentally-on-purpose feeds her his blood. The first time is definitely an accident, but then when she comes back to life in her grave – which is wild – he then feeds her more of his blood?

I find My In-Laws Are Obsessed With Me to be incredibly compelling because of the way that Therdeo is just… so cold to start. Truly, Therdeo is one of my favorite webtoon male leads because he’s like a block of ice thawing out. He’s a sexy duke with deep feelings that has been frozen underneath a deep layer of ice – caused, ultimately by the curse and the reactions other people have/the impact the curse has on others. It’s not just Pereshati’s growing feelings for him – and his for her – that help thaw him out, but the realization that he’s been holding his heir Celphi at a distance and hurting him. Watching him slowly awaken these softer emotions while turning his ice upon his enemies is just so supremely satisfying.

I’m farther in the novel than the webtoon currently is in English and let me just say, I am so excited to see how the team at Webtoon adapts certain scenes for the webtoon. Pereshati is a really cool character who presents this very polished public persona in order to manage public image and not Therdeo’s family down… but when she snaps? And she snaps repeatedly… it is glorious. But then there are the little moments of her falling for Therdeo, of her claiming Celphi as her son, of quiet intimacies. These are moments that take up just a little bit of the narrative, but wind up being just… really valuable to the developing characterization.

If you like family dramas, marriages of convenience, and a dark fantasy mystery, this webtoon is actually right up your alley! And, honestly, I think it’s cheaper to get the webtoon adaptation than the novel! Even if it’s a slower pace since most of the novel is out on Yonder!