Lie to Love (2021)

Enemies at the Beginning, Lovers at the End.

I started Lie to Love on a whim. It basically went like this, “Ooh, Cheng Xiao and Luo Yunxi? Cool, I’ll watch.” I wasn’t looking for much, I admit I went into this drama for the visuals. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. I’m going to get this out of the way, if you’re looking for Cdramas similar to A Love So Beautiful or My Little Happiness, don’t dilly-dally here because Lie to Love isn’t your best option for Next Fluffy Cdrama Rom-Com. BUT of course, the audience is provided with plenty of sweet scenes that makes you yearn for more.

The story begins with an amazing scene of ‘bad-ass’ Su Xieyi (Cheng Xiao) on some under-cover mission…and she has amnesia? The drama isn’t as tropey as it seems to be in the beginning. It does have amnesia, the concept of Enemies to Lovers, but instead, the flower blooms into a drama full of secrets and investigation, with a huge shocking moment that either makes you want to hate the story or feel even more compelled. In my case, these twists and turns caught my attention, and like the characters in the drama, I was always on my toes for the next scenes and episodes. Again, side characters do pose some problems in the leads getting their Happily Ever After, however, the difficulty is more directed towards power struggle rather than the leads losing their trust towards one another. Like many dramas, Lie to Love is like a story in a fantasy world, the details in this drama are not going to happen in real life. This is what makes the plot intriguing. The investigation aspect is the bright cherry on top of an ice cream scoop.

Acting/Cast - 9.0

The actors’ eyes say everything, they paint love, worry, desperation, shock. This was especially evident in Luo Yunxi. Li Zeliang (ML) could be standing on the concrete sidewalk, and you would still be able to see the emotion pouring from his eyes. As for the character himself, he has his setbacks, but he proved himself worthy of standing amongst the top leaders of the hotel business industry. His moves weren’t unpredictable, but rather deserving of applause. Luo Yunxi brought a new aura into any room or scene he was in. Besides his refined looks and dazzling smile, his confident and intelligent image enhanced his character.

On the other hand, while Cheng Xiao can still be a newbie in the drama industry, she had been improving endlessly. As opposed to her character in the popular drama Falling Into Your Smile, Su Xieyi (FL) carries a stronger air of dominance. She, unfortunately, wove some disappointment into my intrigued soul, however, this feeling was quickly wiped away. The small loss in her Strong FL spark was replenished as Su Xieyi made her solid decisions. This was more of a small bump in the plot roller coaster rather than Cheng Xiao’s acting, which she did wonderfully in fulfilling. Su Xieyi isn’t a very complex character, however, the audience received a mixture of determination and care from her.

Luo Yunxi and Cheng Xiao’s pairing was satisfying. Their chemistry was not ‘The Bomb’, however, it was powerful but also cute. (The eye candy as well!) The sweet scenes were especially fun to watch, as Zeliang and Xieyi is such a lovable couple. Of course, I think it’s safe to say that a big portion of the audience was demanding more fluffy sides to the story.

With only a few important side characters, it was fun watching character progressions, whether it be the playful musician Oscar or the talented and poised Shi Chuchu. As much as side characters are often disregarded under the spotlight of the main leads, these supporting characters play a major role in the progression of the plot. Of course, some of their actions were in the wrong, but these were the steps to achieving a rolling plot. In the end, I was more than satisfied with many of the characters’ endings, especially with those who ‘grew up’, who became better people than before.

Music - 9.0

It’s not rare to see me vibing to fun and cute Cdrama songs, and even more so with the addition of Lie to Love’s OST. Nothing much to say about the soundtrack besides the fact that I love it. Another surprise? Luo Yunxi sings a song! (It’s beautiful.)

~
Overall, Lie to Love was a fun and enthralling watch with a blend of both sweet romance and captivating mystery. Characters had secretive pasts and unspeakable confessions, however, they were all given the endings they deserved. Production was high-budget, which was clearly evident in costumes and props. Lie to Love was a breath of fresh air among the cutesy rom-coms that I’ve watched.

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A moment might be short but it's strong enough to illuminate a lifetime

Lie to Love is a contemporary rom-com which starts with many elements of revenge, amnesia, a cool FL and mysterious ML and soon takes you on a romantic voyage.

What I liked (Pros) —
➢ It has the right amount of mystery and everyone plays it cool, like they know each other's secrets but everyone is good at pretending

➢ The whole tree, camping and rock climbing concept was something I really liked… that could be made into a whole different drama and it would be so fun to watch that… I was enjoying the couple's flashbacks more than their current romance…
➢ The main leads, Li Ze Ziang and Su Xie Yi's chemistry stands out differently…

➢ The OSTs, even Luo Yunxi sang one song but Cheng Xiao also has good vocals, no idea why they didn't give her any song… or maybe those songs didn't suit her style…

➢ Oscar, Ohh! Such a nice friend and he is such a sweet character and "Chestnut" is the cutest part of this drama… he deserved some more screen time

➢ Acting was well done by the main important characters ~ Luo Yunxi, Cheng Xiao, Gao Han, Tian Yi Yong, Zhao Zheng and Wang Zi Yun…


What I didn't liked (Cons) —
⚘ FL's character was so confusing for me… they raised my bar too high with the first episode, she was flipping her clothes on air like that, it looked damn cool… but what to do with the great start as later Xie Yi loses her charm… like you went there with a big task… with this and that plans… but you end up depending on the male lead totally… thankfully her role got a little better towards the end again…

⚘ I feel sad for those people (including me) who came in this drama for "pretended amnesia" plot… cause that stayed for very less episodes only…

⚘ I feel like this base story (which is given as sypnosis here in MDL) had so much potential but what they actually showed in the drama had spoiled it… if they gave little less importance to Romance, this would have been more better…

⚘ there comes a span of boring episodes in between, around 15-24 where I was skipping most of the things…


Music/OSTs
❆ ♪Circle Of love♪ — Tien Chong (loved this song! )
❆ ♪Because of you♪ — Luo Yunxi (the song is filled with over sweetness. With this song in Yunxi's voice, I was getting "Love is Sweet" drama vibes… )
❆ ♪Memory of last life♪ — Curley Gao ( her high notes seem so natural, she sings every song in such a mysterious way )
❆ ♪Your moon♪ — Ariel Ann
❆ ♪How are you♪ — Wang Sulong
❆ ♪there is light in the tree hole♪ — Li Runqi
❆ ♪Venus♪ — By2 ( another pretty song with pretty lyrics and pretty voices… one of the singers was giving me "Frozen" vibes )
❆ ♪My sun♪ — Si Nan

… this drama really had many songs… and these songs really saved many points from me… "Circle of love" and "Venus" are my favorites out of these…

I enjoyed watching this at some points while I got bored at some… won't be rewatching this… So, overall, a mysterious drama that will reveal things to you on the surface but hang on, there's more to the story… it's mixed, sometimes very good and sometimes just a watchable drama…

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Better than I expected

I started watching this drama just because of Luo Yun Xi (Leo Luo) and Cheng Xiao pairing. I just wanted to check how well it worked. The whole drama turned out to be better than I expected.

Plot (8.5 stars)
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I am quite disappointed by the plot. The synopsis had much potential than the actual drama. The romance is given more importance than mystery. The amnesia plot was rather disappointing as it only lasted for a few episodes. The truth that LZL was not instigator wasn't revealed little by little. So, the SXY's hatred towards LZL did not last for long. As said in the synopsis, SXY didn't have to try 'desperately' to save their relationship as LZL was always ready to go back into her arms.
The romance plot was quite interesting. It is not much of a 'hard-earned romance' as it is mentioned in the synopsis. The only disappointment is that it was there throughout the drama, for almost the beigining to the end. Had they given more importance to the mystery pIot, the romance could have been more sweeter. Also, have not seen much dramas like this, in which the FL usually initiates kiss.
The drama had many nice quotes too..

Acting or Cast (9 stars)
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I would have given the cast 9.5 or 10 stars if not there were scenes where the FL cries lol. Cheng Xiao had improved but she has yet to study how to handle emotional scenes. Yun Xi nailed his character perfecty as usual. The chemistry between the leads was quite lacking. And there is Gao Han and Tian Yi Tong. Their acting also was really nice and I really liked Gao Han's character very much.
Then, Chestnut. I don't know if he could be said as a pact of Cast haha.. He was the cutest of all and the most sensible one!

Music (10 stars)
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The music was superb. The title song really blended with the theme of the drama. Music was played exactly where it was needed. Some songs I like:
Meory of Last Life by Curley Gao
Circle of Love by Tien Chong
Venus by By2
This drama had many songs and I like most of the songs in English.

Rewatch value (5.5 stars)
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The rewatch value is actually quite low. I don't think I would rewatch this drama at any point of time.

Overall (7.5 stars)
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I liked the drama eventhough it is not one of my top favourites. Overall, it turned out to be better than I expected. I am also at ease seeing Cheng Xiao improve in this drama. This drama is an enjoyable watch.

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Very disappointing build up

When i started this drama, i had high expectations and somehow in the middle the plot line became boring, draggy and completely flat. And then towards the end the suspense suddenly picked up from nowhere and once again had me at the edge of my seat. It could have well ended with 16 episodes to be very honest but somehow the draggy scenes just kept coming. The story line was good and what kept me going was to figure out who actually pushed the FL's dad to suicide and what was the backstory behind ML's amputated leg.
The romance for me felt flat. The kissing scenes between the ML and FL was terrible in the begin and somehow it got a bit better at the end. Their chemistry was off too. By the end i just wanted to fast forward and wrap it up, and that is exactly what i did.

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This drama turned out so GOOD

Plot is fast pace, no “filler” plot, not many stupid scenes or slow-motion as we find in many C dramas. I always waiting for the next episode. Don’t miss this Gem if you like rom-coms drama with a real plot. I consider Love is Sweet/LIS (same production company, same ML and support actors) is pure rom-coms, I like LIS but I like Lie to Love MUCH BETTER for the PLOT.

Lie to Love has many advantages: All the character IQ is logical, you don’t have weak FL. Both ML & FL are good looking. Cinematography is more beautiful than many C drama on par with LIS. Both ML and Villains have good matching IQ that makes their attack and counterattack worth watching. Wonderful OST. Clothing is really good for everyone not just our ML & FL.

Acting review 2nd most important after Plot for me: Luo Yunxi again nails Li Zeliang 1000%. Every stage is performed well (from weak to counter attack stages). LYX acting has a lot of depth & detail and I found to be so rare among C drama actor his age. What makes his performance brilliant is he brings you into LiZeliang world, you smile when you see him smiling, you are emphatic seeing him hurt, and you feel his pain when he is in pain. This is what a good actor is, transport you inside their character story and life. On the support actors, 90% of them are great, Villain Uncle, Aunty, Chu2, Yi Song even the Child actress perform well. My only complaint is our FL. Her performance is not stable and lacking emotions, some parts okay but others rather hard to follow. CX is beautiful many said she improved, but is it enough to be FL? However overall, ML and other actor superb acting and fast pace plot actually making you not paying much attention to her acting. So overall impact is fine.

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A must watch drama

I'll admit, at first I only watched for the male lead. He was in "Love is Sweet" and "Ashes of Love" (which are both great dramas, btw) so I only watched this one for him at first. However, one episode in and I was hooked because of quite a few things:
1. The female lead was strong and smart, not so dependent
2. The chemistry was top notch between the two leads
3. The plot was definitely going to be interesting from how the first episode went
4. Luo yunxi with glasses heh
So, one episode in, and I don't have to worry much about no chemistry, a whiny and dumb female lead, and the story seemed to be very promising.
Now, that was only the first episode.
Having finishing the whole series, I can tell you that the story will not be letting you down. "Lie to Love" mastered having romance intertwined with business affairs. Personally, I think the business scenes and lovey dovey scenes were quite balanced, and this made it quite believable, as some CEOs in dramas seem to have no work at all. Overall it wasn't too cliche, (for example an evil mother in law, or how the male lead miraculously appears to save the day every single time the female lead is in trouble) and it does give you quite a few sweet scenes (that make you feel very single).
The flashbacks and added events in the story made the watcher hang on and sometimes sit at the edge of their seats. With each episode, the plot became a little more complex and made you dive even deeper into the story. What can I say? I was hooked every second and didn't skip one scene (even the parts with the second female and male leads) which makes this drama the first one to achieves this feat.
Ah, one last thing, the female and male lead both very much understand each other. No silly misunderstandings (for the most part) that last like half the drama (the times there are rather silly misunderstandings is cleared quickly)
Anyways, if you are looking for a light and sweet romance drama, this is not for you. However, if you prefer a strong and smart female lead and a very interesting love and business drama, go for it.
So, if you've made it to the end, what are you doing? Go watch!

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A Gripping Start

Lie To Love starts off strongly with a heavy dose of suspense. You are not told why the male protagonist is frail and crippled. You also do not know what exactly he is up to except for the general idea that he is against his uncle. The female lead also has a mysterious air about her which the male lead finds intriguing as he tries to unravel her background and motive.

Therefore, the story is pretty riveting and the tussle between the male lead and his uncle is like a chess game with moves and counter-moves to bring down each other. That is until the story takes a different turn in the last 10 episodes or so which kind of mar the strong start to me.

A Great Plot That Is Almost Well-Executed (Spoilers Alert!)
In essence, Lie To Love is about seeking justice. Both the leads are investigating the deaths of their own father and want to bring the culprits to book. The evildoer is identified early in the drama and a lot of screen time is used to show viewers how both camps try to outwit each other. If you like plots with strategies like Fall In Love and Stand By Me, this would be something that might interest you.

However, once the first evildoer is caught in Episode 19, that gripping feeling dissipates and is replaced with some level of annoyance and impatience. In short, there are 2 villains in the drama. The ultimate villain is not revealed until the first one is taken out. It is not a whodunnit kind of drama but more on how these villains are eventually caught for their crimes.

So, the first arc of taking down the first villain is well-executed. It is all about greed for him and hence, all his moves are very rational. As such, it is exciting to watch all the plotting with some tense moments. But the second arc has a darker undertone as the villain is delusional and obsessed over the female lead. He is shown to be so manipulative that he could mislead 3 women to trust what he says. That is where the annoyance comes in because these women including the female lead are then reduced to being too naive and trusting.

A Creepy Villain
The ultimate villain has plenty of screen time in the drama and he is shown to be controlling, manipulative as well as creepy. What this means is you would be feeling impatient to have him arrested and disappear for good. It is the kind of drama whereby the villain is loathsome to watch. I guess the actor really nailed his role as a psychopath to make us hate him as required. Therefore, just be aware that Lie To Love isn’t exactly a breezy watch as the strong villain that will increasingly get on your nerves as the drama progresses.

Average Chemistry
The acting is on par to me for this drama. Leo Luo’s skinny appearance alone makes his character more realistic and convincing as someone who has just recovered from a serious injury. He displays intelligence and resilience through his eyes and pensive expressions. I think Leo Luo has always been great at melancholic roles including the one in Princess Silver.

Cheng Xiao definitely has less acting experience than her co-star but she still did reasonably well to me in Lie To Love. At least, I think she did better here than in Falling Into Your Smile whereby her acting seemed rather bland. She has more varied expressions here but the stiffness is still there at times. Hence, there will be emotional scenes whereby the acting looks rather forced.

This pairing doesn’t have full-blown chemistry to me. Perhaps Leo Luo’s partnership with Bai Lu in Love Is Sweet is too mesmerizing that it is hard for another actress to match up to that standard with him. His chemistry with Cheng Xiao is passable and I think the nature of the story makes this factor less of an issue. If Lie To Love had been a pure romance drama, then perhaps the lack of a sizzling chemistry will be more obvious.

My Verdict – Worth The Time
Overall, Lie To Love is a drama that deserves a watch. The suspenseful nature of the story will keep you going. You would want to know why certain things happened and how they happened. The thrill is there when the protagonists and antagonists are trying to outwit each other. Although the last third of the story degenerates into a psychopath’s obsession, it is not something that would render it unwatchable. It still has a logical flow to the story and a sensible reason why it happened. There are still exciting and tense moments to engage viewers. It is only that the villain is a hateful character to watch.

Also, just be aware that Lie To Love isn’t a fluffy romance drama like Love At Night or Once We Get Married. The romance shares the limelight with the fights between the leads and the villains. There are sweets moments and kisses in the drama but nothing too steamy like in You Are My Glory. You will also find the typical romance drama tropes of fake amnesia, fake relationship, and hiding-the-truth-to-protect-her excuse. But on the positive side, they don’t dominate the story and the romance as these issues are settled pretty quickly.

Before I end, I would give this Lie To Love review, a score of 7.5/10. I would say watch it because it is intriguing with enough excitement. I also don’t think you will be tempted to drop this halfway through because it does evoke a certain level of suspense and curiosity. But once you are done, the rewatch value would not be high either because the suspense is gone and this is not a typical Chinese romance drama that relies on sweetness and fluff to drive it.

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Suspenseful Love Story

I thought this series will be full of painful revenge, but not. After all, it's still quite emotional one. Lie to Love has quite unique subgenre that surprisingly suspense. The flow of the story is nice enough, uphill and downhill like riding roller coaster. However, many watchers feel disappointed by eps 20 something, which is a downhill of the plot by adding the 'misunderstanding' that often happened in c-drama. Well, I'm a bit bored in some part of it, but actually it provided the mixed feelings, so don't worry.

As for the casting, many people think that not match each other like Gao Han as Leo Luo's bestfriend. But, hey, I have to tell that Leo Luo's always nailed any roles he played, that's why the chemistry's actually very well done! For Cheng Xiao, she improved quite a lot. For all the support roles, I've no critics, they acted really well.

There's no childish FL here, but the impulsive FL got me irritated. However, that's what makes this show more thrilling, lol.

Heyyy, I love the songs in this series so much, especially the opening theme and the one sang by Xiaoxiao.

Rewatch value 5:5 according to personal taste.

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Avoid!

Imagine the worst plot you possibly can & then spend a month to find more ways to make it even worse. That is the plot of Lie to Love. Romance could have still saved the drama, but unlike in Love is Sweet even the romance is pretty weak in this one. Cheng Xiao should just stick to singing, I wouldn't dare to assume that she has no acting talent, but she does not even seem to make an effort, her boredom on set is almost palpable. I'm sure it surprised no one that she has no chemistry with Luo Yun Xi.

I've read people saying that the first 20? episodes were quite good, it only become bad after, but I cannot disagree more. I'm honestly surprised I have not dropped this, sure things get even worse later, but it was never good.

Originally I was prepared to talk about love triangles, badminton, the randomly found hedgehog, or all the "barging in" that's happened in the drama, but I've decided to just end it here, this drama is not worth a more elaborate review. 3/10 :poopy emote:

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True to expectations.

LZL calm & strategist personality is Worthy of being ML. Luo Yunxi nailed it.❤

FL is cute & stiff, but its suits her character. Oscar, YS, CC are pretty likable characters. Always there for ready to help LZL. Love their friendship. Soundtrack is beautifully mystical. It gives shiver & Suits well with drama plot.

I wish writers let remain HJ as villain lead, cause of HJ & LZL Competitive interactions, 1st half was better, (2nd half is good too-If ignore MH. His frustrating obsession made ratings drop.)

Give it a chance. 'Lie to Love' Deserves better, especially cause of (ML) LZL, his friends Oscar, YS & little Chestnut. They made it very enjoyable to watch.❤❤❤

(9/10)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Mixed feelings!

Well honestly I am not sure how I feel about this. When I read the synopsis and went to the drama I was expecting mystery and that amnesia plot but both of it lasted for few episodes.
The story kinda felt dragged to me like it could have ended 5-10 episodes before making it an interesting watch. The character of female lead went from independent strong headed individual to dependant and it did mess up the story for me.

The acting both of the leads are good. The romance is there , the kind of you expect from Luo Yunxi ( love is sweet , TTEOTM) was missing. Again their love story was sweet but it felt disconnecting at times when female lead decided to be ignorant most of the times.
I liked their past mountain experience and how they connected that to when she was buying the painting. A small moment but it did make me smile.

Antagonists were the suprise element for me in this story as to how FL'S sister and best friend were framed and it felt suprising but rushed and unnecessary.

I went into the drama with alot of expectations but was slightly disappointed.

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