Inés Valeztena, daughter of a powerful noble family, and Cárcel Escalante, cousin to the crown prince, have been engaged since they were six years old. Their long-delayed marriage has been the talk of high society for years, and although her fiancé is the empire's most notorious playboy, Inés seems inexplicably content to keep the arrangement. In fact, she encourages him to do whatever he pleases, even after their wedding, as long as they maintain order among the nobles.

What the gossips—and Cárcel—don't know is that Inés has plans for her marriage of obligation, and they have nothing to do with love. But when Cárcel suddenly declares he is ready to reform his rakish ways, marry immediately, and prove to Inés that he is worthy of her true affection, she must keep her wits about her or risk losing everything she's spent lifetimes of heartache and desperation to obtain.

The Broken Ring has story by Chokam and art by Cheong-Gwa, based on a novel by Chacha Kim. Translation by Tappytoon. Published by Inklore (October 21, 2025). Rated T+.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

If Roses and Champagne made some poor choices in adapting the original novels, The Broken Ring is here to show them how it's done. Based on the books of the same name by Chacha Kim (and available in English as e-books), this makes the very wise decision to cushion Inés' horrific past lives with Cárcel's much lighter story. As far as he knows, Inés is just the weird girl who proposed to him when they were six and who now doesn't seem to care at all about either him or their impending marriage. Sure, he enrolled in the military academy and then enlisted in the navy to avoid marrying her when they both came of age, but now that she's seen him making out with another woman and said she didn't care, he's suddenly invested. After all, he's never seriously considered a future without her, so how could she possibly be so blasé?

If you've read the plot summary, you know that the answer is “because this isn't her first life and the other two were unbearably tragic.” Neither Kim's originals nor Chokam's adaptation shy away from what Inés went through as the wife of the crown prince and her efforts to find a new trajectory, and it's not surprising (although still horrifying) that she ended both previous lives by suicide, one with a side order of infanticide. If she seems “mature” in her third life, it's because she's burdened by the memories of before, and no one deserves that. Although she doesn't say it outright, it's fairly plain that she's chosen Cárcel because he's got something of an empty-headed playboy reputation, and that feels safe, like he's someone who can be counted on to basically leave her alone.

The emotional work of this volume is two-fold. Inés is still struggling with her two failed lives and the baggage she's hauling from them, which makes her not trust her fiancé at all. Cárcel, meanwhile, is suddenly discovering a burning desire for Inés to care about him at all, coupled with a physical component that has his penis “malfunctioning” (as he puts it) unless it's his fiancée he's thinking of. He's pushing closer, she's backing up, but aware that there's a wall with the word “wedding” right behind her, and watching the two try to find a way to make this work is equal parts frustrating and entertaining. It's heavy, but in a good way.

Another appealing element is the setting: The Broken Ring is set in a fantasy version of 19th-century Spain, which isn't something I've seen before. Spanish is sprinkled about in the text, and a few elements of Spanish style from the early 19th century make their way into the art. Add to that gorgeous use of color and this is as much fun to look at as it is to read, with the caveat that the art doesn't shy away from the darker portions of the story, either. If you can stomach those, this is worth reading – and I'll extend that recommendation to include Kim's original novels as well.

Bolts
Rating:

There is such a thing as being too mysterious, right? The Broken Ring is a gorgeous story with every page being filled to the brim with so much detail and beauty. While the character designs can be very basic, especially when it comes to the men, as they all look the same outside of slightly different hair colors, the overall aesthetic of the panel layouts and the backgrounds is gorgeous. This is a story that really tries to highlight the glamour and frightening reality that comes with living in high society. The way that the artist utilizes colors and black to convey those specific states of mind is fascinating. There are even points where I wasn't sure if what I was watching was real or not, which gets us into the main character's state of mind.

Cárcel is someone who is forced into a marriage that he never asked for. It was an unconventional circumstance, and seeing him wrestle with the entitlement that he has come to know was interesting. He is by no means a good guy, and I would even go so far as to say that the book establishes him as a terrible bastard who is insecure about the concept of his wife having freedom while confident in having his own, but he is an enjoyable bastard to watch. Seeing him try to justify his actions at every turn was surprisingly entertaining. I don't know if I want him to get better or if I want him to get worse, which is definitely a unique approach.

There's this overarching mystery that is throughout the book where Carcel is unaware of why he was chosen to be the fiancé of Ines, as she just selected him at a very young age for seemingly inconsequential reasons. That decision did have a ripple effect that seems to be affecting his mental health, and there are even a lot of points in the book where it's not super clear what's real or not. The book was leaning into more of a psychological perspective, and they're definitely that, but when the book also gives away what the surprise is halfway through the book, it ends up feeling like some things were added for the sake of shock value.

By the time I finished this, I genuinely wasn't sure what kind of story this was trying to tell anymore. Every time I felt like I thought I knew, it turned around and did something completely different. I want to give props to the writer for writing a story that is able to grip me in such a way, but when I look back on it, I feel like too many twists and keeping things mysterious end up bogging down the overall story. In a lot of ways, it overcomplicates something that should be a lot more straightforward. I recommend this to somebody who likes more tragic romances centered around high society, as there is a lot of commentary there. Plus, despite all the fighting, I do like the chemistry between our two leads. I'm very curious to see where it goes. Just be careful not to get lost like I did.