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Only those who have died know how long a lifetime is. Inés Valeztena's first life ended at the age of twenty-six. The manhwa adaptation of CHACHA KIM'S webnovel is now available in English print for the first time.

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.

Volume 1 collects episodes 1–14 of the webcomic The Broken This Marriage Will Fail Anyway.

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2023

108 people are currently reading
1089 people want to read

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Cheong-gwa

15 books7 followers

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5 stars
536 (47%)
4 stars
395 (35%)
3 stars
152 (13%)
2 stars
29 (2%)
1 star
13 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
Profile Image for esperanza ♡.
127 reviews31 followers
June 28, 2025
I wasn’t sure how to feel about carcel in the first few chapters but I began to like his character once him and ines officially got married. I absolutely love ines. she’s such a strong heroine and deserves the world 🙏🏻.
Profile Image for Sydney🪷.
58 reviews3 followers
November 28, 2024
This eats, it’s like Bridgerton with even more complex characters. Inés deserves a happy ending fr she’s gone through so much, I’m liking how her character is developing through the story even Cárcel is showing layers behind him so yeah I’m rocking with this!
Profile Image for Kelli.
2,287 reviews29 followers
November 4, 2025
Actually, more handsome loser men should be told just how unlikable they are to their stupid, pretty faces. Inés is RIGHT.

Anyway.

This is GREAT.

Usually, I hate these reincarnation/“do-over” type stories where a character who experiences a tragedy gets an opportunity wind back the clock and try to avoid that fate. Because they’re almost exclusively BAD. Or, worse, just plain stupid. (Don’t @ me. You know I’m right.)

But, this one has an actual premise????

(Shocking how much that improves a story.)

More, Inés is a female character with real motivations. She has convictions and integrity. She’ll die for them. She DID. I’m so enraptured by her. Her presence consumes every page she’s on.

And, then there’s Cárcel.

He’ll become a better man—if he knows what’s good for him.

I love a pathetic loser man with that energy.

He’ll change his behavior because he’s afraid of the consequences of what will happen if he doesn’t? GOOD.

(That’s how you know this is a fantasy, btw.)

Anyway, anyway.

This is great—highly recommend. If you want an actually good, het manhwa, check this one out~
Profile Image for allie.
75 reviews1 follower
February 24, 2026
PEEAAKK I SAY!

i’ve technically read all the chapters that are out but imma just use vol 1 as a be-all for all 121 chapters i’ve read. incredibly fleshed out characters (even the side ones), SOUL CRUSHING YEARNING, amazing art, complex and emotional plot gaawwwdd this shit had me going through it! oscar needs to be drawn and quartered yesterday.
Profile Image for warda.
133 reviews1 follower
October 4, 2024
one of those manhwas that hooks you in right from the beginning
Profile Image for Seren.
76 reviews64 followers
January 15, 2026
Carcel and Ines are the best Golden Retriever Man x Black Cat Woman pairing I’ve ever seen. I love them so much. Carcel, you have my whole heart 🐕 Now that I’ve caught up and read up till the latest chapter, all I can say is that Ines has been through way too much and she deserves her happily-ever-after with Carcel more than anybody else :’)
Profile Image for Lou Hughes.
954 reviews9 followers
March 2, 2026
This review is a going to be a rather unusual one for me, as I have had this book on my tbr list for a long while, but removed it as I figured I'd never gotten around to reading it. I bought my copy on discount from TKmaxx for seven pounds as it was damaged. Inklore is a part of Penguin (I didn't realise, and nearly put a request for an update to be added.)

Onto the review
Trigger warnings: Sexual assault, miscarriage, child loss, suicide, mental health, rebirth

Okay so first off. Reading this reminded me of why I wanted to read it, which after all those trigger warnings probably has a few people wondering: Lou- what the-

but here's the thing. A lot of books that booktok and booktube recommends me (this is my gripe that I will never let go of) romanticises and sexualises those experiences. This book doesn't. The story is presented in a respectful way, and those topics are presented, as they should be, as traumatic things that happened, and the author even goes on to explore mens disgusting needs. This is my safe place, but I'm also going to say not all men for those one or two people who even dare question me writing even that.

Historically; this book is weirdly accurate for some cultures. I'm unsure which specific country this is using the culture of, but personally it reminds me a bit of Turkish/Danish cultures, but it felt like I was reading history of England. In a weird round about way. Human nature isn't much different, even if culture IS.

The art work is stunning. The story is well constructed and brilliantly executed. As someone who used to be actively suicicdal- those scenes made me feel weirdly seen. The rebirth idea- I love how it is presented as traumatic. If you had been through to hell and back and woke up again, you would be pretty upset too. Hell is on Earth. I know people are probably going to read this review and be like but Lou, that's not what this book is about. Hell isn't literal, it is a physical and spiritual thing with this book.

I do also want to lend my opinion on the whole miscarriage thing; thank you. Brilliantly explored. Scary. I've had something similar happen to me and people think you'll get past it- you don't. It sticks with you. Thank you Cheong-gwa for not dancing around it or prettying it up- I have a pet peeve for when authors do that. I'm sure for some people (especially those who are in there brainrot, I'm just a girl era, it makes sense but- no. Nah. You don't. I don't. This book probably isn't for those people. It's very nitty gritty, to the point.)

I was very humored by the misunderstanding between our two main chracters. I would love to read book 2. This is going to become one of those books I read again as a comfort read so. The copy I got was damaged as I said: front cover has some scratches on you can really only see under the light. Again, it is only the cover and the art is still stunning, and I got it on sale for that reason. Very heavy topics. Very respectful way of approaching them, but also I love how anger, sadness, grief and loss are portrayed in this book.

Sometimes I got confused with timelines because the book didn't explicitly say when it was talking about a different life each time, however I quickly could pick up on when she did and was. I loved those little details. I loved how it was also explored as it happened and was traumatic like- I don't think books do that enough. It was refreshing to see and read.

A few things I would also like to point out since we are just spoiling a lot of things with this review too:
- Mistresses were considered normal, the girls were aware usually they were mistresses too, but the way our main character reacts to her fiance cheating is just so uncanny that I love her. I proposed to a man once who admitted to cheating and told me he couldn't marry me and I was just standing there like; I don't see why that would change why we can't get married. I know better now; don't worry. I love how intelligent she is. I love her. She is me.
-Just because it was normal doesn't make it moral/right.
- Men. Just men. This book captures why so many women are choosing to remain single, but here's the thing. This book was ahead of it's time because wow.
-Can we normalise calling men who sleep around a "whorehouse"? I love that. I will never refer to a man who sleeps around as anything else I mean it's okay for men to call women that for saying no? Normalised and encourage? Come on ladies, we need to be in those male dominated fields too.

The humour in this book is very on the nose and dark. It's written in undertones of the text. I love when books do that. I had to pace myself reading this. It's witty commentary on life but using high society/royalty. I would love more books like this. Lets face it most poeple wouldn't pick it up if it wasn't based on royalty, but honestly- I'm special so absolutely would. If you know any books/series like this, especially manwha (this is the ones I want to go for not the overly romantic ones) then please, message me, comment below or recommend the book to me on here. I absolutely loved this book.

So why have I docked a star? Even though I clearly devoured this whole book? I've either missed the point- why is the story captioned/called This Marriage Will fail anyway? I got the essence that both characters had their viewpoints and understandings on cheating, but I never got the impression of "this marriage will fail anyway from this book. I was expecting, as is commonplace with books like these, for that line to be a quote somewhere. I flicked through and couldn't find it, after I had read the book. Twice. I couldn't seer it anywhere- I'm confused. The Broken Ring seems fitting enough, do people just need a little bit more of a tease? Even if this wasn't quoted, the reason I removed the book from my to be read is because my library wouldn't get it in , and I could at the time only find it on Amazon. It has since been published via Penguin House- this is a book I've had my eye on for years, the tale is wonderful. I'll leave it at that.

It's worth full price- the problem is I read too many books. I have a note on my wall to buy book 2 next payday though. I need to finish this story.


Other books I recommend:
Under the Oak Tree: The Comic, Vol. 1
Daughter of the Emperor, Vol. 1
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for zades.
222 reviews6 followers
December 21, 2024
Carcel didn't like the idea of an engagement and marriage with the society's crow who apparently likes him very much, Ines. After 17 years of engagement, Ines finally said that he didn't care about Carcel anymore and she's willing to overlook his cheating and fooling around with other women. Now, Carcel is obsessed with Ines. Men are such simple creatures.

i love stories like this :( hahahahaha he is now Ines's dog. such a freak. the manhwa is comparably LIGHTER and less extensive than the novel. lol.
Profile Image for Dora.
698 reviews41 followers
March 4, 2026
This has been on pause reading wise for close to a month at this point so I'm finally putting it aside... I first picked it up physically as volume 1 and continued reading the rest online - bit it just fialed to grab my attention. Granted, it wasn't all its fault because my job fucked with my head at the time and I was reading some really great books as well 🤷🏻‍♀️

But yeah, it's alright. The art is very beautiful and I like how the male lead is all golden retriever coded and the whole premise of past lives blabla but they lack tension 😅
Profile Image for Bibliophilic.girl.
103 reviews
February 5, 2025
I found the manhwa first and was immediately hooked, and now that season 2 has ended and with cliffhanger, i need to know what happened!!
I didn't know how to feel about Carcel at first, but his redemption is good after His and Ines's marriage. He literally turned into the most loyal dog for her😆🙃.
And Ines, she is such a strong character😭and deserves all the happiness.

Can't wait to get to the part after season 2!!
Profile Image for ariel *ੈ✩‧₊˚.
558 reviews33 followers
December 22, 2025
Found this randomly at the library. This has a great plot, intriguing dialogue, and good yearning, but I was kind confused about what exactly was going on and had to reread it😅 this did set the tone for a complexly layered and interesting story, but not something I’d personally go out of my way to read (esp since it’s currently being translated and will take forever to get published in the US 😭) Very well done though, just not for me!
Profile Image for Sofía.
177 reviews6 followers
January 21, 2024
No me esperaba nada en concreto, ni siquiera sabía en qué consistía la trama pero esto se volvió muy oscuro de golpe y me sentí muy impactada con el giro de la trama. Debí asumirlo por el desequilibrio en las expresiones, que noté en un inicio pero pensé que era sólo el estilo del ilustrador. No sé a dónde voy leyendo esto pero estoy intrigada por Inés.
Profile Image for Crowaga.
18 reviews
February 5, 2026
Jezuuuu to jest cudowne uczucie wreszcie mieć swoją ukochaną manhwę w dłoniach na dodatek PO POLSKU!
Ta historia jest cudowna, z całego serduszka polecam 🥰 2 tom w marcu, już zacieram rączki hihi 😏😈
Golden Retriever Man🐕 x Black Cat Woman🐈‍⬛
Profile Image for Cecilia.
691 reviews7 followers
June 13, 2024
carcel lowkey the man of my dreams
Profile Image for و.
91 reviews9 followers
December 14, 2024
بصررررخ احبهم ^€^♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Profile Image for Jazzy.
21 reviews1 follower
November 2, 2025
CW: Cheating, Depression, SA and domestic abuse (Past life), Loss of a child (Past life), and Suicide (Past life)

When I first got into this on Tappytoon, it was from an ad on Instagram that made me think that it was a typical cheesy romance story (which I like), so when I actually started reading it, I was actually really surprised by how invested I got into it.
Profile Image for Bailey.
55 reviews
March 16, 2025
Ich habe einfach ein crush auf FL und ML💀 ma boos ma baes die story ist sooo nice aber zieht sich aber es zieht sich gut
Profile Image for ♡ mary ♡.
2 reviews
January 12, 2026
Strong heroine which can be difficult to find amongst this specific genre. Other manwha stories like cry or better yet beg have the FML forgive the ML even though he is both an abuser and cheater.

I enjoyed how Ines is very strong willed and pragmatic, she essentially plays Carcel. Additionally, I enjoyed Carcel’s redemption arc from a rake into a good romantic interest for Ines. I look forward into fully completing this story.
Profile Image for Jess.
820 reviews41 followers
November 25, 2023
Actual rating: 3.5 stars

This review is for S1 of the webtoon.

The storyline, characters, pacing and art are so good. I binge read this because I couldn't stop myself and I wanted to know how Ines and Carcel's relationship would develop. It's interesting how this we get to see both Ines and Carcel's POVs in this story and the angst in this is chef's kiss, like seriously. Carcel was love with her while Ines was just using him.

And Ines's first and second lives were horrific and it's no wonder that she was the way she was, but even so, her tenacity to keep living out is admirable. I think she's a complex character but I think there's still a lot that we don't know about her, which makes this story much more interesting. There's so much angst material in this that I'm really looking forward to reading S2 and beyond. My only complaint is that there were certain scenes that I had to reread because I found it difficult to distinguish whether it was the present or a flashback.
Profile Image for Norita Moreno.
146 reviews7 followers
March 10, 2024
No se atrevan a criticar Anillo rotó 👿 yo morire defendiendo a Inés.

No comprendo porque muchos le tiran a Inés diciendo que esta utilizando a Cárcel. Y si, lo está haciendo, pero dios mio, pónganse en el lugar de Inés, ha vivido tanto sufrimiento, obviamente se va concentrar en cumplir sus objetivos y no se dejará llevar por el amor de Cárcel hacia ella. El amor ya la ha abandonado muchas veces de forma horrible.

Yo amo Cárcel, adoro cuando el protagonista masculino ama a la prota en todas sus vidas y da todo por ella. Sin embargo, Cárcel no es ningún santo y ha cometido errores en las vidas pasadas como en esta. Sin embargo ha intentado cambiar y entender a Inés y se aprecia su esfuerzo.

En conclusión, es una historia con un desarrollo de los protagonistas increíble, que merece ser leída.
Profile Image for belle ☆ミ (thisbellereadstoo).
2,611 reviews174 followers
July 9, 2024
reread: july 2024 [chapter 1-14]

read until: chapter 46 // end of season 1

have the same thoughts as before. so, this review will be about the entirety of season 1:
ahhhh i love this couple so much. i'm so glad cárcel woke up and realized inés is who he wants. even though the couple's relationship has somewhat improved, we're not at the stage where she's reciprocating his feelings and is still trying to encourage cárcel to cheat. i love the art style as well. i just want their feelings to be mutual such that cárcel can enjoy being with her knowing that it's mutual and for inés to have a happy life in this life.

that kiss in the last chapter!!! omggggg
Profile Image for D.T..
Author 5 books81 followers
December 17, 2025
Hmm, I don't think I'll continue this story. The characters didn't really grab me, but Ines' bluntness was mildly entertaining.

Basically, a royal playboy sleeps with other women because he feels unloved by his stoic fiancée, who pledged marriage to him at six years old. And he's strung out over this, for some reason, but with royal arranged marriages happening very young, it probably feels more binding in this universe. Then, it turns into the typical Korean regressor/isekai story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews

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