Product Description

In a whirlwind narrative of vanity and conceit, Can't Lose You is the story of two characters who come from opposite worlds but are united by the most unlikely of circumstances: Yooi is a desperate girl working day and night to earn pennies in hopes of on

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #936292 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The Prince and the Pauper (or Dave, for the new generation) gets a 21st-century soap-opera twist in this new Korean series. Yooi Kang is a flat-broke freshman who's just moved into a new school where she's met Lida Yoo, her spoiled, rich doppelgänger. Lida is betrothed to androgynous bad-boy and corporate heir Gaon Gil. Yooi and Lida get along about as well as Krystle and Alexis Carrington, until Lida realizes she can pay Yooi to act as her double. Lida tells Yooi the doubling is just for "boring parties" and decides not to mention the death threats she's been receiving. Meanwhile, Gil starts falling for the new, less pretentious Lida who's been showing up to company events. Too bad she's really Yooi. Confused? It's all part of the fun. Wann keeps enough plot twists coming to make volume one a satisfying read, without ever piling on more than her audience can handle. And she makes sure the art stays clear as well. The layouts are clean and well composed, and she has a flair for dramatic poses that help move the story along. Her occasional forays into mad, chibi-strewn frenzies fit right into the over-the-top emotional beats. This manga is sure to appeal to the Gossip Girl crowd. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A MIX OF ELEMENTS THAT COMES TOGETHER WELL
Can't Lose You is a bit of a modern day re-telling of the classic "The Prince and the Pauper" and the creator, Wann, even makes reference to that inspirational story. Yooi Kang is a high school sophomore who is barely surviving on her own. Her father is on the run because of debts he ran up and Yooi is trying to pay them off so she can be reunited with him. Between school and work, Yooi has little time for anything else. She runs afoul of Lida Yoo, another student who is a wealthy heiress, used to getting her own way. But the girls soon make an astounding discovery...they look exactly alike!

Lida makes a deal with Yooi. She pays her to take her place at events and various other public appearances. Yooi can certainly use the money as it is far more than she could ever make on her jobs and posing as a high society heiress can't be all bad. But what Lida doesn't tell her is that her family has been getting blackmailed with threats made against Lida's life. Now Lida is safely protected while poor Yooi is on the firing line. Furthermore, Gaon Gil, a handsome young man is arranged to marry Lida but doesn't much care for her. Yet when the pair attends an event at an orphanage, Gil falls for Lida...who isn't Lida...but Yooi instead. When Yooi insists that she be allowed to dine with the children, the banquet is moved. Soon a bomb goes off trapping Yooi, Gil, and the children in the basement. Who is responsible and why? And how will Yooi react once she knows someone is trying to kill Lida?

Wann's story was very well done. Part comedy, mystery, romance, and drama, it works on all of those levels. Lida is a typical high society snob who suddenly likes Gil as soon as she finds out he's attracted to Yooi. Unfortunately it's not her looks but her charming and innocent personality that attracts Gil, something Lida just doesn't have. Fun book!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Can't Lose You
A story of two high school girls, Yooi and Lida, who look identical but are not related, switch places. Yooi coming from a poor background while Lida has wealth. Lida makes a deal with Yooi to switch places for money. Unbeknownst to Yooi, Lida is a target for assassination. Add in Lida's fiance who begins to like Lida, when it's actually Yooi, you get a romantic element thrown in.

It is a familar story where two people switch places with one being poor and the other rich. It is now told in a modern day setting in Korea. The first volume does a nice job of introducing the main characters. Yooi and Lida have different personalities and hairstyles so its easy to tell them apart. The story has a good mixture of romance and comedy with a little action thrown in at the end. It's Wann's artwork so the drawings uses clean and pristine lines. There is no shading other than zipper tones. The women are drawn really attractive with clean lines and pouty lips. However, the men are like women just with short hair, facial hair, no pouty lips, and obnoxiously tall. There is only one chubby character that is one of Lida's bodyguards which makes a brief appearance and adds a little contrast to the world of models. I liked the story where it can be romantic at times and others when Yooi is sometimes chibi-sized. It lightens the mood. Plus, it helps that she's pretty cute. The story drew me in to see what's Lida's ulterior motive for Yooi in the next volume. Try a free preview at Netcomics.com

Another Wann classic!!!
I love Wann's work, and picked up this book after reading 100% Perfect Girl. I now have a new addiction! She does a great job of playing with the fact the two main characters look identical, yet come from different worlds, and when they switch places so much exciting, fun stuff happens! I also love it because it's a romance novel, but full of drama and not quite political intrigue, but the intrigue of "politics" among the filthy rich. The back cover says that "Gossip Girl" fans would like this book, and I'd say so because of the whole rich world versus poor world thing--but also because it's got great plot twists and turns, and I'd wager to say characters that are just as fun and developed (if not more) than GG's! And, as always, Wann's drawings of men and women are simply gorgeous.