See You in My 19th Life Volumes 8 and 9 Review

See You in My 19th Life Volume 7 left its readers with a cliffhanger as someone close to Seoha was stabbed just as our protagonist was close to finding out the identity of the culprit behind his car accident that took Juwon’s life when they were kids.

The more accidents that take place, the more the culprit becomes sloppy, helping Jieum and Doyun realise the truth. It’s a blow for Seoha because he’s about to lose someone important and close to him, but he’s relieved at the same time as he’s finally found out who killed his beloved Juwon. He can close that chapter of his life. One would expect that everything would be smooth sailing for our soon-to-be couple, but now that they can be together and happy, the pressure of the multiple lives Jieum has lived and the ones she’ll live without her loved ones is crushing her. How can she continue loving someone knowing she’ll always remember the best times of her life with Seoha but he won’t be with her?

Jieum is determined to put a stop to her reincarnation, but where should she start? Something else is going on as she finds out that whenever she touches Doyun, even lightly, images appear in her mind. Are those memories? Does he have something to do with her past and the reason she has lived so many times? An acquaintance from a previous life who is facing the same dilemma might have the answers she’s so desperately looking for.

Seoha and Jieum though are not the only protagonists in these two volumes, as Doyun and Chowon take centre stage, or better, their relationship does. Chowon has had a crush on Doyun for years, but he always let her down, gently at times and harshly at others. However, the two are spending more and more time together thanks to everything that’s going on with their friends, and Doyun can’t hold back his feelings for Chowon anymore. If only Doyun were to give a relationship with Chowon a chance, he might finally find happiness as well…

In these two volumes, so much happens to all four main characters that the readers can’t help but feel a rollercoaster of emotions: satisfaction in catching the culprit, happiness in thinking they can live happily ever after, sadness in realising that their troubles are not over. Since the first volume, author Lee Hye has given her characters the 3D factor that makes them seem like real people with ‘real’ problems and not just fictional characters who have everything falling into place when they overcome one obstacle. The characters themselves experience a personal growth that takes years to manifest, due to their personal traumas. What I really appreciate is how she makes the characters overcome their issues not by themselves, but by showing how important the support of the people they love is.

Something unexpected the readers get to see is the start of a change in the relationship between Seoha and his father. The two have basically been estranged and have a difficult relationship, but the capture of the culprit brings to light that Seoha’s father might not have been indifferent to him all this time. He just didn’t know how to express his love and his willingness to protect his son. How he behaved is not right, and Seoha doesn’t hesitate to call him out on that, and this was one of the parts that I’ve enjoyed the most in the series. Their relationship is not magically fixed, but they both realise that something needs to change if they want to continue to be in each other’s lives. How that will go is still to be seen, but as a fan I hope they can start repairing it… and not only because I’d like to see how Jieum deals with Seoha’s father!

The twists and turns of this series though are not done. Jieum encounters an acquaintance from a past life who is also facing the dilemma of remembering his reincarnations. He tells Jieum what he discovered to break the remembering on every rebirth, but this might cause a bigger problem than finding a solution! What he says is outrageous, and Doyun happens to be the main factor to help in breaking this ‘curse’. However, this is not something Jieum is willing to do, so will she find another solution? Hopefully the readers will find out in the next and final volume of the series.

See You in My 19th Life is written by Lee Hye and started as a web comic on Webtoon, before being published in volume format in the English language by Ize Press. A K-drama of the series is available on Netflix, and the 10th and final volume of the series is slated for release in May 2026.

Our review copies were supplied by Ize Press.