The flower maidens of Moonlight Garden are desired by all, as they are known to provide sexual pleasures beyond the imagination. The story follows Dohwa, a young flower maiden who has not yet “bloomed.” She creates potions in the hopes of escaping her fate at the brothel. One night, she is caught stealing ingredients for her potions by Lady Hyewon, the new mistress of the Garden. But it turns out Dohwa isn’t the only one with an objective. Lady Hyewon harbors a few terrible secrets of her own.
This is a refreshing concept because it isn’t set in a modern setting. It is set in a historical period which is shown by the clothing the characters wear.
Now, what are flower maidens? Let me explain the concept.
As infants, flower maidens are born with a flower mark that will be on a part of their body. The mark determines the type of flower they are.
They become adults when they bloom. The “bloom” is a monthly event where a flower maiden feels intense pain and lust. In order to get rid of the pain and lust, another woman has to have sex with her (this sounds like omegaverse, but it’s with flowers this time). If a woman beds a blooming maiden, the woman will also feel the pleasure. The pleasure comes from the flower maiden’s body.
There are flashbacks, but there aren’t a lot, so it’s not confusing.
The characters definitely drive the plot. To me, no one felt unnecessary to the plot. They contributed to it in some way.v
Dohwa is the peach blossom maiden. Her mark is located on her neck. Her hair is covering it.
Dohwa – The protagonist. A young flower maiden/kisaeng who wants to leave the brothel, but she needs to create a potion first. The potion that she wants to create is an antidote which she believes will get rid of the monthly “blooming” event so she doesn’t have to deal with it every month. She is a good person and doesn’t like it when someone insults the flower maidens. She clashes with Lady Hyewon because Lady Hyewon looks down on flower maidens.
Flower maidens are not a real concept, but the kisaeng is real. A kisaeng is an entertainer that also provides sexual services, so flower maidens are not the only ones that have to entertain the noblewomen that visit the brothel.
As seen below, a non-flower maiden can be a kisaeng.
A noblewoman (Yellow) and a kisaeng (Red)
The text in the picture is referring to a drinking game where the less you drink, the more clothes you must take off. Here, the kisaeng lost.
Lady Hyewon- The Mistress of Moonlight Garden. She’s a noblewoman. A cruel person if anyone tries to start a fight with her. She likes to pick on Dohwa. When she talks about Dohwa, she reminds me of the “I had a crush on a girl, and I didn’t know how to handle it, so I wrote a letter to her that just said “get out of my school” tweet.
In this context, mistress means like the head of the brothel. Her role is to attend parties, bed flower maidens, and do noblewoman work.
Yoosun – Hyewon’s secret lover. She is the blue rose maiden. This is what a flower maiden in “bloom” looks like. The flowers will come out of the (diamond shaped) seed, and it will spread all over the body.
Lady Hyewon’s Bodyguard – Her duty is to protect Hyewon from anything. A mysterious character who wears a mask. She is my favorite character so far.
The art is pleasing to the eye. Honestly, the cover art for this manhwa lured me in, as it showed two women double-teaming the protagonist. As I read the manhwa, I felt that the artist, MissPM, knew how to present the story as it is being told.
The brothel serves noblewomen only, so it’s full of yuri moments.
The story says that if a man tries to bed a blooming maiden, the flower on the maiden’s body will wilt, and the man won’t feel the pleasure. Don’t worry, the manhwa doesn’t actually show the act, it just mentions it. However, men do exist in this manhwa, and it is in the form of Dohwa’s dad and the guards that patrol the brothel.
I gave it a 9/10 because I don’t know what is going to happen next. The next plot development could make me dislike the manhwa or maybe not, but I like it so far, so let’s see what will happen.
If anyone is interested, here is the link to the manhwa.
Three parts are free to read. This manhwa is NSFW, so be aware of your surroundings. If you would like to read more of this manhwa, let me know in the comments section, and I will see what I can do for you.
YuriReviews and More 
This looks super cool! Definitely going to read.
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Oh, have you guys read the Yuri manga Honey Crush yet? It’s really cute and it has an awesome story.
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No I haven’t. I should read it someday.
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Oh I think I have a very loooooong time ago and if that’s the right one, then I really liked it 😀
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I liked it, but it bums me out.
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Would love to read it!!!!
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Great! You should google moonlight garden and scroll all the way down until you see yuri manga.
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Ooh, this is really good! I finally got a chance to read it and once I got started I couldn’t stop.
The characters are so convincing, and the world building is really interesting. The back and forth between the three of them is just delicious.
Not sure what to make of Yoosun though, guess we will have to wait and watch to see what she’s all about.
Thanks for the great review! Might not have found it without reading this!
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You’re welcome!
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Uhm, the blue rose maiden is Hyewon; She just uses a wig to hide her identity since Hyewon doesn’t want to be found out by other noblewomen of her true-self since she would rather die than being humiliated while being the noblewomen’s plaything. The picture you used for Hyewon is actually Yoosun disguised/imitating her when Hyewon is in her days of blooming [Yoosun is the bodyguard].
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Btw I liked your review! The way Dohwa is described is pretty accurate lmao. I THOUGHT THE SAME TOO OD HYEWON WHEN YOU WROTE: She reminds me of the “I had a crush on a girl, and I didn’t know how to handle it, so I wrote a letter to her that just said “get out of my school” tweet. [This may sound weird but I SQUEALED cause idek what phrase would sound related to Hyewon’s personality, she may be a bitch but a very hot one at that!!]
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Thanks! also I know what happens later on haha. I did say that in the beginning of this review that it is spoiler free. I thought the flower maiden part was the plot twist that readers discover later so I didn’t mention it.
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OHHHHHHH…. I spoiled it then :,)
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I misspelled “of” wrong 😵 [sorry for spamming]
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been a long time since ive actually read a manga/manhwa that captivated my interest: the characters are fascinating, the plot is exquisite and the world building is compelling. Been even a longer time since ive actually got confused about who to ship since not many yuris focus on triangles and especially drama between two characters that are best friends/particularly sisters (aka not enemies). im so happy i dont have to worry whether my ship will sail because i dont mind who she ends up with. Although based on what yoosun said (“i feel like they will get along), im pretty sure the protagonist will end up with hyewon. anyways so excited for future chapters!
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Hey Sky, glad to know that you liked it!
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I’d love to be able to read the rest of this! Can anyone help?
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Hello! you can read it on mangago
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NOOOOP UR GOT IT ALL WRONGGGGG! YOOSUN IS THE BODYGUARD! Yoosun and the Mistress are TWINS so they SWITCH places sometimes. It gets kinda confusing to distinguish the two of them but the mole and the characteristics show the difference
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I know that lol. That part is revealed later. The reader doesn’t know this from the beginning that’s why they get confused. Also this is a no-spoilers review. That’s why I didn’t spoil all of the story here.
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They are not twins
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I dropped this manga after chapter 22.
I disliked the violent themes, and the caste system due to the time period & flower maidens. Makes women see each other as non-humans that can just be disposed of which is just shit.
Dislike the fact that one small mistake can have a woman “losing her head.”
Again, due to the shitty time period.
Also dislike the whole “flower maidens die after 30” and have “a high suicide rate”
The violent themes of this manga made it unreadable
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I am really a fan of this manga. But it is quite depressing that i can really tell taht the drawing changed at lot. I prefer their first look. Hyewon at yoosun looks so manly but atill pretty. I like the old them
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I would liek to ask if kang unnieable to read this comment?? I just want to wish to bring back the old animation / drawing, they are cool, suoer cool in the old drawing and you can tell the difference between their looks.
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I’m sorry but your description about yoosun is so wrong
Hyewon is the flower maiden, also yoosun is not hyewon’s bodyguard
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