When My Love Blooms is shot with a poetic and melodramatic tone, but the weak and cliche plot progresses too slowly, which makes the overall series a boring watch.

Story: 4/10
The series is shot back and forth between the main characters in the past and in the present. We get to see flashbacks of how they meet and how their sweet love story unfolds in their younger years. The drama is shot smooth and steadily, but paced way too slowly. I was constantly pressing the fast forward key because the scenes were slow and sometimes it felt like the plot wasn't progressing at all. The female lead has a wishy washy attitude towards the male lead, and the story just seems very bland and cliche - you have the love triangle between the evil wife, the married husband, and the poor single mother. There is a climax, but I didn't really feel like there was a buildup. The entire plotline literally felt like a straight line. Nothing really made it stand out.

Acting/Cast: 8/10
Jin Young and So Nee were the MVPs of the drama imo. Their acting as the younger counterparts of Ji Soo and Jae Hyun made up for the lacking chemistry between the older leads. They had fantastic chemistry with each other - Jin Young's eyes were full of love and they made a very sweet couple.
Lee Bo Young has always been a good actor. She did a good job acting out her character as a weary and struggling single mother who has lived a tiring life. However, I felt that her chemistry with Yoo Ji Tae was lacking. Her acting didn't make me feel as if she was deeply in love with the male lead, which is important as she supposedly hasn't gotten over him for years.
Yoo Ji Tae did a great job delivering his character, Jae Hyun. The guy was warm, sweet, responsible, and he tried to do whatever he could to help Ji Soo. Unfortunately, his attraction for her didn't seem to be well reciprocated. Their romantic chemistry seemed to be lacking.
However, I think that the child actor's acting was very praiseworthy. He seemed so responsible for an eight year old kid and really did a great job portraying his character. The ex husband and Jae Hyun's wife also did well for their roles too.

Music: 7/10
The calming/soothing background music did a good job setting the poetic and melodramatic tone to the drama; it blended well with the emotional scenes and tied the story together.

Overall: 4/10
I would not recommend this drama unless you're either okay with a slow-paced story or you're a big fan of any of the leads. Unfortunately, the plot itself was too weak to be saved by the acting. I would not rewatch this.