akari137336's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Really enjoyed this book and I think the translation is pretty well done, all things considered. It is cool to get the full story after watching the show adaptation, and I'm excited to read the rest of them!

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particledamage's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

 I decided to give the novels a try after watching the drama, CQL.

And after reading just volume 1, I will say, I appreciate the novel for expanding and clarifying the lore, but I think my "canon" will be the drama. 

MXTX truly struggles to relay exposition in a smooth manner, instead choosing random info dumps that derail the plot and make it very unclear who knows what. I have no idea what information Wei Wuxian knows (or how he knows it, after coming back) and what information is included just for me, with him unaware. 

This story is a diamond in the rough. Knowing what I know about how this ends (and also how much has been changed from original text to adaption, as I have also read the manhua and also several posts comparing the drama to the novels), I think the drama improved this story which lays down an amazing foundation. Great ideas, intriguing characters, but so much mess in between. 

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i_island's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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vigil's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

translation issues aside (odd wording, awkward sentences, phonetic laughter rather than simply saying a person is laughing, and the constant and jarring pov changes that switch from 3 person limited, to third person omniscient, or to third person limited again, but this time for another character) i enjoyed myself. 

it doesn’t take very long to get going, but i did meander a bit with it until the middle portion. i appreciated the way that the flashbacks are done in the the novel rather than the other adaptations, as it gives a better look into wwx’s headspace and his thought process. and it doesn’t shove you into a completely story after setting up the first one. we are nearly as knowledgeable and as confused as he is at any given time, and it make the book more immersive. though wwx is the definition of an “unreliable narrator” so take it with a grain of salt.

the characters are different from the adaptations but far from as unrecognizable as i think is played up. generally if you liked them in the adaptations you’d probably like them in the novel, or at least give them some leeway.

i should reiterate, the translation is very very questionable. it doesn’t sacrifice overall clarity per se, but it certainly makes some choices for the narrative.

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taroroot's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

i love this series so much! loved reading it in a novel format <3

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samugranjo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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annies_welt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad

4.5

Ich hatte die Story schon öfters in der englischen Fan Übersetzung gelesen, daher war für mich eigentlich klar das es 5☆ werden...
Allerdings hatte mich die Formatierung gestört (wer fängt auf der linken Seite an?👀) und was mich am allermeisten gestört hatte war, dass Namen Übersetzt wurden😭 (Cloud Recesses, Burial Mounds, Fairy, Sunshot Campaign, Cutsleeve). I mean ich kann verstehen das man es übersetzen könnte aber es sind immerhin wichtige Namen und da fand ich es eher unpassend das diese übersetzt wurden (absolut meine persönliche Meinung und Präferenz)


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atlanticgiantpumpkin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I read this book in four days cause my crush really wanted me to read this, and even though my crush is in vain I persevered, though this book made it so enjoyable.  I haven’t read a book that fast since high school (Divergent of all things).  This was very enjoyable, and while slow burn really gets to me because for the love of god y’all need to kiss already, I sqeed like a fan girl when the little tidbits of romance DID pop up.  I’m still mixing up characters because so many people have the same surname, but I’m getting there.

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negs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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