Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong (Novel) Vol. 1

this was just as exciting the second time around as it was the first :’) so much of the world and the characters felt more alive seeing them through shen yuan’s eyes; such an avid critic of this story he’s been transported into, but also one of its biggest supporters when it comes to how much potential PIDW has.

shen yuan/shen qingqiu’s narration adds so much charm in his sarcasm, but he’s also really diligent and takes this approach to these quests he’s meant to solve that are really compelling.

the second volume is the one filled with the most angst, and it’s also my most favorite of the series, so i’m half-anticipating / half-dreading watching that diligence he takes to these quests unravel in the face of luo binghe, who deviates from the story more than sqq will expect. gah it’s all so exciting!!

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graceskate's review

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adventurous dark emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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lackadaisicat's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25

I have very mixed feelings on this series! It's mainly a comedy that includes more romance and drama as the series goes on. It falls somewhere between self-aware satire and tropey sincerity, a mix which is pretty entertaining to read. The POV character, Shen Yuan, is a hilarious narrator. Snarky, genre-aware, and oblivious to everyone's emotional state, including his own. In his own mind, he's playing 4d chess, in my mind he is playing tic-tac-toe against himself and losing. Yes he has internalized homophobia and weird opinions on women. It works for the story. This is the first volume of three in the main story, plus one of post-canon extras and other goodies. This volume is lighthearted and fun in general, but ehhhhh I wouldn't recommend the series to every person off the street. I have no problem rating it well for the events that happen in volume one i.e. shenanigans and no real romance. Yes this is LGBT, but uh-oh, it's a student-teacher romance. To me that is a hard NOPE but it would be unfair of me to rate it badly for that alone. There's no grooming involved, the teacher is totally oblivious to the student's feeling until everyone is an adult, and because of timeline shenanigans the age gap is probably only about five years by the time the main couple gets together. (Personally, I wonder why the teacher can't just get with another teacher, but okay.) What I CAN and WILL criticize is the way passion and violence are so intermingled in this pairing. Why do I caution people reading this, and why won't I ever finish this series?

I do not think "forced kissing" is romantic. I do not think painful sex is humorous. I don't think kidnapping, imprisonment, or torture have any place in a relationship, romantic or otherwise. I think every on-screen sex scene between the main canon pairing is a rape scene. It's coerced, it's painful, and in my opinion that isn't safe, sane, or consensual sex. Again, student-teacher romances are simply NOT my cup of tea. But beyond that, the student/love interest is obsessive, violent, and manipulative. The main romantic relationship is not healthy and in my opinion, exhibits several hallmarks of an abusive relationship. I was surprised by the direction this book took, since I initially assumed it would fall into a father/son found family dynamic. Whoops! My bad!

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shelbybelby's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

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cait's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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aromarrie's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

to be written.

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pvbobrien's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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? Yes

3.25

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levtolstoy's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Fucking love it! The story is very amusing, but it still has some gore to it. Illustrations are stunning and translation is coherent! Character & name guide and glossary were very useful as well.

I actually started reading the novel even before the official translation came out. However, I didn't finish it. I had stopped somewhere in the middle. The novel didn't intrigued me as much as MDZS had (I've read it before reading SVSSS and my heart still belongs to Wangxian). However in this break I had learned the crucial piece of information: MXTX wrote this for her own amusement. Her work should not be take (to) seriously. With this I could finally enjoy SVSSS and I LOVED it.

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