Reviews

The series wraps out on a dark and rainy night at Guanyin Temple as dark, calculating secrets are revealed and resentful spirits are laid to rest for a century.
What I loved: the way the story concluded JC and WWX’s relationship and brotherhood, the secrets each had and how those changed the trajectory of their lives in irreversible ways. I also loved the Lan Sizhui, wwx and lwj bond and how that ending was done. Another thing was the commentary on societal expectations and how loudly those who used to praise you will shout for your downfall. It has a lot to say on the morality of man, that no one is entirely black or white, good or evil, morally upright or a demon. Each individual character here that would be painted as ‘evil’ has their own backstory and journey - not to absolve them of their wrongdoing, but to show how humans progress and live and make choices and end up at the point they are at.
However, everything else felt like a drag for me personally, from the dubious consent to the distasteful smut especially in this volume I was fighting to get through this volume. The best part was the Guanyin Temple arc and all that happened on that night and everything else felt superfluous and unnecessary in my opinion.
I also could not care less about the extras in this volume. It was difficult to get through the first one on the family banquet as it was mostly smut (which personal preference I hate reading, especially if it’s imo this bad), and I could not get into the rest of them.
I don’t want to be the person who brings up the show constantly, but I think the only way I made it through his entire volume was because of the love I have for the show, and this committing to reading the source material. I’m happy for what the book has done for talking about LGBTQ issues especially in Chinese media, but as a certified smut hater, it’s so interesting to see how artfully and delicately The Untamed interpreted and reworked the novel in regards to the censorship.
Overall, while the first quarter was an intriguing final act conclusion to the series, this was my least favourite volume of the 5.

abbyminzer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

eidolon_scourge's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-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

5.0

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