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sentriiel's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
!! What a story. The plot was confusing as hell, and I had to re-read a couple of parts to truly understand the conflict between the ghosts and sects re the armor and key, etc. But once I did, the story was really good. The romance was *slow burn* but We Kexing is exactly the kind of character I love. Halfway through reading this, I realized this was the novel Word of Honor is based off, which I actually HAVENT seen yet. So, that's next on my drama list.
noori's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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? It's complicated
5.0
bloomcloud's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
3.0
rsanti's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
basiltheangster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
bellisk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
klearlly's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
akookieforyou's review
1.0
*1.5*
Despite my low rating, I don't think this book is absolutely horrible. And it never did anything offensive that would cause most readers to be mad (like having SA or something). The hype got to me, I badly wanted to read a Priest novel, and was told that this would be a good place to start given my love for books in adjacent genres (like Mo Dao Zu Shi and so on). Sadly that was not my experience, and I stupidly forced myself to get through it, instead of giving up. Because of that, it ended up taking me over a year to finally get to the end.
Now I actually found the premise to be quite interesting. A guy who worked in this underground seedy way, killing and torturing people for royal families, got fed up with that life, and wanted out. So he poisons himself and is on the road to a slow and painful death. That alone, had me intrigued and engaged. Throw in a murder mystery element, evil ghost people, and a hot mysterious bad boy love interest, and I'm sold!
It's really the execution that lost me.
The mystery of who is behind all of this bad stuff is lackluster, the culprit doesn't leave an impact on the reader, it's not shocking or heartwrenching. Honestly I was so indifferent towards the reveal.
They also set up Wen Kexing's backstory to be something really interesting and emotional, but again, it just didn't hit the way it was supposed to.
Most of the side characters were uninteresting and pretty forgettable, or even outright annoying and frustrating to read. I only cared the two leads, and literally no one else. Which is a shame, especially since so much of the book hinges on your interest in the other people.
And to top it all off, there was too many boring, meandering scenes. The characters were travel around or be chilling at an inn, but they wouldn't do or say anything funny or engaging to make the scene feel worthwhile to me. So I was pretty bored consistently.
The only thing that I enjoyed was the main relationship between the two leads. I liked that they both are flawed and have done a lot of bad things on their pasts, but they want to be better. I also love the moments where you see Wen Kexing being so tender and soft towards Zhou Zishu, especially when he is in sever pain due to the seven needles (or whatever they were). Sadly we didn't get enough of their relationship, and a lot of the development felt a little too glossed over. I needed more of them slowly falling (or at least Zhou Zishu, since he was initially wary of Wen Kexing).
I haven't watched the live action drama, only the first two episodes, but I like the actors, and I have heard that it's pretty different from the book, so maybe I'd like it better.
Despite my low rating, I don't think this book is absolutely horrible. And it never did anything offensive that would cause most readers to be mad (like having SA or something). The hype got to me, I badly wanted to read a Priest novel, and was told that this would be a good place to start given my love for books in adjacent genres (like Mo Dao Zu Shi and so on). Sadly that was not my experience, and I stupidly forced myself to get through it, instead of giving up. Because of that, it ended up taking me over a year to finally get to the end.
Now I actually found the premise to be quite interesting. A guy who worked in this underground seedy way, killing and torturing people for royal families, got fed up with that life, and wanted out. So he poisons himself and is on the road to a slow and painful death. That alone, had me intrigued and engaged. Throw in a murder mystery element, evil ghost people, and a hot mysterious bad boy love interest, and I'm sold!
It's really the execution that lost me.
The mystery of who is behind all of this bad stuff is lackluster, the culprit doesn't leave an impact on the reader, it's not shocking or heartwrenching. Honestly I was so indifferent towards the reveal.
They also set up Wen Kexing's backstory to be something really interesting and emotional, but again, it just didn't hit the way it was supposed to.
Most of the side characters were uninteresting and pretty forgettable, or even outright annoying and frustrating to read. I only cared the two leads, and literally no one else. Which is a shame, especially since so much of the book hinges on your interest in the other people.
And to top it all off, there was too many boring, meandering scenes. The characters were travel around or be chilling at an inn, but they wouldn't do or say anything funny or engaging to make the scene feel worthwhile to me. So I was pretty bored consistently.
The only thing that I enjoyed was the main relationship between the two leads. I liked that they both are flawed and have done a lot of bad things on their pasts, but they want to be better. I also love the moments where you see Wen Kexing being so tender and soft towards Zhou Zishu, especially when he is in sever pain due to the seven needles (or whatever they were). Sadly we didn't get enough of their relationship, and a lot of the development felt a little too glossed over. I needed more of them slowly falling (or at least Zhou Zishu, since he was initially wary of Wen Kexing).
I haven't watched the live action drama, only the first two episodes, but I like the actors, and I have heard that it's pretty different from the book, so maybe I'd like it better.
notamy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
salmon_rosado_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.25