Scan barcode
luly_sc's review
4.0
So, this one is difficult to review.
It would be unfair and pretty incorrect of me to judge this novel, at least in the way that I accessed it, in the same way I would judge a professionally published printed material coming from a publishing house with an editorial team and another team for professional translation.
It would also be inaccurate to separate it from the layers upon layers of specific niche spaces it's inscribed in. It's a danmei novel, it's xianxia, it's web fiction (with all the author edits through time that implies), it's been translated and shared by a fansub (upon what I imagine was monumental amounts of work because this novel is LONG) that specializes in BL (a genre which warrants, in and of itself, many many layers of problems).
So, even if I didn't have experience in danmei or Chinese web fiction or xianxia, I had enough experience in other areas of Asian media to not be completely in the dark about my expectations, but also not fully knowing what I would encounter.
I watched the donghua based on this novel last year, and then I watched the drama. I absolutely loved both, so I wanted to read the novel. I think it was a good move, especially being new to xianxia, to have watched two visual versions before, so I could picture characters, Sects and locations much easier as I read. Still, I did take notes and made a huge character diagram because I'm me and I couldn't just leave it alone.
I really enjoyed the novel. It's interesting to see that the author commented being worried that people wouldn't like it because it was "too complicated" and that was my favorite part. I loved the political turmoil, the deceptions and twists, and the fact that most characters had backstories to showcase why they were doing what they did and where certain attitudes came from. With the exception of a couple, maybe three partial antagonists (not main ones), the rest all had some story going on, some reason to act how they did.
I wasn't bothered with the pace and the back and forth time skips, honestly. Maybe it was a bit complicated visually, because the way it's formatted online didn't graphically show changes often, but narratively I think it helped the pace. For the donghua and the drama, having their own orders and their own writing flow is totally fine, you can't really make the drama go as back and forth as the novel, but when you're dealing with such a long work and you know something dramatic is coming and it's been building up for a while, having a bit of an impasse in the present was a good way to keep the pace, in my opinion.
And starting in medias res with the lead coming back to life, I am all for it.
I think that, overall, my favorite thing about this story is the conflict, the mystery, the layers of human nature that create conflict not out of some powerful inhuman entity but because of a search of domination of others and trying to be the one who's right. I think the true heart of this story is in that, in the constant unanswered question of where good and evil lie when the world is shades of grey. And I appreciate that, as opposed to other versions, it is clear that Wei WuXian was indeed responsible for some of the things that happened, that it wasn't all in villains' plans but it was also his hubris what lead him to make mistakes. That is something that I think is more clear in the novel than in the other versions I saw.
In terms of the main characters, I really liked them, but I did feel the other versions may have edited their constructions more interestingly. I feel like the Wei WuXian and the Lan WangJi of the donghua, and even more so the drama, are more developed versions of these two, after a team of writers and editors and of course performers had their hands on adding characterization. Here they aren't less interesting but they are for sure more characterized by what responds to the tropes of the danmei genre. It's logical, though, that versions that can't play up that part due to censorship and audience ratings have to develop them in a different way, and that ended in more polished versions of the characters, in my opinion.
Still, the dynamic was good, their arcs were good and I enjoyed them individually and together in these proto versions, to put it in a way.
I really liked the horror aspects. I did not expect it to go there, because the other versions didn't, and I was pleasantly surprised with it, very Junji It-esque at times, a little strange at others, but overall I am a fan of horror so I was all for it. There were some elements that reminded me to other source materials, but I did not expect this balance of horror with comedy and romance in historic fantasy like that.
I do feel that the novel has a problem with the female characters. They aren't at all disrespected in the way in which BL media tends to do, but I feel like the novel didn't much know how to handle them entirely and pushed them to the side very frequently, even though they were interesting to warrant more space. The drama I feel dealt with the female characters the best, but again, different media outlets, different expectations and necessities.
I did feel uncomfortable with some of the extras, not gonna lie, I don't mind the explicitness in itself but some tropes weren't something I was interested to see. Just putting it out there without spoiling. The explicitness within the novel itself, for what I could see, didn't really start ideal either, but again, it's par for the course with the type of genre this is.
All in all, I really enjoyed it, albeit having taken a longer time to read it than I ever thought. I felt like I was taking too long and then realized that apparently it has over 1400 pages, something that in the format I read it I didn't even notice.
I don't think that I would recommend it to everyone who loved the other versions, especially not for those who aren't used to all the things its inscribed in, but I did enjoy it myself, even with the qualms I had.
It would be unfair and pretty incorrect of me to judge this novel, at least in the way that I accessed it, in the same way I would judge a professionally published printed material coming from a publishing house with an editorial team and another team for professional translation.
It would also be inaccurate to separate it from the layers upon layers of specific niche spaces it's inscribed in. It's a danmei novel, it's xianxia, it's web fiction (with all the author edits through time that implies), it's been translated and shared by a fansub (upon what I imagine was monumental amounts of work because this novel is LONG) that specializes in BL (a genre which warrants, in and of itself, many many layers of problems).
So, even if I didn't have experience in danmei or Chinese web fiction or xianxia, I had enough experience in other areas of Asian media to not be completely in the dark about my expectations, but also not fully knowing what I would encounter.
I watched the donghua based on this novel last year, and then I watched the drama. I absolutely loved both, so I wanted to read the novel. I think it was a good move, especially being new to xianxia, to have watched two visual versions before, so I could picture characters, Sects and locations much easier as I read. Still, I did take notes and made a huge character diagram because I'm me and I couldn't just leave it alone.
I really enjoyed the novel. It's interesting to see that the author commented being worried that people wouldn't like it because it was "too complicated" and that was my favorite part. I loved the political turmoil, the deceptions and twists, and the fact that most characters had backstories to showcase why they were doing what they did and where certain attitudes came from. With the exception of a couple, maybe three partial antagonists (not main ones), the rest all had some story going on, some reason to act how they did.
I wasn't bothered with the pace and the back and forth time skips, honestly. Maybe it was a bit complicated visually, because the way it's formatted online didn't graphically show changes often, but narratively I think it helped the pace. For the donghua and the drama, having their own orders and their own writing flow is totally fine, you can't really make the drama go as back and forth as the novel, but when you're dealing with such a long work and you know something dramatic is coming and it's been building up for a while, having a bit of an impasse in the present was a good way to keep the pace, in my opinion.
And starting in medias res with the lead coming back to life, I am all for it.
I think that, overall, my favorite thing about this story is the conflict, the mystery, the layers of human nature that create conflict not out of some powerful inhuman entity but because of a search of domination of others and trying to be the one who's right. I think the true heart of this story is in that, in the constant unanswered question of where good and evil lie when the world is shades of grey. And I appreciate that, as opposed to other versions, it is clear that Wei WuXian was indeed responsible for some of the things that happened, that it wasn't all in villains' plans but it was also his hubris what lead him to make mistakes. That is something that I think is more clear in the novel than in the other versions I saw.
In terms of the main characters, I really liked them, but I did feel the other versions may have edited their constructions more interestingly. I feel like the Wei WuXian and the Lan WangJi of the donghua, and even more so the drama, are more developed versions of these two, after a team of writers and editors and of course performers had their hands on adding characterization. Here they aren't less interesting but they are for sure more characterized by what responds to the tropes of the danmei genre. It's logical, though, that versions that can't play up that part due to censorship and audience ratings have to develop them in a different way, and that ended in more polished versions of the characters, in my opinion.
Still, the dynamic was good, their arcs were good and I enjoyed them individually and together in these proto versions, to put it in a way.
I really liked the horror aspects. I did not expect it to go there, because the other versions didn't, and I was pleasantly surprised with it, very Junji It-esque at times, a little strange at others, but overall I am a fan of horror so I was all for it. There were some elements that reminded me to other source materials, but I did not expect this balance of horror with comedy and romance in historic fantasy like that.
I do feel that the novel has a problem with the female characters. They aren't at all disrespected in the way in which BL media tends to do, but I feel like the novel didn't much know how to handle them entirely and pushed them to the side very frequently, even though they were interesting to warrant more space. The drama I feel dealt with the female characters the best, but again, different media outlets, different expectations and necessities.
I did feel uncomfortable with some of the extras, not gonna lie, I don't mind the explicitness in itself but some tropes weren't something I was interested to see. Just putting it out there without spoiling. The explicitness within the novel itself, for what I could see, didn't really start ideal either, but again, it's par for the course with the type of genre this is.
All in all, I really enjoyed it, albeit having taken a longer time to read it than I ever thought. I felt like I was taking too long and then realized that apparently it has over 1400 pages, something that in the format I read it I didn't even notice.
I don't think that I would recommend it to everyone who loved the other versions, especially not for those who aren't used to all the things its inscribed in, but I did enjoy it myself, even with the qualms I had.
ninhe28's review
5.0
This one will always be one of my most favorite novels of all time. For real it’s amazing. It’s a really character driven story and the mystery of discovering what happened in the past made me keep going. This is a lovely LGBTQ story and the love between the main couple is so pure and profound.
It’s a shame there’s not really an official English translation but I hope there will be one soon so I can buy the paperback and own it forever.
100% recommended if you love fantasy and romance
There’s now an official English translation folks!!! 5 volumes coming up, the first one will be out in December 14th!!!
5/5 stars
It’s a shame there’s not really an official English translation but I hope there will be one soon so I can buy the paperback and own it forever.
100% recommended if you love fantasy and romance
There’s now an official English translation folks!!! 5 volumes coming up, the first one will be out in December 14th!!!
5/5 stars
la_feli's review
5.0
La única pega que le pongo son los capítulos finales - y las escenas de sexo de dub / non - con.
bookish_tora's review
5.0
I love it. I loved The Untamed and I love this. What more can I say? Just love it.
dimkerbell's review
5.0
PERFECTO!
Mas sobre el libro en mi reseña: https://youtu.be/grKvxhikiiw
Que mas podría decir, este libro es pura perfección en mil y tantas paginas.
Es como subir en una montaña rusa y conforme vamos subiendo vamos parando prolongando la emoción. Venganza, traición, amor familiar, principios, honor y romance la mejor combinación.
Mas sobre el libro en mi reseña: https://youtu.be/grKvxhikiiw
Que mas podría decir, este libro es pura perfección en mil y tantas paginas.
Es como subir en una montaña rusa y conforme vamos subiendo vamos parando prolongando la emoción. Venganza, traición, amor familiar, principios, honor y romance la mejor combinación.
aldana's review
5.0
Even if I thought about some criticism, I'll give all the available stars to this work because it made me learn about other culture(s), thoughts and people that I certainly love and... it also has wei wuxian, end of discussion.
p_j's review
5.0
The person who would dare to give this masterpiece anything other than 5 stars is a heartless stone.
I think it is practically impossible to not love Wangxian.
They are both literal puppies who need to be protected at all costs.
Apart from the obvious love for Wangxian what I LOVED about this book is the supporting characters.
(Let's not talk about the Yi city arc it hurts)
But the way the different characters had the life of their own and were as important as the main cast with complex emotions and flaws.
And the dynamics between these characters and their interaction with each other...
It just made this book so much more close to the heart.
This book was an absolute wonder and joy and officially in love with Mo Xian Tu xiu
She is my greatest idol author.
I think it is practically impossible to not love Wangxian.
They are both literal puppies who need to be protected at all costs.
Apart from the obvious love for Wangxian what I LOVED about this book is the supporting characters.
(Let's not talk about the Yi city arc it hurts)
But the way the different characters had the life of their own and were as important as the main cast with complex emotions and flaws.
And the dynamics between these characters and their interaction with each other...
It just made this book so much more close to the heart.
This book was an absolute wonder and joy and officially in love with Mo Xian Tu xiu
She is my greatest idol author.
erzebethrg's review
5.0
Se ha convertido en uno de mis favoritos.
Wei Wuxian es un protagonista encantador, muy inteligente y considerado. Pero muy real, con una historia familiar muy interesante (sobre todo la que comparte con sus hermanos).
Aunque suele ser muy juguetón e incluso llegar a ser irreverente nunca me pareció molesto. Con tonos grises, al no ser perfecto, no ser malo pero tampoco "bueno". Comete errores, y tiene que pagar por ellos (y lo hace
Wei Wuxian es un protagonista encantador, muy inteligente y considerado. Pero muy real, con una historia familiar muy interesante (sobre todo la que comparte con sus hermanos).
Aunque suele ser muy juguetón e incluso llegar a ser irreverente nunca me pareció molesto. Con tonos grises, al no ser perfecto, no ser malo pero tampoco "bueno". Comete errores, y tiene que pagar por ellos (y lo hace
trashtaroth's review
5.0
THIS IS A MASTERPIECE, WANXIAN IS SO BEAUTIFUL.
There we're somenthings that ended up unclear, but even with that, this history is one of the best i read in my life, definitively my favorite book of the year, and probably forever btw, if you give this novel a shot, you never regret it, it changes your life, the characters are precious, you hate the villians but in some level respect them, the world is so well built.
There we're somenthings that ended up unclear, but even with that, this history is one of the best i read in my life, definitively my favorite book of the year, and probably forever btw, if you give this novel a shot, you never regret it, it changes your life, the characters are precious, you hate the villians but in some level respect them, the world is so well built.