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teagstime's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.75
This is definitely one of my favorite books of all time— I read this Scum Villain unofficial translation back in January 2021 and have been obsessed with it for over a year now. It’s just a wonderful, hilarious, tragic story.
Shen Yuan/Qingqiu is a brilliant unreliable narrator. Pretty much everything he thinks is undermined by his actions (e.g. insisting he thinks of everyone as simply characters in a novel, yet grows to care for them and constantly puts himself in danger for the sake of others)(albeit he still does have many problems recognizing their agency as living people, but that’s another story lmaoo). Any time this man denies having an emotion, which is often, he’s probably having TOO MANY— but we would be none the wiser! Because he’s so good at disassociating from his own body and feelings, he Also thinks he’s telling the truth! It’s concerning! I wanna k word this man so bad (affectionate)His whole personality is another bag of worms altogether. The casual and blatant disregard for his own life? The way he locks up every emotion and vulnerability from everyone else SO HARD he even locks them away from himself? SQQ I'm gonna force you into a therapy session I swear to god
Luo Binghe is also just. So good. This is a man who truly has All The Trauma… The ‘hurt/no comfort’ tag embodied. I feel like he gets misunderstood by a lot of people, which is incredibly upsetting to me, because he is so interesting and tragic and great??Yes, he gets a little unhinged post-abyss, but wouldn’t you? If the first person to ever show you kindness & love suddenly condemns you as the worst kind of evil and throws you into a literal hellscape after stabbing you in the chest??? Sorry to Shen Qingqiu but I would also go a little crazy wondering why! He’s calculated and terrifying and all-encompassing, and he decided to give his entire heart & soul to 1 (one) person and act a complete fool around him forever. King shit fr… Like seriously I care about this funky lil crybaby so much. I have kept it short here on purpose because this review would be 2x longer if I ranted about how much I love Luo Binghe rn… He gives me ALL the feelings. Shoutout SQQ bc I’m also having Binghe brainworms 24/7!
I think this novel also has a really neat relationship w its tropes, because mxtx wrote SVSSS as a commentary on harem/stallion novels and many of the plot devices they- and other things in the romance genre- tend to use, as well as things like transmigration stories, internet trolls/redditor-type dudebros, and male power fantasies in general! There are so many takes and subversions in this book that I just ! Care about so much !! And find so interesting to think about !! For example, with Luo Binghe’s power as the protagonist: unlike your typical male action hero / Shonen protag, he gets severely punished for powering up.Yeah, sure, he gets a cool demon sword that can cut open dimensional rifts. At the cost of the security in his most important relationship, with his special person. You’re now gonna feel insecure of your place forever and constantly fear being abandoned. On top of that, he has to deal with mental instability and bouts of becoming mind-controlled by said demonic sword— Like Xin Mo is literally poisoning his mind !! It will make you the strongest, but you will lose your sanity, leading to a horrible, slow death— and you’ll get to unknowingly hurt/kill the people you care about on your way out!! Because your sense of autonomy and comfort in your own skin is now forfeit! SURPRISE !! :)
Another aspect I really love (which I’ve seen some hate/uncertainty toward) is Bingqiu’s relationship itself— I guess I can understand if there’s tropes that aren’t your thing, or if there’s dynamics in their relationship you find toxic or unhealthy. However ! Concerning the toxicity/unhealthy parts of their relationship… a lot of it stems from mxtx’s commentary on harem tropes and male power fantasies? Those stories are damaging and gratuitous and horrifying, especially for the love interests, who are often just there to be put in traumatizing situations and papapa’d better… And the all-powerful male protag is often just.. overbearing and entitled and arrogant and creepy. No relationship’s gonna come out of that kind of environment unscathed!
Imo the tragic & horrible parts of their relationship just make the ending so much better?
Despite all the ways Bingqiu miscommunicate & hurt each other over the course of the novel, they really do love each other. Just because things aren’t resolutely tied up with a bow at the end doesn’t mean they don’t! It just makes it more real and heartwarming to me. These are people who have misunderstood one another constantly, who have made mistakes and hurt the one they love… and they have to live with it. No do-overs. And they make the conscious decision to be together despite it all! I think it ends with a really heartwarming feeling, like!! They have a lot of work to do to be able to move forward after all this trauma and heartache, but they’re going to try and make it work! Because they are in love! And they want each other to be happy! It’s so sweet!! Even though Bingqiu are quite literally soulmates, relationships are never going to be easy— esp one with as much baggage as this— and the novel ends with them still having all these issues, but ! They’re going to try to face them ! And learn from their mistakes, together!!! That’s LOVE baby!!!
Anyway! Christ,, , I did not mean to make this a novel on its own OTL I could and would keep talking, but… I will cut myself off lmaooo
TLDR; I care this book a lot
Shen Yuan/Qingqiu is a brilliant unreliable narrator. Pretty much everything he thinks is undermined by his actions (e.g. insisting he thinks of everyone as simply characters in a novel, yet grows to care for them and constantly puts himself in danger for the sake of others)(albeit he still does have many problems recognizing their agency as living people, but that’s another story lmaoo). Any time this man denies having an emotion, which is often, he’s probably having TOO MANY— but we would be none the wiser! Because he’s so good at disassociating from his own body and feelings, he Also thinks he’s telling the truth! It’s concerning! I wanna k word this man so bad (affectionate)
Luo Binghe is also just. So good. This is a man who truly has All The Trauma… The ‘hurt/no comfort’ tag embodied. I feel like he gets misunderstood by a lot of people, which is incredibly upsetting to me, because he is so interesting and tragic and great??
I think this novel also has a really neat relationship w its tropes, because mxtx wrote SVSSS as a commentary on harem/stallion novels and many of the plot devices they- and other things in the romance genre- tend to use, as well as things like transmigration stories, internet trolls/redditor-type dudebros, and male power fantasies in general! There are so many takes and subversions in this book that I just ! Care about so much !! And find so interesting to think about !! For example, with Luo Binghe’s power as the protagonist: unlike your typical male action hero / Shonen protag, he gets severely punished for powering up.
Another aspect I really love (which I’ve seen some hate/uncertainty toward) is Bingqiu’s relationship itself— I guess I can understand if there’s tropes that aren’t your thing, or if there’s dynamics in their relationship you find toxic or unhealthy. However ! Concerning the toxicity/unhealthy parts of their relationship… a lot of it stems from mxtx’s commentary on harem tropes and male power fantasies? Those stories are damaging and gratuitous and horrifying, especially for the love interests, who are often just there to be put in traumatizing situations and papapa’d better… And the all-powerful male protag is often just.. overbearing and entitled and arrogant and creepy. No relationship’s gonna come out of that kind of environment unscathed!
Imo the tragic & horrible parts of their relationship just make the ending so much better?
Anyway! Christ,, , I did not mean to make this a novel on its own OTL I could and would keep talking, but… I will cut myself off lmaooo
TLDR; I care this book a lot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death, Rape, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Body horror, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Cursing, Bullying, Chronic illness, and Confinement
Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism
My advice: do NOT read this book without looking at the trigger warnings. There is graphic, disturbing content and it's rated for adults for a reason (the suggested reading age from some stores is literally 22+) !!!!moonmagister's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
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
4.0
This was the last MXTX book I had left to read so far and it’s the first one she wrote. As such it’s a shorter and more chaotic read and probably won’t be to many peoples tastes. Lots of people say this is a lighthearted novel, and it is, if you happen to have dark sense of humour. This is romance but much more in the style of a messy queer dark romance than anything more wholesome. So if that isn’t up your street then I wouldn’t bother trying.
I personally really enjoyed this novel, despite flaws in plot and translation. I’m looking forward to continuing the official translation in the following months!
I personally really enjoyed this novel, despite flaws in plot and translation. I’m looking forward to continuing the official translation in the following months!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
streetlights's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
What is this book about?
Scum Villain's Self-Saving System is a tragedy dressed up as a comedy presented as satire. It is about a young man named Shen Yuan, who dies and gets isekai'd into the webnovel he hate-read in its entirety, Proud Immortal Demon Way. Shen Yuan actually really loves the potential of PIDW, especially its main character, Luo Binghe. Only, the webnovel squanders all of it in the end and turns a promising novel into an trashy male power-fantasy harem extravaganza!
Shen Yuan is unfortunately transmigrated into the body of Shen Qingqiu, the beautiful villain of the novel who abuses Luo Binghe and meets a tortured demise. To avoid his cruel fate, Shen Yuan — now Shen Qingqiu — works to get into Luo Binghe's good graces and fix the terribly written plot of PIDW! Except... why is Luo Binghe no longer getting his harem? Why is Luo Binghe no longer admired and adored by everyone? There are hidden plots not written in the book?! Is he messing up the plot for Luo Binghe?!
Genre, Adaptations, Translations
Because of the meta-nature of the novel, SVSSS works through a whole host of genres. The original PIDW is a male power-fantasy and a harem novel where Luo Binghe is always cool and always gets the girl. SVSSS is a xianxia danmei novel where SQQ and LBH end up together. Both were written as a serialized webnovel.
This novel has been adapted into a donghua. It's very funny and captures the humor of SVSSS really well!
The fan translation by faelicy and lily is excellent, and the they also worked on the official english translations. Please buy them when you can!
Review
SVSSS is a fun read! For the first third of the novel, it's very easy to read with lots of meta humor. Shen Yuan is an unreliable narrator in the funniest way. He is smart, perceptive, but creates the most wildly inaccurate conclusions from his observations, which further creates misunderstandings. He is extremely Wrong Genre-Savvy. He is the protagonist of a danmei book, parading as the villain in a male power-fantasy novel for survival, not knowing that he is bound by the genre he is actually in to fall for the male love interest.
The best way I can describe Shen Yuan is this: he was written to be an extremely online millenial, but he is kind. He is unwaveringly kind. He likes to complain in his head, he likes to think he's deluding himself, but his actions speak louder than his words. He is the most unreliable narrator MXTX has ever written. He will convince you that he does not love Luo Binghe (not in that way, because everyone just loves Binghe, right? Everyone loves the protagonist!), that he betrays him in the worst way and deserves his anger, that he would be happier as an NPC. And he will tell you all of this in the funniest way, and you will get hooked, and it's only on a second reread (or if you're doing a very close reading) do you realize that Shen Yuan has hoodwinked you, the reader, into the lies he spins for himself to make sense of the world around him and to avoid his sexuality? gender? crisis.
And it is for this reason that it's easy to dismiss both Shen Yuan's and Luo Binghe's true feelings. Don't let Shen Yuan suck you into his unreliable narration. But he is fun to read, for sure. Shen Yuan is an incredibly queer character mired in comphet and with an incredible personality. He is loveable, he is a red flag, he is kind, he is a twitter antifan / reddit bro. This guy has layers. You will for sure be entertained with him as the narrator.
PIDW, despite all its trappings, is a bleak and tragic work. You will realize this when you find that if Shen Yuan was not the narrator, the story will always sound tragic when told by anyone else. It's a testament to how funny Shen Yuan is and how he makes the best of his situation.
The best way to enjoy SVSSS is to remember that it has a meta narrative. It's a satire of male power fantasies and a commentary of the genre and of stallion novels in literary form. The male gaze vs the female gaze as Shen Yuan creates a genre shift and turns PIDW (unknowingly) into a danmei novel. There's breaking down of character tropes, finding hidden backstories that were never written, and there's even commentary on writing for profit (for survival) vs writing for art. If you love meta humor, SVSSS operates on so many levels of meta that the whole novel will be candy for your brain.
It is MXTX's first work and therefore it's not her most refined work. However, even though it doesn't have the same grand undertakings as MDZS and TGCF, SVSSS on its own is very good. And because of its premise, of how Shen Yuan always finds himself confronting the poorly written mess that is PIDW, even though SVSSS is not the most polished work, it is full of charm. It is full of heart. Not being as tightly written as the other two books adds more to its charm than it detracts from it.
Summary
If you love meta narratives, if you love millenial humor, if you love messy queer characters, if you love unreliable narrators, I would definitely recommend reading SVSSS. It's a fun romp, and even if the romance doesn't convince you, I'm sure you'll find yourself entertained by the story regardless!
Scum Villain's Self-Saving System is a tragedy dressed up as a comedy presented as satire. It is about a young man named Shen Yuan, who dies and gets isekai'd into the webnovel he hate-read in its entirety, Proud Immortal Demon Way. Shen Yuan actually really loves the potential of PIDW, especially its main character, Luo Binghe. Only, the webnovel squanders all of it in the end and turns a promising novel into an trashy male power-fantasy harem extravaganza!
Shen Yuan is unfortunately transmigrated into the body of Shen Qingqiu, the beautiful villain of the novel who abuses Luo Binghe and meets a tortured demise. To avoid his cruel fate, Shen Yuan — now Shen Qingqiu — works to get into Luo Binghe's good graces and fix the terribly written plot of PIDW! Except... why is Luo Binghe no longer getting his harem? Why is Luo Binghe no longer admired and adored by everyone? There are hidden plots not written in the book?! Is he messing up the plot for Luo Binghe?!
Genre, Adaptations, Translations
Because of the meta-nature of the novel, SVSSS works through a whole host of genres. The original PIDW is a male power-fantasy and a harem novel where Luo Binghe is always cool and always gets the girl. SVSSS is a xianxia danmei novel where SQQ and LBH end up together. Both were written as a serialized webnovel.
This novel has been adapted into a donghua. It's very funny and captures the humor of SVSSS really well!
The fan translation by faelicy and lily is excellent, and the they also worked on the official english translations. Please buy them when you can!
Review
SVSSS is a fun read! For the first third of the novel, it's very easy to read with lots of meta humor. Shen Yuan is an unreliable narrator in the funniest way. He is smart, perceptive, but creates the most wildly inaccurate conclusions from his observations, which further creates misunderstandings. He is extremely Wrong Genre-Savvy. He is the protagonist of a danmei book, parading as the villain in a male power-fantasy novel for survival, not knowing that he is bound by the genre he is actually in to fall for the male love interest.
The best way I can describe Shen Yuan is this: he was written to be an extremely online millenial, but he is kind. He is unwaveringly kind. He likes to complain in his head, he likes to think he's deluding himself, but his actions speak louder than his words. He is the most unreliable narrator MXTX has ever written. He will convince you that he does not love Luo Binghe (not in that way, because everyone just loves Binghe, right? Everyone loves the protagonist!), that he betrays him in the worst way and deserves his anger, that he would be happier as an NPC. And he will tell you all of this in the funniest way, and you will get hooked, and it's only on a second reread (or if you're doing a very close reading) do you realize that Shen Yuan has hoodwinked you, the reader, into the lies he spins for himself to make sense of the world around him and to avoid his sexuality? gender? crisis.
And it is for this reason that it's easy to dismiss both Shen Yuan's and Luo Binghe's true feelings. Don't let Shen Yuan suck you into his unreliable narration. But he is fun to read, for sure. Shen Yuan is an incredibly queer character mired in comphet and with an incredible personality. He is loveable, he is a red flag, he is kind, he is a twitter antifan / reddit bro. This guy has layers. You will for sure be entertained with him as the narrator.
PIDW, despite all its trappings, is a bleak and tragic work. You will realize this when you find that if Shen Yuan was not the narrator, the story will always sound tragic when told by anyone else. It's a testament to how funny Shen Yuan is and how he makes the best of his situation.
The best way to enjoy SVSSS is to remember that it has a meta narrative. It's a satire of male power fantasies and a commentary of the genre and of stallion novels in literary form. The male gaze vs the female gaze as Shen Yuan creates a genre shift and turns PIDW (unknowingly) into a danmei novel. There's breaking down of character tropes, finding hidden backstories that were never written, and there's even commentary on writing for profit (for survival) vs writing for art. If you love meta humor, SVSSS operates on so many levels of meta that the whole novel will be candy for your brain.
It is MXTX's first work and therefore it's not her most refined work. However, even though it doesn't have the same grand undertakings as MDZS and TGCF, SVSSS on its own is very good. And because of its premise, of how Shen Yuan always finds himself confronting the poorly written mess that is PIDW, even though SVSSS is not the most polished work, it is full of charm. It is full of heart. Not being as tightly written as the other two books adds more to its charm than it detracts from it.
Summary
If you love meta narratives, if you love millenial humor, if you love messy queer characters, if you love unreliable narrators, I would definitely recommend reading SVSSS. It's a fun romp, and even if the romance doesn't convince you, I'm sure you'll find yourself entertained by the story regardless!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Body horror and Torture
Minor: Death
Make sure to look up some content warnings before reading! Even though it's her most humorous book, there's still body horror just like any other MXTX book. There is a noncon scene towards the end, but if you can do a close reading and follow the meta, then it's a scene that has a point. Regardless, it's still a very uncomfortable scene to read, so I would advise reading Chapter 80-81 with caution. (Not sure if it's 80 or 81 because it depends on if the translation you're reading includes one of the extras in between the chapters or not).halcyonuncoil's review
emotional
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
There is a fairly graphic rape scene late in the book which completely took me off guard when I read it. It is between the two main LI and everything gets cleared up fairly well (or glossed over with the implication that it will be discussed and dealt with in the future) but it definitely made me recoil.hankerchiefghost's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
camorra's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
thewrongalice's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexism
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