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some_random_person_hi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Man, that first section was such a drag. It was so boring up till
First chinese novel I actually read from start to finish (skipping non-age appropriate sections) purely for enjoyment so it's a nice milestone for me.
Really really liked the
Moving on, when the angst hit it really hit.
Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Murder, Sexual content, Grief, Torture, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Self harm, Confinement, Incest, Infidelity, Sexism, Genocide, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, War, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Classism
Minor: Slavery and Sexual harassment
Self harm is to get blood to do magic things. Happened quite a few times. Also, technically not drug use so didn't warn for it but I feel like demonic cultivation has many many similarities to drug use.illiteratenerd's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Slavery, War, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Homophobia
Minor: Incest, Sexual violence, Child death, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
atlanticgiantpumpkin's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, War, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Sexual content, Cursing, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Self harm
Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Child death, Outing, Sexism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship
It’s pretty dark, not gonna lie, but it’s worth it.blingping's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Lots of subtle homophobia and misogyny. There's some dubious consent towards the very end, and the extras have some pretty risque nsfw scenes.myreadingodyssey's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment, Incest, Homophobia, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Alcohol, and Misogyny
ungles's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, War, Violence, Sexual content, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Gore, and Genocide
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Mental illness, and Homophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Incest, and Pregnancy
consensual non-consent , rape kink, pregnancy kink, manipulation, sexual content, necromancy, quarteringkarambit's review
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and War
Minor: Bullying, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, and Trafficking
jinguangyao's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- 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
Themes: 9
Queer Representation: 7
Writing Quality: 8
Enjoyment: 10
Comedy: 9
Character development: 10 (2 for women)
Romance: 10
Slowburn: 100
Angst: 100
Let's start with the positives for those who have yet to read it. The writing is wonderful. It always kept me guessing, especially with the time skips. If you enjoy novels that you will appreciate even more on a second reading, this one is for you! So many twists and turns that re-contextualize the story every time. It leads to a truly rewarding experience. The writing in general is a lot of fun. The author knows how to balance the humorous and dark tones without making a scene seem tonally inappropriate. MXTX uses a lot of Chinese literary references throughout the novel, which are enjoyable even to those (like myself) who don't speak the language and haven't read much Chinese literature. I don't know how she does it but she knows how to balance the shameless, funny scenes and the dark, tense scenes perfectly.
The romance is also good. For those who enjoy fanfiction tags and trope descriptions here are a few: rivals? or idiots to lovers, major character death, love interest falls in love first, SLOWBURN
It is VERY slowburn, which I personally enjoy torturing myself with. It is done very well, their dynamic matches perfectly with the themes of balancing good and evil, reputation, etc. Their romance isn't an addition to the story later, it is woven into the very themes. The misunderstandings aren't unreasonable (as a lot of novels rely on the misunderstanding trope in very unrealistic ways). You can clearly tell WHY they care about each other, WHY they love each other and it makes their confession very rewarding.
The comedy is GREAT. Personally, I enjoy the historical homophobic jokes (as a lesbian myself). Wei Wuxian is incredibly shameless and funny. It makes it easier to get through the angst and dark portions of the novel. If you're someone who will subconsciously put off novels when they get too depressing (like me), this one will be easier to get through. I enjoy watching Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian be incredibly shameless and torment the straight characters. :)
The villains are just... *chef's kiss*. As you can tell, I am a Jin Guangyao enjoyer. Even beside him, the other villains are amazing. Wen Ruohan is powerful and intimidating, Su She is pathetic but well written, Jin Guangyao is perfect and complex, and Xue Yang is tragic and complicated. If you're a villain gay (as I am), there is plenty of great content for you here.
Now onto the negatives. I'd like to preface that I might sound harsh, but these negatives are something that have not affected my deep love for this novel.
First, I would say that the women in this novel are unfortunately poorly written. This has become less of an issue with TGCF as she has improved a lot, but it is a bit of an eye sore in MDZS. She can not seem to write a three-dimensional female character to save her life. Their character completely depends on how they interact with the men in this story. If they are unable to contribute anything else to the men in the story, they die. I mean really. The death toll for women in this novel is insane. I think maybe three made it to the end? MianMian and the prostitutes are the only ones that come to mind.
Jiang Yanli is sweet, don't get me wrong, but her entire character relies upon being a sister archetype. How can she serve her brothers' character development? How can she provide their moral core? How can her death affect them? In the end, her death was not hers, but her brothers. How sad for them that she died! But what does it truly say about her as a character? Nothing. Not to be rude (because a lot of MDZS stans become incredibly angry if you criticize a character) but she served soup, was a sister archetype, and then died. This is not a three dimensional character. I struggle so much to think of a single complex female character in this novel. There is no excuse for MXTX. She's a woman!
Second, sorry to be an anti, but the r*pe fetish is extremely tasteless. Before the 30 year old pro-ship fandom moms break down my doors screaming "fiction doesn't affect reality!" (it does), I am someone who enjoys dark fiction. For f*cks sake, my favorite novel is Exquisite Corpse. I know how to critically consume media! Fetishizing r*pe is extremely tasteless and disgusting. It doesn't help that this is a gay novel. R*pe and predatory behaviors have been wrongfully associated with gay men for decades. Writing other characters to view them as predatory (everyone in the novel who hates Mo Xuanyu for being "predatory" and "inc*stuous" when he wasn't) and then actually making them into r*pe is just so homophobic it's unreal.
Other than that, I think this novel is generally perfect. It happens to be my favorite MXTX novel, even though TGCF has more quality writing. The themes are beautiful and woven throughout the entire story. Everything foreshadows something in the future (The whirlpool scene foreshadowing how everyone will act during the Guanyin Temple scene) so well. The nonlinear storytelling was an amazing choice for this style of writing and she clearly knows how to use it effectively.
Aside from the predatory r*pe fetishism in this novel, I think she wrote a wonderful representation of queerness. Their confession isn't the final point of them understanding their identity. Their "coming out" isn't for anyone but themselves. It's personal, not perfect, and not the final culmination of their identity (as a lot of straight people thing it is). They don't need everyone's approval. They would've confessed without others there anyways. It is just very refreshing to see a gay novel where a confession or coming out is not focused on the straight people's reactions.
Overall, the romance is amazing, representation is generally good, amazing imagery and literary references, great storytelling and use of foreshadowing, etc. It's a truly amazing novel that should be consumed critically. Authors are not gods, they are not impervious to criticism. Keep that in mind when you read MXTX novels, and cnovels in general.
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Incest, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Minor: Ableism
szuum's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Gore, Genocide, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment and Medical trauma
Minor: Bullying, Rape, Confinement, and Child death