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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-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:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-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:
No
While my love of danmei endures, I wanted to explore modern Chinese lesbian novels as well. What we might call wlw or f/f in the West, China’s bookish audience classifies as “baihe.” Every single baihe rec list I found pointed me towards 请君莫笑’s works and Female General and Eldest Princess specifically.
Lin Wanyue lives a peaceful life with her family until the Huns slaughter everyone and burn her village to the ground. Vowing revenge, she takes on her dead twin brother’s identity so she can join the army and murder as many Huns as possible. In the same year, miles away, the First Princess Li Xian vows to her dying mother that one day crown prince Li Zhu will be Emperor, no matter the cost. When Lin Wanyue’s unstoppable force meets Li Xian’s immovable object, sparks fly, and the empire will never be the same.
Female General and Eldest Princess has a much more straightforward tone than other novels set in lightly fictionalized historical China. The simpler, more streamlined politics make it much less unwieldy than say, Thousand Autumns. Some real historical events are touched upon–the building of the Great Wall, the incessant Hun attacks–but the dynasty is fictional. The overall vibe was heavily reminiscent of Mulan, like a war epic with a lesbian villain romance. You read that right–this is a villain romance. Not knowing that going in seriously marred my reading experience. Characters don’t need to be heroic, but I like a little warning before reading passages evaluating the pros of genocide. People die and die and die so Li Zhu can have that Emperor seat, and it’s unclear if he’s worth it.
That’s my only quibble with the book. The rest is praise. The battle sequences are exciting and excellently written. Every knife twist, every political turn had me scrolling faster and faster, trying to get as much of this novel into my brain as possible. Though I was surprised by the lengths they were willing to go for their goals, I adore Lin Wanyue and Li Xian, and I reveled in their HEA. Queer people can thrive in ancient times! In a chapter end note, the author comes out as a lesbian, and that made my heart warm all over.
While Female General and Eldest Princess wasn’t what I expected, the great character work, beautiful romance, and engaging plot indicate 请君莫笑’s high skill. I’ve set my sights on her other works set in modern times with a death god roommate.
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
LI XIAN <3 <3 <3 <3
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this was LOOONG, and much slower than i expected ??? i knew going into it that this was slowburn but damn this really was slowburn. it took a while for me to really get into it and connect to the characters, but it was so worth it in the end!
li xian and lin wanyue are both such complex and detailed characters and they both stand as really strong characters both by themselves and together and just !!!!!! yuexian !!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love them so much i feel like melted plastic on the floor
the one thing i will say is there were quite a few points in the novel where i couldn't really bring myself to care about to plot, however the characters are honestly strong enough to carry the book despite that.
other than that, overall this was really enjoyable and definitely worth the read ! read fgep for strong female characters, politics, Scheming and girls with weapons <3
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this was LOOONG, and much slower than i expected ??? i knew going into it that this was slowburn but damn this really was slowburn. it took a while for me to really get into it and connect to the characters, but it was so worth it in the end!
li xian and lin wanyue are both such complex and detailed characters and they both stand as really strong characters both by themselves and together and just !!!!!! yuexian !!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love them so much i feel like melted plastic on the floor
the one thing i will say is there were quite a few points in the novel where i couldn't really bring myself to care about to plot, however the characters are honestly strong enough to carry the book despite that.
other than that, overall this was really enjoyable and definitely worth the read ! read fgep for strong female characters, politics, Scheming and girls with weapons <3
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
After putting off this book at chapter 30 something because of my reading slump, I finally picked it up again and finished it in less than a month omg (it was worth it btw).
At first, reading the (if you can call that) begining of their pining, I truly feel like I wouldn't <I>feel</I> anything the moment they got together. I became hopeless that this wouldn't feel as good as when I finished jwqs, but boy oh boy am I wrong! because the moment they <I>pine</I> for real, my heart won't stop aching with every fluff and every angst I read about them. I became very emotional and fully submerged into them that I kinda lose interest when they briefly or not-so briefly separate.
The time skip was truly perfect that my heart ached even more for them! it was 183 chapters, but I felt like it was just as long as jwqs, just not as slow.
glad to know that they're truly soulmate, meant for each other in every fucking lifetime, even in death. thank fuck omg.
it's saddening me how Li Zhu ended up lonely in his emperor path or whatever, I wished for PDL to at least let him see his Jiejie for the last time before saying goodbye forever 🥹
oh also, that "plot twist" was definitely something lmao. had I not read that part at night, I'd probably SCREAM loud as fuck omg. I thought they'd get their short story, since pdl did mention it in one of the extras author's note, but since i don't really care about them and was only a tiny bit curious, I don't feel like it's a loss, truly.
I hope PDL a very happy day, I hope she can stop undermining her works in the author's note, because I've seen international fans be saddened about this part of her notes, and how I think all of her everything about the works are just wonderful and spectacular! truly love this book, thank you for gracing our eyes PDL!
At first, reading the (if you can call that) begining of their pining, I truly feel like I wouldn't <I>feel</I> anything the moment they got together. I became hopeless that this wouldn't feel as good as when I finished jwqs, but boy oh boy am I wrong! because the moment they <I>pine</I> for real, my heart won't stop aching with every fluff and every angst I read about them. I became very emotional and fully submerged into them that I kinda lose interest when they briefly or not-so briefly separate.
The time skip was truly perfect that my heart ached even more for them! it was 183 chapters, but I felt like it was just as long as jwqs, just not as slow.
it's saddening me how Li Zhu ended up lonely in his emperor path or whatever, I wished for PDL to at least let him see his Jiejie for the last time before saying goodbye forever 🥹
oh also, that "plot twist" was definitely something lmao. had I not read that part at night, I'd probably SCREAM loud as fuck omg. I thought they'd get their short story, since pdl did mention it in one of the extras author's note, but since i don't really care about them and was only a tiny bit curious, I don't feel like it's a loss, truly.
I hope PDL a very happy day, I hope she can stop undermining her works in the author's note, because I've seen international fans be saddened about this part of her notes, and how I think all of her everything about the works are just wonderful and spectacular! truly love this book, thank you for gracing our eyes PDL!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Trafficking
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-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