Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong (Novel) Vol. 3

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong (Novel) Vol. 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

9 reviews

drsinoire's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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dolly_rocker's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny fast-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

3.75

The series gets 4 stars because I loved it as a whole, but, whoooo boy, did this book go downhill in the third act. It feels as though MXTX ran out of steam at the end and wanted to wrap up the story. So I’m giving this book 3.75 stars. I wanted to love it, but it left me unsatisfied, especially because this is the ending of the main storyline. Although there is another volume with follow-up stories.

I was with this book through many of the wonderfully heartfelt scenes in the holy mausoleum, and getting a developed backstory on Shen Jiu and Tianlang Jun was pretty satisfying. The climactic twist felt earned, if abrupt and underdeveloped.

But that NSFW scene and the resolution thereafter? I dunno. At this point we know full well that Shen QingQiu and Luo BingHe are an emotionally unhealthy pair whose miscommunications have led to a result that feels fated — and not in a good way — no matter what version of the story they’re in.

LBH goes fully yandere at the end to a degree that is borderline abusive and certainly not satisfyingly resolved. He channels the cruelty of the original LBH in many ways, and without the constant reminder of his empathetic backstory, it would leave the reader dreading that maybe he was the villain all along, or maybe SQQ’s choice to deny LBH’s agency made LBH’s progression to darkness unavoidable. It’s a huge red flag that SQQ is left with little choice but to endure a violently painful and weirdly written dubcon scene in order to “save the world.”

While I understand that this was intended to subvert the fuck-or-die trope, as well as certain tropes about love and consent, even so, this is trauma that is ultimately under-explored. So yeah, the author kinda missed the mark on this one. Which sucks, because it was the most important mark of all, IMO. And in this work that is not known for subtlety in subtext, the final act certainly could’ve used more substance and less subtlety.

I know we were never going to get heartfelt love confessions from either of these two, but I worry for their future relationship, and I hope the fourth book allows for some healthier relationship growth.

Overall, this story is about breaking out of roles: the ones a system forces on us, the ones we endure because of circumstances or the choices of others that impact us, but — most importantly — the ones we force on ourselves. It’s also about learning how not to force those roles onto others. I do feel like the series ultimately addressed that topic well. I just wish the author had stuck the landing better.

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