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

I didn't love my first encounter with this series. It was a confusing mess of unfamiliar genre conventions, a tone that couldn't seem to decide between silly and dire, and I thought the main plot would be told over four volumes instead of three (the fourth containing only side stories).

Now I've spent more than six months getting to know and love danmei as a genre and MXTX as a writer. This left me much better able to appreciate SVSSS's merits and the anime-like tonal shifts were not nearly as jarring the second time through. Also the extended cast turned out to be a million times more vibrant once I became able to keep track of all the shidis and shixiongs. Still, I doubt I'll ever fall as deeply in love with this series as MXTX's later (and more polished) works.

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orakuruno's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.75

I actually really don't like this book or series at all im dropping it here. why did I read up to this point

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aspyd05's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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cloudyworld's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-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

4.5

I saw a post saying luo binghe babytrapped shen qingqiu except he is the baby. It's extremely true. There's a lot of battles in this volume which are fun, and there's also the first

sex scene

so as you can imagine I loved it. Zhuzhi-Lang and Liu Qingge are also incredibly good side characters. I don't own volume four currently but I am legit considering buying the next one on my lunch break tomorrow, it's so serious for me right now

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lriga's review against another edition

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2.0

Enjoyed the book. Dark adventurous and funny satire of the genre until that scene. The "relationship" is toxic beyond repair. Theres no love here just unbalance which is fine if you acknowledge it but it went too far. There is clearly a rape scene very difficult to read and were supposed to feel ok with it. Why not one mentions the rape ????? low rating just because abuse/toxic relationships and rape cant be romanticized like that i feel bad for all the characters tbh

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theirnknight's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

While this book is treated like a romance, I can only read it as a mild horror. Not scary, but the 'relationship' certainly takes the tone of an attempt to placate the generally malevolent and manipulative love interest. Not to say the feelings of the protagonist are insincere, but there's a continued feeling of the relationship as a threat he's willing to embrace, rather than a genuine benefit to his life. It's less funny than the rest of the series, although I'd still consider it a comedy, though still engaging. I found the drama less captivating than the comedy, but still worth reading for those who like the style of the first book.

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shrewdbard's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

THAT ENDING…. It’s funny this is the book in the series I’ve taken the longest to read, because the last like 25% had me gasping out loud, the twists were so exciting. No idea how there’s still a whole book left, because that felt like a very satisfying conclusion!

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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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