Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

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

13 reviews

audreygf's review against another edition

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Love every first 3 books, mix of funny, cute, dumb and emotional moments. Although...
The fuck or die, r*pe scene was a big no for me. Not at all necessary, was supposed to be funny i guess but left me with a bad feeling.
This couple is everything but a sain, consentual, and communicating one. They are toxic. But i love the books anyways, it took me by surprise at times and left me kicking my feet from most of it.
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emoceans's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I actually enjoyed this one a lot more. Still not incredible to me, but I felt like I could get into this book
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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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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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paradicsomleves's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-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

5.0

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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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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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keddy4306's review against another edition

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

3.5

If it wasn't for the
extreme dubcon
I would probably give this 4⭐️ I just can't overlook
papapa to save the world


This book does contain all of the good content.
Shen Qingqiu's soul is pulled back to his original body and he wakes up in the Holy Mausoleum of the Demon Race. Sqq meets Luo Binghe's daddy, Tianlang-jun, and snake-bro, Zhuzhi-Lang.

Lbh shows up to rescue Sqq, but gets beat up because his qi is depleted from trying to keep Sqq's mushroom body sustained for multiple days, then busting into the holy mausoleum and fighting two demons. Sqq protects Lbh and we get the sexy coffin scene of the book.

Our boys almost get away, but Sqq has been gargling too much demon blood and has Zhuzhi-Lang, Tianlang-jun and Luo Binghe's tapeworms fighting inside. Daddy demon and snake-bro take sqq and we get a bunch of funny throuple jokes. Liu Qingge comes to rescue Sqq and Lbh tags along. Hilarity ensues. 

We do all the character work for several characters, including the sect leader and Lbh's parents, then defeat the final boss and Lbh gets taken over again by the demon sword. Extreme dubcon happens and we papapa to save the world.

The story ends with
everyone happy and Bingqiu being coupley.
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graceskate's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-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

4.5

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