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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
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
fast-paced
I picked up this book because of its beautiful cover, even though the summary made me suspect that I'm too aroace to be the target audience. I was surprised to discover that romance doesn't play too strong of a role in the story. For all the characters' talk about true love, what binds them together seems to be 90% sexual chemistry. What's more, the narrative doesn't push the idea that love is pure and good. In fact, I can't recall the last book I read that treated love so neutrally.
You could argue that the characters don't really love each other, because they don't treat each other well. They are unfaithful, vengeful, and quite unhealthy at times. But rather than have the characters conclude that their love isn't true after all, the protagonist follows his sister's advice and declares that just because it's true does not mean it's good. This is an exciting message to see in a novel, especially as someone who's intrigued by the loveless community's efforts to challenge the idea that love is always good and can do no harm.
I also enjoyed the conclusion, probably because I'm aroace. I suspect that many readers coming into this novel for an epic romance will be disappointed, because the way I understand things, both love interests have willfully abandoned each other by the end. In the first timeline, Dong Xian cheats on Liu Xin, prompting Liu Xin to choose reincarnation and revenge over an eternity in Heaven. In the second timeline, Liu Xin passes on the burden of Remembering to Dong Xian, which, as we can see in the third and final timeline, causes him a significant amount of distress. As soon as Liu Xin Remembers enough of their shared past, he chooses to leave Dong Xian once again to his regrets and endless pining. Good for Liu Xin.
Despite the pleasant surprise that this book doesn't buy into as many "true love conquers all" tropes as I had expected, and despite the breakneck speed with which I read it, I think it's just OK. The descriptions were very vivid (which is either a blessing or a curse, depending on how much you enjoy graphic sex scenes), but the dialogue felt a bit lackluster. The fast pace of the story meant that the characters rarely stopped to reflect on their feelings, and most of the relationships felt inexplicably intense. Sure, Garden and River are close, because they are siblings and have known each other their whole lives. But why are Calvin and River so close despite not having spent a full twenty-four hours together? I suppose this ties into the novel's depiction of love as grounded more in immediate sexual attraction than in long-term, cultivated romance.
I do enjoy the reincarnation trope, even though it leads to many questions. What's the logic behind Liu Xin always having the same face? And how much of a role does nurture play in changing his personality from one life to the next? One of my favorite musicals is "Ghost Quartet," and I prefer that story's take on reincarnation than this book's, since it focuses less on a love triangle being reincarnated (always as a love triangle) and more on a friend group that constantly finds new configurations: family, strangers, friends, lovers, and so on.
I had the most fun with this book's reincarnation system when I thought that Calvin was part of it, too: two men who are sexually obsessed with each other, plus one of those men's best friends. Alas, it was not to be. Still, I appreciate how Calvin's outsider status allows him to help Liu Xin break the cycle of his unhealthy relationship with Dong Xian. I'm not upset that Calvin isn't part of the reincarnation system; it just means that the reincarnation element doesn't get any points for introducing Calvin into the mix.
You could argue that the characters don't really love each other, because they don't treat each other well. They are unfaithful, vengeful, and quite unhealthy at times. But rather than have the characters conclude that their love isn't true after all, the protagonist follows his sister's advice and declares that just because it's true does not mean it's good. This is an exciting message to see in a novel, especially as someone who's intrigued by the loveless community's efforts to challenge the idea that love is always good and can do no harm.
I also enjoyed the conclusion, probably because I'm aroace. I suspect that many readers coming into this novel for an epic romance will be disappointed, because the way I understand things, both love interests have willfully abandoned each other by the end. In the first timeline, Dong Xian cheats on Liu Xin, prompting Liu Xin to choose reincarnation and revenge over an eternity in Heaven. In the second timeline, Liu Xin passes on the burden of Remembering to Dong Xian, which, as we can see in the third and final timeline, causes him a significant amount of distress. As soon as Liu Xin Remembers enough of their shared past, he chooses to leave Dong Xian once again to his regrets and endless pining. Good for Liu Xin.
Despite the pleasant surprise that this book doesn't buy into as many "true love conquers all" tropes as I had expected, and despite the breakneck speed with which I read it, I think it's just OK. The descriptions were very vivid (which is either a blessing or a curse, depending on how much you enjoy graphic sex scenes), but the dialogue felt a bit lackluster. The fast pace of the story meant that the characters rarely stopped to reflect on their feelings, and most of the relationships felt inexplicably intense. Sure, Garden and River are close, because they are siblings and have known each other their whole lives. But why are Calvin and River so close despite not having spent a full twenty-four hours together? I suppose this ties into the novel's depiction of love as grounded more in immediate sexual attraction than in long-term, cultivated romance.
I do enjoy the reincarnation trope, even though it leads to many questions. What's the logic behind Liu Xin always having the same face? And how much of a role does nurture play in changing his personality from one life to the next? One of my favorite musicals is "Ghost Quartet," and I prefer that story's take on reincarnation than this book's, since it focuses less on a love triangle being reincarnated (always as a love triangle) and more on a friend group that constantly finds new configurations: family, strangers, friends, lovers, and so on.
I had the most fun with this book's reincarnation system when I thought that Calvin was part of it, too: two men who are sexually obsessed with each other, plus one of those men's best friends. Alas, it was not to be. Still, I appreciate how Calvin's outsider status allows him to help Liu Xin break the cycle of his unhealthy relationship with Dong Xian. I'm not upset that Calvin isn't part of the reincarnation system; it just means that the reincarnation element doesn't get any points for introducing Calvin into the mix.
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-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
all the euphemisms during the sex scenes really took me out of the (admittedly beautiful) story
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
kind of felt like i was watching porn but for the plot. the ending came so suddenly though? i did learn a lot of euphemisms for erections and ejaculation