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

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

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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

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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

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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

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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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nitzanschwarz's review

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Vo.3 Arcs:

Begins right where vol.2 ends, with SQQ imprisoned by LBH to the end of the main story

SPOILERS AHEAD - NOT MARKED (entire review is very spoilery)
B 84%| Quite Good!
Many answers are given in this installment as the finale to the “main story”, but now I really need vol. 4 to come out ASAP because there was barely any fluff in this and that’s criminal.

A note: MXTX’s novels are always fun reads that suck you in. SVSSS is, especially, humorous, and I definitely recommend picking up this series. However, I have a lot of things I’m a bit iffy about with this volume and this review is going to be mostly me grumbling about those – so if you’re a die-hard fan that doesn’t care to hear any negative commentary (which is totally fair btw), please don’t read further.

<(_ _*)> 谢谢啦~

Plot Conclusion
The setup of Scum Villain has always promised us that Shen Qingqiu will need to fill in some of the plot holes from the original work, and in this finale (of the main plot) we finally get to tie up most of the loose ends. Was much of it predictable? Yes, very. I don’t think anyone can ever say MXTX is super subtle, especially since she loves giving characters meaningful names. However, that didn’t really detract from my enjoyment, and I was even surprised by the reveal of who the final boss was. Maybe I should’ve expected it to be Binghe, but for some reason, I didn’t

It was, though, a bit weird to realize many of those plot solutions were never really shared with anyone else. Shen Qingqiu was blamed for the sower incident, for killing his adoptive family, for killing the Huan Hua Palace’s disciples, and for being the student of some villainous person who’s never really discussed in depth. While we watched him find out the real culprits, no one else did, nor does it ever say that Shen Qingqiu or anyone else explained to anyone—it’s always “I’ll tell you later”. So how is he absolved from all these “crimes”?

Not to mention, there are some new plot holes to contend with. Most are rather dumb, but I’m a dumb woman who is easily amused by the fact a book grumbling about plot holes has plot holes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Did Without a Cure get cured with Shen Qingqiu’s death? Because they hyped the “cure” (i.e. sex with Binghe) so much it seemed odd that upon Shen Qingqiu’s return to his original body it just poofed out of existence. But then, that seems to be a trend, because even the Ties That Bind thing (or however it was called) vanished despite Zhuzhi-lang missing a few healing sessions. And what about original Shen Qingqiu’s “master” who was apparently some kind of psycho but is never even explained?....

Original Shen Qingqiu’s Backstory
It was not bad enough. There! I said it! Was it surprising that he was abused in that “adoptive” household of his? Heck no. Does it excuses slaughtering all the men in the house, then later betraying all his sect brothers in the original timeline? Not really, especially when we see zero indication that anyone else was in on the abuse. In fact, it appears brother dearest specifically hid it behind closed doors and even pretended to favor him, to the point of betrothing him to his sister!

Side Characters Deserve Better
Honestly, there were a couple of really upsetting deaths in this series, not because they happened, but because of how they were treated. Gongyi died off-page, as a random afterthought, in the last volume, but it’s in this volume that we found out why he died and it’s… so anticlimactic? It’s barely a consideration, it’s so… pointless. Then there is Gongyi’s murderer, Zhuzhi-lang, who was well-meaning but misguided, loyal to the bone, and he just… died. Poof. I had to do a double take when one of the characters says “take his bones” because I was like WHAT. These characters deserved better than some off-page death with barely any consequence or mention.

Romance
Oh boy, how do I get into this one… I am not on board. Like, this relationship makes me capital letter Uncomfertable, even though I really wanted to love it. But… Binghe literally assaulted Shen Qingqiu. He wants Shen Qingqiu isolated from anyone else, to the point that internally smiling toward someone else—not even actually smiling, just Binghe perceiving Shizun to smile on the inside—is considered an offense. He physically hurts Shen Qingqiu. And at the end of the day, Shen Qingqiu is so guilt-ridden over the mental injuries he has given Binghe (separation anxiety and abandonment issues), that he decides to leave with him, leave the things he loves and the people he cares for… all to keep the psyche of Binghe sane.

Like, idk. To me, this is a highly unhealthy relationship. And this book didn’t really do a good job at convincing me this was mostly due to Xin Mo driving Binghe crazy. Hopefully, Vol.4 will give us an insight into what a “sane Luo Binghe” is as a partner that will offset these honestly highly problematic behaviors of his and prove that he is the right partner for Shizun, because right now I don’t see it. Right now, it feels abusive.

And it literally pains me to say this, because I am such an unabashedly huge fan of MXTX’s other two couples and I wanted to love it as much as I love WangXian or HuaLian.

Final judgment on this couple is reserved until Vol. 4.

SEX
It exists in this novel. It's graphic, but It’s not sexy, it’s not pleasant, it’s not exciting, so don’t expect any of that. Just a little warning, if you’ve chosen to read my spoilery review.

Where Are the Soft Bingqiu Illustrations??
There are soft moments in this book. Kisses and hugs and smiles exchanged between our main couple, and yes, they’re all tinged with a sense of desperation and obsession, but they’re there. But did we get illustrations of these? NO! Is it too much to ask for one or two sweet illustrations? (இ﹏இ`｡)

That being said, that specific illustration on page 37 may or may not have gotten me pregnant ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not Enough Mobei-jun and Shan Qinghua
Honestly, a part of me thinks a much more pleasant novel to follow would’ve been about this weak ass bitch of an author tittering around in the demon world as Mobei-jun’s underlining who for some (inexplicable) reason gets really good treatment, and is just always next to the general…but the general says nothing about it aside for occasionally throwing him around and everyone is super confused but don’t dare say something about it…

Yeah, I want this novel. I hope there are some extras on these extras.

Story and Setting –18/20
Characters –18/20
Relationships –15/20
Translation – 15/20
Reading Experience –18/20

Final Score: 84

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