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164 reviews for:

Kaleidoscope of Death

Xi Zi Xu

4.46 AVERAGE


First of all - I had so much fun while reading! It was, most importantly, very well written, and secondly, the plot was super interesting. Characters were fun and lovable, and emotions was showing through the text pretty nicely. I enjoyed how different story arcs correspondent with some urban legends or horror/crime trivia, it made reading even more fun. The twists, foreshadowing and expectations are only growing with every chapter. I am really satisfied with that read.
Very good piece of literature for every horror/crime&suspense fans!
adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It is the first danmei horror genre I have read and I truly enjoyed it to the point I could not put it down. I really looked forward to each doors and found my favorites, especially the gore ones. I love the relationship between Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nuanzhu. It was slow paced but I liked that they have built such respect for each other. They talked to each other when needed and did not force one another to open up. Oftentimes, both just needed one look to understand what is going on in each other's minds. I loved the side characters and the relationship built in Obsidian.
As much as I loved the overall story, I feel like towards the end of the book, there lacked something. I understand that rather than being gory (like the first half of the doors), the last few doors was more on the psychological part. But I was searching for something more twisted and something that would left me shocked by the end. Though I admit that twist in the end got me.
It's still left a big impression on me and I'm sure I'll be re-reading my favorite parts. I'm also excited since there would be a love adaptation in 2022.
adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
romina_elizabeth's profile picture

romina_elizabeth's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

DNF chapter 15

When I started reading this I was in the mood of horror with silly characters.

I'm not in the mood for that right now so, i'll continue reading it when I'm in that mood again lmao.

i’m gonna be honest i’m so disappointed at the whole plot twist at the end

like this would’ve been a solid 3 or 3.5 star but the extra honestly left such a poor taste in my mouth in regards to
nanzhu playing w qiushi’s head like that & literally stealing his entire life??? just to fulfill his own wishes & everything. like i just genuinely can’t get over the fact that the qiushi we follow thinks he has no family who loves him & feels incredibly isolated & then we see him meet people who care about him & who he falls in with & feels like he finally has a place with only to find out that he was never isolated & alone?? nanzhu just made him feel that way by literally manipulating the entire world around him & putting himself in this place of power for qiushi to look up to & revere when it’s literally just him stealing qiushi’s own accomplishments & family & friends & it just makes the whole story feel icky to me idk


also this is such an unpopular opinion but my favorite doors were the ones that lin qiushi did on his own (i think the river ghoul one is still my favorite; i just loved getting to see him actually reason through things & figure things out w/o nanzhu just feeding him info the whole time) & i wasn’t a huge fan of nanzhu in general (esp. after reading that first extra & getting the entire story recontextualized)