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adventurous
medium-paced
Mixed feelings. Certain parts were really gripping and exciting, but it kind of ebbed and flowed. Also I wasn’t satisfied at all with the treatment of “the grass plains” as the author calls it and especially the end where the two areas just kind of assimilate into one over the generations. Since that has happened to actual ethnic minority groups in China that have just ceased to exist, I was really turned off by the “solution” to the cycle of war being the implied assimilation and erasure of those different.
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-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
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
4.75
this was phenomenal, from the setting to the characterization to the plot itself. this is not for the patient ones who want instant happiness. i never read enemies to (and) lovers story this convincing. the conflicts, internal and external, that the main characters experience make so much sense according to their temperaments and history. the storytelling was grappling, it's obvious how much PDL improved since writing FGEP, and in her author notes she also expressed how much work went into JWQS and it really shows! to people with no prior knowledge of ancient chinese dynasties or settings in general, there might be a lot of info dump that drag the narration on, but it gave a clearer understanding of what's happening in the novel.
the intricacies and the political struggles in JWQS are much more pronounced than FGEP that sometimes i had to take a break and praise PDL for her grit in thinking up and applying such maneuvers into the plot. she did not slack up in crafting the characters, even side characters like shangguan wu, bayin, jiya (PDL mentioned jiya in a recent interview and a new piece information from that strengthens jiya's character), everyone has their own use and their purpose and JWQS was excellent in conveying how well-rounded others are outside qiyan and jingnu.
what i love the most about the narration is how PDL is able to describe things so vividly despite me never having anything to base my imagination on as i was reading, melts (the translator) deserve to be lauded for this as well.
how this was wrapped up, i think, was the best possible ending for JWQS, so i don't get people who are not satisfied. it leaves room for questions, sure, but also for possibilities. there is already closure for jingnu and qiyan that they can be together again, and PDL has said that several open-ended cases are not for jingnu to handle anymore. through this i'd like to think she's saying that not everything has to be fixed by jingnu (throughout the story qiyan has explicitly reminded jingnu about this, and jingnu often ruminates about this so it's not surprising).
for some reason i experience disconnect from jingnu while i was completely invested in qiyan T_T or maybe it was intended that way. i feel for jingnu and understand her pains, but not to the point where i'd justify her actions like i do with qiyan! qiyan's brand of cruelty is biting, like a maw coming at you suddenly in the dark. her obsessiveness and mystery make her as a character very appealing. maybe with jingnu it's because we witnessed her grow from a blank piece of paper while already digesting the great pains qiyan experienced, but watching her step into her full potential was satisfying nonetheless.
this was phenomenal, from the setting to the characterization to the plot itself. this is not for the patient ones who want instant happiness. i never read enemies to (and) lovers story this convincing. the conflicts, internal and external, that the main characters experience make so much sense according to their temperaments and history. the storytelling was grappling, it's obvious how much PDL improved since writing FGEP, and in her author notes she also expressed how much work went into JWQS and it really shows! to people with no prior knowledge of ancient chinese dynasties or settings in general, there might be a lot of info dump that drag the narration on, but it gave a clearer understanding of what's happening in the novel.
the intricacies and the political struggles in JWQS are much more pronounced than FGEP that sometimes i had to take a break and praise PDL for her grit in thinking up and applying such maneuvers into the plot. she did not slack up in crafting the characters, even side characters like shangguan wu, bayin, jiya (PDL mentioned jiya in a recent interview and a new piece information from that strengthens jiya's character), everyone has their own use and their purpose and JWQS was excellent in conveying how well-rounded others are outside qiyan and jingnu.
what i love the most about the narration is how PDL is able to describe things so vividly despite me never having anything to base my imagination on as i was reading, melts (the translator) deserve to be lauded for this as well.
how this was wrapped up, i think, was the best possible ending for JWQS, so i don't get people who are not satisfied. it leaves room for questions, sure, but also for possibilities. there is already closure for jingnu and qiyan that they can be together again, and PDL has said that several open-ended cases are not for jingnu to handle anymore. through this i'd like to think she's saying that not everything has to be fixed by jingnu (throughout the story qiyan has explicitly reminded jingnu about this, and jingnu often ruminates about this so it's not surprising).
for some reason i experience disconnect from jingnu while i was completely invested in qiyan T_T or maybe it was intended that way. i feel for jingnu and understand her pains, but not to the point where i'd justify her actions like i do with qiyan! qiyan's brand of cruelty is biting, like a maw coming at you suddenly in the dark. her obsessiveness and mystery make her as a character very appealing. maybe with jingnu it's because we witnessed her grow from a blank piece of paper while already digesting the great pains qiyan experienced, but watching her step into her full potential was satisfying nonetheless.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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
the last 20 chapters or so gave me a headache from me cryibg for 30 minutes straight
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
no because the ending pissed me off so much i was seething for days. and the extra chapters just made everything worse. not to mention there were many, many loose threads. first of all i refuse to believe the masked person just disappeared after the rebellion. there is literally no mention of her after chapter 290. there was so much build-up for her as the final antagonist of the story only for it to just fizzle out. very anticlimactic if you ask me.
many characters have an open ending, including qijing. we never quite find out what happened to bayin and jinwushu. gongyang huai, jiya, the seventh and eigth nangong princes and the sifang bank staff - there is no mention of them in the extras. on top of all that, the angst in the final 20 chapters was all over the place. listen, there is tasteful angst and then there is forced angst. i had no problem with the rest of the story but the forced angst in the finale was sickening, starting from nangong sunu's death. in the end it was like pdl decided to put her characters through heartwrenching misery not because it was relevant to the story but because she felt like it and she could think of no other way to introduce drama.
another thing that didn't sit well with me was the shunu and xiao-die pairing. xiao-die especially as a character has been put through a lot. in fact her and jingnu have suffered the most in this story. xiao-die's revenge arc ended extremely abruptly. her development was fast-paced. i did like that she reunited with her daughter in the end but we will never know how that will play out in the future- whether yuxiao will find out that her mother is actually xiao-die, and whether her and jinwushu will ever meet. as for shunu, i like her as a character, but the pairing has no chemistry. not to mention shunu's reason for falling in love with xiao-die was very icky. she would've been better off with jiya. after the midway point jiya was kinda cast aside which was yet another thing that annoyed me.
however that doesn't mean i disliked the story. the two main characters are definitely the heart of the book. despite the miserable open ending they had, one cannot argue that their love for each other changed the world. i love jingnu the most. her growth from the beginning to the end was so well written and i was extremely proud and also in love with her. we stan the emperor zhenzhen for introducing feminism. qi yan was a very complex character and her mental gymnastics from desiring nothing but revenge to starting to have feelings for jingnu was delicious and i loved every second of it.
despite being not a big fan of politics, the court politics in jwqs is explained very well by pdl and it is easy to understand. there were several parts that just hooked me and i couldn't put down the book until i finished the entire arc. qi yan's galaxy brain is so sexy muah! the romance paired with the angst is very sweet yet heartwrenching. however my point for the ending still stands. i guess in pdl terms you could call it a "happy ending" but if you want a truly happy ending then yeah there is a chance that you will be disappointed.