Reviews with content warning for Genocide - Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 1

Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

33 reviews

kaiyakaiyo's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

honestly… this was a bit of a drag and the writing style leaves a lot to be desired. maybe because it’s translated, so I’m not getting the true experience, but the sentences and speech are really jerky and don’t flow well in some parts. there is a lot of really random “thought” text where the author just explains stuff to us instead of showing it. at times it felt like i was reading a parody? not sure how to explain it but really didn’t like the narrative voice

all in all I didn’t enjoy this very much because of style, which is weird because i really liked the show. the characters are interesting if a bit flat in this first volume, but i can forgive that since I know this is only the beginning of the story. Not sure I’ll read more, which sucks because i wanted to skip ahead of the show lol

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sellalellen's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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nightstitch96's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.75

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ieatbooks_'s review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It’s a fun book with interesting characters. I’m excited to continue the series and see what adventures they go on next , and how their relationship develops :)

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maiosu's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

5.0

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biscuitgale's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.25

This story focuses on a character named Xie Lian who was once a god, turned scrap collector, turned god again. We see him navigate the nuances of godhood and brilliantly solve Scooby Doo-ish mysteries that surface resentment, corruption and further questions. Along the way he meets a mysterious, but handsome character, San Lang. A loving relationship develops between them as they spend time together in a domestic setting and while on an adventure.

I truly enjoyed the slow-burn romance moments in this book, but want to caveat that this story includes dark themes and gore. Like many xianxia stories, there are characters with multiple names and titles. If you’re finding it tough to keep track of the names, I highly recommend keeping track of them and other confusing elements on the side on paper.

This volume does a lot of legwork to set up the world, but it can be a bit confusing if you haven’t read other stories of this genre. It introduces us to heaven, some cultivation and ghosts. The different realms mentioned are truly intriguing. The characters in this story are so fun and chaotic. Not all are fully developed, but they are definitely written with unique personalities and motivations. The pacing of this book can be challenging at times as there are scenes that go on for a bit longer than anticipated. But then there are moments where it picks up and it’s hard to put the book down because I just had to know what happens next. The story leaves us with a ton of loose threads going into the rest of the series!

Here are a few of the darker topics that came up in the story (behind a spoiler tag):

Moral Grayness, Genocide, Empires, Death, Body Horror, Desecrating Bodies, Casual Misogyny, Violence in General

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suicana's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This might just be my new favourite series. I don't even know anymore how often I've read/watched the first 1-2 novels in (almost) all its available formats - many, many times. Xie Lian is, without any doubt, my favourite protagonist of all time. He's funny, clever, down-to-Earth, competent, and so many things more. And: He's one of the few immortal protagonists I've met where I can believe without a doubt that yes, he really is centuries old and not just another teen with an absurdly high age for ~flAvoUr~.
The plot starts kind of slow and appears disjointed, but I promise it will all fall into place in later novels and all of the characters are reoccurring. It just takes a long time (hence the small star deduction).
Side note: The glossary at the end of the Seven Seas edition is a godsend for Western readers, but I promise all the names and concept also get easier fairly quickly.

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