tiredtori's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

stroop's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

strrygo's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

4.25

the way the comedy n romance n action all balance while building this huge world that somehow did Not feel overwhelming..  love !!! this was so needed 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

drtx_bwt's review

Go to review page

adventurous informative lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ruby_the_gem's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Heaven Official's Blessing volume 1 follows Xie Lian, a thrice ascended and twice banished heavenly official, as he solves two mysteries of the ghostly variety. Along the way, he is helped by two suspiciously familiar junior heavenly officials and an oddly knowlegeble young man. 

This was my first book is either of the danmei or wuxia genres, so I wasn't too familiar with certain aspects of Chinese culture or Daoism prior to reading this book. Thankfully, there are guides and a glossary in the back of the book that helped explain different concepts and helped me keep different characters straight with all their different names and titles. 

I loved Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's world building, writitng style, use of suttle foreshadowing, and use of number or color associations to provide greater insight.  She balances the plot and characters connections pretty well. I especially loved seeing the suttle ways in which character's emotions were shown, particularlly the use of "...." or character silence. However, some points in the book felt slow which is why I didn't give this book five stars. 

Be aware that this series is a very slow burn romance with a lot of tragedy. This book also ends on a cliff hanger, and the english translation of this series won't be finished until next year. However, there are five elnglish books out, one season of the donghua both subbed and dubbed, and about 80 english chapters of the manhua to help fill the void. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ts_anne13's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

blacksphinx's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious 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

2.5

I am really conflicted about this book (hence the middle rating). On one hand, I really like our protagonist and his love interest. Hua Cheng is charming, and I have plenty of theories about his backstory I want to see play out. The arc format of the story is appealing, with each arc having a ton of many wild plot twists, and I'm going to continue on with the series. But there were also grating things I just can't ignore. 

The only way I know how to describe the prose is to say that it's like a fanfic. It is quite jarring to see such things in an original story I paid money to read - for example, characters' dialog consisting only of "..." or "???????". If you had never read fanfic before, I cannot imagine how this would come across! 

The other is something the many fans encouraging me to read it or the discussions I've seen about the book never mention - the transphobic and Islamophobic elements in the plot. It was extremely uncomfortable to hear characters say things like "if I kidnapped someone I thought was a woman and they turned out to be a man in a dress, I'd kill them!" or
"the warmongering, brutish, Middle Eastern coded country was going to send civilians wearing bombs into public places to blow them up in acts of terror" as justification for genocide.
It makes me wonder what other harmful stereotypes of minority groups I'm going to have to grit my teeth through in the future. 

Overall, my feelings are really mixed...

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ashriverrrr's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

imspaceman's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings