Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

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

11 reviews

sellalellen's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Child death, Infidelity, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, War, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

suicana's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, War, Xenophobia, Racism, Blood, Cursing, and Genocide

Minor: Bullying and Child death

graceskate's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Torture, Racism, Grief, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Homophobia, and Infidelity

blacksphinx's review against another edition

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...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Transphobia, Blood, War, Death, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Genocide, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, and Bullying

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

squinnittowinit's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Heaven Official's Blessing Vol. 1 is hilarious, witty, and thoughtful all at the same time. Xiè Lián is a wonderful main character, a kind soul who truly sees the best in people and wants to help them, but at the same time he isn't naive or sheltered. He is a calm and centered presence in the crazy situations he finds himself in.

The biggest difficulty a reader might have with this book is how many names some of the characters have, as many of them are immortal gods who have gained names over time. Keeping a paper nearby to make a character log or keeping the Heaven Official's Blessing wiki pulled up (but beware spoilers) as you read may be helpful.

Another thing to note is this is a translation from Chinese. In order to more closely capture the meanings of the original text, this version is not quite written in the 'literary English prose' style that English readers may be used to, but it is grammatically correct and overall quite understandable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, Body horror, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Transphobia, Cannibalism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Mental illness, Self harm, and Confinement

Minor: Sexism, Grief, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Body shaming, and Misogyny

avacadosocks's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Genocide, Xenophobia, War, and Gore

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

diorgyus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Self harm, Body horror, Mental illness, War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Cursing, and Emotional abuse

atlanticgiantpumpkin's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

 "'Crimson Rain Sought Flower' evokes quite the imagery. Do you know where it came from, my friend?"

"Nothing major, really. Just that, there was once an incident where he cleaned out the nest of another ghost, and a shower of blood rain poured down from the skies. He saw a flower was getting battered by the bloody rain, so he tilted his umbrella and shielded it."

I don't think I'll ever be capable of writing a coherent review for an MXTX novel, because I genuinely love every single one of them so damn much. Her ability to write such charming characters and compelling relationships is unparalleled and Heaven Official's Blessing is no exception.

In this novel, we follow Xie Lian, a former crown prince, who ascended to godhood at 17, only to botch a war effort and be cast from the heavens in disgrace. Years later, he ascended again, for just under 15 minutes, during which he went on a murderous rampage before being expelled once again. So imagine everyone's shock when, seemingly out of the blue, Xie Lian suddently ascends a third time! However, with his past failure still haunting him, Xie Lian is only barely a god - very little spiritual power, no worshippers, and no money to his name - so finds himself accepting any and every task sent his way. But when he meets a mysterious stranger trailed by silver butterflies whom the other gods seem to fear, Xie Lian starts to wonder what exactly it is he's missing and why such a dangerous creature could have been so cordial to him.

I had previously read this section of the story as translated by fans of the story and struggled to truly connect with it due to the clunkiness of the interpretation. (This is in no way a criticism of the translators, just a comment on the difference the resources afforded to professional translators can make in official translations vs. fan translations.) I fell absolutely head over heels with this story this read. Although I still struggle to differentiate between Fu Yao and Nan Feng's masters, I have learned to deeply love and understand the two martial gods in their own rights.

So happy I read this and so excited for book two to come out in a couple of weeks! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, War, and Xenophobia

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

I went in having seen the show already and so there weren't many surprises in this first volume, but I got all the sweet, weird, fantastical nonsense I knew would be waiting for me, and that's all I wanted. Yes, the translation is a little clumsy in places, but it's inevitable. I also really liked the references at the back. I'm still learning the ins and outs of the genre and a lot gets, well, lost in translation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Death, Confinement, Bullying, and Cursing