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

One of the first books I fell absolutely in love with and got me back into reading !! It’s so romantic, funny, the found family makes me sob but it’s also so emotional. I ADORE all the characters and love how fleshed out and lovable they are. The missions are so fun to read and it checks off so many of my favorite tropes! It’s a book I think about so often. It’s not without its fault as it’s MXTX but it’s one of MXTX’s only good works in my opinion. If you really wanna read it though please check the content warnings. In other words I love hualian so much I never stop thinking about them </3

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mdride's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

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vigil's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

it was cute. which is the only emotion i'm really feeling coming out of this. i read it really quickly, the story is blunt and uncomplex, the characters are engaging enough for me to keep turning the page, the prose is plain and easily understood, if not rather bland and awkward, etc etc. there's nothing quite wrong with this first volume, but there's not too much right with it either.

it is the first volume in the series and it's aggressively obvious. the entire volume is set up. setting up the world, the characters, the plot, everything is just beginning. if we began in a place where the main couple is already or soon to be established, this would be the flashback b-plot. the actual plot itself is a bit akin to taking two video game side quests, and making them your main story: plot events that are meant to serve your characters and the world their in, not necessarily further the narrative (though in this case i do suspect there will be callbacks and tie-ins later on, hence the flashback b-plot comparison) or to be the most engaging by itself. this did get a bit irritating in the banyue arc, which dragged on for longer than it needed to.

the characters are engaging enough, but everything in this series seems to move glacially, so we learn them better much slower than you'd might like, if at all. we have an messy outline of xie lian by the end, but by no means the full picture. san lang

aka hua cheng

is still largely a mystery. the side characters are present, but not especially noteworthy.

this is probably the mxtx work with the most misogynistic undertones (at least in this volume) with the crazy overbearing jealous scorned woman trope, who takes her anger at a man out on other woman, and the near constant description of nearly every woman of prominence as ugly, which is especially noteworthy because there isn't many of them.

i have checked out the next two volumes from my library and i will be continuing with the series, but my first impression of tgcf so far is that it's aggressively fine. it's a slow burn in everything, character, plot, relationships, and unfortunately, this first volume was a spark that didn't really lead anywhere. i could tell you what happened, but outside of the relationship inception and further development, not much did so it'd be pretty useless. i don't think they chose a bad place to cut off per se, but that the start of the web novel so far is more concerned with set up, exposition, and info-dump, and didn't bother to leave room for much else. i'm aware things will get meatier later on, but for right now, it has nothing to really go against or for it.

as is standard with mxtx translations by seven seas, translation issues abound. they are not as present or severe as the ones in mdzs, but they have not disappeared.

overall, i'd say if you already like mxtx, go for it, but if you're a newcomer to her or danmei in general, pick up something else. tgcf is longer than the bible and the first volume doesn't give you much incentive to continue with the rest of it, because it has very little meat to it, and relies on established tropes of the genre.

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teagstime's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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 read some of the TGCF unofficial tl (p much just the contents of this volume), and already loved the story as it was... The translation team rly did a great job here bc this tl breathes so much life into it! It feels like a brand new story! ^^

The main characters are absolutely incredible. I found myself endlessly charmed by everything Xie Lian does (´◡`ʃƪ) ! I'm alr a huge fan of San Lang, Fu Yao, & Nan Feng too... Truly couldn't ask for a better group of MCs. The dynamics & hidden feelings... It's all so juicy!! 😩

As for the story... What can I say! It's off to such a great start, with just enough hints to keep me intrigued as to just what Xie Lian's been up to all this time / what awaits him in the future ! Yet also dreading finding out haha...

looks directly at the story of General Hua... T_T

I did take off half a star bc I feel like the Banyue arc drags just a bit... But other than that, really enjoyed!
As TGCF is the only MXTX novel I didn't get to finish before Seven Seas picked them up, I'm very excited to see where this story goes !

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cait's review against another edition

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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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yuuzel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

5.0

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