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

The beginning was a little on the slow side but it picked up and quickly became engaging and I didn't want to put it down.

I think the main deterrent I have might be with the style of translation. I am used to translated works using footnotes for quick reference so having one chunk at the end describing all the nuance that is otherwise lost in translation interrupts the flow. I chose to discern by context and then read through the glossary and such after so I think it will improve the experience for reading the next book in the series. I admit that this is a personal preference.

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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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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squinnittowinit's review against another edition

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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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samugranjo's review against another edition

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adventurous funny relaxing fast-paced

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

4.5

This was so fun to read, truly a blessing. And I like how we are building up the relationship between the main characters while also giving us mysteries and making us reflect on the unbalanced way in which power exists in this world.

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