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A review by levendir1021
Little Mushroom: Judgment Day by Shisi
5.0
Actual rating: 6/5
“Do not go gentle into the good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
I am in shambles! Why did no one tell me how great this book is? (Okay, people did tell me, but I guess you never believe until you experience it for yourself). I am so glad I have the second volume at hand to read immediately.
I have learned a while ago that it appears to be a thing in danmei that the cutest titles often hide the darkest content. And I was warned how intense this book was.
What I did not expect was how deep the themes explored are. Little Mushroom quite literally is set at a time where humanity might just end any day now. Shisi imagines a world where the world is hanging by a threat and comes up with countless ways they try to protect their people and ensure that humanity will not die out. From new technologies to ways of organising humanity within the base. It is an exploration about what it means to be human through our not so human protagonist, the meaning of life and death and love, many different forms of love in fact. And at the same time An Zhe is just the sweetest person (read: mushroom), who feels so pure and innocent at heart yet slightly distanced, he isn’t human after all. There are scenes where he clearly doesn’t quite understand what is going on when we as the reader totally understand what is happening and it broke my heart over and over again. There was one scene where I had to put the book away for a few hours and was completely speechless.
What also added to that is the atmosphere! I had such an easy time imagining the city, the landscapes and how the northern lights illuminate the entire city. Props to the translator at this point as well, because I know beautiful writing and atmosphere often get lost in translation but Xiao does an amazing job here!
Now, most people are probably going to read this for the romance, it is danmei after all. While it hasn’t moved too far yet, the attraction and bond between An Zhe and Lu Feng is very clear from early on. So far, their romance is sweet yet subtle and something that feels like a tiny light in the middle of this very bleak world.
I am a huge fan of Chinese Science Fiction and I do believe that this book should be up there with the Sci-Fi greats. Shisi certainly shows that webnovels and danmei should be taken seriously and I love seeing this so much!
And the best thing is, I am only halfway through!
“Do not go gentle into the good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
I am in shambles! Why did no one tell me how great this book is? (Okay, people did tell me, but I guess you never believe until you experience it for yourself). I am so glad I have the second volume at hand to read immediately.
I have learned a while ago that it appears to be a thing in danmei that the cutest titles often hide the darkest content. And I was warned how intense this book was.
What I did not expect was how deep the themes explored are. Little Mushroom quite literally is set at a time where humanity might just end any day now. Shisi imagines a world where the world is hanging by a threat and comes up with countless ways they try to protect their people and ensure that humanity will not die out. From new technologies to ways of organising humanity within the base. It is an exploration about what it means to be human through our not so human protagonist, the meaning of life and death and love, many different forms of love in fact. And at the same time An Zhe is just the sweetest person (read: mushroom), who feels so pure and innocent at heart yet slightly distanced, he isn’t human after all. There are scenes where he clearly doesn’t quite understand what is going on when we as the reader totally understand what is happening and it broke my heart over and over again. There was one scene where I had to put the book away for a few hours and was completely speechless.
What also added to that is the atmosphere! I had such an easy time imagining the city, the landscapes and how the northern lights illuminate the entire city. Props to the translator at this point as well, because I know beautiful writing and atmosphere often get lost in translation but Xiao does an amazing job here!
Now, most people are probably going to read this for the romance, it is danmei after all. While it hasn’t moved too far yet, the attraction and bond between An Zhe and Lu Feng is very clear from early on. So far, their romance is sweet yet subtle and something that feels like a tiny light in the middle of this very bleak world.
I am a huge fan of Chinese Science Fiction and I do believe that this book should be up there with the Sci-Fi greats. Shisi certainly shows that webnovels and danmei should be taken seriously and I love seeing this so much!
And the best thing is, I am only halfway through!