Scan barcode
A review by mimosaeyes
人渣反派自救系统 by 墨香铜臭, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
4.0
I really enjoyed this! I like how meta and self-aware, how funny and irreverent it is. Sometimes the exaggerated humorous tone can be a little much, but it's not too grating. (Although interestingly, I have a feeling it might be if I were reading in English rather than Chinese.)
Like many people, I'm sure, I read the much more popular MDZS first, and so despite myself, that became my yardstick while reading this book. As a result, I do think that the development of Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu's relationship is not as deep as I might have liked. But I might have been fine with it if not for the mental comparisons I was making.
As someone who primarily communicates in English in her day to day life, and tends to be influenced by Western ideas about sexuality, reading gay Chinese fiction in Chinese means entering a different paradigm. See: terms like 攻 and 受 that define the dynamic in a way that can seem regressive. All that said, a content warning is still necessary here.
In the final chapter (excluding bonus chapters, even though some of these "bonus" chapters are frankly vital to the story), there is what amounts to a rape scene (dubcon at best) involving the two leads. It is violent and painful, and made me kind of wish I'd been reading a censored version of the novel. You can and should skip it if this description troubles you. MXTX's sex scenes are often troubling, I find.
I'll end on a more positive note. This is the author's first book, but you can already see her nascent talent - her range from cracky scenes to dramatic and emotional ones; her skill with withholding backstory so she can drop the bomb on you so it hits hard; her ability to make you gradually care more and more about characters without realising while it's happening. I'd still recommend this book: it's trashy and fun with just a little bit of structural sophistication.
Like many people, I'm sure, I read the much more popular MDZS first, and so despite myself, that became my yardstick while reading this book. As a result, I do think that the development of Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu's relationship is not as deep as I might have liked. But I might have been fine with it if not for the mental comparisons I was making.
As someone who primarily communicates in English in her day to day life, and tends to be influenced by Western ideas about sexuality, reading gay Chinese fiction in Chinese means entering a different paradigm. See: terms like 攻 and 受 that define the dynamic in a way that can seem regressive. All that said, a content warning is still necessary here.
In the final chapter (excluding bonus chapters, even though some of these "bonus" chapters are frankly vital to the story), there is what amounts to a rape scene (dubcon at best) involving the two leads. It is violent and painful, and made me kind of wish I'd been reading a censored version of the novel. You can and should skip it if this description troubles you. MXTX's sex scenes are often troubling, I find.
I'll end on a more positive note. This is the author's first book, but you can already see her nascent talent - her range from cracky scenes to dramatic and emotional ones; her skill with withholding backstory so she can drop the bomb on you so it hits hard; her ability to make you gradually care more and more about characters without realising while it's happening. I'd still recommend this book: it's trashy and fun with just a little bit of structural sophistication.