camomila_ 's review for:

First-Class Lawyer (一级律师 ) by Mu Su Li

DID NOT FINISH: 23%

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DNF – Chapter 52 

The premise of this novel is genuinely interesting: a man wakes up after six months in a coma to find his body genetically modified, his appearance and age altered. To uncover what happened, he becomes an intern for a lawyer who used to be his intern in the past. When I first came across this plot, I was impressed by its creativity. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t live up to the concept. 

Main Issues: 

• Mystery: If I had to summarize the "mystery" aspect, it would be lacking. The story rarely builds suspense. Mu Su Li has a frustrating habit of dropping "clues" in random places just a few pages before they’re "revealed" and by then, they’re so obvious that the reveal feels pointless. In films, this kind of foreshadowing can work with the right pacing and visual cues, but in books, it often just feels lazy. Also, they just lack any sense.
• Sci-fi: I wasn’t expecting much depth from the sci-fi elements, but even the basics are poorly build. It feels like the scifi is only there to justify absurd scenarios. There’s no clear explanation of how anything works. Characters travel between planets, medications seem to react differently to people because of species, they have whole days of difference, they look and behave the same, eat the same food, the planets have the same atmosphere, the nature seems to look the same? There’s no logic. If the story didn’t want to engage with building a believable sci-fi world, setting it across different countries would have made more sense than randomly using planets. 
• Romance: Gu Yan and Yan Suizhi have potential as a couple, but their dynamic often feels forced and cliché. I understand that Gu Yan knew Professor Yan before and seems to have feelings for him, but we don’t get to see how or why that bond formed. He’s written as protective and caring, but without any build-up or emotional development, it’s hard to feel invested. It would have been more interesting to actually build that slowly.
• Prejudices: This is one of the most troubling aspects. The novel includes several instances where Mu Su Li makes prejudiced or problematic comments. Sadly, that’s not unusual in novels, but what stood out here is how the narrative pauses just to deliver these views, multiple times, and I only made it through 20% of the story. 

I went in with high expectations. After enjoying Global Examination (which I stopped reading only because of translation issues), I expected to like this novel too. But First Class Lawyer and Global Examination seem to have been written by two completely different authors. I was genuinely disappointed.