iellv's reviews
70 reviews

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 5 by Ryoko Kui

4.75

Ryoko Kui’s attention to detail! See the difference between the mangaka who get to release chapters monthly vs the ones who have to grind weekly??? 

Remnants of Filth: Yuwu (Novel) Vol. 3 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Let’s go class conflict and deliciously complex relationship dynamics!!!!! Do people have qualms about the writing? I thought it was quite good (taking into account of course that this is a translation) and I enjoy it far more than MXTX’s writing. Is it because it’s in (admittedly clumsy) 3rd person omniscient

Jade War by Fonda Lee

3.0

Remnants of Filth: Yuwu (Novel) Vol. 2 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.0

Thought this was surprisingly slow but I don’t really mind given how seven seas divides danmei novels. Anyway, more relationship dynamics are established. We get to follow Gu Mang’s POV at around the 50? 60% mark? Not to be dramatic but it was a game changer. As entertaining and interesting as Mo Xi is, there is only so much of his POV I can take. So we get a diff flavor of angst now. Delicious. There are some more threads that I’m waiting for the story to pick up on so I feel like it’s impossible to rate this any higher. It is what it is. 

Btw as much as I appreciated the Hong Shao arc, the mystery was a slog and a half to get through with minimal payoff. Yes, it helped demonstrate how messed up the Liao Kingdom is and create more tension surrounding that mystery. It also gave us a glimpse into Mo Xi’s personality and his and Gu Mang’s past and the Yue Clan family dynamics, but the latter three were established in much better and more efficient ways outside of that arc. There’s really not much we accomplished from that. I’m not saying the arc was pointless. It just could have used some editing at the beginning.

There aren’t really many loose threads from that arc either. And the ones that weren’t fully resolved are either not very compelling or the story is taking way too long to pick up on them again in favor of Gu Mang gaining his memories at a somewhat unprecedented rate. Did I miss something??

Remnants of Filth: Yuwu (Novel) Vol. 1 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

3.5

Pretty good!!!! Lmao I’m sure I had many more things to say when I finished it a month ago. Loved the exposition. Loved their history. Looooooved the tension and the hurt.

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 8 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

emotional funny medium-paced

3.75

Rating the whole series 3.75 because I think MXTX could work on her writing AND she should find a strict editor lmao but honestly this series was an absolute joy to read. TGCF is reaaaaally unpolished but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. Xie Lian is up there in my list of favorite characters of all time <3

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 7 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

4.0

Jun Wu is terrifying actually

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 6 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.75

EDIT: I only ever lower my ratings after letting the first rating sit, but the more time passes the more I realize how much I loved this volume so I’m giving it a 4.8 now. 

Warning: this is the most violent volume in the series thus far? Oh my god? I just wanted Hua Cheng back man it got so dark

XIE LIAN. 

Easily the best volume so far in terms of structure, theme, and writing! I know it’s not fair to assess each volume as is considering this is rlly just one book that publishers divided into equal parts, but this was just so clean compared to all the others that I think it should be praised for it. Anyway, this was quite good. I am such a sucker for stories where receiving one (1) single act of genuine human kindness and compassion can change someone else for the better!!!! Fair warning that this is 70% flashback but at this point…. I can forgive flashbacks if it’s TGCF.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder

Moderate: Self harm

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel), Volume 5 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

adventurous dark funny sad medium-paced

3.5

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

adventurous dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Such a mess, this volume. Could use a LOT of polishing, but the Black Water Arc was kind of exquisite.