Summary: Tang Yue after her death in apocalypse travels to the world of a book and becomes a cannon fodder, a control group girl stepped on by the heroine. Girl with the same name as her had bankrupted family, her father died of heart attack and mother was riddled with illnesses. Many previous relationships were voided and even her fiance broke the engagement soon after, she searched the way in entertainment, but was blocked by angry suitor who failed to chase her previously, but now blackened her on entire network, with no work and support original Tang Yue would have still come to this love variety show, but because of negative news would be ridiculed. She would not bend and work to pay off debts, but what waited her was depression and sad ending with no light in life.
Tang Yue saw the end of the world and died along with a zombie king, it was her glorious moment and she did not regret it, but now she travelled to peaceful times with lots of food and opportunities, with her sparkling optimism she started the counterattack. Her main mottos are "to see through things", "if you offend me first wait for a clap back".
What can I say. For a naive read that is not full of nuances it may be entertaining. Especially if you take FL's character as the shining point, being very unforgiving and outspoken. But I always felt that 1) FL's character was shown too straightforward and unbending at first; 2) For some characters it felt like consequences came first before we heard the true reasoning why readers should treat them like that. This created some sort of inbalance for me. Like I would appreciate some details before they arrived in the later parts of the novel.
It's all subjective. Also, I realized when reading that I already read this novel once, but to be sure of all the things that happened I re-read it to refresh the memory.
You know what was the most shining point for me? Some of the dialogues where characters showcase their rhethoric, like for Phoenix man it's not blatant PUA or for the playboy to justify why he contacted several female guests etc.
Like in many novels that have characters travelling from apocalypse you can expect several things from them, which are actually understandable and logical, but it feels like it's their entire personality. Firstly, they'll be greedy for food all the time. This part is debatable, but mostly from scarcity of resources of course people will feel psychological shadow of not having enough food. Debatable is because in this case slowly the person might come out of this condition, or may not. With Tang Yue it's understandable that she eats a lot is 1) food makes her happy; 2) she needs a lot of food because of her superpowers.
Secondly such characters will love for the world, purity, kindness etc. Because apocalypse brought out the worst from the humans and only in peaceful times purity and kindness can exist.
CHARACTERS.
I think this is the main part of the story, because most of the plot is built on them and indeed happens during the love variety show and the small part is the after-show development. And two main lines could be detected, one is career line where Tang Yue develops and the second is Tang Yue said this and this person are scumbags so the plot will show why and then they will get their due, Ji Yaxin or the heroine of this book included. Romance is present, but it's very subtle in the beginning and develops rapidly by the end of it, though it kind of felt dispensable? Which is a pity. But, let's start. Btw, all characters are faceless, they have some basic description, but not much, except common terms of "handsome", "beauty" etc.
Tang Yue. She arrived a week after the show started, she played the role of "I'm letting myself go, I'm tired of pretending" mainly to cover up her appetite and strength. She travelled along with her strength and mental powers, which will be used later. She lives principled life - you don't touch me and I don't touch you, otherwise I'll be rude. She is very straightforward, because she openly shared her opinion about male guests, because they were scumbags in reality, but it was not so visible under the lense. So she was outspoken and clapped back, which some might find cool while reading. But for some things she said it was quite risky in her situation, after all it's entertainment industry and you can't be rude without any evidence of someone's bad character or those are just empty words (which is shown the best through the comment barrage). Of course the novel will rule it out in her favor, but the thing is it could have developed differently, with not such a perfect result. The other side of her character is love and kindness, she loves pure things like children and animals, because their world is pure. Because of her mental power she feels emotions of others and what they feel towards her, so she is very positive when others share their love for her and she is very happy about it.
Qin Xuewei. I take her first because she is a positive character abd has the biggest transformation out of all, but also one of the biggest secondary characters. At first she was acting like a rude pampered princess. She arrived after being insitgated by her plastic sisters, but she also eyed Yi Lin, ex-fiance of Tang Yue. She thought they matched in background and thoughts. Tbh you would never think that she will change so much and show her cute side, because it always felt like she is portrayed in such a negative light. She changed her mind after Yi Lin left, thought they could get with Qi Yang (playboy), but wa slapped in the face that it was just wishful thinking then she was free and finally Song Lidong (Phoenix man) who always chased after her ass finally got the chance to showcase himself and almost succeeded as he thought. So she changes from pampered lady, to more of the cute tsundere, who says one thing and think another, she also was fascinated by Tang Yue's charm and they became closer. In many cases she is the source of joy in this novel, I kinda really liked her and I'm happy she also found her happiness.
Sheng Mingxuan. She is the fourth female guest who arrived later. She is not so prominent in the story, although she is also a positive character. She came because of Tang Yue, since she became her fan. She also could cook. As the story progressed, they actually came together with another male gues Xu Donglin, one of the two positive male guests on the show, who was originally cheated by Ji Yaxin in original book, but thanks to Tang Yue timely warning he escaped the clutches and instead found true love. They were the only pair that joined hands after the show of course. Sheng Mingxuan was not attarctive for other male guests because Qi Yang was aiming for other women, Song Lidong saw that she was an orphan without backing and stepped back, Yi Lin left the show and the newly arrived He Haoxuan arrived after they developed feelings and also he was there to help his friend (ML) to save the day. Because the story has a "bestie" that stabbed Tang Yue in the back during bankruptcy, Sheng Mingxuan is supposed to be the healing moment that not all people are bad. She never appeared in original book btw.
Xu Donglin. Retired soldier. Rigorous, but a bit simple in thinking. Thanks to Tang Yue he saw the essence of Ji Yaxin through her actions and instead later met Mingxuan and was happy. He is like a good brother character. But because there's too much going on between negative characters to show the drama, Xu Donglin was more of a background person. Though he was nice.
He Haoxuan. Last positive character from the guest list. he arrived much later just to save the day. Friends with ML. Although he doesn't take much space, but he is a fun character too. He's there mainly to liven up the picture. Surprisingly he and Qin Xuewei came together after the show. He didn't have a certain goal for a partner, but she had an idea which revolved around the man making her happy. They unknowingly had a lot fo fun together in most drastic environment of deserted island, which allowed them to grow closer.
Ji Zeyan. Our ML. He is the director of this show. He is quite stoic and doesn't share his life, so most people don't know his second identity that he built a company with He Haoxuan. Slowly we figure out some of his past, why he joined the entertainment industry to understand his late mother, how he found the answer when Tang Yue changed to beaming positivity. Their romance actually felt like that panel from a manga with words like - why my heart is beating so fast. Basically, he was slow to find out that he fell in love with Tang Yue and later was boiling frogs in warm water, basically infiltrated her life and kept in touch to make her adapt to him and also make her happy. With him she could feel relaxed liek with no one else and actually felt happy, he also gave her the sense of security, since she was indeed insecure person. Ji Zeyan is a good person, but felt a bit shallow anyway and also faceless like everyone else, the term "handsome" doesn't cut it for me.
Let's start with bad ones.
Ji Yaxin. Or master of rhethoric. Actually, if she was smarter she would have succeeded, but she liked to step on other people too much, which was why Tang Yue retaliated not once. But actually if you look how she talks, she can talk, be ambiguous without offending anyone, basically what they call high EQ. But her worst trait is that she likes to step on others and highlight herself, although she doesn't have much talent in other places. She is a green tea expert, but because she digs traps for others, she is not a good person at all. I say she could have survived if she never touched Tang Yue, but she always wanted to compete. Her other failure was that she thought she was the smartest and others would not figure her out, but when Tang Yue hinted on the show that she is a master of word, others started to catch on it. While others complimented her for her good character. Well, it all lasted before her doom, which she dug out for herself. Original work describes her in true light, that she is scheming and she climbed to the top. But Tang Yue was not fascinated, because Ji Yaxin always used other people to hype herself without caring what will happen with others. It is shown several times.
Yi Lin. Ex-fiance. The problem of this novel to me was that Tang Yue several times might have said that the thre male guests are scums, sure, but I wanted to ask back - why are they scum? Yi Lin belongs to teh Yi family who was engaged to Tang Yue, when crisis came, they patted their butt and broke the engagement. Of course it's horrible, but I also wanted to ask - you won't add anything else? The second problem is that some information I'd love to be put earlier appeared later in the novel. It's as if we followed a pattern of "He's a scum. Yeah, but why? He's a scum. Yeah, but why? Here is why". Only later some details surface that Yi family was saved by Tang family from crisis and Yi family promised vigorously that they will protect Tang Yue like a princess, when the crisis came the backed off. So it was a higher level of ungratefulness. I don't mention Tang father's death from heart attack, because it was described him falling because of the big crisis, which actually came from a financial trap, but author doesn't emphasize if Yi family took part in it or not. Yi Lin also said some things on the show, which were later described as him believing some rumors that were spread, but who knows, anyway he acted without class. So it's understandable their family was in crisis after that, of course. But because the crucial information and details of Tang family being their benefactors came much later it felt somehow inbalanced. Like we beat him to a pulp and explain in afterthought the details we missed. I felt like I would appreciate the details more, so I could have justified negativity for this character and author would lead me to his demise and I'd be happy for that. Saying simply 'scumbag' is not enought at times.
Qi Yang. Another example of explaining what he did as a playboy in afterthought instead of explaining it earlier. Simply calling someone a 'playboy' is not strong enough for me in the beginning. Because again I will ask - what did he do? He indeed gave wrong signals to original Tang Yue at the beginning, while he also sent messages to Ji Yaxin, so it felt like original Tang Yue stuck to him. Then Tang Yue changed and was more brilliant, so he again changed his target. At first it felt nothing wrong with that. Tbh they were only like a week or two into the show, there is not enough time to figure things out and his excuse he later used actually worked. Later he stuck to Tang Yue a lot and was acting like a dog plaster. It didn't really emphasize his actions as playboy, he was acting greasy and too self-confident like many men who had achievements with women. Here of course he was annoying. later he tried to change or he talked like he wanted to change, of course adding a note of realism that I'm ready for dating, but I might not make you Mrs Qi. Like that kind of messy rhethoric. Several characters from the negative side spoke with the same idea behind them actually. He actually could have gone unscathed unlike others, at least he was smarter to leave himself a way out and was also a master of word. But again as an afterthought after finally drops the main info, not simple "he was a playboy before and he changed for Ji Yaxin", but the fact that he made bets on women, changed them too often even if he was generous afterwards, but main thing was he made a girl pregnant and left. Of course this girl was his retribution, because she was not completely sane and di not think like other people and believed only in her own judgement. As a result Qi Yang was trapped by her and the child, it was like inviting ancestor. Although the first part was imbalanced, but actually I'm thankful that retribution came from the source of his own action and not Tang Yue retaliating madly.
Song Lidong. Phoenix man. Many actually saw through him on the show, but others actually thought he is a true gentle and warm man. he aimed after Qin Xuewei since she was a rich girl and he wanted to marry into wealthy family and save 30 years of hard work. He came from a mountenous area, some poor village and worked hard to get better. He always described himself in good but a bit self-deprecating style to be more likable, like he is such a victim, poor me, please be gentle. Again it wasn't as prominent on the show, although many people caught up with his rhethoric too and saw through him and he was retaliated against by the Qin family, because he made Xuewei the most angry. After all she lived in a family where he parents and brother were most busy, she lacked love in a sense and all the men she chose had problems, but then she noticed Song Lidong who perfectly matched her critera of being tolerant towards her character with no end etc. As a result she thought it was not bad, so if it wasn't for the show to actually change several locations, which helped emphasize everyone's best and worst sides, she might have missed the part that he's not special as he says, not resourceful as he says, not as smart as he says. When he was with her he was warm-hearted person, but on a deserted island he showed his true self, he was acting like a wife with Tang Yue and had a laid-back attitude, since Tang Yue was "strong", did not really help, his warm-heartedness costs nothing. In a crisis situation he will think of himself first and not do as promised. basically he is full of words, but not enough true actions and will highlight actions he can do and will act as a victim when he can't do something. Anyway, three of these were masterfully described through their dialogues. But again, who didn't see a Phoenix man, so it was more profound, since he unlike others actually had some bad moments that gave him away, especially when his family was mentioned, which he beautified a lot. And of course when details of his family came out it was a real hammer.
It's funny how they might have thought everything is under wraps, but actually if it wasn't for original work that Tang Yue read, she might had no idea about some details of these men, it would have been hard to go hard on them without concrete evidence. It's a pity that details of their deeds came later, otherwise to me it would have been more satisfactory to go with more details about what they've done and see them get what they deserve.
But mainly the novel felt shallow because of it. You call someone "bad", but do not explain the badness in true depth, sometimes it's not enough to claim someone bad and then throw the reason as an afterthought. This is why FL feels like going too hard when she treats these three at first. I can understand one, but two and three? But later, after the show ended, she can actually bend and stretch. At first you thought she might not survive in this hypocritical world, but she can. Basically, it's again because others who are hypocritical do not touch her, only in this case she will take action. What is criteria and the scope of touching her though, this question was unanswered.
But this deserved her the title of scumbag detector on the show, like she's a truly sober girl. it's also an image actually. If it wasn't her true self she'd get into trouble. Not to mention that she talked without evidence and many of the things surfaced later, proving that she was right. But of course she was confident to be blunt because she knew the truth and also was not afraid of leaving and working somewhere else if she failed. Of course it's a novel world, because otherwise how it would be so one-sided and why her word is the truth and others' is not.
The other parts of the novel felt shallow as well, like the romance that came subly like this. Also should mention her career, she worked hard, undeniable, but mostly her acting was described with most basic method, like "everyone was surprised", "unpolished gem" etc. But there were no details to emphasize. Her path to stardom was fast and furious :'D but actually really fast because author speeded it up and mentioned in passing series and movies she took part in, what became popular etc. Several confrontation of public opinion of course, but her winning in the end, because she is such a "treasure girl".
PS: The mental powers were used not once, although it mainly concentrated on her feeling other people's emotions but she actually could influence others, which is quite slippery topic. After all she used it on other people, like even if some deserved it, but are you a judge to say who deserves it and who doesn't? Everyone's life was ruined anyway, so it wasn't that ecessary. Except she emphasized negative emotions of three people. And later was surprised why Ji Yaxin came after her, which was funny.
RATE: 3/5. Basically this is it. I know some easy works that do not dwell into thing, but this felt shallow and too one-sided and I would have changed the parts where revelation took places, like hint to readers, but make the world know later, see the fall, feel the satisfaction from knowing these people got what they deserve.
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