[CHinese BL novel] 快穿之来啊，来作死啊 by 巳辞 / Quick transmigration, come out to die

The novel is from 2017 and it shows.

I don't have a cover except default and this novel managed to spoil things so I'm vengeful.

Summary: Tong Daojun, resentful at the fate of his life he is bound by the system V587, his task is to not let Children of Destiny absord the fortune of the worlds. He is doinf these tasks to buy a reverse pill just to get back home, but on the journey he falls in love with a person and finds that his life and his fate hold a deeper secret.

I'll move it out of the way, I liked some of the details as a background plan that was shown in the final reveal. If some of the things in this one did not exist I'd say it is a very light-hearted and fast-paced book, when you know things are going to be fine anyway and the tasks are being completed with fast speed.

Oh yeah many of the chapters are locked because there is a lot included and author does not use the current "drive" or the "boat being hit by waves" metaphor.

Child of Destiny that absorbs the fortune of the plane is not new concept. And they harbor malice towards the MC. But the ease of him doing tasks is mainly because he prevents some crucial points from happening. And sometimes task is completed just somewhere in the background. The stories are pretty shallow, just for the sake of making things turn fast.

The rest of the story is just mentioning how after the completion he and his lover are having their peaceful life together.

I'm not spoiling what happens but want to mention why this novel basically slid down for me.

Exhibit A. In the arc with the "ultimate bottom" who is MC's brother in the plot, MC to preent his brother from attracting three designated MLs pairs him with an uncle who took over after their parents passed, so he is at least 10 years older, but he also said some phrase like he noticed this brother as a kid and saw his grow up...nope from me dawg.

Exhibit B. MC returns to his own plane and he is a child star, he meets ML who is also a child star and honestly they start to act intimately, while both of them are only 5. Big nope.

RATE: 1,5/5. For everything before you spoiled it.

[Chinese BG novel] 觉醒后创死所有恋爱脑 by 芷柚 / After awakening, all those with love brains will be crushed by me

I have a feeling like I added at least two webnovels with similar premise and I have them mixed up. Or not, who knows?

Summary: Ji Qiuwan was awakened from her love-brained persona and then she realized that her entire family is like this, they're basically a cannon fodder family who lose themselves to love one after another and have a really bad ending.

She herself always chased after her fiance with words of love and subservient attitude.

Her brother will be part of domineering CEO and innocent assistant plot.

Her sister will fall for a Phoenix man

While her second brother will be a paranoid person.

All takes root in the previous generation where her mother is now a widow, but her father is said to die because of another woman. But the son of that woman with a heroine halo is actually her fiance who dislikes her, it was a pay back moment for the sacrifice.

When the veil falls everyone stars to slowly waking up.

This is the type of story where people stop being influenced by protag halo and start seeing things as they are.

I personally overall did not like this novel, since it was rather plain. For a novel released in '24, it did not discover anything new and actually used pretty common methods to deal with love brains (will explains in spoilers). And although it is short (50ch) to me it felt dragged. But that's solely my opinion.

So the story takes place when Ji Qiuwan awakens. Because the beginning was so cliche I admit I skipped a lot while reading.

She of course will slowly start to change and the first step is to take away the power of her brother who already started to make contact with a new assistant who is the part of the innocent girl who attracts domineering CEO plot. He acted like a brainless fool for her and she of course disregarded the overall situation and cause a lot of problems for everyone around them.

Thanks to her connection to her fiance she took away the project as a payment for the previous engagement, annulled it and took helm of her family.

To make her brother prove himself she sent him to a branch office, where he eventually saw his "true love" for what she is, a troublemaker who needs constant validation and support, no questions asked.

He was the first one to wake up.

Although rumors circled aruond their family she did not care, her next plan - her sister and the Phoenix man. Again old trick of cutting her from family volunteerly allowed the girl to see the true face of the man who made sweet promises.

The third and last is her second brother who liked a girl, but did not know how to convey his feelings, which led to a difficult situation where he takes her to a villa, basically the black room plot. But Qiuwan arrived in time and slapped the dude. It is not described in a funny way, but actually she explains to he where the root of the problem was.

Now it's all about their family, the secret surfaces early on. Both her mother and father did nt do those things because they wanted to, but they had a system, they prayed that one day all those tasks will be over, but the heroine - Song Yun - always called their father over when she had troubled love life. In one of those cases their father passed away (mind you, they were grown kids by then).

To make up Song Yun promised the engagement between two families.

What I liked overall is how we see the consequences of the veil falling off and ppl started seeing how willful and unreasonable Song Yun is, she got too used to being pampered and things done her way. They were always in love, but they were awful parents. I'm actually happy about one part, when their family business failed (since both parents started distancing and seeing other people on the side, and his father meddled in the business because of his new lover), Qiuwan's ex-fiance did not suffer much, since he was also the victim of this relationship and had his own shadows (why he treated Qiuwan poorly). The same influence that the Ji kids all had, their family suffered because of the system and they all grew up with a wrong perception of love and wanting love, so this is why some fell for sweet talks (like the sister) or like eldest brother (who saw kindness in the innocent assistant).

This part of the novel was to my liking.

What I particularly disliked was actually how Qiuwan's fate was laid out at the end. At first it feels like a career novel (with a cheap feel), but she did things only to make others wake up. She herself at the end suddenly said - oh, I'm not against marriage and got together with Lu family. Explanation, though I still don't get it a little. As I se it, Lu family had two sons, because of Song Yun's interference and the words of a master she forced the second son's family to leave they indeed lived abroad. Lu Xian grew up with his family and of course became successful like all protags, so yeah. He is connected to that Lu family. And Qiuwan chose him.

I don't know the romance if there were any felt really cheap and spontaneously we have such an ending, liek she got it all, brought her family to success, now she can retire and do her thing.

Although sounds nice, but I honestly felt the execution of it all felt off.

So yeah the overall it's a mid for me.

PS: Only after finishing I noticed that I had another novel from them I tried to start, now it's in DNF pile with the caps comment - SO MELODRAMA

RATE: 3/5.

[MOVIE] Wake Up Dead Man (Knives Out 3) (2025)

The director got me for the second time.

I think it's a decent continuation to the series. Although I consider Knives Out mysteries a very peculiar type of movies, since they're the rare ones that can be watched as stand-alones and in no particular order, since they're not dependent on each other.

Before watching I had all type of theories what this movie will be and the director is such an unreliable narrator at times that he gets me every time, because I'm a bit lulled to sleep and my vigilance isn't high when suddenly you get a platter with a card, the words on the card - oh sorry, it's not really what happened.

It's interesting how he manages to play with perception. Just give you a little bit which is open for interpretation, but how are you sure if it's what happened? Even with close-up shots. Oh got, he got me there too! From previous movies I knew that close-up shots matter, but at the moment of you seeing them you don't really realize which part is important or as in my case my imagination did not feed back any good ideas. Only when I reached the end it was like - damn it, he got me again.

Same for the mystery. Damn, he's good at it. I liked it, honestly.

I don't think that any of the characters outside of few main actually get much time, but I find it interesting that each of them can be discussed and interpreted. Same as topics, it doesn't take some solid stance, but actually brings in multiple povs, just like real life would be. I like that some bits and pieces can create a picture. Not the one that creates the mystery, but the characters.

It was a really good watch. If one feels it's too simple, maybe it is, maybe it's not, but what is certain is that Rian Johnson is good at his job.

RATE: 8/10.

The devil is in the details~

the devil Elvis lol

Shalom y'all. What is that in the back~

Haven't noticed the man in the background on the first watch.

It's just part of interesting details in the movie. Even for the simple characters they all have something around them. But that's exactly why I think it's crucial in the final revelation. These movies are great on the re-watch when you look at the picture with a purpose.

[Chinese BG novel] 穿成阴郁大佬的戏精妻 by 七夕是大头喵 / Transmigrating into a drama queen of a gloomy boss

Summary: Nan Yan had an accident during filming and suddenly became another Nan Yan, the one in a melodramatic story. Her character is currently in a predicament, the aunt she cares about the most and who brought her up is in dire need of medical help, while she herself was left without a job as means to make her yield and marry a notorious gloomy boss who recently had an accident in her half-sister's stead.

Chu Wenzhou is currently recuperating and seeks a relationship close to partnership, as a heir to the Chu Group and the youngest in the family, no one from his half-brothers wants to let this chance slip and vie to get a piece. Not to let his family elders make decisions for himself he stuck to the promise made to the Nan family. But due to his recent accident the Nan heiress who grew pampered doesn't want to tie her life with a disabled person. But who knew that Nan Yan will appear and offer to marry in her stead but with few conditions.

#don't read if topics such as disability and recovery upset you

I don't like the official summary, though my own isn't better, but I just describe what happens as a fact, while the one on JJ basically sounds like any other summary to attract readers.

I must say, I liked this one. I was so bored while reading the previous webnovel and suddenly saw this in recommended by the author, I saw the summary and started reading it and was capivated by the story and the relationship.

The story is more of a journey about relationship development. Note: Chu Wenzhou's disability is not some empty sound that will be dealt with somewhere in the background. Instead it becomes a crucial part of the storytelling. I even felt glad for this ML, because usually main characters don't get as profound background as female leads do, instead we get some crumbled version that eventually resembles other stories of tragic background of a rich boy. Thus his health situation is crucial to the story.

Plot follows Nan Yan, of course she is not like original Nan Yan, btu she does not berate her (like many novels do), she is very assertive person and lived enough to become mentally strong, but becuase she saw a lot it was hard for her to show her true self and be herself.

Her current situation is not all sunshine, because she found how similar this aunt is similar to her own aunt. She and OG have similar situations as they grew up under the care of their aunt who took care of them but had health issues.

Being overwhelmed with emotions she decided to do everything to achieve her goal, she needs resources and the best candidate is Chu Wenzhou. Currently he is in talks with the Nan family and she decided to take action. Unlike her sister who would make this marriage and Chu Wenzhou miserable she openly said that Wenzhou needs someone with brains.

He also knew the story that was covered up eventually to save face. Nan Yan's mother married her husband but becoming prosperous her husband cheated on her, not to mention that Nan Yan's half-sister is actually older than her. Her mother took Nan Yan away after divorce, but was never able to recover from emotional trauma, her life only became worse. This is why Nan Yan was brought up by her aunt and had such a deep connection. So for many years the now prosperous Nan family long forgot about Nan Yan, but now that the mistress' daughter doesn't want to marry Wenzhou they instantly thought of her. This is how she came in contact with him.

Although their marriage was hasty and their relationship was different, but what followed is what made them appreciate and fall for each other.

No matter how it may sound but Nan Yan is a pretty lively individual with inner strength. She, unlike others in the book is not afraid of Wenzhou and treats him no different from normal person. But with him she also felt what it's like to be yourself and not play a role.

They slowly opened up, even if they had a lot of bickering. No one changed in a second and no one had the insta-love effect.

What I liked is the fact that their relationship was dynamic, it had ups and downs, clash of temperaments and opinions, fights and making ups. No one was that unchanging yes-person for their partner. They never truly lost each other for the other person or changed drastically. It was more like a discovery that they fell in love. I thought it was handled well.

Another interesting point that is rare for these novels, both characters explored their past relationships. No one shied aways that they had them. In case of Nan Yan this is the sole reason why she became so averse to relationships in general, because of those in her past life.

Wenzhou had several past girlfriends, while each was excellet he knew something was missing and both he and Nan Yan strived for the same thing. A home, a person who will be there for them, the feeling of comfort.

Despite the novel circling around entertainment industry as well, I find the central piece is still the relationship between the two.

There is also no big conflict outside what happens to them, you know the usual wealthy family fights, it doesn't happen here, no matter how many times it was mentioned it happened somewhere very in the background.

Now the parts that might come as not so good. It had few parts that were a bit drama. Another thing is I think it left a lot of characters in the wind and never gave answer or closure. Like the Nan family were not in the picture after the wedding was completed. Her aunt also left the picture because she was sent abroad for a cure, kinda logical but still kinda empty. The final thing about the Chu family, explanation was never given on who did it.

But overall it was great, so I was very satisfied while reading it.

RATE: 4,5/5.

[Chinese BG novel] 大佬们也跟着穿回来了[娱乐圈] by 青梅酱 / Big shots traveled back with me

Summary: Lin Jingran returned to her original world after a bissful decade in a novel. Why blissful? Because despite difficulties navigating the palace life she was a pampered princess among four loving brothers, but she knew that one day it might all end and it did. Now she returned to being an 18th-line actress who has been dumped by ambitious boyfriend. Her pampered life made her different from her past weak self. Now she is confident she can make a name for herself in entertainment industry, but suddenly meets someone who shouldn't be here. Her brothers.

It's the ultimate fantasy of a group pet trope and being pampered with no end where FMC reaches pinnacle of life and love.

Note: this is author with a load of e-sports BL novels, but they also write romance. This novel comes from 2019 and it shows?

The best part is at least she is not a willful and coquettish type which I dislike.

I can't say that FMC has any personality though. I just look back and think to myself - was there anything else besides her pretty standard attitude? The only prominent part was that while recording a variety show with horror elements she wasn't afraid at all.

She is said to be a great actress, but author never bothered to show it outside of one initial scene during autdition and it was so averagely presented, the very standard copy-paste how everyone instantly took a notice of her, how she changed personality (bad side is, she played a Princess, meaning she basically required to play herself). Then there was nothing. Even the final win of international award is always a fantasy in such novels.

Outside of it she was more prominent as a varuety show star thanks to author's writing.

As her attitude towards her brothers, of course it was pretty standard "brother, I missed you" and honestly there is nothing outside of good feelings.

As her attitude towards ML, since all of the four brothers returned who knew ML was also part of that cast, he was a big person of power and the only thing he did was to ask for Princess' hand. Why he fell for her was explained in few sentences, nothing more but becoming a light for him.

Their relationship is nothing more than boiling frog in warm water. His attitude was never too close but never distant and cold. Ambiguity allowed him to probe the boundries and eventually let Jingran fall for him too.

I'd say the plot is quite underwhelming, it is perfect for those who prefer no toublep plot, but for those who wish for some thrill will find it quite flat. She has no difficulty finding her brothers since they find her first. He Qin, ML, always is present around her with his tactic of slowly getting along. She took part in filming few dramas, which we basically know nothing of outside of basic genre/direction. Also had few variety shows that made her popular. And that's it.

Outside the main cast, which also was one-dimensional, there were few secondary characters that appeared several times and were quite annoying, but the resolve was underwhelming. One actress that cause quite a stir for me was simply forgotten to exist. Jingran's mother who never cared for her daughter but forced an engagement on her was never mentioned again outside of her husband's business being acquired by the eldest brother.

The depth of this is as shallow and flat as your floor. Honestly, you never need to create a fullblown drama to give depth, but these characters were just tools. It lacked sincerity and feelings.

The romance also happened because it just.. happened all of a sudden, with several scenes of prior thumping of the heart.

Ngl when it comes to relationships and feelings, there is no need to be complicated, but somehow some authors manage to make you feel for two characters, while others have all the fame in the world and they produce something underwhelming like this.

And I'm saying this because their e-sports books are all published ones, not simply a webnovel.

RATE: 3/5.

[CDrama] 永夜星河 / Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (2024)

After watching I could understand why it was considered a hit drama.

Even if the plot can be considered cliche, has some of tropes that I don't like, but maybe because it's a visual it's totally different.

It tells a story of Ling MiaoMiao who traveled to the book of her favorite author, which she did not really like to find herself being a vicious supporting role. Not to mention the system asks her to fulfill some of the obligatory tasks (the trope I actually hate).

But ten the story completely forgets about it and moves on in a different direction when MiaoMiao joins the three Demon Catchers who are the main protagonists of this story, she wants to change the fate of everyone.

The journey revolves around the long-lasting grudge of the Mu family and the Demon who destroyed almost everyone in their family - Resentful Woman. As the sole survivors, Mu Yao and her brother Mu Sheng try to find ways to track Resentful Woman and put an end to a feud, avenging her entire family. But the closer they get to the truth the more the truth has blurred edges.

What I eventually liked is the simplicity of connecting the dots. That everything that was told to us about our characters is actually connected into a bigger plot. It's not that complicated, but it perfectly depicts how actions lead to unexpected consequences. So it was pretty engaging and I couldn't stop watching.

At least they didn't make MiaoMiao into a silly, because this trait I like least in main characters who are depicted cute and a small sunshine. Though I'll be honest I couldn't always connect to her acting. But overall chemistry with other actors was great.

Ding YuXi to me has the face of the male lead, you know when you look at someone and think - that's a central position. Also to me his acting was decent.

As for overall impression of visuals I can say that cgi at time is very.. specific, like ones it looks decent at other times more like "we're broke". I know it's hard to create a fantasy worls out fo nothing. But I have no idea why especially computer model are kinda.. meh? Like creatures etc.

But the makeup and costuming were great, very pretty.

As for the plot, it was interesting to follow, once again will say I found it strange like MiaoMiao had to do few obligatory tasks (and we had few iconic scenes from the first episodes) and then never did them again except the main - capture Mu Sheng's heart. 

My only complain is that I still think 32 episodes is too long. I know it's a norm for China to have larger number of episodes, but tbh a lot of it does not play out well and feels like it's dragging its' feet.

Now I can see the difference between unscrupulous vertical dramas that would shoot even questionable stuff, short-form which is better but doesn't have the budget and big-budget that can have a good cast and good quality and they don't need anything spicy for you to root for the romance.

RATE: 8,5/10.

[CDrama] 罪嫁 / Sinful Marriage (2025)

I think I'm spiraling ahaha

THIS IS UNHINGED. FL is UNHINGED all capital letters. This is the case when someone steals the show for being crazy. By that I mean ML is quite crazy but FL is CRAZIER. True enemies-to-lovers story. Both have a deep grudge from the beginning and do things out of spite only to go through many adversaries and dangers together before their feelings changed.

It has a bit of old-school drama sadistic elements, but the story is quite gripping and my thoughts on FL are basically - oooh~ she's a spicy woman~

But in reality, the story is about a sudden marriage when ML's paramour is reported to be murdered by a carriage, the one at fault is a childhood sweetheart of FL. She is a daughter of a minister and he asked her to take the blame for him, his prostects in the future exam and his entire life will be otherwise over, blinded by love she agrees although fails to see the true nature of her lover and has no idea what accepting the charges as her own will bring her. ML forcefully marries her to make her "suffer", but she is not having any of it. Her schemes and actions, her change of face at the drop of a handkerchief leave no space to doubt that while ML is toxic, she is an acid subtsance too. Knowing the truth that she who always considered herself smart was a fool in the face of love, now she tries to prove her innocence, but it's a bit too late to extract yourself from many intrigues of this house.

One must know that this is not a healthiest relationship, while they reach for a better future they hurt each other plenty.

Since it's a short-form also there is no need to expect anything grand from the story, but hoenstly it perfectly portrays some of the moments in webnovels I would like to have a visual reference for, now I have it. If I read something like this I'm not sure if I'd like it on the same level as this drama.

Also of course production is on the level which is obvious, but some things made me openly laugh (especially the convoy that was leaving the city left on foot, no horses, no carriages, I think the one I saw before at least had a horse, they're not cheap).

And actress who plays FL is gorgeous but also good at it. 

Anyway, one reaction - oooh~ It's obvious I opened because of the poster and the title, after all it's daring to name a show this way, but boy it paid off.

Honestly, this actress was so good at her craft I wish the budget would be more abundant, nothing high class but at least will include some additional footage that will fill in the gaps. Like the ending is emotional but two characters appear that we thought were finally over. Also despite the villains being one-dimensional, I liked the idea overall. In spoilers~

[CDrama] 锦绣宅心 / Threads of Destiny (2025)

ahahaha lol what was that

This is a short form drama, so instead of basic 40 minutes we have 15 per episode. So production is obviously rather cheap and the plot is rushed as if it's a galloping horse. It's based on a webnovel and follows the story of two reborn sisters who switch places when they marry into the same house, Lu family. But one is full of petty tricks while other crushes the opponent with wit. Very melodrama, high-speed paced, everything happens with convenience and for the effect. Never watched these before, very random find on YT. I basically opened up any drama that attracted me and looked first few minutes. Before I found a couple of main actors who'd make me wanna watch them and also have at least some skills instead of being a wax face.

So the female lead here is gorgeous. Pity they have pretty heavy make-up which is too modern (like many details if you care to notice), but she is still gorgeous and fun to follow.

So I went to MDL and looked at her page, even if the girl films short form, it doesn't matter since sis is Working. I suppose Chinese entertainment industry is pretty harsh. But considering how many dramas I passed by they release some crazy amounts of it.

What bought me was not only her but the chemistry of the two, to me it worked, they were cute.

The plot itself isn't anything new, it's packed with tropes and main character don't have a second without someone plotting against them, this is why some epic soundtrack is always playing to showcase how great they are or the moment is simply epic and you need to pay attention.

But I'll be honest, that ending was lost on me a bit, because it was done for only one character redemption.

The English version is available on YT.

[WEBTOON/Manga] I've Fallen for the Empre's Greatest Villaness

Yeah, I'm also surprised that this is manga/webtoon. I'm too used seeing manhwa all over the place.

Did not plan to find anything good so soon. No really, I consider this a stroke of luck, a jackpot of search, beacause this manga / webtoon is simply adorable, I can't even express how fantastically fun and cute this is. I had so much fun reading it, I know it's not over and I will gladly continue following it. Eng version can be found on webtoon.

After reading now I understand why some want their man have a little wolfdog or a pup vibe, because this man n the cover is the exact embodiment of it. He is so good, he may have made few things hard for himself and for others because of his situation, but overall this man is perfectly good. 

Their dynamic is so fun to follow, the art style truly elevated it. Those funny moments, ah loved them.

#fantasy, European ambience, comedy, romance, fated lovers

The story takes place in a fantasy land that has an on-going situation with a protective shield against monsters and demons. The ones at the forefront are those who are known as guardians and saints. Many wield magic in order to defeat the dark forces that try to seep through to the peaceful world, but the one who bears the most tragic fate is the Guardian and Raven is the current one who knows that his fate is sealed. There is also another person who wields incredible purifying magic and that is Estrella, also known as the Greatest Villainess of the Empire.

Both of them did not cross paths when suddenly Raven's house receives an order from the Emperor to wed with the house of Sharens and his soon-to-be wife is none other than Estrella.

She is known for her behavior and he is known for being a womanizer, but are these even true?

The very first meeting she comes to him and says I want to see you kneel. You're sitting there gaging because I never expected such a turn, but she has such an adorable personality with an awkward touch, but she also moves forward with such resolution.

She is truly the domineering one in this relationship, at one point she even compares herself to old lecher because Raven, who is a rumored womanizer is nothing more but a paper tiger, those rumors are not true and he never had a relationship with a woman. All his love will be given to Estrella.

But it doesn't mean she doesn't have the moments of doubts and vulnerability.

Can't consider this a spoiler, this is given quite early in the story, but Guardians are said to sacrifice themselves because they know no other way how to fix the seal that loses power over time. This is why he pushes any love or relationships away because he is such a kid boy who truly doesn't want anyone to hurt over him, but he still manages to attract a load of people with his kindness. Despite his fierce looks among his people they all know he is like a mother hen.

Estrella promised herself that she will do anything within her power to protect him. Our girl is built different.

The story is truly light-hearted, of course stakes are high, but the vibe of this work does not allow you to feel pressured. These two are like two cutie-patooties that are so fun to follow and root for.

[MANHWA] My in-laws are obsessed with me

Pereshati Zahardt is a count's daughter who got remarried after her mother’s passing. When her father died, he left her all his fortune. Then, Pereshati's greedy stepmother and stepsister conspire with Pereshati's lover to kill her. However, under mysterious circumstances, Pereshati is brought back to life and travels back in time before her murder. To buy some time before getting her revenge, Pereshati visits the handsome yet notorious grand duke, Therdeo Lapileon, to marry him. During her visit, she uncovers a horrifying secret of his family. How will Pereshati deal with it? Will she be able to take her revenge?

 In a non-spoiler way I may say that I recommend to check out this manhwa. 9 out of 10 times I dnf a Korean manhwa or a novel, because we don't click. But this time I found myself engulfed in this story and I don't regret starting it (reason is: manhwa is currently on hiatus since Jan'25 due to artist's poor health).

 Despite such a cheesy title the story itself is very engaging and heart-warming, but much darker than average. Because I was surprised myself about attention to details and how this story concentrates on what this family has to go through. What each family member had experienced, their achievements and limitations. How it influences their life, values, life choices and many other sides of their lives. It feels like it occupies everything.

 This world might be not super complex but unlike many of the stories I've seen it gives you enough details to see the picture how this world lives. Surely it's not historically accurate (about this later) it's just "Europen ambience" and an inspired world with no parallels.

 This is the time when the story really wins from visuals. Especially the character of Therdeo who is a silent type and keeps everything to himself. He's a basic repressed person who also has points won from the fact that he does not have insta-love with Pereshati (like in many other novels or comics where MMC is said to be not interested in women, but the moment he laid his eyes on FMC all his convictions change instantly, so cheap). Here this shows his repressed nature and also his trauma. Pereshati's image also adds a note with her funny faces at times, which lightens up the story, which otherwise would be more dramatic than it already is. The romance may not be the first priority (understandably) but it's a very nice slowburn so when things finally progress you root for the two of them. They also go through different issues, which I thought was a great touch to add instead of something flawless.

 Pereshati is a kind and compassionate person, she is hard-working and smart. I like how they deal with each other and she has a progress of mostly having Lapileons as her shield to caring for this family. I loved attention to her state of mind from beginning which sowly changes. Unlike many stories she does not start with a perfect plan for revenge, her situation is more real (at least to me) since she does not even believe in what happened to her. Her relatives did not act obviously malicious, they were kind and loving for years and years, this is why she was caught by surprise. Which is more terrifying than most of the "villains". She decided to strike a deal with Lapileons only on her instinct to feel safe, because only later she realized that her experience was the reality with long-lasting effect. The Lapileons gave her the chance to find the family she can truly love and who truly love her back.

 Therdeo is a silent type but who bear responsibility of entire family, he has a lot on his plate. he really looks like he hasn't slept for at least a decade. But he tries to grow an dlearn when he does something he realizes was not right. Maybe one of few couple who actually talk it out when they meet with problems and in case of Therdeo it's a big deal becase it's really hard for him to trust and him slowly opening up is the result of progress. The two really complement each other.

 Now a few words about being historically accurate in manhwa. I love how historically inaccurate Korean manhwa usually is.

 It shouldn't be, but it also does not rely on any rhyme or logic of its own. Basically, they do not create a certain microcosm of their own world or even copy the existing one, they just throw whatever is what I noticed while watching some of the manhwa.

 I was surprised to see that some details were included in this manhwa to showcase the works of the estate and its servants, for example, like one I can think of is Chapter 85 from Season 2 when Pereshati is given a tour around the Dukedom but she sees servants rushing in and out with stuff like loundry and she is told that Grand Duke is the one who allowed it, which shows how unlikely it is to see servants, well, it's true after all in many existing historical manors like in Englad and France the servant stairs was in another part of the house. When I studied in an Academy, it was located in a revamped historical house (it wasn't anything fancy), but they still got the old stairs and it had such narrow and dangerous steps tbh, many people lost their footing there and I think someone was said to be hurt from the fall. While the main stairs were elaborate and wide and grand and took longer time to climb them, though somehow had smaller steps than what we usually use nowadays.

 Although the costuming in this manhwa also can be called "I'll just pick and choose from different existing historical period fashion", I wish any of them would follow just one template instead of going for whatever. The only thing that will always be consisten is the gloves that everyone in Lapileon household wear. But the rest of it, sometimes it is nice (like Pereshati always wears something less elaborate and also the color scheme is always in darker colors), but at other times it's really - just put whatever and let's mix periods. During the Pereshati's friend wedding we see her helter neck dress with exposed back, which looked just too modern. I say this because it takes you out of immersion. I also love how everyone uses the A4 paper and there's so much paper as if it costs nothing. It always throws me off a little bit when I watch, all this modern stuff here and there. But what can I do, the 3D models are used in every manhwa extensively, so don't be surprised if every estate looks the same, but different color. 

 Oh the word about their estate, it's a palace. It's huge and they even have a second building, it almost looks like a street. If we take this scale, they're loaded. Though see no need for such a large estate to be near the city. Take London for example, the city house wasn't comparable to the estate. But from another angle it shows how rich Lapileon family is, but actually their house is always empty and they don't invite guests to stay over.

 I also found it fun how we follow Pereshati on her journey to how run the estate, but we never hear of anything except her venture into charity, yet she spends so much time with papers. Note: though her charity project had great details I must say, author really thought it through. But here's the thing, outside some business mentioned we have no idea what they do, we know they do it, but the scale is unknown. At least they have mines.

/-SPOILERS-/

Well, anyone who read a bit will know that Lapileons suffer from a curse, their blood is poisonous.

I found the scene where Perishati dies from it and finds herself at the bottom of dug grave like a touch of black humor, I know it's not funny but I laughed, since she had such a stunned expression and these fuckers planned to bury her.

Here's the scene, Perishati as a single woman who knows her stepmother is capable of murderng her, so while she has a chance to get away from a situation she does want to extend a deal to Therdeo, since she knows he needs a marriage to stay away from Imperial family. She visits him and no one is aware of her visit, so when they talk she is on edge, which is her earlier state of mind, which nicely portrays her psychological state at the beginning of the story. She bites her fingers and they bleed. The Duke is not impressed and lives up to impression that he doesn't deal with women. While he wanted to leave she grabbed him and he pushed her hand, being scratched by her ring. Somewhere she has a contact with his blood and dies. Then is revived. He finds it peculiar and even makes her die again (unhinged behavior he apologizes for later). So they strike a deal, he needs her for experimenting with their curse and she will get protection.

This arranged marriage starts really from lowest of the lows. But slowly she sees the true nature of this curse and how it influences this family.

This family knows how to deal with the curse, it is said that they need to make a woman the head of the family and this eneration did, but Pereshati's sister-in-law lost her husband and her child to poison, so she was not in the right state of mind and relegated her power to the youngest, which is Therdeo.

The number of Lapileon's direct descendant is not much, they also have collateral branches. But due to their curse they have to keep an eye on every member of the family and this curse is the biggest secret they have. Otherwise it may lead to a disaster, which we find already happened in a place where they had no idea about.

Pereshati's arrival is not only a key to starting solving this curse, because everyone is invlolved in it, but she also has influence on the members of this family to varying degree. She is not some super savior who will lift the curse with a move of her finger, but you can feel her presence.

The story really revolves mostly around the curse, but it's actually interesting how detailed it is.

Also even the reason why they haven't found the way to deal with it is justifiable. They really wouldn't be able to move on without the participants who now take the central place.

Although I said spoilers, but I just removed a big chuck of what makes this story great. It's the case when you really need to read it to see for yourself.

[SHORT REVIEWS] #24

Some finds, on-going stuff and future reads.

Recently I cleaned my bookmarks and the progress was great. Although to some may sound silly but the tactic of pending works for me.

What I do for any type of book. Since the array of books seems endless it feels inevitable to want to read more, but is there a way to filter them? I found that the following works for me. 

1. Read summary, read available chapters (self-publishing, online), read available excerpts (trad. publishing). Summaries almost always do not correspond to the content. It's not false advertisement, it's mostly how a synopsis tries to lure you into reading and making it sound like the best book you've ever read. Even for Chinese online novels I read so much, where authors try to put the content and idea of the novel into the title, sometimes the content may not correspond to the way synopsis painted the story.
2. PENDING period. When I have too many things pinned I basically let them pend for some time. You can't read everything at once anyway, so let those books wait for you. You will find that by the time you return it's easier to make a choice and sift through titles. 
3. Reading first few chapters (or some recommend 50 pages rule). Is to gve yourself enough time to asses if you want to proceed reading. I usually just read a bit if I want to decide how far the book will end up on the waiting list. Sometimes the story can grip you from the first passage (usually in regards to trad. publishing), while few chapters are needed to have a feel of style and story when it comes to online reading (if you noticed many don't try to reach for the first passage hook when it comes to online novels).

Because I don't follow any trends or recommendations, I tried, not my cup of tea. I have no need to rush and it is easy to just scroll and search for yourself. After all you're reading for yourself.

Now onto the novels.

绿茶穿进虐文后[穿书] by 日光融融

(mtl: Green tea persona transmigrates into a tragic novel)

[BL] On-going. Summary: An Yu had a prosperous career as an actor, he suddenly transmigrates into a novel to become a cannon fodder. Original An Yu was ostracized by his own family not knowing that it wasn't his family at all, he was manipulated into marrying a person but was actually accused of stealing a groom from his own brother, followed by infamy original An Yu never knew affection.

Newly arrived An Yu is a master of green tea, a pro, a Green Tea Lux. Although he follows the same pattern of marrying someone according to the storyline, but his own fate is not as tragic. For him this marriage is only a temporary stop before he leaves with money, leaving evidence of his family not only framing him left and right but most likely finding the evidence how all the fortune that is now squandered by the An family was originally An Yu's.

Xing Zhan (ML) was aiming to marry An Shi, the eldest brother of the An family, he did it to make his grandfather feel better and not worry about his grandson, but at the wedding saw absolutely different person. His first impression of An Yu - absoluetly worst. But day after day he figured that not everything is black and white and there is something behind the story of the An family that is not on the surface.

This one so far is the best from this whole bunch, thus first mentioned :)

    Really liked the beginning, it's fun and up-beat so far. Read ch 1-38 and it has a lot of progress in general and is very high-paced. An Yu is indeed a higher class of green tea, at least not so obvious. I'm hopefully waiting for its' development. It's interesting to see that ML and MC don't start all mushy, but actually some hostility was involved, even if Xing Zhan changed his mind later, but he still did not truly accepted An Yu because of the wedding and stealing groom incident. Only later uncovering the truth because he started to care for An Yu his stance changed and realizing that first impression was so false and held a lot of nuances. Xing family they all figured that An Yu changed the groom, An Yu never showed proof that he was framed by his own family, it's nothing compared to people finding truth on their own. It's really interesting to see how the entire family who thought how one was good had no idea that it was all pretence and the one who lied is more cordial and honest.

无间 by 二月竹

(mtl: Internal Affairs)

[BL] On-going.

I think I menioned this before? Anyway, this comes from the author of Backtracking / Looking back that I liked a lot.

Lu Yan (ML) is a captain of criminal investigation team, that discovered connections between murders and a person named Shen Qiao. Investigation uncovered that Shen Shao was currently entangled with three men who pursued him. But these three men, like the victims, had their own connection to a high shcool student who committed suicide 18 years ago due to bullying.

    According to author's notes this is a revenge story. Lu Yan will be living in close proximity with Shen Qiao (according to the summary). That's all I know, like with Backtracking I want to wait for the entire novel to be over to start reading it. Especially knowing this is also a revenge story. Also I know it's wrong to hype myself up, but still.

当死对头变小了 by 故筝

(mtl: After my archnemesis shrunk)

[BL] Completed. THIS ABOMINATION. Lol, but I honestly was weirded out.

I thought it's going to be a fn read, before it became weird. MC Chi Xi has a nightmare that he is a cannon fodder, but the only one who survived for almost entire book is his nemesis Wen Jichen (why he is nemesis, well mostly his sister competes in business world). But one day this President Wen disappears and appears as a 6yo boy in front of Chi Xi. Who finds nothing bad about taking a kid along on a show. What I found really a trashy turn is how the whole transformation was treated, that it had something with Wen's reaction to Chi Xi. And even if there is an adult soul in a young boy's body to me their attempts at inappropriate jokes were too trashy. Like are you seriously talking about erections? Even with an adult person you don't go around talking about this stuff.

Also Chi Xi is portrayed as this silly goose who is likable. Though mainly lacking brains for business and he is not completely clueless. But still...

And later I found out that this author also wrote this - 我和六个Alpha匹配100% - a story about matching of one person with 6 Alphas. I remember reading it before (dark history) but I dropped it soon enough since it was just... a mess. But after realizing who this author is, I realized that I basically wasted time, good thing not much.

与神明的恋爱法[快穿] by 暮时夏

(mtl: The way to fall in love with a deity)

[BG] Completed. Summary: A blue bird that was the first creation of the deity asks to come along when He travels to mortal worlds. She has her own ulterior motive, she fell in love with her creator and maybe she can get close to him in those worlds. But her memories as promised will be sealed and everything is left to fate.

    This novel is almost truly soft, if it wasn't for some sudden thrill here and there that poses no threat. I read a bit of it. As far as I can understand unlike many transmigration novels in this one ML is indeed the He who we know is a deity that created everything and the blue bird is his first creation, she was scared he will completely forget about her and will spend millenia in sealed space waiting for him, this is why she asked to accompany him, but she will remember nothing and he won't be a regular ML like a CEO or even a man, He will always be some kind of deity. Like the first arc he is a mountain god that was awakened because the little reincarnation of blue bird brought him from the brink of extinction. She still falls inlove with him as if it's the most natural thing for her.

就不能当咸鱼吗 by 青梅酱

(mtl: Can't I be a salted fish?)

[BL] On-going. 

I want to try this one, since I rarely touch Interstellar stories. This author I admit I tried before but never managed to finish the story, it was also on-going at that time and as per usual I got distracted by a hundred of other things. And I had several 'horror' type of stories with entities.

The premise of this story is about two people who live under an alias just to have a leisurely life, nothing more. While actually both of them are two bigshots that managed to fatefully meet on a desolate planet. MC is a founding Marshal who others search for, because they do not believe he died.

This author always has some fancy covers btw. And they wrote an e-sports novel (several actually), I'm pretty sure it's on NU, but I forgot which one. But I was attracted to these type of stories more. *hates e-sports*.

婚后浓情 by 若诗安轩

(mtl: Deep love after marriage)

[BG] Completed.

This should be a love after marriage story (obviously). I couldn't read passed ch18, FMC annoyed me so much with her irresponsible of words.

Wen Qian had a one-night stand with Shang Mo. She is a pampered princess of the Wen family (of course beautiful and sweet) and he is the current head of the famous Shang family (a head above Wen family, men are always more CEO than others). But even with precaution she got pregnant. She decided to keep the child, but did not tell anyone about it at the beginning, not planning to say to Shang Mo as well. I could understand her panic etc. She tried to wringle out of this (the joke became old since it was used at least three times).

And I hate this type of shit. It's good that others decided for her to enter a marriage when they found out. And I know this sounds harsh, but I want to be realistic, it's her body and she wants to do whatever she wants with it that's totally okay, but having a kid is a responsibility, not only to give birth to it, but also make their growth healthy and happy. Imagine the kid being a "wild child". Do you want your kid to be labeled that? Even if they're a wealthy family and they can provide everything the kid needs, but that part won't change.

And I could understand if ML was a complete douche, many women are single moms for the reason that men are irresponsible scumbags. But he proposed, admitted it was his fault and went on to arrange everything like marriage, in everything ML is always responsive to her. When she asked - What will our relationship be after the marriage? And he answered - It's up to you. He, the powerful and mighty, actually already loved this girl for who knows how long, she doesn't know about it of course, but she found herself in a situation that it's impossible to simply walk away. But she has the power in this relationship, he gave it to her openly.

Maybe I'm emotional because I watched a video of a review on that divorce show 'see you again' or smth, the most famous 4th season (?) with the most exhausting wige ever named Mai and the scene where her husband broke down talking about their daughter. Like in many situations I'd be on the side of the woman. But when kids come into picture it becomes different for me. And I don't like how some the situations are painted in a dark way. Wen Qian acted so dramatic because she had few nightmares. While she is a rich woman, with her entire family behind her, her future husband is sincere, I can't sympathize with her since she is not in a bad situation. To me she just acts willful and immature. This is why I got annoyed by her. All she does is pouting and sulking. Sigh, I guess it's the favorite type of FMC that acts like that. That's why I DNF'd it.

❧

I added some Korean novels to the list, but considering I mostly DNF'd the whole bunch I previously added I didn't want to mention them here. I'm just surprised at what high rate I dnf them, they're really not my cup of tea, but because of Windburg I at least rekindled a bit of faith in them, it's just not going good so far.

❧

Goodreads is not bad for digging in recommended pile.

A Grave Gift by Christy Carlyle

Electra Poole Mystery Series #1

Official synopsis:

Electra Poole has spent much of her life hiding her abilities, fearing the same fate as her mother—labeled mad and locked away. But in order to survive on her own, she plays into London’s obsession with spiritualism, offering carefully crafted séances to those desperate for answers. Yet when she foresees the death of a wealthy noblewoman and chooses to stay silent, the guilt is suffocating—and the danger is very real.

Lady Becknell is murdered that very night. And someone might know what Electra saw.

As threats close in, she has no choice but to seek help from Scotland Yard’s Detective Inspector Gideon Pierce, a man tied to her past—and to the father she’s never forgiven. But the killer is watching, and with each step closer to the truth, Electra’s own life hangs in the balance.

To outwit a murderer, she must embrace the very gift she’s always feared…before she becomes the next victim.

I always get caught when it comes to couples exploring mysteries. Can't help myself it became one of my favorite things in books. This sounded interesting and this is why I added it to "want to read".

Although having a gift may sound like a cheat code, usually it's not that easy.

A Murder in Mayfair by Magda Alexander

Rosalynd and Steele Mysteries #1

I admit I was caught by a pretty cover and that lovely redhair beauty, I read a bit and the style is okay to me. Despite it being a 1st POV. The premise is someone a man, a toff, hires someone for a murder, it's in the prologue. The next part is we meet Rosalynd, she is an eldest among her siblings, excluding her brother who inherited the title. Their parents gone and Rosalynd was like a mother figure to her siblings and spent years to bring them up, she is also a fervent fighter for women's rights and does not plan to marry, ever. This is basically the content of first chapter. As for the murder, it casts suspicion on her beloved cousin and this is where things start from (according to synopsis). 

Again, couples solvingmysteries, I'm in.

The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry

This is what I picked up as recommended by Gab Smolders (@YT). Usually I skip on recommended, but I watch Gab because she is a gaming channel instead of a book channel and her preferences are mostly in horror. I was attracted to description of this one that this should be a good and interesting take on a hounted house novel.

A Deadly Affair by Carla Simpson

Angus Brodie & Mikaela Forsythe #1

Another mystery book, another couple. I honestly read first few chapters. It's quite dynamic I think and the stakes are high from the get go. Mikaela Forsythe (one of my nieces is also called Mikaela) finds that her sister is missing, someone like her sister who would never disappear without a word has been missing for days and things get even worse when police finds a dead body of her maid. Knowing how unreliable police is, not to mention her sister's husband also wants to do things discretely without a noise, Mikaela decides to take things in her hands and finds a private investogator, Angus Broodie, someone who doesn't look like he will get his job done, but her aunt promised he is the best at what he does.

Not always chasing pretty covers. Also attarcted to the FMC of this novel, she is someone who preferred travel to balls and tea parties, she is a writer and has adventurous spirit. She also have seen enough to not be scared like any other lady would and nothing will stop her from finding her sister. I saw this recommended on Goodreads many times but I kinda skipped it. Who knew that it sounds promising.

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Eternal Path Trilogy #1

Usually, I would skip a book others are raving about, but many people praised it, so I put it aside too. The shortest reasn to read a book ever. 

[ANIMATION] Haunted Hotel (2025)

It says, from minds behind Rick and Morty, but honestly I find it not needed, it only serves as advertisement to attract attention of those who might have watched Rick and Morty, but in how many cases when something is said to be done by someone who did this and this we rely too much on that information and in many cases expect something similar, but to me who actually watched both I'd say it's not a good publicity.

Rick and Morty to me is like a bad a*id trip. Haunted Hotel has a bit of the unexpected vibe to it too, but it's a pretty tame show, I'd even call it cute.

Telling the story of Catherine who inherited a haunted hotel from her brother, whose ghost still lives in it, She and her two kids move in. her son is a pretty average teenage boy, but her daughter actually dabbles in magic. Oh yeah let's not forget the demon Abaddon locked in a boy's body that the brother found in the woods. The story throws you right into action. It's basically ironic horror.

It's colorful and fun. It has some famiy conflicts going on, but interestingly always involving something paranormal as means to show it or solve it.

Was surprised to find so much fanart on Tumblr and it was all about Abaddon, I agree, he is special. And a pretty interesting character, his antics are funny. It's great that the entire family has something distinctive about them.

I'm usually pretty skeptical about things that are "Netflix Original", but this time I zoomed through the show in no time and it was pretty fine. It doesn't pretend to be something bigger than it is. Just a small show to have a little bit of good time.