[Animation] Over the Garden Wall (2014)

Two half-brothers, Wirt and Greg, travel through the mysterious forest called the Unknown trying to find their way home and encounter some fantastical and unexpected things on their journey.

Interestingly I did not vibe with it when I first tried to watch it.

This just proves that there shouold be right time for what I read and watch.

With the right mood I could follow along with Wirt's overthinking and spontaneous Greg.

This journey not only allowed the two of them to see some wonderful and unexpected things, but also for Wirt to face his attitude towards Gregory. It is actually quite direct with how it portrays the relationship, the inability to communicate or expect a kid to do things you want them to with precision. And maybe some of the problems that arise are not the fault of a young kid who is always acting impulsively on-the-spot, but actually come from yourself and some of your imperfections.

Also the overall visuals are great. Especially for those who love Autumn.

So on my second try I realized that it's a great watch.

RATE: 10/10.

10th Anniversary Stop Motion Short

[NOVEL] Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson

This was AMAZING!

Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities.

One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job, but it’s only the latest in a line of injustices facing any educated woman with archaeological ambitions.

When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she’s holding her chance to revolutionize Pre-Colombian history. There’s just one teensy complication. A ruthless villain wants it, and Ellie is all that stands in his way.

To race him to the ruins—and avoid being violently disposed of—she needs the help of maverick surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling rogue who can’t seem to keep his dratted shirt on.

But there’s more than Ellie’s scholarly reputation (and life) on the line. Her enemies aren’t just looters. They’re after an arcane secret rumored to lie in the heart of the ruins, a mythical artifact with a power that could shake the world.

Between stealing trousers, plummeting over waterfalls, and trying not to fall in love with her machete-wielding partner, will Ellie be able to stop the oracle of a lost empire from falling into the wrong hands?

Raiders of the Arcana. Book 1

It's great for people who want some adventure, romance and historical fiction spiced with fantasy and is close in spirit to something like The Mummy and Indiana Jones.

I'm very happy that I picked up this book. I went into reading with low expectations, because how many times it has been? A pretty cover, but the contents are not on the same level. But I was wrong. A lot of work was put into this book to make it what it is. It has a mature style and a nice pacing between the moments of pure adrenaline and leisure. Author doesn't treat the reader like a brainless bird that needs to be fed all the information. But we still get a nice picture about our two main characters from what they think and what they do. Along with the two main characters others also make their appearance to make the cast more interesting and more voices to sound.

It's wrong to compare, but just so it happened that just a while ago I've read Veronica Speedwell. Seemingly the same time period and both women are on the side of women, but they could not be more different. As I said previously I could not fathom for whom Veronica preached for an entire book. Here Ellie doesn't preach but gets arrested in the first chapter for a small riot during the demonstation.

Through bits and pieces of information that she lays down we can get the feeling of helpless woman that has dreams and aspirations, can do better than men, but she is hopeless in this system that does not allow women to take any serious position. She goes to demonstrations, her arrest cost her a job in archives, the only job she could land and liked but she wanted so much more with her education and love for archeology. She literally dreamt of having her own adventures and how she would spend days somewhere in a desert.

At least we can see that her motivation isn't on adventure and fame, along with her goal to keep her found map and amulet safe, she also wished to do it as a woman and then might be the one opening the path for others.

Unfortunately grand plans did not go as planned.

I also appreciate a lot that the chain of actions and consequences are quite consistent. Like Ellie did not want the psalter she got with the map and the amulet to end up in the hands of thugs and villains. She might have not wanted the trouble for herself, but with people chasing after her a crazy idea formed in her head - to travel herself. She was most certain that the dangerous man named Jacobs is one of those people who do private expeditions and simply loot what they find for private collections, something her scholary soul could not take. But because of all those factors combined she risked to take upon herself to travel to another continent in search of the lost city and later maybe with that fame she could open the door of possibilities. Consequently followed by everything that happened next. Even the fact that this is a series, it does not exist just to start a new adventure that is not connected to the first book, it has the connection, the truth behind Jacobs and people who hired him, Adam and Ellie find where one of their goals is - and that is Egypt, place where Ellie's brother is currently is. So it all fits nicely with the newly found goal that Ellie could not allow people like those behind Jacobs to reach artefacts that could give them unimaginable power. 

Not a focal point of the story but the plot has commentary on the colonization period, the invasion and idea of converting those conquered no matter the means, those who have guns rule. Another part if the commentary on how archeological expeditions were not always for the sake of history, with a lot of unscrupulous treasure hunters, who were mostly only after riches and the destruction of things valuable to the understanding of history never bothered them.

Adam on the other hand is similar to Ellie in a sense, he does not want the fate that was given to him, to be the same like his father, to think only about money, how to use people etc. he wanted another life and freedom and he found it as a surveyor, even if as a man he got it much easier. But Adam is great, okay? Him and Ellie had a lot of accident through which we can feel the greatness of his character.

Together they became something like a great company to each other, despite the fact that they did not have a good start, almost forced to be together they take upon this adventure and slowly their affection grows with each day passing. It's good that they had a lot of things happening before realizing how they can rely on each other, especially Ellie. There was a bit of physical pining, but not too much to come across as vulgar.

I don't even mind that Adam calls Ellie 'Princess", why not. Even if Raccoon would fit her too, since she likes her trash pile. Adam actually is a great guy, although his description is like a cliche American guy hahaha they're both a bit cliche tbh.

It's a great adventure, I liked it a lot. All those thrudding through jungles, vivid descriptions of the atmosphere, the lost city, the trials full of danger, the relationship. It indeed has the spirit of Mummy and Indie.

Oh yeah, a side note. It has the legend of the Smoking Mirror. It's funny because I once played a game Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror which is about the same myth/legend. It is a great game, loved it a lot, played it several times through years. So it also made me closer to the book content.

RATE: 5/5.

[MOVIE] Nosferatu (2024)

A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

Cinematically and amospherically this movie is indeed beautiful. Especially those night filters on camera and the shadows on the walls etc. is a big nod to the predecessor.

The short summary on the IMDb basically scratches the surface of the storyline, but does not touch upon the meaning that could be interpreted from the circumstances Ellen finds herself in.

On the surface it's a story of Ellen Hutter, who, relatively simply speaking, finds herself not like others, as if there is something more about her. But her oddities only make her more isolated and even feared by her parent, they continue and the feeling of isolation makes her seek something out there to be her company. Instead she awakens an ancient evil - Nosferatu. By her call they form a sort of pact.

It seemingly ends when Ellen is married to Thomas, but does this pact fully disappear?

To make their lives better Thomas agrees to travel in person to count Orlok and deal with the purchase of the estate. But it all is just a trap to make Thomas sign the deed in language he does not understand.

All after that Orlok cares about is to go and find the one who belonged to him once. Through sheer manipulation he makes Ellen to agree to him "willingly" and Ellen sacrifices herself just to lift the curse of Nosferatu on the plague-infested city.

Under the surface you can feel that it's a bit of metaphor for the female sexuality of that period and even now. That something is lurking beneath her skin, but it is claimed to be sin and that she should be ashamed of it, not something natural that women should feel.

This is to put things simply. I think anyone should just explore the movie for themselves, if they'd like to give it a chance.

Now about the details.

The camera work I think is fantasic.

The visuals are great too, although the movie feels so dark at times. But the atmosphere is truly great.

Even if that city is a fiction, but most of what was shown was pretty accurate. The locations especially feel incredible. Of course everything is filtered like the color was sucked out of that movie, but still the locations are beautiful and accurate.

Actor's work is fantastic, Lily-Rose especially nailed it, she did not shy away from anything and became the true heroin of this movie. 

I'm surprised to find that Skarsgard played the count Orlok. You can't see him behind the heavy sfx make-up, he also speaks with that accent and he speaks so slowly and wheezes all the time. Everything pointed out that he's a second aways from kicking the bucket. But he is death and plague, he is a walking rotting corpse that is somehow alive. But I feel pity I saw him fully before watching the movie. All thanks to YT, otherwise it wouldn't be YT, if something was not spoilered there. I feel pity because the trailer I watched at first kept his image fully concealed, even in the movie for a good deal of time you can't clearly see him, because he's like a shadow. The only thing that made me crack up is that accent and the hair, because I can't unthink the radish. It reminds me of Cossacks and actually it has one of the beliefs about that hair, so it will be easier for God to pull you out. But orlok is a fully bad villain with no redeeming qualities mind you. He is fully manipulative and he makes you think there is no love from his side actually, no matter how many times he claims the opposite.

In conclusion it's a cool-looking gothic tale, which is quite gruesome and bloody.

RATE: 7/10. It's my personal opinion that they should tone down some of the eroticism. Not all of it was okay with me.

[Chinese BG novel] 恃宠而婚 by 今婳 / Marrying for favor

I've read almost 90% of the main story and decided to just skip it, because I got so tired of it by that time. Although the page does not indicate it as extras, but they feel like it, from around ch 129 where the main story ends the rest is about the secondary couple and I skipped about those fuckers completely.

Let's skip summary and everything else all-together, not going to spend more time than needed on this and explain (basically spoil) everything along the way.

I thought it's going to be a fun read, but it turned out to be a cheap melodrama with the taste of old blood.

Not to mention that MMC is cliche having psychological troubles, FMC too is no better.

And I felt nothing for them. I didn't click with this story no matter how much I tried. Not to mention I found the decision-making of both characters melodramatic. I am even amazed at myself that I held on for so long and basically finished it, just skipped 20 last chapters where He Qingchi (FMC) and Wen Shuchen (MMC) dealt with their shit.

He Qingchi is such a flat character, I get tired of these in Chinese novels where there is nothing about a woman exept her beauty. Authors don't realize how sexist they all are. He Qingchi comes from a famous family, but her maternal grandma is a descendant of imperial tailors and now she is retired but Qingchi learned to sew and embroider from her, basically the basic cheongsam beauty who knows craft.

I saw no other traits from her other than her otherworldy beauty. Even her craft that was later used for her "career", but actually you feel no passion for anything in this life, the only thing she had passion about is her husband Wen Shuchen and he is the one who brought her the old-school melodramatic turmoil.

I'll try to put things in order, but I will shorten a lot of it.

Both of them meet by literal accident, Shuchen showed interest in Qingchi right away (a bit obvious that he knew her prior to this, but it's a secret so far).

They develop quickly, she doesn't want to be a third party and thinks he has a relationship with another actress who knows him personally, because she knows too little about him. It's a misunderstanding, Shuchen talks her back and they come together.

We meet Wen family, Qingchi feels they're weird, but as a lady (got tired of this notion) she doesn't tear faces and acts decently. But is capable of shutting Shuchen's stepmother with hints in her words.

Her father is against this marriage. But Shuchen promised him to take care of her. It is evident there is something going on.

They start living as husband and wife, but mainly they just signed the marriage agreement and had no certificate.

Shuchen is the basic posessive main male characer with issues from his past. Slowly they get revealed. I'm not going to stretch this out and say it all-together.

He has mental problems due to his upbringing and kidnapping case. That time he was kidnapped for a month and his father refused to pay ransom. Only then he realized that the playmate sent by his father was actually his illegitimate child living under the nose and also his mother was still alive. His father had a child prior to marriage with the daughter of the housekeeper. When the first wife died of illness, she came into power. And as any vicious stepmother she wants everything for her child and the father is so blind to her viciousness that he dosn't care and paves the way for his beloved son.

In that kidnapping Shuchen was not the only one, it became so obvious that Qingchi was there as well. I think this part was messy, at one time they say the ransome was paid, at other that she managed to escape? Anyway, he has his emotional apathy and she had nightmares and still reacts badly to violence and blood.

This was later used by the half-brother, but despite her fear of violence, she had no obvious fear of Shuchen, the description sometimes felt criptic, like she did then not... A lot of things were written in such a criptic way, like I'm stll lost if he was violent because of his nature or he just beat his half-brother because of provocation. After all sometimes they said it as if Suchen was having fights with others, but except his half brother he did not beat anyone.

Note: It's my personal opinion, a man should be able to fight, okay? In case of emergency if he can't protect you, what will you do?  

Well this provocation of making them fall out did not work.

But then Shuchen's father started to be in and out of emergency room. And finally died, but of course he left everything he owned to his illegitimate child, while Shuchen inerited things from grandpa. As insidious as his half-brother is he started to attack everything he could, like mental illness and other stuff.

But the breaking point was the funeral where stepmother decided to poison Shuchen and Qingchi... if I'm not wrong.. actually she shouldn't be able to inherit, I mean her son, if they would have been involved in criminal case. Anyway, this dumb bitch swallows poisoned tea prepared fro Qingchi, but Shuchen did sip a tea. In this overdramatic situation she is sent to the He family, since Shuchen promised to protect her, but he now can't. 

Qingchi has no idea if he is dead or alive, would have been easier if she had the guts to face it together. He gave her no chance and sent lawyers to compensate her instead. Is this supposed to mean like she felt being abandoned right at that time? She did nothing. That's the power of love for you, she was crying so much all the time, but she did nothing. Well, she was protecting the baby too but what happened next puzzled me so much. But anyway she finds out that she is pregnant. Her mental state isn't great, she lived her life continuously being hunted by nightmares (the kidnapping aftermath) and now they're back. She decided to give birth, a lot fo time skips and she gave birth to a boy and sent it to Shuchen. Like... I hate mothers who send their children away, okay? She always thought that Shuchen was lonely and it was her decision, like he doesn't want her but she will give him the child (logic, okay *sarcastic*), especially when two men are fighting for inheritance (how the half-brother can fight for it when his mother is a murderer basically, why no one is scared of this lunatic).

Anyway Qingchi is depressed af, she went with her grandma and spent three years recuperating her mental state.

Then she meets her son without knowing it's him and later Shuchen approaches her.

And here I stopped reading because I got so bored from this mess of back and forth.

The FMC had nothing behind her except her face. Fell in love but didn't fight for her love, had no progress in her mentality. her father concealed the fact that Shuchen wrote to her, another "smart" move from the loving father who saw his own daughter withering away, whom he is supposed to love to death, but actually made her even more miserable.

I just read last few chapters to conclude that of course they came together.

I just saw no logic in the actions of all characters, I found it weird how a lot of time was spent on the two characters but I left feeling nothing for them.

The "intrigue" or drama between the two brothers was so flat, author hasn't spent so much time on it. It wasn't interesting, we were told about the tension but I felt no tension at all, since it is all description in general terms. As if you were told - they're fighting but did not show the process.

Now the secondary couple which made me basically hate them. They're even messier.

The girl is Qingchi's "plastic sister", who is married to a person Shuchen knows, Shen Fu. His past is even more bloodier. Because his brother murdered the family of his teacher and also cut the tongue of their small daughter, Shen Fu has been taking care of her. I have no idea why he did it, because Shen Fu acted like a complete scumbag. He married the miss Qu (who married despite opposition of her family), but also took care of this orphan girl, he basically kept her like a mistress, helping her in everything including her career as famous musician. But there was no hint they slept together. Of course miss Qu couldn't handle it and made a scene. And from then they became messier. She divorced him, he never touched her. Later she drugged him, they started their intimate life, borderline r* from both sides. I started skipping their parts all-together.

The more I sit with this story, the more I hate it. It's so weirdly messy.

The plot is messy, characters have zero personality outside of cliche stuff.

It's very long and is not interesting at all.

RATE: 1/5.

[NOVEL] Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

The Crimson Moth. Book 1

I'd say, this was an easy 5 stars from me, considering the range of books I've read though I have a small range of books to compare to.

It's really fast-paced and dynamic story. With two people deceiving each other for a purpose but falling so hard in love, yet they now struggle between what is right and what their heart wants. We slowly but surely find more things about this world and about these characters, what weighs them down, what made them as people, what they become if they come closer to the person most dangerous for them. This is true enemies to lovers, like a true feud instead of weak antipathy between two people. I honestly am not a fan when this trope is used where people are not actually "enemies", this is such a strong word, but it has been watered down. In Heartless Hunter the two characters are like two opposite sides with a deep pit in the middle they can't cross. An underground witch that wants to save as much of her kind to atone her sins and a hunter, who set his eyes on all the witches he deems dangerous and capable of anything. And something that is brooding in the air, like something is about to happen.

I found the world quite interesting, we witness a New Republic, new regime after the previous reign of witches was purged. The witches are hunted down and purged, while their sympathizers are branded and scorned. It may serve the proof that the previous regime was horrifying, but also that new one was not as good as promised to be.

There are many instances that prove that witches were quite cruel in their power. Starting from the ruling Sister Queens, who we find were responsible for the death of many and one of them especially, Cressida Roseblood was responsible for  the death of almost entire family of the MMC, Gideon Sharpe. One of the characters like Harrow bears the wound from being mutilated. Thus we can assume that the ruling ones were not the best ones. But there is an undercurrent behind it between the lines that not all of them were like that, at least not Rune's nan, Kestrel. We know that Rune herself does not bear any malice in her and it is her atoning for her past that she now helps the apprehended witches to escape.

Kestrel Winters were reported when the revolution happened, but as her relative Rune would be sentenced to death along as well and she was asked by Kestrel to report her and save herself. Thus she became the darling of the revolution and famous witch-hater. This allowed her to conceal herself in plain sight, live a double-life. And since she was helping the witches all along she was also hunted down. Hunted by Gideon Sharpe, the Blood Guard captain.

Gideon Sharpe is a famous figure, he was the one who led the revolution along with others and killed two of the Sister Queens. Some may find him heartless, like Rune does at first, but his past holds such a deep darkness and despair. If you hear about his past, the fate of his family, how he saw so many consequences to what witches can do, he bore no sympathy for them. And it was understandable. What Rune saw was only the good part, I think she partially was shielded from some darker things by Kerstel. This darkness she later faced face to face.

It has also a good drama. Especially the inner emotional struggle of the two main characters. Because these two come together with an agenda, but without realizing they fall for each other, yet this relationship was tainted by deception, they stand between duty and love, what they consider right and what their heart dictates. And so many things were involved. I think overall it's a well-layered relationship.

/SPOILERS/

If I were Rune, I would have trust issues after this. And not because of Gideon, but of course because of Verity.

If you think back how Verity asked her to have suitors and marry one so they could gather intel and then think of Verity's true identity, it's such a striking use of someone without their direct knowledge. Like Rune thought all this time that she was helping those witches, but who knew she basically gathered forces for someone else. All her sincerity towards a friend was not real.

I think the book has such a striking moments of - soft-heartedness leads to no good end - this happens when we realize that Alex never killed Cressida  Roseblood, this happens when we realize that Rune's idea of helping now led to new uprising. And now she trapped herself with a person she least wants to face.

Ngl, I thought things were fishy the first time Rune mentioned the strong perfume of her friend. With a book like this that lies down the foreshadowing quite early. Not to mention that we know that Rune was not responsible for those gruesome deaths, which leads us to think it's someone else and someone cruel. Later it became apparent who it was of course. Although now that I think about it the hints were obvious, but I usually like to read without trying to deduct things much and the pace of this book was fast enough just to gallop through pages.

/-/

Wonderful experience. Glad I picked it up. No matter what others think of it, all our opinions are subjective, but this was a hit for me, exciting plot, exciting characters❤

RATE: 5/5.

P.S.: Alternative cover, which is also spectacularly beautiful.

[NOVEL] A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron who has ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

Veronica Speedwell. Book 1

Where should I begin. Let's begin from the good thing I especially liked. Surprisingly I actually liked the style, more like the language of it. In some cases when you read something supposedly historical it does not sound like it. And I mean only language used, how characters communicate, not their progressive thoughts. Because those were indeed progressive for the time.

It's also great that I never cared to read the summary of this book, so I had not expected the baron to be murdered like in the first third of the book. And the rest of it would have something to do with not just solving who did it, but mostly what of Veronica's past.

Is it a good mystery? Not to me. This books feels more like an introductory piece for two characters, Veronical herself and her male partner Stoker. We spend a good deal of time just introducing the characters, then digging into their past in varying degrees of success. We follow them along their journay, hear their banter, some undercurrent emotions that emerge, but in general it's mostly two of them. And then we decide that to prove that Stoker did not murder baron, more like clear the charges that were so easy to put against him by the police, we must take some action. Ngl to me it was silly that they even suspected each other at first, like each had a chance to leave during the night. I felt it was unnecessary. The proof that allowed us to understand the situation and motivation was found by accident and not by some genius deduction (which I do not prefer for a mystery, it's perfect for adventure type). The two did not prove that they have talent for this, because mainly they spent time debating if any of their theories were workable and there were many of them. But without sustainable proof those were just theories you could discuss in your kitchen.

Is the romance good? It will be a slowburn. The first book does not come to any conclusion, like they're still far away from even starting making any prgress. At least for now. Both with time have some undercurrent feelings towards each other throughout the book (especially Veronica often mentions Stoker as a great male specimen almost), they banter, but have each other's back, but there are things that keep each other at bay. Stoker's is mostly his past and his gentlemanly spirit. As for Veronica, she made a rule for herself that she will not bed a fellow countryman, so she won't get into trouble.

What about the characters? Veronica Speedwell should be somewhat of a feminist icon? But I don't understand for whom she should be that icon? She actually does nothing within her own country for women, but she has a lot to comment about, how women are treated and about male dominance etc. But basically she did nothing within her power to actually do anything, she spends most of her time abroad. Compared to her even the character of Lady C. did more because she was at least part of some women society. But basically Veronica tell her own story of her own liberation and how she can't live within such society. She realized from early on that she was not fit for being a domesticated lady, so her spirit brought her to the one thing that allowed her to acquire freedom - she became a lepidopterist. To roam around she ought to have a reason and she created one for herself. This allowed her to travel and see the world and she could not be confined to older views. Part of her travels are mentioned to have affairs with men, but she refused to do with the fellow countrymen. I know it sounds hypocritical, like if you want to be free and openly be in love, why do it only outside where no one knows you, but otherwise ruining her reputation at home will not do her any good, otherwise she won't get any good funding and won't be treated as a scientist too. There are a lot of things to consider, though I don't recall she actually explained this part which may sound contrdictory, it's just my assumption of things. But I will repeat it again, she did not take action and continued to exist in her own microcosm. Veronica is many things that have a bit of "not like other girls" feel and she's not a lady.

Stoker or Revelstoke Templeton-Vane. Is currently a taxiderist, working in his outcast workshop, doing little to survive and wanting funds for expeditions. he bears a tragic past and his real name is doused in infamy. It was actually hard to conclude his past life trajectory, because he was in navy, was an explorer (pretty famous one) and also a part of traveling circus when he met an accident during his last expedition. Quite a career for 30-something year old. Now he was asked by his close friend, baron, to protect Veronica, even with his life. Stoker is mostly a grumpy person, but he keeps his word, a gentleman despite his looks.

/SPOILERS/

It's actually not much to tell. Because as I said a lot of it was spent on banter, than actually paying attention to other stuff.

So we start at the beginning, now Veronica is orphaned after burying her late aunt, she faces intruder in her cottage, the perpetrator flees, but she is left with a person who claimed himself to be Baron Maximillian von Stauffenbach. he claims to know Veronica's mother and that she is in grave danger. With plan in mind to ditch baron at any given moment, she still goes with her gut feeling that baron is a safe person.

She is entrusted to Stoker, whom she deducts to be the missing naturalist Revelstoke Templeton-Vane. Often time Veronica does her thing, pretty blunt and on the verge of being rude.

In no time they find from the papers that baron was murdered. Feeling that the danger is actually real, Stoker and her decide to flee London to a safe place (here she is approached by a stranger, but her instict told her he is not a good person, so she fools him and escapes), a traveling show. Here they find a short safe place. But things go awry quickly, his name is revealed in papers and the holder of this show uses it for a gimmick.

Finding that just escaping is futile they decided to go back and have their own investigation. This investigation isn't much. They went to baron's house, found papers in a secret book. Were chased by unknown man, saved by nknown man.

Here is their theories have no end. With papers they find identityt of he rmother, but not father. Eventually they deduct that the man she met, Edmund de Clare is her biological uncle, but they also have no idea what is the connection to put Veronica in such a danger.

Being kidnapped by Edmund they make escape thanks to another character from before, who also saved them from the stranger in baron's house.

Although they trust the person is from Scotland Yard, but this does not prevent them from continuing.

Basically it's a lot of back and forth of who is a bad guy or a good guy and why is that. Stoker actually made more sound suggestions, so he's the real sleuth here.

Only due to accident they find a key in her compas.

This is why I don't like accidental finds, like what would you do if she lost it?

With that they find it's a key and they need to go to a bank's branch to get the content of the box which reveal the truth and true danger due to her origins.

She is actually a legitimate daughter to Prince of Wales, because her father married her mother, but he wed another woman ten days before the death of her mother. Since she is also from an Irish family (and it has a lot to do with the unrest between Ireland and England at the time, and also involves religions) and Edmund basically wanted to use her as means to reach the power, they had no use for her, but could use her child etc. On the contrary it would be a big scandal for the royal family and conflicts started from less. But this was actually too far-fetched to me, like why involve royalty? It escalated so much, from no one to a legitimate heiress. And I'm not sure it will be mentioned ever again. But Edmund has enough potential to become a villain of the series.

The final confrontation is Veronica calling upon both sides and basically showcasing how she burned the evidence so both sides can lay off. Her uncle escapes, the warehouse burns to the ground due to their own actions and Scotland Yard, more like secret service, lets her go.

By the end the mystery is all about her origins rather than who killed the baron.

the conflict is resolved, Veronica knows what to do to continue working together with Stoker and it's basically a new beginning for the two.

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RATE: 3/5. Since there's too little of mystery and not enough tension that is not put into words. I had troubles reading it, I actually started it months ago (like read 4 chapters) before reading many books in-between and at the beginning of this year decided to be done with it. I somewhat struggled through the first half, later half was easier. But it's always easier. Not because it became extremely exciting. And also a lot to say about Veronica, like she was meant to be too many things as some sort of representation and she had to be different of course. There was enough commentary on the past through her. But actually past is the past, it's not great, but actually Veronica could only comment on it, but so far had not seen her acting to change anything. So everyone can talk.

[Chinese BG novel] 还有这种好事儿？[快穿] by 兰桂 / Is there such a good thing?

Previously mentioned in short reviews, I started it and relatively liked it, this time I remembered about it and realized it was finished, so I picked up from where I left.

Summary: Shen Yunxuan was reborn. But she was not the only one who was reborn. Someone around her is always vying her previous "good life" that others envied, but actually it was a life of hardships and dancing around to get herself better. So she readily gave it away. What she didn't expect that this time she found her own happiness.

Note: Shen Yunxuan is like a same person and different at the same time. She is reborn in every life, but her previous world memories are sealed like a book (literally) and she can open and experience it, but she starts as if she's a new and separate human being. Each life is her rebirth and a new life she chooses for herself.

Note 2: All MLs are different, she finds a perfect lover in her lives. But it's half and half, sometimes she has a prtner and half the time she doesn't, some are purely background characters.

Ngl this novel has some of that pretentious feel that Shen Yunxuan is so good and so down to earth etc. Like she can be described by her own worlds and constant reminder to herself - rebirth isn't everything, you must work hard, don't chase success and take one step at a time. I can even quote some of that.

Don't believe in the memories of the previous life. Many things are not what they seem on the surface, and memory will subconsciously beautify some things and uglify others. You must look at things objectively in combination with reality so as not to be confused by memories.

It's all good, but compared to the person who tries to steal her "good life" she's truly like too good, but it doesn't mean she's a saint.

Basically opposite of the things that another reborn person does, usually it's a close relative like a sister who is always a jealous type, pretty one-dimensional to me.

The interesting part of this novel is not just those worlds, they're pretty basic stories, but the fact that some things are quite hidden behind the facade. What people envy is not actually a true and happy life. Previous Shen Yunxuan suffered a good deal of injustice just to turn the opinion of other people so they could support her while she is in such unfavorable conditions.

Now spoliers. I usually started to type these, because there are too many QTs, even this author wrote quite few and not to mix them up in my head like which novel had which arcs and which events I keep track of them. Ngl this novel tends to be more memorable than others as a result. I made a long pause and did not return to this novel for a long time, but I still remember some of the striking moments of the previous life and the new life in few arcs that I read.

World 1. In previous life SYX was arranged to marry a family that have a saving grace to her grandfather. She is not welcomed in her own home so she couldn't truly decide and went with the decision, while her sister married a wealthy person. her wealthy husband didn't like her, her mother-in-law was the same, later her husband met with accident and her happy wealthy life expired. On the contrary SYX was rumored to be a happy wealthy wife. But what truly happened is that SYX had dealt with all those old and almost feudal rules of her husband's family before they started the business, she was the only one cut for it, but she walked around with her husband, so the glory spread on her husband's head instead of her own. But the family stayed quiet because otherwise what could they do, SYX became quite powerful.

In this life SYX married the wealthy husband, she figured that the accident of her husband was nto an accident and she hinted that there is something going on, which allowed them to uncover a full asssassination plan of the uncle's family of her husband. Thus she saved her husband thanks to the slip from the reborn girl. Unlike the reborn girl SYX's current husband deeply loved her, she had awesome relationship with her mother-in-law and on the contrary the reborn girl was waiting for her husband to do business, but he actually wanted to do a civil job and when things did not go well there were conflicts of course. 

World 2. Here Yunxuan is a movie queen. She started as a stand-in in her previous life, because she was allocated such role after she got late (she was saving a dog). But the dog belonged to the actress of the crew where she would be a stand-in, thus she got close to that person. And of course because she was not humble or overbearing she got along well with others and got more and more chances to get started. The reborn girl is another actress, she gave the role that did not make any splashes in her previous life to SYX, while she herself tried for the stand-in, thinking others will see her acting skills, will be amazed and will offer her roles etc. She had no idea about the whole dog situation.

SYX on the contrary acted like a business woman (learned from previous life) to negotiate with the crew and investors to change the script of her current series and make it better, her negotiations convicted others and the script was changed, basically becoming a big hit after its' release. Thus saving SYX many steps she walked in the previous life. She worked bit by bit to also become a big person herself, while the reborn person waited for success, but only had the same mediocre ending as in previous life.

World 3. Messy ancient story, but pretty impressive when you ask about previous life. Yunxuan was married off to upcoming general, but was humiliated by her husband and left without consumating the marriage. In ancient times it's a big no-no. Basically her husband had a White Moonlight figure and used her as a shield. When he returned he also brought the woman back living with them, but by that time Yunxuan had the trust and dependance of his parents and due to filial piety he couldn't move her much. She agreed, but with one condition, his children will be her children and he will nto marry his sweetheart officially. As it happened she never gave birth to her own children as a result and deeply regretted it. The reborn girl is from her family, she was sent to the palace but ended in the cold palace really quickly. But she heard about the glorious SYX. SYX might have been glorious, awarded a title and it was only when her husband finally died and her children were filial to her she had peace.

In this life things were switched, she was sent to the palace, but unlike the reborn girl she actually understood teh character and the needs of the Emperor, who did not want to see power struggles and especially in his harem, he wanted peace and hated all those intrigues (the reborn girl thought she was good at). So Emperor truly fell in love with SYX who helped him not only to manage the harem well, but also promoted a lot of things that will allow their country prosper. She also gave birth to the awaited child. She wasn't the queen at first, but due to some harem intrigue eventually the queen fell from grace.

Unlike her happy life the reborn girl met with the dilemma of the White Moonlight, more like a Green Tea Bitch, there was a lot of noise, her in-laws were not on her side, because she is restless, there was a lot going on witht his family and the relatives, quite a melodrama I'd say.

World 4. Chronology aka 70- 80'ss. SYX of previous life married a battalion commander, because she was disliked by her family they married her to a man with pretty grown-up kids. In those times a second marriage is a stain, but not for men. What other did not know that only several events helped her to tackle the two rebellious children and move into the army with her husband. Because her husband was a chauvinist she had no other chance but to survive as she was, by befriending other officials' wives and doing meritorious things whenever she could. Because there was an episode where his last wife who believed him dead came back and wanted to reunite and her husband was tempted, but she used her connections to give him a warning and because his ambition was larger than anything he had to tame himself down, even if he sent money to ex-wife. Only because SYX was rewarded he had to cut off that last contact. 

This time she was thrown to the marriage arranged for her sister. In those times people believed that such a prosperous family was really good, even if the son was called "idle". Her sister knew that she will prosper as a military wife, thus she played the drowning scene where she was saved by someone and eventually they had to change marriage partners. At first this was a fake marriage based on mutual benefits. Also her new in-laws were better than previous ones and they treated her well, so she connected with them, but because SYX knew the future she could guess where this family will end up. She started from small business before she turned out to be the first female entrepreneur in their city, the family was convinced by her to leave the "iron rice bowl" and start their business according to what each person likes. Including her husband. Thing is the sister did not understand her husband in previous life, she thought too he was idle, but SYX knew that it wasn't true, he was not fitted for work that existed, but it doesn't mean he is idle completely and talentless. Unlike her sister the husband truly fell in love with SYX for all the good things, not the prosperity she brought, but because she trusted him and believed in him, she also supported the entire family and guided everyone to be better. SYX did a lot of stuff with her position, like promoting business, supporting people and education.

It's interesting to know that she was switched at birth, unexpected turn of events! She believed that due to her position and her photos never reaching newspapers in previous life her biological mother always believed that she gave birth to stillborn and never found her, so she had no idea about her true origins. This time she was seen in newspaper and was found by her family. Who knew the Shen family would exchange babies just not to bear the stigma/bad luck.

But I think this switched at birth was also used as a tool to separate her from the Shen family, the thing is filial piety was such a big thing back than and being unfilial was such a sin (at least this is what I brought from many-many novels), but how can she prosper without being held back by her family that will surely will come to share her success - separate the family completely and make them not related by blood.

World 5. Popular live broadcasting metaphysics. This has actually interesting premise with SYX having a very good luck, but she was plotted against by Xie family when she saved their grandson, this wealthy family knew about metaphysics and set up an array to suck out her luck, she had no idea about it, the first thing she realized is that her husband is not faithful and has a mistress outside who is his close assistant and they had a son, but it was not all they kept her for her luck and treated her so well only because the magic would work if she was willing to be part of their family, while now she wanted to leave so she was detained with no way to escape (she could only see her "good" husband and his mistress who had plastic surgery to look like her parade as a good family with their illegitimate son, she had no identity from that day), since she was just a person and not a practitioner, but she had her own luck, she met a master before being detained and befriended him, they talked and she had talent to understand metaphysics but no chance to practice it with her body. Eventually she resisted after a careful study and planning, basically sacrificing herself for a chance to reincarnate. So her fate in that life was to survive the calamity. She is reborn, but her good sister from company is also reborn and switched their fates. Meaning that SYX now has Yin-Yang eyes of that girl who never used them properly and also can cultivate, but her luck is the worst, to the point of choking on water. So SYX set off on the path of cultivation, she practices accumulating merits by doing good deeds and the power of faith from those who believe in her to cultivate. She also found a loophole, like her bad luck can be given to others with a double, it's like an exchange, she gives something with a goodwill (money usually) but if the other side has malicious intent towards her they will have bad luck before they admit their mistakes. I find this interesting. Her journey started badly, because she was blackened a lot on the network, she was a signed artist but the opinion was manipulated a lot as if she was the evil of it all and everyone around her were her victims, especially her good sister and the "good sister" stole her "good chance" to marry into the wealthy family and used this opportunity to suppress her. But good comes in hand with the bad and vice versa. Because SYX did good deeds she could offset her bad luck and escape at the critical moment each time, like even if those were bad times but each time had an opportunity she could grab, but the reborn girl did only bad things and was on the path of destruction. This world also of course has metaphysics world, basically a supervision department and a bunch of sects we know nothing about except the one who is responsible for the bad deeds. And SYX also remembers that she has enmity with that sect, who was responsible for setting that luck-sucking array in the previous life and helping to detain her. It's quite an entertaining arc actually. Although several cases of help via life broadcasting feels like any other novel, but still was interesting to read.

Wolrd 6. Ancient plane. This time the one who replaced SYX is a man, all the previous ones were girls. The situation in this one is as follows. In previous life SYX was sent as a maid to a wealthy Li family in the county. She did a lot of mistakes before she reached some sort of stability. After becoming better at cooking she caught the eye of the young master of the Li family. Since then she still had to thread with caution in the backyard, before the official wife of this master could not give birth and she was allowed to birth a son, as she did. Slowly but surely she also educated her son when she saw his lawless attitude and brought him to be a better person. Because master Li was chosen to be the next magistrate the family slowly rose to fame. And SYX had a somewhat good ending as a result. But because she was sent without consent of her parents, later her father had an accident while hunting and died, her mother was devastated and also died mostly due to neglect and by the Shen family with old man who always spoke that they all should support the only son in three room Jiayao, but never supported their third son who actually earned the most money and was the most honest. Due to these events she never conacted the Shen family who were in decline, since Jiayao was nto cut out for studying. Thus reborn Jiayao had no idea about the undercurrents of the Li family and that the young master isn't a good person, so he had no idea that when he decided to change SYX and become Li master's book boy instead he was entering a fire pit. He planned to follow master Li when he would be chosen to be next magistrate and basically use this as opportunity to study more things outside of what was taught in their school. But things did not go as planned. It's not as simple as just changing someone of course, a lot of interprsonal cause and effect are involved witin this arc.

First of all SYX caused trouble within the Shen family when it came to selling her off, then she asked an old widow help adopt her parents, then she married the missing grandson of this widow. In previous life she liked to cook and now strived to open her business. She started from scratch and slowly rose to fame, befriended the county magistrate and also made achievements that were praised by the emperor, those were what let the country prosper and were either found earlier or beyond times. So she became a county lady and later even adopted by emperor. The husband was saved unlike last life and brought honor as great general. So her parents and the grandma rose from being simple farmers to the family close to emperor.

On the other side Jiayao made a trouble with SYX but instead implicated his own future and was retaliated. With his inbalanced heart of living a life worse than previous one and making all the wrong choices, like any reborn person in this novel basically, I don't think we get a conclusion, but he went a bit crazy. Old man Shen who preferred sons over daughters met the same fate as his own mother, not being treated or fed and dying under the guise of - you did it too, you said it yourself, don't drag the family. The family separated and only the older cousin still stayed with Li family as stand-in for SYX, but because she got pregnant early she never had the chance to raise her son and also did not have a good life in the backyard. Also full of regret. The entire family were laughed at for losing such a precious person and oppressing her all her life and now all her achievements have nothing to do with her, since SYX was written as the only woman into the giology tree of her family.

World 7. Transmigrating withing transmigrating.

What an ideallistic picture. I will try to sum it up quickly because I found it rather boring to read, the idea isn't bad but I couldn't care. 

This is the second time SYX is against a reborn man. He forced her to bind a system that forces a person to travel to a different plane every 1st of the month. The guy was a "stallion" in previous life, chased SYX but she refused so he created an image of her being his white moonlihgt and all women around him hated her. But he disappeared, not we know he died in a different plane.

When SYX first traveled to a different plane she was scared, next she tried to get ready for it, but realizing that this psycho still doesn't want to let her go or worse, use or betray her, she remembered that she encountered a person in last life and she used the same even to save him and allow him to witness what she can do.

Then she handed herself to the country. From initial discovery to setting a special bureau to investigate and travel to different planes SYX and a team went to several planes, collected al types of stuff and knowledge and cultivated step by step. They also brought all the spoils back. With approval she made herself physically better and increased her IQ (sometimes did not show up, but was mention a ton), since the safety of everyone around her depended on her. She advanced by great speed, before she arrived at the cultivation world where she refined system into her natal weapon. Thing is she used the power of faith from different worlds she helped to get better and converted that and merits as in previous arc about metaphysics.

The guy who lurked around her was apprehended and interrogated a lot, ppl figured he's reborn, recorded him and let him go, since he was basicallu useless. But later he committed a crime and was offed.

I say ideallistic is because it's again SYX saying stuff like making a small progress, widen her horizon. Everyone around her is full of admiration and stuff. She's also never arrogant about her achievements and thinks others are better than her, or at least says so too. A big pat on the back. But honestly because she just travelled to other worlds and it's just a short retelling of what happened. Thinking back that even the idea of system being a natal weapon isn't new. Maybe the travelling withing travelling and using those planes as a background is fun, but it's all just short description without much else. But feels like an ideallistic dream/

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Was it entertaining? I think, compared to things I've read recently indeed it was. It has a better style than previous from this author, a quick read, less aggressive? Probably a good message included. But the overall framework is the same, each world has the dumbest person who wants to take shortcuts and with their two braincells decide to steal things from SYX, while not making any progress. Compared to our FMC it's a negative example. On the contrary SYX is super good, neither high nor overbearing, very low-key and hardworking, appreciates her second chance and ability to have a better life. Although actually she did succeed in many of her lives, even if her path was thorny. Now she has a chance to be reborn and live a good life.

RATE: 4/5.

[NOVEL] Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

NOTICE TO STAFF: There has been a disturbing increase in cheeriness, sprightly behavior, and overall optimism of late. Please resume your former dark, ominous terrors at your earliest convenience. ―Mgmt

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat…er, out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs―Kingsley’s included―point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies...including their nemesis, the king.

Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain’s lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so…so…delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?

Assistant to the Villain. Book 2

With the first book I could be forgiving, but the second book should do more, but it did less for me. I still like the world, no matter how small and empty it actually is, if you truly dig for it, and I like the wit of the characters and the banter and also I'm not against of what happened in the end and the reveal. But it felt like the book needed more work? At least it's in my case.

I only like Kingsley more and more.

My problem #1. The world still feels empty. This one I was forgiving about in the first book, but it actually feels empty. Even if we hear about places and visit them, but mainly the world and how it was built feels a bit underdeveloped. Maybe mainly it's the descriptive problem. A lot of the time the scenes will switch really fast but they still feel like they could have some work done and have more description to give an idea of what is happening, to fill the scene more. And I point it out because so many times the two main characters will have at least three passages about their untimely pining for each other.

My problem #2. Pining that never stops. I think the author used too much of description of how they want each other and how they affect each other all the time. Don't get me wrong if the man I was interested in would be near me I would be well aware, but when it comes to untimely situations I still think it would be more organic to pour out different emotions. And most importantly, too much tension is not great, by the middle of the book when there was finally progress I honestly was already mad, like you can't be seriously making them come closer, almost having scenes where they're plastered together and then do it all over again before they finally make that last step. And we don't talk about something more than simply kissing. That tension was so overworked that when things happened I was just tired how mispaced these antics were.

Problem one turns into problem two. Since the world and the plot don't have much filling, a lot of it is replaced by the pining. This turns into my problem number three.

My problem #3. Due to pining the plot stumbles on its way. The pace of this book felt so much slower. I felt like nothing was happening, because we had too much attention on "emotions". Honestly, I think with this amount of text we get that they love each other to death, it's destiny, it's like they saw each other and it was that magnetism and them working together opened this new path. But honestly because they had so much time, the plot had less time. I still feel weird that everything that happened were like.. three trips to different places and the final, fourth one was what mattered. The first trip was okay. Though beats me every time how are they found by Valiant Guards, like we're def in the movie where they know how to enter the scene. The second trip to the Heart Village did nto move me. That scene in the basement was weird, like they were supposed to be underwater, but there were windows and they smashed one and water poured in so they could drown, but then Villain's sister and the healer appear in that same window? Like my brain was catching on the mechanics so much. The third trip too. Although has such a potential with so many magical flowers and stuff, but I couldn't care less about Becky's mother motivation since she barely had the chance to explain herself or showcase it somehow, like there is no intrigue in that place before the Valiant Guards come and boom we find things out.

My problem #4. More said than done. A lot of things suffer from this. I like when authors showcase some things through actions, it is more interesting to pick things up, but sometimes it's more of the what is said and not what is done case.

/SPOILERS/

I'm surprised this will have at least 4 books. While I think the content could have been either shortened or expanded. Like okay the content of the first book was the mystery of who betrayed the villain. It is cool to find out that there is a magical ink that can help to copy what is written in the journal, thus there was no direct traitors, there is only one unknowing one and that is Evie, who was betrayed by her father. So also because it's the first book I was forgiving of some obvious flaws. The content of the second book is how we save the Villain from the king who is all about the Rennedawn profecy. And what the prophecy reads is as follows:

The person who saves the magical lands will take fate's youngling well in hand; when fate and starlight magic fall together, the land will belong to you forever. But beware the unmasked Villain and their malevolent dark, for nothing more dangerous than a blackened good heart.

Meaning that we already know that Evie's mother, who should not be dead holds the starlight magic, so sought by the king. We know that guvres mated and now await their child, which is basically the above mentioned youngling and fate, since these creatures are super magical. Villain is of course Trystan with his dark magic, while the last bit.. is Evie. Her journey is full of thorns, her path is full of betrayal from her father and disappointment fro others, like she is so tired of seeing the hurt, just because the king has his own plans, so her heart is blackens with all the advercities. I actually am quite fine with how this part played along, we start from this prophecy, we start from the cave with a weird godly creature, but we also end with the same prophecy realising what it means. Though it sounds cool, but mean little to me right now, like what are the mechanics, how things should come together.

Anyway, I was a tad bit disappointed with how it turned out. Maybe someone was expecting and they are loving all the love going on, but I only felt like there should be time and place for everything. I lacked depth to events that shaped our characters of what they are.

PS: I have a weird moment when I wanted them to react strongly, the moment we realize Lyssa basically is a little kid who helped her father escape, she is unprotected kid who believed her manipulative father. But she did not face any consequences.. So she was found in the dungeons, but honestly instead of being all sloppy she deserved to have some sense talked into her instead of people acting like they're afraid to hurt a little girl. You can't protect her forever, sometimes it's even worse than anything else. You raise the stakes so high, so much shit was bound to that magical creature, but the girl did not get even a raised voice. I'm against any other sort of dealing with this situation, but it felt like nothing matters eventually.

I start to like Kingsley more and more though. One fun frog.

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RATE: 3,25/5. I'll be honest. I was threading through this and it shows, since I managed to read two novels in between. I basically started this on 3rd of January, next day after the first book. Got 1/3 down. Got to the middle yesterday or so and actually finished the second half today, because at that time it felt like it finally picks up... not really.

I'm not saying that their romance is utterly bad and they should downsize, it is a slow-burn and there is a lot going on, they both have reasons to stay away though they can't, but I wanted something outside of this couple too. Even if it felt like things happened but our attention is always brought up to these two.

Also not mad at the multiple POVs, though it basically was needed to put into perspective what things happened back at the manor and what happened with the main cast.

[Chinese BL novel] 我当了十年反派后穿回来了 by 梨蓝蓝 / I was a villain for ten years before coming back

Summary: Wen Linyu was the type of person who will say "It's okay" even if he was intentionally hurt. Then he was suddenly taken to a different world where he had to play a villain. After ten years he returned and now when someone wanted to hurt him he would say the same excuse as he used to hear "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but you will forgive me right?"

I'll say this right away, this is a 1-star novel for me. I've been messing around with BL tag today and looking for novels that might have been picked up, then saw this one and clicked to find out that instead f upcoming, this novel became completed. I mentioned this novel in the 'short reviews' post dated Nov 30, 2023, so it was quite a while ago.

The novel was completed in Nov of 2024. It was completed shortly, because it's just a 28 chapters long. And because of it, it became a big missed opportunity, a big miss, it fell so hard for me and did not meet my expectations at all.

It's one of those novels where the content of the summary does not correspond to the content of the novel itself.

So Linyu travels to another world, he grew up in a foster family who knew he's not biologica, his own parents threw him to this family for a reason he had no idea about, when he returned his life was no better, a marginal figure living a worse life than a gutter rat.

Then he travelled to another world and could not get rid of his cowardly and servile self. Ten years passed with a soul inside his body teaching him ways of cultivation. He got better and more sure about himsef, but then he suddenly returned and did not say goodbye, fearing his heart for the teacher.

The problem is, maybe he grew a bit, but he is not changed much, he is just more cruel to people who did harm to him and he paid it back, but usually he's still a good person. While the summary at JJ promised some fiery slap backs...

Now he realized that what his parents did was to steal his fortune / life. Which was done by an evil cultivator.

Because the novel is short it sounds like a sketch. There is no buuild-up, things go by very fast, he basically does few things to people who hurt him, including his parents.

The relationship part is a weird one. Gu Chi, the ML, makes the system send him to the world of Linyu where they meet. But now Linyu sees the face of Gu Chi (body he worse in the next world), who acts all close and clingy and creepy basically, but Gu Chi did not even mention that he's the teacher. He knows Linyu would want to see his teacher. Like they have a several chapter misunderstanding before Linyu catches up by himself... Anyway, the parents are backlashing like mad, the master behind them is found in one passage and sent topolice, everyone is happy.

It's such a waste. And then I saw the author and realized who they were and what they might have written before and realized that I initially did not hold much hope for this.. Better to say it was my last hope I think? Anyway, not recommend this author in general.

I really should have stuck with something else instead of wasting my evening on this.

RATE: 0/5. Like who is this saint who sacrificed art for the cover of this novel, I want to know them. I know that some covers can be used several times (not usually but it can happen, I saw it), but it's such a waste of good art on this.