[SHORT REVIEWS] #34

BOOKS

CHN

Lin An Si, it's your turn again to be ranted about. No really, what is wrong with this author.

[BL] 穿书成隐藏大佬堆的幼崽 by 林盎司 *JJ

Yu Qingye transmigrates and become a "fake" master, but he is only 5 years old (15yo before transmigrating, which honestly doesn't matter she can't pay attention to her own settings, while the beginning was more believable, later he instantly felt like he fell into IQ loss and then he just acts too mature, in the span of mere 10 chapters mind you) and the real master is actually reborn. Yu Qingye's plan is to see what this body's real family looks like, because he doesn't trust the real young master retelling of his life and actually exchange early on while they're still little.

The real young master isn't actually a good person as well, which is very cliche, he is of course hypocritical and ungrateful, only remembers his rich aunt that spent money on him, while pours dirt on his uncle who took care of him and protected him with his life in a car accident. His parents who brought up the young Yu Tian (his name in this universe) are the same as their kid, they start to treat badly their kid even before they received the paternity test. Honestly the entire chapter about the dinner will go into annals of her writing, since you can't be more old-fashioned when describing the parents of the real young master, of course they're homophobic when it comes to uncles raising the boy, also prejudiced towards them so much, don't even question or want to see for themselves how exactly they treat the kid, they just go along with a kid. Any adult knows that kids can say as it is, but also say as they see it. I wasn't even surprised at her portrayal by that point. And of course it's done for one purpose only.

Very cliche plot where a baby who is so good and sensible will turn out the darling of the family and family will reveal that they're actually not a simple family, that both his unces (uncle and his lover) are successful people who don't reveal their true identity for some reasons, also other members who are some prominent figures in disguise will show their tail as well I'd say.

Maybe Lin An Si thought that previous story was so successful that she's going to repeat it. Because in her previous story we had a troubled young man who only turned I don't remember how old he was, 18 maybe? she decided it's going to be super tragic to let the boy be unloved by his two parents who used money he earned when filming as a child star on their two new families the boy had no idea about and she decided to add the snot by making the boy pass being hit by a car. Here the beginning is same tragic, the MC is unloved in his family, his parents divorced and he had to stay with his dad, his mother left him with no strings attached and not looking back, he lived under the same roof and felt like a bag for punching and of course be servile to his younger brother. Of course his dad was such a scumbag that he will make him drop out of school and turn to work (did not work because at the same night MC transmigrates). Stuff like that Lin An Si seem to come to love so much. But the thing is she likes to do it to showcase the contrasting lives where now they'll be loved and cherished just for who they are.

But I don't buy it, the parents of these kids don't get their comeuppance and the kid, which was a problem for them is gone and they get no retribution (maybe they do, I DNF'd the previous work pretty quickly).

The next thing I predict for this story is that it'll be long, it'll be so long that you'll be surprised. I already saw through the style of this author few novels ago, she likes to add unnecessary stuff, it's my ongoing joke about 30 shower scenes and it came from this author. So the story is not only long but watery af. Imagine this, the famous Heaven Official's blessing is just 200+ chapters, my favorite Nightmare Live is 700+ but it is a complex multi-arc novel, Lin An Si ballooned her previous work to be 500+ chapters of family drama.

This time around she decided to make MC even younger before he transmigrates, well, I could get his reactions and fear at first. I thought "wow, is she going to make a different MC and make him really sound like a teen?" was my naive thought. But honestly it's like his IQ jumped around. At some parts he feels clever and mature, at other times author tries really hard to make you believe that he was so socially inept that he doesn't understand if the actions of "real" young master are common or not, as if he never communicated with anyone before or even witnessed his own family's relationship. He may had no friendly relationships before, but the kid does not live in isolation, we've all been there, where we can sit in our own corner but still see what others are doing or how they interact. And also have our opinion on it. She made it sound as if the boy lived under a rock all this time. And I don't believe it as always. So many stories she wrote and her portrayal is still on that level, but she built a following that supports her so props to that. If you like their repetitive stories then you're welcome to know their new story is being published. But any interest I had in her vanished when I realized she just recycles her own stuff.

[BL] 民国花旦重生后爆红娱乐圈 by 折吱*JJ

(mtl:A Republic of China actor becomes a sensation in entertainment industry after his reborth)

The story covers the life of Chu Jiu who has struggled in times of unrest and became a popular performer desired by many, but then he met his tragic end at the hands of invaders. But his life did not end at that, he found himself traveling to the future and becoming a celebrity embroiled in scandlas. Chu Jiu takes pity on Xiao Chu as he calles the owner of the body, because the person is not without acting talent, but his mentality of being stressed and not being keen on social relatiosnhips led him into the trap. The same person who claims tot ake care of him on the show is the one sending the most negative news about him. And this could have been Xiao Chu's last stage if Chu Jiu hasn't arrived in time.

What things Chu Jiu hasn't seen in his life? This actor named Ning Xi who thoroughly used Xiao Chu's popularity to his advantage certainly is not getting away. He is a pro at playing along. He will show him what a talent means.

The internet that was buzzing with news saw new episodes of the acting variety show and found themselves being attracted to the changes in Chu Jiu and his acting skills improving. Chu Jiu was not bothered and might have continued like he always did, but among the judges was a guest star renowned for his acting skills - Lu Hanzhang.

Being very experienced at flirting Chu Jiu didn't mind approaching the aloof actor, even if he met the rejection he was still intrigued because he never saw a person as Hanzhang before. But as their relationship develops he finds that their roles changed.

Let's start from the good part. I liked the relationship.

It starts with Chu Jiu openly flirting with Hanzhang, but Hanzhang acts like a gentleman, he doesn't get angry or gets petty. Because in Chu Jiu's mind no strings were attached is when he was the most firvolous. But later on the more he got together with Hanzhang he realized that Hanzhang is the type of person who once he gets serious it will be because of deep affection that won't be easily dispelled. So when Chu Jiu decides to cease his flirtations, because he knew he couldn't commit to a relationship he is confessed by Hanzhang.

Hanzhang is actually very prejudiced towards Chu Jiu, but later when they work more together he is surprised to find more new sides to Chu Jiu he knew nothing about. He knew that flirting won't go anywhere and actually thought of making himself clear one day, but eventually realized that he took care of Chu Jiu like no other person and he might have come to like him. This is why he decided to confess his feelings, being surprised that Chu Jiu did not agree. He knew and felt that Chu Jiu is not indifferent, but their level of affection is different. But he didn't give up.

Chu Jiu found that no one else in the world would fit him like Hanzhang, he makes him so comfortable, he is so caring. He let the feelings in his heart grow and the more time passed he found that feelings became more profound. The only question left was... it seems he is not the one who will end on top.

I did not finish it. An I'll tell you why. It would have been interesting and the relationship would really pull through if the style of sriting wasn't this meandering. I can't even express well how tedious it was to read and I started skipping parts before decided that I had enough and finished the last chapters.

The relationship and storyline unfortunately get lost in unnecessary details. It's funny to me because when things needed details they lacked them, but when it came to some basic stuff it went on and on without stopping. And it's not like those details were important, but some important parts would get lost in such heavy text.

Also the problem it seems in author treating readers as kindergarteners, not only writing something basic, but also explaining in details the motivation for actions or words.

Because of the barrage of words I'm sure I missed several illogical parts. It was just too much. Such meticulousness should have a purpose, but the only purpose I found here is basically watering down the content.

This story is 188 chapters long, okay?!

Imagine my frustration that they get together around 80th, then some action happens around 105, but by that time I'm so tired of this style of writing that I can't muster any excitement.

The story covers the variety show, which is the one that lacked details, even if it was described so extensively. Then filming. And on-going confrontation with Ning Xi and one of the mentrs, director Xu Wenhao who had his eyes on Chu Jiu.

As for the show, it seemingly describes a lot of scenes, but you know what? I still have no idea what type of format they used and what's the logic. At times it feels like it describes a theater type, they have background and wear mikes and also there were scenes where public reacted and distracted actors, not to mention mentors describe it as production that needs to be adapted to the scene. But then it suddenly says that there are pre-recorded parts. Some parts require a lot of extras, space and backgrounds etc. I just got so confused. Also the "adapted works" felt like too much going on and it did not connect the dots. Whatever, what do I know.

It could really win from editing and cutting down at least half of that text, but imagine when it all depends on word count to edit all that. Of course no one would be willing to do it. But it only proves that the work becomes flawed and overblown.

As for the logic flaws. I was sitting and thinking that the situation with the director was blown out of proportions and it was unrealistic.

So we have with director Xu Wenhao who is supposed to be a big director, but I haven't seen him described as a true pillar, because wen he was pushed he fell too quickly. He wanted to get Chu Jiu or otherwise destroy his prospects, and the guy is experienced. But the thing is every mentor is described as if they fear him and the troubles they can get into, so they dance around his ego a lot. Which is unrealistic, no director can hold so much power and not to mention there are so many directors in the industry, even if they're interconnected some may have conflicts, you can always find a way out. he was only described as such, but we don't see anything to prove that fear. But to me the strange part was, one of these mentiors is a wife of entertainment company, she married the boss and is now the boss' wife, they lived together for so long, yet she still acted as if the guy is more important. But director does not live in isolation, without capital he's nothing. The way he was brought down was too easy. And the guy stuck around for so long, I think it was chapter 96 when the things went down for him. But this type of storytelling is unsatisfying.

The best part of it are two main protagonists and their relationship. But I couldn't care less about meandering. Quote from our intelligent MC:

- "It's good for a person to be confident in themselves, but if that confidence goes too far and they fail to see the progress of others or realize the gap between themselves and others, then it becomes arrogance."

[BG] 快穿之男神苏炸天 by 姩潇潇 (*Qidian)

(mtl: Quick transmigration: The male lead is so charming)

Another masterpiece from this site. I ommit many ones that I open and close with the first chapter, this one I read a bit more because I was kinda shocked?

What brought me to mention it are author's words how they see the rating drop and they don't know why. I don't want to disappoint but... author maybe doesn't realize that they wrote an unlikable and gaslighting female lead.

FMC is supposed to be a dragon or smth, so she excuses her behavior with it a lot, like she doesn't understand human feelings. Yes, it may be right, but it feels like a dragon has no feelings of her own. Her description of feelings often comes across as cheap.

Plots are not worth of mentioning they're too over the top, they're just galloping without stopping and many things look as a draft. So it's easy to get tired of it. I got tired pretty quickly.

MC for some reason falls in love with this girl. Although she treats him poorly I'd say, gaslights him all the time (by the way she speaks). The way she treats romance is cringe-worthy with only words like "You like me. I like you. We can date. When do we marry" when they know each other for a short while. MC bends and stretches to follow this. She never lingers, never responds to unspoken words and never appreciates anything. Going on a date? She hates it because she'd rather stay home. Okay. A big bouquet of flower? Cumbersome to hold. She appreciates, she will say so, but also will add it's cumbersome. Too straightforward. And often repeats one and only answer wen asked if she ever loved the man when they're at the end of their lives, she says - what do you think? I am so rich and beautiful and men would line up after me but I was with you. She always answers with a question of this type. She can barely say I like you. I read few arcs, laughed at how silly it is and then decided that it was time to press 'x'.

Mentions:

I did re-read [BL] 我可怜，我装的 by 薄夭 (*JJ), since it's entertaining trashy read. I made a review on it long time ago.

[BG] 快穿：病娇大佬吃起醋来真要命 by 把你饭叼走 (*Qidian). Thought it'd be sweet and maybe trashy entertainment type, but honestly some writers don't realize how their characters look when they write. Thus it ends up looking bad. Plus the FMC is just the silly type, even though when I first read the introduction that she travels to collect soul pieces of her beloved husband I thought it was nice for a start, but then her reactions to some things were weird to me (either I think the timing was wrong or they looked not good), because the guy fell for her, it's all fine and dandy before you realize he is following her every move. The original storyline doesn't matter since it is solved instantly as if the male lead of the story is that insignificant. The tw easily get together and it's a happy life, nothing else matter but romance.

DNF'd [BL] 禁止歧视幼崽！ by 樱满庭 (*JJ) It's a story of MC who lands as a ..cub. And it's significant in every world, but I do not care to continue. It just didn't grab my attention. What weirds me the most is that this lands into BL category, it's put into category by the author. Maybe something will happen in the future how do I know, MC was still a cub at the end of arc 1. 

DNF'd [BL] 向导伴侣印记消失后 by 樱满庭 (*JJ) Thought the premise was interesting, but later realized that characterization is just... Anyway it's not my cup of tea and I wanted to punch author in the face a bit.

US

Lady Ludmilla's Accidental Letter by Sofi Laporte

1st book in Merry Spinsters, Charming Rogues series. The title is self-explanatory, Lady Ludmilla indeed wrote a letter to her friend, but had no idea that tenants changed and she was answered by a man. Instead of severing the exchange then and there she continued this exchange of letter for several years, before fate made her return to London. And she hated London so much.

It's perfect for readers who like the theme of misunderstanding that will be present for entirety of the book. Readers as much as Ludmilla, shortened and lovingly called Lu, are chasing the red herring for most of the story, because author likes to throw dust in your eyes.

When Lu comes to London she is overwhelmed by the idea of meeting her Addy or staying in disguise. But coincidences keep happening that always lead her astray. At first she felt she got it right when thought that St Addington, the person she disliked, is her Addy. But then she finds out that he also has a cousin living in his house who is called Adam Adey. Even the reader may become confused since Adam mentions "writing a letter" or "waiting for a letter" several times, very much when mentoning such activity will lead us to believ he may be our Addy. So the whole thing is more like going back and forth before protags are honest with each other.

Oh, another thing is why Lu despised St Addington at first, although he was nto exactly the person she should loathe. When she oly debuted she was approached by a man, Matthew, but then accidentally she finds out he wants her money as a daughter of a Duke and all that flirting was nothing but a pretence. She disliked St Addington because he enticed Matthew to bet, though she saw that matthew wasn't against betting himself.

Of course as time went by and they came to know each other more such harsh feelings changed. He on the other hand was remorseful, since he liked her a lot for a very long time.

Very easy to read book, you can breeze through it. But again, the problem with modern HR romance is that it reads too modern. The way people speak and act.

Also author's humor, if there was such, passed me by so hard. I really didn't see anything funny with what characters found funny.

The last part where Lu goes back to Bath with her aunt she is rumored to be a fallen woman since she kissed St Addington in public (on his cheek), but then she said some random stuff like what a spinster to do and became a sensation after some passing Duchess told her she is something. I was baffled kinda.

I decided I won't continue with other books from this series.

RATE: 3/5.

I started reading the fourth book from the series and am around 25% in. I really have no idea how it happened, but I won't be dwelling on it. We start from sudden departure of Veronica on a longest vocation. Just after she and Stoker might have broken the barrier of friends to lovers, but they were stopped and Veronica backpedalled. Anyway Stoker's older brother comes to Veronica (since he is one of those gentlemen who is charmed~ by her, though who knows why) with a deal, so she will travel with him for a visit (she sold herself for butterflies but this time she feels more and more inclined to have live butterflies instead of making specimens). I think the name of butterfly was sompletely fabricated. Shocker I know, I'm sarcastic because I remember I googled on of the names and got some really random butterfly that can be found anywhere. Anyway, they travel and this man asks her to pretend to be his fiance, since it will not tarnish her reputation. Stoker actually arrived separately, but with same destination, but honestly girl hurt his feelings so much already by refusing and dancing around the topic.

As for what happens on this island is that it has a castle and it all gives gothic vibes, they even have poison plants garden. Locals believe in mermaids and ghosts. Since one of them is rumored to haunt the halls of the castle. I hope it won't go into supernatural or something odd that will have no good reason but something supernatural.

Also this bad boy here. I found this on IG and thought it's such a cool idea to have a whole book of puzzles like that. It was like a door opened to a new world. So there is a niche with books like that. It's so interesting. I love the interactive idea of it.

After seeing there are also other puzzles like Murdoku I actually ended up staying so late at night on their site enamored in the puzzle-solving.

This one caught my attention because the FMC after the death of her husband finds he might have deceived her and she had no idea about his secrets. This way a person is brought in into investigating in a logical fashion. 

This one chosen because I wanted to try something new and from recommended, will see how it goes.

FUTURE RELEASES

           

Most of these come from the lists of recommended future releases. I'm so obvious that I go for covers and titles. Except Bodies of Magic, that came as rec from YT. I thought that Revenge plot itself sounds amazing, I'd like to see the story which promises mystery thriller and really inteesting premise of author who wants to be published and will not take no for an answer. Kiss, slay, replay is a loop novel and I want to try it, it sounds fun. If it's going to be unhinged I'm wlecoming it. As for I hope this email finds you in hell it reminded me of some fun stories when I was reading about metaphysics and connecting the two sounds fun. I think I remember one especially which was a BL story where a programmer joined the hell company and later they together invented many things, it was light-hearted and humorous.

I haven't watched anything these days except catching up with Running Man show. The only variety I still watch.

[Chinese BL novel] 权臣穿进豪门养子文学 by 二月竹 / A Powerful Minister Transmigrates Into the Adopted Son of a Wealthy Family

Xiao Lanchui was the youngest Grand Secretary of the Great Li Dynasty. After helping the newly enthroned emperor pacify the realm, he was poisoned to death.

After his death, Xiao Lanchui transmigrated into the world of a wealthy-family novel, becoming its frail, sickly adopted son, someone everyone could bully without consequence.

The doctors had already given up on him. They declared he would not survive the coming winter.

Beneath the glamorous facade of the powerful family lurked danger at every turn.

The loving adoptive father, the indifferent adoptive mother, the dignified and taciturn eldest young master, the refined and courteous second young master, and the cheerful, seemingly innocent fourth young master…

Every one of them wanted him dead.

Because he was never the “adopted son” described in the novel.

He was the family’s biological son.(NU)

TW: Mr Xiao is a disgusting piece of p* garbage, self-harm, violence, relationship between non blood-related siblings, attempted r*, abuse.

It's a thrilling ride with violence and melodramatic plots, pretty upbeat story with a lot going on, intelligent MC (morally gray) and obsessed ML (pitch black) among other character that were not spared. The only innocent person might be OG Lanchui (I am used to call him Lanyue due to MTL)

I'll warn you at once, the relationship between MC and ML is not the healthiest one. It is more of obsessive love where they can do a lot of shit for each other and can't see a single person except for each other as a partner.

IT HAPPENED! I FINISHED. And I am very glad I waited for so long, mentioned it so many times, basically hyped myself up, which isn't good, especially if the story will fail. But author did it again. Trashy entertainment at its' finest.

Author did not spare anyone, even protags. It's a wild ride of a slow build-up with a great pay off.

This is a story of Revenge, capital letter, where MC who traveled from the past is now in the body of a poor young man whose fate can't be more pitiful, a victim of a grand scheme of his own father.

And the situation is... complicated.

MC navigates the situation with his own knowledge and what he knows from the "plot" to weave a big trap for the two biggest perpetrators of his case, while also having a dilemma of what to do with a person who looks exactly like the Emperor he brought from nothing to the highest position in his previous life.

The story held me in its' grip from start to finish. I know this author, Backtracking and Infernal belong to them and actually I noticed I might have read some other stories from them, but because it was a long time ago I hardly remember. 

But these three, they've become my big three. I may like Infernal less, since it involves school violence and not only, it's the darkest of them all and just makes you depressed. This one does not shy away from dubious content and is full of blood and visits to the hospital. But it was not as hard to digest.

(click to enlarge. if I butchered someone's name, I'm sorry)

So let's start from the beginning. MC wakes up in a body that barely survived drowning. The one who pushed him was his own father, only because OG witnessed him doing naughty stuff, but the object of it all was his second brother Xiao Anfeng. Two members of the Xiao family for the longest time kept a secret that Xiao Anfeng is not Xiao's biological child, he belonged to Mr Xiao's ex-lover who made Mr Xiao swear that he will take care of him. Mr Xiao's most "brilliant" idea was to swap the babies first, then take OG back home as "adopted child", but then reveal that he was probably illegitimate. His psychological manipulation included making the entire family hate OG instead of Anfeng and not pay attention that little Anfeng does not look like his parents. But the older Anfeng got the more he resembled his dead father and Mr Xiao had other thoughts about this child.

And he got the scheme working. The family fel they were torn apart because of a child. Since Mr Xiao always showed his love and bias. At the same time it drove others crazy, especially Anfeng who thought the love of his father was stolen and he always wanted to win it back. 

The one who also helped to cover it up was the eldest son - Xiao Linqi. At very young age he figured both are not biological brother and as time passed by he aslo developed feelings for Anfeng. But to get the precious person away from harm he constantly brainwashed his younger brother to make him violent towards OG, while his mother came down with hysterics at the mere sight of OG.

This is the situation Lanyue found himself in. His health was also fucked like in previous life, thanks to chronic poisoning by Xie JingFang, the mother who has no idea that she poisoned her own child. What a cruel fate.

In the past Lanyue rose from ashes. His mother was an unknown person, but he was talented and became prominent for a short while, the Xiao family did not want to see him suceed, this is how they devised a simple plan, ruin Lanyue's life but eventually the man-made accident ruined his legs. With disability his path came crashing down. Xiao family even had the excuse to get rid of him and sent him to some small temple for "recuperation". This is where his path started, from him and unloved prince Lu Ao rising to power. 

Their relationship covers a lot of this story, it's actually intense how much they went through together, from the moment Lu Ao was just a bean sprout with unkept hair filled with lice to an Emperor. Lanyue was Lu Ao's advisor and biggest support, they went through many calamities before they succeeded, they thought they'll be ruling together (Lanyue even exterminated entire Xiao clan), but one day Lanyue was poisoned and the fruit he ate was said to be sent from the Emperor.

By that time Lanyue had many concerns and misunderstandings. He thought the Emperor had a lover, he even believed that Emperor got rid of him because every Emperor does that or that he never relayed the last words of his "lover" or any other reason. He has not realized that he actually loved Lu Ao and that development bothered him a lot.

This is why he was very wary of Lu Ao in this life, not only because he tried to kill him when he first saw him (actually confirmed his thoughts that Lu Ao hated him), but also because.. the hostory was almost entirely erased during the reign of Lu Ao who is mentioned as a tyrant and that he erased history because of his dead lover. Lanyue almost guessed it right, just got the person wrong.

I loved the slow manipulation and plucking strings that let the story slowly unfold. I loved that once again the MC does it all himself, he is intelligent and is completely capable of doing things on his own. Because of his origins I believed in his character and this story (although some of it may sound like a convenience).

But one must remember that in many cases Lanyue did it all with detached attitude, he is doing it all for someone else, not for himself. So even if it feels like he has attitude, but then you realize no he's not. The one thing that ever got him somewhere was always the thought of Lu Ao.

I liked the conclusion of it. Where the characters ended in the end. And how the story had a simple plan that worked.

Although the story has a lot of secondary characters that do not really matter, thus I won't go into detail about them.

SPOILERS:

Where we started and where we ended...

The Xiao family (excluding Lanyue since he succeeded in his scheme):

• Xie Jingfang, at first of course she hated Lanyue, but new Lanyue planted the seed of doubt into her and let it sprout with time. The first culmination came when the scene of revealing Xiao Anfeng's status rolled in. She realized with horror that she cared for someone's child while she poisoned her own. She cared for Lanyue and was very protective after the reveal, but in the end she realized he won't really forgive her. Lanyue couldn't actually forgive her since he wasn't her child, the OG died in that sea. She and the youngest left for his study, she decided to give Lanyue space and time in hopes that one day some things may change. Although the things she did were outrageous, she also has the image of a fierce mother. It doesn't mean she has a redeeming arc. It was kinda looking like one, but not entirely.
• Xiao Miao. The youngest son. Was too brainwashed and physically harmed OG Lanyue. With time after MC arrived he started to change his attitude, especially after knowing the truth. But his sins are still there, so he had to take responsibility for his actions, he and Xie JingFang are only two characters who are "spared". After all their fate is emotionally tormenting, but at least they were not retaliated against.
• Xiao Linqi. The eldest tried to cover for Anfeng, but during the reveal he got caught in the act and thus cam the dilemma of choosing between his birth mother and person he loves, the choice is always easy for him he chose Anfeng, always him. At first he wanted to use something similar to his father's tactic, isolate Anfeng from others, make him believe he's the only one he can have (it worked) and reveal that they're not biological. Later when Lanyue saved and made Anfeng disappear from the country he lost his mind, this is why he was easily caught in Lanyue's plan, to invite him to cruise, and make father and son confront each other, during which Linqi pushed his father overboard and was later arrested for it. Because he disappointed his mother so much, she stopped caring about him. The last thing he asked about was Anfeng.
• Xiao Jing Li, the biggest scumbags of all scumbags, the disgusting piece of shit, the dirt that crawled, no one can reach the same level as low as this guy. Father of the year. Who married to have a wife to shield him. Never cared for a single child of his. His thoughts were obsessively on Anfeng. When the truth about Anfeng was revealed he at first wanted to take him away, but got caught up in Linqi's scheme (his own son knew him well, he prepared a special person who learnt to be Anfeng's stand-in), while the lover and Anfeng lived just few apartments away the lover befriended Anfeng and his goal was to let Anfeng witness what his father is like during s**. Traumatising. Later Linqi took him away, told him the truth truth. That they're not biological. Eventually he made a move, so when the entire family appeared they were doing it. JingLi went berserk. Truth came out for the rest of the family. Afterwards Mr Xiao moved Anfeng and imprisoned him in a villa. Lanyue and Lu Ao saved him from it and let him move abroad. To let the two worst humans possible go against each other Lanyue devised a plan, He got back a person who was a stand-in in the OG story, Sun Xiao, he was an auction house worker, he hired him for few days, because he was with Lanyue he was noticed by Mr Xiao's men. When Sun Xiao revealed his face they believed it's Anfeng (they were so alike). The final grandfinale scene is on the cruise. Five board: Lanyue, Lu Ao, Sun Xiao, Mr Xiao and Xiao Linqi. After short while Sun Xiao is sent via boat back. Lanyue changes into Sun Xiao's clothes (he and Anfeng have similar build), he left Linqi waiting since he promised to take Anfeng to meet him. He came to his room, of course with no Anfeng. With few words Mr Xiao barged in. He was told "Anfeng" is here, he sees Anfeng's coat. He thinks Linqi made a move, the two get into fist fight, conflict escalates. To his question where is Anfeng Lanyue looks at the open balcony. The two move there and during the conflict Mr Xiao is pushed overboard. Mr Xiao was found by rescuers but he was already dead. Linqi was taken for his murder. Although Linqi planned to harm Lanyue as a witness, but Lu Ao appeared in time to prevent it. The plan against the two worked. Lanyue didn't even need to move a finger.
• Xiao Anfeng, the one tormented young master. Actually did a lot of underhanded things to OG Lanyue. But later was tormented by father and son. I don't mention his first involvement with a man (brother of Lu Ao's body) Lu Siye, because that part is not important. But when he was with Linqi he had a morbid idea that at least with him he can win against Lanyue. He always competed and felt like he lost. Knowing he has biological mother alive he left the country with her to never come back.

Relationship between Lu Ao and Lanyue takes a big chunk of this story, from their past to the present life.

Lu Ao's family is nothing to mention, we concentrate more on his life with Lanyue after he recognized that his lover is alive. But this guy is insane.

So Lu Ao woke up, in the story OG Lu Ao dies in fire, he doesn't. He sees Lanyue and thinks this person does not deserve the face of his beloved and tries to kill him, he is tranquillized and sent away to mental hospital.

Lanyue also thinks this is the true reaction of Lu Ao and that he hates him for never bringing last word of his supposed love (eunuch Qi Ying). This misconception existed for a long time.

But since two looked so much alike Lanyue had to make sure he is not the Emperor.

Lu Ao gets out of the hospital with time with two main goals: kill the fake, kill himself. He didn't want to live in this world. he found the real tomb of him and Lanyue. Here we find the truth that he erased teh history so that no information of his real tomb will be leaked. This is how extreme he is to protect their peace.

he followed Lanyue and wanted to kill him, but saw a scene of kidnapping and thought how great, he won't need to touch the fake. But imagine his anguish when he saw Lanyue not only saving himself from the situation but also checking his own pulse with all too familiar gesture.

Lu Ao was happy, but next second felt devastated. Wtf did he just do.

Later Lu Ao is said to have a broken arm, but we know Lu Ao has almost unreal physical strength, no one can hurt him.. except himself. He broke his own arm, he punishes himself.

Lu Ao as obsessive ML is on a different level. He was so afraid that Lanyue will dislike him, that he played the silly guy. And continued being jealous of himself. That some idiot had all the attention from Lanyue he didn't have. On the contrary Lanyue wanted someone simple who would never betray him.

The two slowly developed feelings for each other. Mainly Lu Ao was crazy and Lanyue finally was enlightened that he loved Lu Ao even in previous life.

The whole act continued till the very end. It actually made sense. With final misunderstanding resolved they continued to be happy.

This is the frame of it all. Many of the fill-gap characters I skipped them over. The full galore should be experienced by yourself.

I'll be honest I liked how Lanyue made the two father and son slowly go crazy and run around like headless flies. They thought they were smart. In the end Lanyue simply pitted them against each other and it felt simple and effective. When it happened I was almost cheering because these two deserved it.

I may say I know this author so I know what they were going for and what to expect I guess. I enjoyed my fun time.

RATE: 5/5.

[SHORT REVIEWS] #33

BOOKS

CHN

美丽怪物 by 蜀七 *JJ

(mtl: Beautiful monster)

Synopsis: Jun Ming became a monster. He feeds on malice, luck, desires, he incites those and feeds on them.

As a parasitic vine entered his body his fate also changed.

A lot of trigger warnings like: violence, school bullying (a lot of gross details) also attempted r*, emotional manipulation etc.

This is really drama, the type where author feeds you a bucket of glass from the first page. Maybe I'm this sentimental right now, but the very first chapter made me so depressed. I know that if you think about the situation then probably the MC could have acted differently, but the whole bullying process is truly so depressing.

Author has some simple but great way of describing things and my imagination ran wild along with it, not all stories are capable of making me had such vivid imagery.

But I also would like to note that author may have never intended to say these things and it's just my imagination, after all it's a supernatural story, yet at the same time when you read how MC feels the relief and how he feels better it made me think of how he previously mentioned that he liked to imagine himself in a totally different place while he was being bullied and it made me think "what if it's just his final fantasy". Considering the vine did enter his body you may start doubt which part of JunMing left.

The only really sad part is that the story is not finished. It's beautifully written, I was truly captivated by it, but unfortunately still has status of being published, yet the last update was in Jan. It's such a pity.

[BL] 假少爷他觉醒了[重生] by 甘洄*JJ

(mtl: The fake young master has awakened)

Synopsis: Story about Li An who returns back to the pivotal moment of his life and slowly lays down trap by trap for the family that screwed him over so much.  He wants to pay back for all the unwaranted suffering. It's very melodramatic but at the same time author really does a good job about emotional part. I've read this author's works previously and I have only positive things to say about stories I've read. Despite the fact that it's such a cliche setting and honestly tired troped of fake / true young masters, but I enjoy when it's done right. This reading experience was no exception. So if anyone likes the combo of things like revenge / rebirth stories, cunning protagonist, melodrama, they might enjoy this one too.

You can see the review here. I go into more details, since I finished the story while creating this short reviews post ahaha

[BL] 人！咪家死人了，你管不管 by 茶香茉莉 *JJ

(Report! Mimi Is Here to File a Case)

Synopsis: Lin Jiangyue returns back, but something goes wrong and he retains the ability to understand and communicate with animals. Because of the murder case next door his ability gets eventually exposed and he, as a special consultant, joins police on solving many cases.

I wish I could say positive things about it. Those who like shallow, flufy stories might like it. But to me it ended up a boring shallow story that followed the establised routine.

My main complaint was how shallow everything is. The characters themselves, including animals. Everyone is pretty one-dimensional person that lacks any depth. Animals could have played the role, but it's pretty basic and not so interesting. The knowledge on animals is also the wiki-level. The cases are following the same path, something happens, they find animal witnesses, thanks to leads collect evidence and voila~. And the routine repeats. The significance of animals in these cases is present, but at the same time it's not. Maybe because it is like a copy-paste scene after copy-paste dialogue.

And I feel it's a pity and a wasted potential.

Also NU should have included tw of animal a*use.

[BG] 闪婚而已[先孕后爱] by 朵慕 *JJ

(mtl: A whirlwind marriage)

Synopsis: Jiang Zhi did not expect that a wild drunk night will lead to a marriage to one of the most prominent bachelors of their city. 

Cloying meh.

I can honestly say that I didn't finish it, though the story is very short (excluding extras), it is sweet and easy, but also FMC is too infantilized. I usually don't care if someone can act coquettish, but here the MMC calls her a little girl or little kitten, she is of course 165cm tall, very standard, acts like a small animal sometimes, throws tantrums, which should have been described as the pregnancy symptoms, since the hormonal changes are wild, but by the time I dnf'd it I haven't seen the story present it that way. Even the struggle to make her more independent from Bo Shiyu (MMC) she is said to not want everyone at work to know she became the boss lady. Actually understandable, but honestly it is kind of silly not to use resources that are laid out to you. She says many times that they come from different social circles, yeah obviously, but then asks when she is going to become stronger? But girl, you can't compare to your husband's family no matter how you try if you measure by social status and achievements. I wish in these stories we could get a picture of a woman who slowly wants to get better, but doesn't emphasize the difference so much. Just to make the FMC feel better, since it's a fantasy of author's mind, of course her husband is the only one who always bends his head and bows first. Otherwise what would you expect. mutual respect? Dream on. 

Another point that really stuck to me is how she told him that if he finds anyone he likes they can get a divorce. Which doesn't look good to me. It just once again provides proof of how little people think of marriage. She just told the man he is going to be a father, he, with all his money and power, accepts it and asks her to get married, even if she thinks it's for the baby, but the next thing she says is about divorce. Girl thinks she did a good job. I think not.

Anyway, the plot of this story is too simplistic. The emotional part even more so 9god, protect me from all these stories where they say marriage first love later when MMCs basically have an eye for FMC from the very beginning but they don't explain why they feel that way). Story starts from the night itself when she is so drunk she doesn't recognize the way. Bo Shiyu meets her ad thinks she's one of "those", but since the dinner arrived on its' own two feet he is okay with it. Sounds bad, yeah it is. So they have this one-night stand, seeing the MMC physique Jiang Zhi thinks she did not lose. She treats it as an accident and takes it well, which was pretty impressive. But then time passes and her sudden interaction with Bo Shiyu grow, before she refuses his proposal of dating. Then in a while she realizes she's pregnant and Bo Shiyu takes responsibility. Here dynamic changes even more, since he is acting like a nagging nanny that always chases after a naughty child. But she doesn't help think of her better since she walks straight into obvious troubles. At least one time she was not aware she was pregnant. But the second time... honestly, it only takes a second to call the man and say - my friend is in danger, can you help me? In this case we can slowly progress the slowly growing feeling so she can feel his protection, but author decided for some reason to go for "hero saves the beauty" and coincidentally when FMC walks out right after she was brought home and went to a bad where her friend was held against her will, since she was scammed, for some reason MMC did not drive off immediately and of course he followed, somehow finding his way, then seeing her walk in and following of course, but imagine he did not appear. Honestly, it looked silly..

Also another problem is how "troubles" appear out of nowhere, or they are not troubles at all if you think about it. So Jiang Zhi is not some orphaned girl, picked up, she was lost long ago so the story follows "my mother adopted a girl and poured all her love into her before I returned" kind of script. She returned to Jiang family and no one welcomed her, since she grew up a wild girl. But honestly, you may not live with them, she is an adult, can move out etc. Even if the family wants to cause trouble, they're not powerful enough, you can cause them trouble too. Why in each and every story we don't hear anything about social media. She acted as if the sky was falling with this family. When they call why do you answer? I wanted to ask her time and time again. You just say - go fuck yourself. You're independent, live away from home and don't care about them. Don't bring blood relationship, it is just too cheap. The problem with her family is that they've failed in business and wanted to marry her off of course, as if it's a forced buy and sell, how about the police. Then the adpted girl said - what if the family will make you leave the city, since you will never find a job? Oh really? What a big threat from a family who are nothing themselves. 

Too much silly is too much.

US

If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle

I'm adding this book to TBR because it attracted me by the cover and premise. I love stuff like, I'm a basic bitch.

I decided not to add too many books this time around, with time I'm filtering with what still hangs and waits its' turn and which is not attractive to me anymore. Pretty easy thing to do when you organize your TBR digitally haha

The only good news since last time is that Beatrice Hyde-Clare series will get a new book released in December this year.

MOVIES

HOT FUZZ (2007)

What can I do. I really had never watched this movie before, even if I'm sure a ton of people saw it, at least that memable scene from it.

Very fun watch, I think they filmed it well, it has a good amount of crazy in it and this is why it is so entertaining. Made me want to read more about small-town mysteries.

Not much else to say except that it was really entertaining.

Gentlemen prefer blondes (1953)

Well, you have no idea how many times I started watching this movie and then was interrupted. But finally it happened.

And I have nothing much to say about the story, but I think it's worth watching for the female friendship.

Dorothy is such a great character, always snappy and sharp, honestly you can envy her wittiness. But she is also a fierce friend. So the two are the best combo who always have each other's back.

I'm pretty sure many have watched this movie not only because of Monroe, but because it has the most popular music number "Diamonds are the girl's best friend", which was referenced so many times in pop culture. Or if they never watched the movie they surely know the song and the part.

Anyway, it was a great watch. Gorgeous, gorgeous women.

UPDATE (30/07)

The Sheep Detectives (2026)

I didn't want to create a separate post, but I watched this today. I was here for Emma Thompson, I never even intended to watch this movie.

For me the movie about animals is not new. Who remembers Babe about a small piglet. Or there was one about two dogs and a cat I think finding their way home, just like 101 Dalmatians. Yeah, so many movies about spiritual animals (even more in animation), but not in proximity to humans, to the point of such interaction. 

Then comes a movie about sheep. They live with their shepherd George Hardy who loves to read his sheep murder mysteries, not knowing they understand him. And one morning George is found dead. There is a motive - his inheritance. And there are suspects. The movie doesn't really try to make the viewer suspect anyone except George's daughter, since the sheep themselves are so fixated on her.

The movie lays out a lot of basic truths that the sheep explore for themselves.

Surely the sheep are also the star of the show, otherwise who would solve the case if not them, you mean that foolish officer? Tbh it felt kinda off. He is actually not that stupid too, just never had the chance to do it I guess, he eventually picks up on clues and almost evolves by the end of the movie. At least he was the most prominent character. Funnily another character I still liked was played Emma Thompson, I really wanted to see her and I got what I came for. She is amazing.

And from the sheep flock I'd pick Sebastian, because he was so snarly and actually had a point.

For one time it's an okay watch, especially because it has almost cozy feeling to it.

I read the reviews with spoilers under the book and I must say it's insane how they reshaped the story, a lot of it was changed I suppose. And I'm not mad. The book also has a pretty low rating for goodreads

I try to update the previous posts if I finished or dnf'd something, but most of all, nothing major happened. I wait for stories that are upcoming (if we talk western books), I want to finish one book before switching to others. I mostly spent time with Chinese stories because the process got dragged and I switch to easy read / exploration. I actually talk about All Hail Chaos I was waiting for so long, but I admit I drag through it. The reason for is plot barely moving anywhere and there are too many flowery descriptions which are mostly unnecessary (a lot of stuff I could forget in the book one, but not really wanting to see it here, cringy stuff counted in). Good thing I enjoyed these stories I found meanwhile. I really want to read this book and I'm not saying it's bad (at least at this point haha), but it just manages to drag. This is the reason I don't want to switch to any other novel for now. This is such a crazy difference when I was reading the first book, which I finished in few days.

I added few things I want to watch when it comes to anime, I want to watch Planetes, which I think I tried to start but something felt off for me back then, but as I watched it now I felt nothing wrong, like why was I like that back then.

I re-watched Howl's moving castle for who knows which time after my Katsuhiro Otomu maraphon. This anime is legendary to me.

I struggled a bit more through Jujutsu Kaisen season three or Culling Game (it's beginning). And I can not stress enough that this anime lost the plot for me, where we started and where we are now is too much. Also too much of it is explanation and no plot that moves forwards. I couldn't care less and honestly got so bored. 

I also want to watch Texhnolyze, I think I atempted it once long ago, wrong time it was. Not saying you need to be an adult or something, just was not the right mood for it. And then it was forgotten for so long.

Which leads me to the idea of including Last Exile in this list. I already have all three waiting for me.

[Chinese BL novel] 假少爷他觉醒了[重生] by 甘洄 / The fake young master is awakened

Very cliche title, very cliche situation of fake / true young masters swapped at birth, but still I can eat it and do it with relish.

This author wrote several stories before and I read some of them and the experience shows that they take good care of their stories and put a lot of thought into storyline and especially emotional part.

Li An had a tragic life experience, his family he lived with turned against him when they found out he was not their biological child, but they also did not let him go before squeezing the last bit of worth he had, even the things he created and accumulated by himself had to be given away because the "true master suffered", but did he really suffer? The parents and family were collectively blind to the viciousness of the true young master or they shared the same black blood of scheming and deceiving as he had, thus they never cared. Eventually true young master got what he fought for and the entire family stood with their backs straights while the bones of Li An were cracking and crumbling under their feet. The victim to their cruelty.

Li An died in winter.

Li An returned in autumn. before him was the face of his fiance who tried to talk him into signing equity tranfer. Li An looked at this face that disgusted him and thought to himself - I need to wait, I can wait, because I need to pay you back. All of you.

I must say that I finished it really fast and I liked it.

Almost all the stories about the true/fake young master trope seemed to have explored this topic through and through and wrote so many stories that some parts feel like they're routine of these plots. But despite some of the predictable parts I can read it with relish if it's written well.

Plot is the classic revenge story. With Li An returning he plans for his family's demise, while planting a lot of traps step by step and does it behind the scenes, while his family does not even suspect him until the very end.

Along the way he finds a man who gave him love and pulled him out of the dark world and allowed him to feel happiness again. Guan Lan became everything to him.

The Plot.

It follows a step by step plan of Li An who uses the knowledge of his family's business and future to lay out several traps before fully closing the net. Not to mention he managed to do it like a roller-coatser when his family slowly rose from the ashes and almost thought they'd make it through after the first big crisis they faced before plunging into a greater darkness.

Why Li An did it?

Spoilers~ It become apparent from early on when Li An thinks about the death of his parents and the way Li Jiaqi (true young master) always described himself as a victim that something is not right.

In his first life he was a soft persimmon who truly loved his family and didn't want to hurt them, he also always believed that all those years meant something, he had no idea the malice in the souls of his adoptive parents may be so deep.

After his death he thought a lot about the details and now he had a chance to face the truth. The death of his parents is in direct correlation to Li Jiaqi, who lied about Li An's parents being abusive, he cause the car accident which led to Li An's parents death and escaped from the scene later, enrolled himself into the orphanage and later found the second family who adopted him, of course the cycle of being ungrateful repeated itself.

But Li An found out the truth. And remembered what the adoptive parents did to him in his past life and what Li Jiaqi did to his grandpa after he died. Li An was drugged and died in the snow, but because prior Li Jiaqi used his newly-found influence online to create a narrative Li An's reputation from bad became even worse. Li family playd a victim saying Li An chose the wrong patha nd it's all his doing, thus he died and they became they biggest beneficiary of this situation.

So the hatred he felt towards the Li family was hard to describe, he wanted Li Jiaqi dead.

This is why he used the projects and scandals at first to rob his family of business. When Li Jiaqi who failed to participate in audition that made him rise to fame in previous life managed to join another crew, Li An created a narrative for him and tied him closely to the Li family. The illusion really worked and Li Jiaqi really believed he became someone, only to face the scandal of his family using internet celebrities signed under their company for gains.

Of course it led to the first scandal and it also made Li Jiaqi face it with his family, so his first role was ruined. 

Some time later when the family thought they're going to make it through and Li Jiaqi finally got another role after spending his entire fortune to make connections, they faced the second and bigger scandal that left the entire family in ruins, it's the final scandal before the face-off.

In revenge stories I do prefer morally gray characters who plan behind-the-scenes and usually stay in the shadows till the grand finale, it's better to never showed that it was you who did it.

But this time around it was impossible but this time Li An was so ready to rip off Li family's face in front of the public and let them feel what he felt when he was cyber-bullied, not to mention all the curel things they said about his parents saying it's good they died, since they believed they bullied their son.

As for Emotional Side.

I really liked how it was done, to me it was the best part.

Not really the romance, but the portrayal and journey of each character.

Li An let go of the past, he did not let go of revenge, but more his state of mind changed. With his grandfather he realized what it's like to have a family, with Guan Lan he felt what a true love is.

He never white-washed himself as a complete victim of circumstances, he knew he was blameless, since he was also switched at birth, but it was his upbringing and his good heart that allowed others to trample on it. He knew his own blame in all of this.

But honestly a lot of what he said how he went through these things made me sentimental and teary-eyed. 

The significance of some things was delievered through simple things and they were working for me. Like the simple description of Li An holding the hands of his grandfather and describing how hard his time was, losing both daughter and son-in-law, spending years looking for the lost child. Although a lot of it is descriptive and rather bluntly explained, like others around the old man would be mentioned to say - what a hard fate, but I don't know I truly felt for the situaion through those simple descriptions like withered hands.

Guan Lan is not described in detail but actually has the classic sad CEO past, honestly I may be joking but the way it is described.. maybe I was so sentimental but it really got to me when his past was explained in more detail, even if we knew most of it.

To him Li An also became the source of new faith, he made him feel alive, his heart was beating once again, he also thought that he will never find peace in this life, will be like a working robot that just did what needed to be done to get to his final goal and just continue existing.

As for the Li family, I must say I liked Li Jiaqi's portrayal. He is a complete selfish and disgusting bastard, what author managed to do is to fully convey how psychotic that person is. The way he planned, the way he thought he schemed well against Li An, they way this envy and jealousy consumed him and led him to his final doom. His is the epitome of ungrateful wretch, but he always played a victim and thought it's going to be like that for the rest of his life.

Because of who he is and we know he is comletely selfish even towards his own biological parents we share not an ounce of pity for him. This is why I think author managed to make the actions and consequences pretty balanced.

Li parents were more of a different story, but the result of those hardships made you realize that no matter what they're not far from Li Jiaqi. Xiao Qiurong, adoptive mother of Li An, she started to regret how things turned out. She may be the best mom, but also ignores that other kids had parents too or they're human beings too. This is why there is little pity to have for her plight. Li Tianen, the adoptive father, is more of a background character, but actually the root of the switched babies accident, because it's his then lover did the deed.

Li Ping had a very different path fom last life. In last life he stood strongly on the side of his parents and younger brother, but this time with disillusionment when it came to his parents he did not want to take part in what his parents did, but he was also powerless, since he could not really go against them till the very end. He blamed himself for cowardice and lack of strength. But when everything was over he was the one who took off and disappeared to have a new life, unlike mother and son who were left behind still being consumed by hatred.

I like it when stories have characters leading a completely different path from the past, it shows that people may have different fates. Although Li Ping was not the main target of Li An, he was till included and of course was burnt by the second scandal.

Overall it was a decently-built story. Surely it was predictable, but it didn't matter to me. I thought the whole path the characters took was interesting to follow and author really knows what she does even with such worn out tropes.

Great journey, good story for people who like a good emotional story, with favorite tropes, with a drop of melodrama.

RATE: 5/5. I was quite satisfied with my reading experience.