Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Little Mushroom: Judgment Day

This is one of my favorite danmei novels so far. For a book about a little tiny mushroom becoming human and going on an adventure to find his lost spore, this book really kicks you in the heart right out of the gate. Don’t be fooled, this is a dark dystopian novel about what it means to be human and what it means to be a monster. The setting is dystopian Earth, specifically North America where global warming, the loss of the electromagnetic field, and mass radiation have caused dangerous and terrifying mutations. Humanity is pushed to the brink of collapse with only their technology and the indiscriminate killing of anyone thought to be mutated keeping them from going completely extinct. This is the world An Zhe, our main character, is born into. That being said, An Zhe is 10/10 the best little baby mushroom man. If you read this for any reason, read this for him. I would absolutely give up all of humanity for this mushroom man. Such a little guy.

Content Warnings

ysvngah's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

IT WAS SO GOOD 😭 - Made me literally question reality

Content Warnings

halfcactus's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

Post-apocalyptic novel where gene contamination has caused inter-species mutation all over the world. And the more that humans try to keep their biological humanity intact and survive as a species, the less human they become.

I didn't expect this book to be as bleak as it was but in retrospect it's pretty thematic. It pursues the question of "how far are humans willing to go?" wholly and unflinchingly, and it allows you to inhabit an interesting emotional space as the events unfold before the eyes of a mushroom who has absorbed human genes but doesn't experience emotions or attachment the way that humans (and by extension, the novel readers) do. There is some comedy and humor in between all the horror, so it's not horrifying the whole way but it was still terrible, lol.

I really loved the first chapter: it draws you in atmospherically and emotionally, with the right amount of mystery to make you keep reading, as the information that's filtered through An Zhe's PoV comes to you piece by piece. The visual aspects of the story are beautifully, vividly rendered, but the worldbuilding is pretty shaky so it was hard for me to predict which details would be plot-relevant or not because there were some aspects that seemed like they could be a cause for concern.

I did get a better handle on the storytelling style and its themes in the second half (Roses), which had a longer series of intertwined mysteries and plot points.

I really enjoyed the writing when An Zhe was simply being a mushroom thinking mushroomy thoughts that had nothing at all to do with humans. The action-horror chapters are very well done too (those were the ones I couldn't stop reading).

Vol2 ends at a really good place where it's not a sudden cliffhanger but still leaves you with all the unanswered questions that An Zhe wasn't invested in finding out.

English translation had good parts, and is generally readable, but felt pretty rough and severely underedited, especially towards the end (or maybe I just got tired idk).

CONTENT WARNINGS: body horror, gore, giant bugs and worms (horrifying), attempted rape, racism/weird depiction of racism at the beginning (not in the English translation)

Content Warnings

mynameisluka's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

legit the best danmei i’ve ever read, also one of my new favourite dystopias

Content Warnings

smg's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

aardwyrm's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Soft worldbuilding has its pitfalls, and it's frequently hard to keep track of things like themes and stakes, which make following the story a little challenging. It's all vibes, but those vibes are pretty neat, with a semi-supernatural nature's revenge apocalypse that evokes nothing so much as Nausicaa, and strange, prickly, very fallible characters. Just. Don't think too hard. If anything, a nice change from all the mushroom horror that seems to be the style of these times. A pleasant mushroom who's a pretty good little guy is refreshing.

Content Warnings

More...