ssyx's review against another edition
- 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
xie lian is my favorite main character ever. period. in anything i’ve watched or read i can say with confidence xie lian is my favorite. he’s smart, funny, competent, and compassionate. he understands the ugliness of the world and how evil and cruel it can be
Spoiler
sigh book 4 sighhua cheng is a cool mf. everything about him is cool af. i would say i’m xie lians #1 fan but i couldn’t take hua cheng in a fight. i love him. he literally invented love. he’s one of the coolest characters i’ve ever read about (which to be fair he had 800 years where he solely practiced not being a loser to he could rizz up xie lian) he’s smart, he’s funny, it’s powerful af, and he’s be through everything with xie lian and will continue to go through everything with xie lian.
there are so many thematic and character parallels in tgcf and it’s so cool to go through the book and notice all of them
Spoiler
most prominent one to me is hua cheng’s obsession with xie lian compared to jun wu(fuck u jun wu i hope ur suffering)something about tgcf that is different from other books i’ve read is i actually give a shit about the side characters storylines. i loved reading about the backstories of all of the gods and the ghosts.
Spoiler
beefleaf you will always be iconic and they can have a happy ending ur delusional enoughi’ve written so much and i haven’t even gotten to how good the plot is yet. but i’ll spare the details because to no one’s surprise i loved it as well. it’s 750k words and it still felt too short because i loved it so much. also some also bangers quotes.
Spoiler
edgar allan poe has been real quiet since “what matters is ‘you’ not the state of you” droppedanyways i love tgcf and i want all of the books tattooed into my brain.
tldr: god is gay and is married to the devil
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Self harm, Violence, War, and Grief
Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Gore, and Death of parent
xie lian has no regards for his safety love him for that but it can be a little scary lol (˃̵ᴗ˂̵)some_random_person_hi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I adore the way the themes of fate and love as well as the sheer number of character foils and ship(?) foils this book is so analysable as a lit student I am in love with it. But unlike other books that read like it's written for analysis (cough to kill a mockingbird, babel cough) and thus vaguely boring, this one is so fast paced. I read a couple of paragraphs and something new has already happened -> I finally managed to voluntarily finish a full length chinese book that isn't explicitly written for kids
Mm I'm never going to forget this book it singlehandedly dragged my chinese grades up, made me stop hating my mother tongue, hard carried my will to live for a semester all because I finally found a fast-paced fantasy book that I could understand.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Abortion, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Xenophobia, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Abandonment, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Murder, Bullying, Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Ableism, Genocide, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Stalking, Excrement, Racism, and Misogyny
Minor: Rape and Animal death
eatingbrains's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I do think the official translations streamlined and polished everything based on what I did read.
What can I even say about the story? It's about love and hate. It's about destiny. It's about willpower. It's about life and death. It's about sacrifice.
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Genocide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Classism, Cursing, Murder, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Child death, Body horror, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Medical content
illiteratenerd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Murder, Child abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
bluebari's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Stalking, Torture, Xenophobia, Cursing, Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual content, and Classism
Minor: Kidnapping, Rape, Trafficking, Alcohol, Body shaming, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Homophobia, and Medical content
sparrow_hawk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Cannibalism, Suicide, Bullying, Child death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Violence, Death of parent, War, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Torture, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Sexism
sonshine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Torture, and Child abuse
Moderate: Cannibalism, Cursing, and War
Minor: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, and Miscarriage
phenomenarwhal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and War
Moderate: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Stalking, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Abortion, Kidnapping, Sexism, and Transphobia
weiwuxiann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Cursing, Addiction, Abandonment, and Torture
Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Vomit, Suicide, Stalking, Self harm, Misogyny, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, and Dysphoria
Minor: Chronic illness
dreamereternal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Torture
Minor: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse