Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

8 reviews

ssyx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, and Self harm

there’s a scene that is cusping on the edge of dubcon

rainsought's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Self harm, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Rape

atlanticgiantpumpkin's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow, I’m taken aback for words.  This series has given me everything I could ask for: transformations, reveals, a hero’s villain origin story, villains just for the sake of evil, slow burn romance, a good mixture of smut and fluff, great plot and story and characters, it’s all there. It does get a bit confusing if you’re not familiar with how naming goes in this book, but once you catch on it gets easier.  This was such a great read.  Thank you, Alicia, for holding me hostage and keeping me from watching its show equivalent until I finished this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, War, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Sexual content, Cursing, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Child death, Outing, Sexism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

It’s pretty dark, not gonna lie, but it’s worth it.

blingping's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely gorgeous book. I haven't cried in months, and this had me in tears several times. Not only is the story incredible, the translation is also done so well (much better than the official translation, that's for sure). Overall, this just has so much heart and soul in it, and it genuinely restored my faith in humanity. Go read it (only after checking the content warnings, tho, it can be very intense).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Lots of subtle homophobia and misogyny. There's some dubious consent towards the very end, and the extras have some pretty risque nsfw scenes.

teagstime's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Incest, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Child death

karambit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and War

Minor: Bullying, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, and Trafficking

spiritedfaraway's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Self harm, and Ableism

Minor: Incest, Rape, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, and Child death

Sexually explicit scenes are in chapters chapter 95, chapter 111, and chapter 112 and those chapters can be easily skipped if you'd rather not read them. Also, work/death camp-like setting, very dubious consent, and corporal punishment.

purrfectly's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Obviously this is a translated work. Atm the only completed translation I know of is exiled rebels, which is a decent and understandable translation and I think conveys the details of the world and plot without error while still being an easy read.  The translation I think does assume a certain familiarity with translated danmei and xianxia that the popularity of mdzs/cql has made this a less certain assumption. I would recommend the in progress translations of mdzstranslation.wordpress.com (more idiomatic and slightly more cultural referece)  and tamingwangxian.wordpress.com (focused on retaining the original intent). For people more interested in the romance I would recommend reading mdzstranslation -> exiled rebels, for people interested in engaging with the cultural elements I would recommend reading all three. Regardless I recommend taming wangxian's meta if you plan to engage with the text at all beyond the romance.

Other reviews I think speak to the well done world building, characterization, and central romance. Any translation you read will have will convey these elements and all of them are worthwhile. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Homophobia, Incest, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicide

MXTX tends to have heavy themes in her books but her POV characters never dwell on them. Nothing is sat with for a super long time or dwelled on imo.