ssyx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
very funny all the way through and you can tell it doesn’t take itself too seriously which is refreshing to read. shen qingqiu’s commentary is hilarious.
i really liked shen qingqiu (shen yuan) he’s super funny and cool. his bickering with the system was great.
shen yuan: i read proud immortal demon way for the plot
the plot: luo binghe
okay let’s get into luo binghe. i still don’t really get him idk. i like him i think he’s cool and all but he just didn’t click w me.
something that surprised me about this is i didn’t care for the side characters much (other than shang qinghua and mobei-jun but i’ll get to them later) in mdzs and tgcf i cared a lot about the side characters but not really in this.
before i read this i had heard people talking about shen jiu and how they understood him but i was always like nah i’ll never feel bad for him but damn backstory got hands i would be a bitch to everyone too if i had his upbringing.
okay now to the best part of the novel.
shang qinghua and mobei-jun. idk something about them just did it for me kind of moreso than bingqiu. i wish there were more.
i think with bingqiu i’m a little biased because one: i’ve never been a fan of teacher x student even if they’re both of age and two: i’m not a fan of miscommunication which is like the entire plot lmao.
oh also i wanna talk about the sex scene
Spoiler
okay so i saw a lot of people say it was noncon and luo binghe raped shen qingqiu but i don’t see it that was really. yeah it was uncomfortable as fuck but shen qingqiu was willing and he even said that he was willing after the fact. also luo binghe was the one not in a good place of mind that was the reason shen qingqiu had sex w him lmao. i 100% do not think luo binghe would treat shen qingqiu like that without regard for his well-being if he wasn’t under the influence of xin mo. you could argue for dubcon but i really don’t think it was. very uncomfortable read i think they win the award for most unsexy sex scenei think the ending (excluding the extras) was a little abrupt but i understand why it’s like that it’s just when i got to it i was like damn.
i said a lot in this review and but absolutely don’t get me wrong this was a very fun read and had me laughing out loud quite a lot it’s just my least favorite of the big three mxtx. okay i’m done writing now if i say anymore i’m gonna end up like shen yuan.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Bullying
rainsought's review
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Gore
Minor: Death of parent
daisy923's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I told myself i wouldnt read it bc i hate teacher/student relationships but I did end up caving and like read it so I’d at least have some idea what ppl were talking about bc I do like a lot of the fanart of it I see. Basically it was so incredibly mid that I couldn’t tell you like anyones names off the top of my head except the main ones, or like 60% of what happened and I just never had the motivation to write a review about it, but I do now ig and I love complaining/reviewing things so yeah.
Like tbh 80% of it was kind of boring or made me uncomfortable so really I did just skim a lot of it but I did have fun with the other 20% lol ig.. but to start with the bad.. like as i said I hate teacher student relationships so for really a lot of the bingqiu scenes I was skimming and pretending that all it was was just platonic. Like I do like sqq I think he’s funny and I know he’s too dense to figure out that he’s not straight but reading him call lbh (his 14 year old student!!!) a little sheep all the time and babying him and then knowing how it goes just! Makes me uncomfy! Like not everything has to be a romance and it would be much more interesting and not weird to me if this wasn’t a romance between them, even if they only get together when they’re both adults. And don’t even get me started on lbh. Like again. I like him. But he is just a walking red flag like I don’t think there’s anything wrong with writing characters who aren’t like. Healthy perfect people obviously but just idk I don’t like, think it’s cute or funny or whatever to have a character be like you’re mine and no one else’s and that possessiveness is just treated as a joke and something for sqq to just have to accept in the end. just kinda wish that were addressed. And a lot of the scenes that didn’t make me uncomfortable I was just so incredibly bored. If you asked me what happened in any given arc I could honestly not really tell you 80% of the time.
Now let’s get into the ✨misogyny ✨ like I know that’s a given with this genre and author but it’s still annoying. Like I was prepared to really like the little demon girl and the girl with the veil and the other girls but they were just like. There ig. Like HONESTLY….. the best female character imo was lbhs mom and she wasn’t even PRESENT in the actual story. But anyway. One thing that annoyed me is, that they only have one (1) female sect leader, and one (1) female head disciple in the 12 peaks, but they don’t even have the dignity of competing against men to gain these positions, mxtx does the cowardly thing and just makes them heads of an all female sect. All the other sects, which are presumably coed (tho iirc nyy is the ONLY female disciple of sqqs sect and I don’t remember there ever being any female disciples of Jiang cheng 1.0’s sect) are all led by men and their best disciples are boys. It’s so incredibly lazy and annoying. And this female sect isn’t even ranked highly on the peaks either. Like what’s the ranking criteria and why are they ranked so low? Huh? Mxtx? Like I get this is a satire of a really bad stallion novel but seriously? Mxtx? You couldn’t even include one female character in a position of power without also being a servant/subordinate/lower ranked to some dudes? even in sqq's fix-it version? Bc the whole point of the book is to fix pidw but neither mxtx or sqq as an extension of her seemed interested in fixing the rampant misogyny. Anyway and bc like that demon girl was
Spoiler
leader of that demon invasion or whatever but the impression I got was that she was impulsive and stupid to do that anyway and she’s just a subordinate to like lbh and mbjSpoiler
up until her fridgingSpoiler
went into so much detail during that little tournament thing they had during the demon invasion of the male fights and then they made the two girls fight against eachother (because god forbid a girl fight against a guy and win) and all that was said about it was like.. it wasn’t interesting at all so moving on. sqq your interest in the ladies is OUTSTANDING.Also the constant feminizing of sqq. Like again. I know that’s a given with this genre but it’s still so annoying.
Now the WORST offender. That™️ sex (read: rape) scene. No. Bye. Completely skipped as soon as I realized what was going on. Spiritually barfing the entire time.
Spoiler
While I do think Getting Possessed By Evil Sword And Slowly Being Corrupted And Goingb Crazy is extremely fun to read YOU DID NOT HAVE TO MAKE IT SEXUAL.And to the things I liked. in no particular order:
1) lbhs family and backstory: I rly liked the story of his parents. not sure if some of this counts as spoilers but ill just put it all under spoilies just in case.
Spoiler
Tho the dad is. A really bad dad if you can consider him a dad at all, but he’s interesting due to his relationship with lbhs mom and his love of humans in the past, (and also how he cares for snek guy hehe) which turned into bitterness when lbhs mom seemingly betrayed him, but then it was revealed that she really did love him and sacrificed herself to save lbh. Like I’m not a fan of the dead mom trope in general but I did really like her and idk this particular story just clicked with me more than others ig idk why. I liked it. And also since the dad demon was so absent from lbhs life up until then to me he just seemed like another antagonist instead of another Abusive Dad™️ Character, who I generally always hate lol. Kinda like how I see darth Vader you know? He wasn’t a good dad but I wouldn’t really consider him a dad at all tbh? Anyway yeah I liked those two they were cool.2) mobei jun and shang qinghua. Okay I went into this liking moshing from all the fanart and the idea of god marrying the dude he created in the image of the perfect guy while being a weird little hamster of a man himself is super funny, also the demon tits. anyway idk where I was going with that, but! I was rather disappointed that they were barely in the book.
Spoiler
I was ALSO disappointed but not surprised to read that mbj was actually physically abusive towards sqh. Though, and I’m gonna be honest because I might not have read this super in depth and I might be misremembering things, but! There’s a but. The impression I got? Was that that’s just how demons treated subordinates? So it wasn’t really something personal at the time? It’s shitty of course but it didn’t have the same connotations to me as two people in a relationship would have and one was physically abusive then. And after sqh finally said enough and walked away, it seemed to me that mbj realized he fucked up and tried to be better? And I feel like all this happened before there was any feelings exchanged on mbjs end. which was pretty? pleasantly surprising? so still kinda have a bias towards them. also because hulking powerful intimidating demon man marrying a weird little guy™️ who also happens to be God is SOOOOO funny to me3)
Spoiler
punishment protocol - that was fucked up bro. Next4) system and sqq - hilarious. Next.
5)
Spoiler
repairing relationships that were originally sucky in the pidw thing. Idk it makes me feel good. Like sqq stumbling across Jiang cheng 1.0 in qi deviation and accidentally saving him and now Jiang cheng 1.0 is like. I Will Now Die For You. Idk I like stories of loyalty and where people are able to get along.6)
Spoiler
going deeper into the pidw characters and how the sqq just totally ended up fixing what was wrong with the pidw book and with his fix-it, it ended up being something that sqh could be proud of and what he originally wanted to write but didn’t because of the pressures of the audience. I thought that part of the ending was very satisfying and meta and wrapped up nicely7)
Spoiler
the chase/fight in that tomb and the coffin thing. The suspense of that part was fun8) snek!! He was cute
9) and of course.. airplane bro and cucumber bro. I love them. Everything about them. They’re such clowns.
Anyway 4/10 at best probably bye
Graphic: Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
illiteratenerd's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Bullying, and Child abuse
heyphaora's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Blood, Abortion, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, and Bullying
teagstime's review
- 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? Yes
4.75
Shen Yuan/Qingqiu is a brilliant unreliable narrator. Pretty much everything he thinks is undermined by his actions (e.g. insisting he thinks of everyone as simply characters in a novel, yet grows to care for them and constantly puts himself in danger for the sake of others)(albeit he still does have many problems recognizing their agency as living people, but that’s another story lmaoo). Any time this man denies having an emotion, which is often, he’s probably having TOO MANY— but we would be none the wiser! Because he’s so good at disassociating from his own body and feelings, he Also thinks he’s telling the truth! It’s concerning! I wanna k word this man so bad (affectionate)
Spoiler
His whole personality is another bag of worms altogether. The casual and blatant disregard for his own life? The way he locks up every emotion and vulnerability from everyone else SO HARD he even locks them away from himself? SQQ I'm gonna force you into a therapy session I swear to godLuo Binghe is also just. So good. This is a man who truly has All The Trauma… The ‘hurt/no comfort’ tag embodied. I feel like he gets misunderstood by a lot of people, which is incredibly upsetting to me, because he is so interesting and tragic and great??
Spoiler
Yes, he gets a little unhinged post-abyss, but wouldn’t you? If the first person to ever show you kindness & love suddenly condemns you as the worst kind of evil and throws you into a literal hellscape after stabbing you in the chest??? Sorry to Shen Qingqiu but I would also go a little crazy wondering why!I think this novel also has a really neat relationship w its tropes, because mxtx wrote SVSSS as a commentary on harem/stallion novels and many of the plot devices they- and other things in the romance genre- tend to use, as well as things like transmigration stories, internet trolls/redditor-type dudebros, and male power fantasies in general! There are so many takes and subversions in this book that I just ! Care about so much !! And find so interesting to think about !! For example, with Luo Binghe’s power as the protagonist: unlike your typical male action hero / Shonen protag, he gets severely punished for powering up.
Spoiler
Yeah, sure, he gets a cool demon sword that can cut open dimensional rifts. At the cost of the security in his most important relationship, with his special person. You’re now gonna feel insecure of your place forever and constantly fear being abandoned. On top of that, he has to deal with mental instability and bouts of becoming mind-controlled by said demonic sword— Like Xin Mo is literally poisoning his mind !! It will make you the strongest, but you will lose your sanity, leading to a horrible, slow death— and you’ll get to unknowingly hurt/kill the people you care about on your way out!! Because your sense of autonomy and comfort in your own skin is now forfeit! SURPRISE !! :)Another aspect I really love (which I’ve seen some hate/uncertainty toward) is Bingqiu’s relationship itself— I guess I can understand if there’s tropes that aren’t your thing, or if there’s dynamics in their relationship you find toxic or unhealthy. However ! Concerning the toxicity/unhealthy parts of their relationship… a lot of it stems from mxtx’s commentary on harem tropes and male power fantasies? Those stories are damaging and gratuitous and horrifying, especially for the love interests, who are often just there to be put in traumatizing situations and papapa’d better… And the all-powerful male protag is often just.. overbearing and entitled and arrogant and creepy. No relationship’s gonna come out of that kind of environment unscathed!
Imo the tragic & horrible parts of their relationship just make the ending so much better?
Spoiler
Despite all the ways Bingqiu miscommunicate & hurt each other over the course of the novel, they really do love each other. Just because things aren’t resolutely tied up with a bow at the end doesn’t mean they don’t! It just makes it more real and heartwarming to me. These are people who have misunderstood one another constantly, who have made mistakes and hurt the one they love… and they have to live with it. No do-overs. And they make the conscious decision to be together despite it all! I think it ends with a really heartwarming feeling, like!! They have a lot of work to do to be able to move forward after all this trauma and heartache, but they’re going to try and make it work! Because they are in love! And they want each other to be happy! It’s so sweet!! Even though Bingqiu are quite literally soulmates, relationships are never going to be easy— esp one with as much baggage as this— and the novel ends with them still having all these issues, but ! They’re going to try to face them ! And learn from their mistakes, together!!! That’s LOVE baby!!!Anyway! Christ,, , I did not mean to make this a novel on its own OTL I could and would keep talking, but… I will cut myself off lmaooo
TLDR; I care this book a lot
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death, Rape, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Body horror, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Cursing, Bullying, Chronic illness, and Confinement
Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism
My advice: do NOT read this book without looking at the trigger warnings. There is graphic, disturbing content and it's rated for adults for a reason (the suggested reading age from some stores is literally 22+) !!!!rensreading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
as for the actual story, it was enjoyable up to a certain point. i mean it was literally a self-insert fic come to life in a novel with the protag going through quite a lot before deciding what he’ll stand by. and that is luo binghe, ladies and gentlethems.
i loved that plot holes were filled and that sqq was such an otaku and the final chapter was sweet but the climax before it was strange enough to kind of sour everything else for me.
fuck the system though lmao
this gets 3.5 stars from me (:
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cursing, Confinement, Blood, War, Suicide, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Child abuse, Bullying, and Body horror
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Homophobia
There is only one sex scene and it is at the climax of the novel and is extremely graphic. It includes dubious consent, body horror, (unknowing) sexual violence, a lot of blood, and what some people (including me) may consider gore.moonmagister's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I personally really enjoyed this novel, despite flaws in plot and translation. I’m looking forward to continuing the official translation in the following months!
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
yushihuang's review
- 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
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death, and Sexual content
liuolah's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse