A review by par4phrasing
镇魂 by priest, priest

4.5

"As long as he still wants me, I will never let him down, whether in life or in death."

I can definitely see why some people wouldn’t enjoy this book, but as a person who has always been interested in different types of mythology this was a really interesting read for me. I enjoyed how you weren’t instantly thrown into the really heavy aspects of it and it gradually was introduced to you through the eyes of the characters! Although some parts of the mythology did confuse me a bit at times, because there were a lot of lies and half-truths being spun around these aspects of the plot, I still enjoyed it and the full explanation later mostly resolved that for me!

One thing I love about past-life storylines is this subtle familiarity the characters feel with each other, places, objects and the actions that connect them to the person they were before being reincarnated. It’s all of these obscure hints to them having a history that keep me hooked, desperate to find out how they are connected and what they did in their past lives to end up where they are now. The way Zhao Yunlan knew from the beginning on that he and Shen Wei had a special connection and seeing him slowly figure out how his position as the Guardian came to be and who he was in his past life was so interesting to watch. He never lost his charm throughout the process either and always kept his little quirks that made him who he is, I really enjoyed that!

Also I just loved how Shen Wei, at the beginning, was practically portrayed to be a character who cannot lie to save his life, but then he lied and broke his promises to Zhao Yunlan multiple times to save him. Not only did that add to the surprise factor of finding out how deeply involved he actually was in the schemes going on, but also it showed how much Zhao Yunlan trusted him, and still trusts him, even after everything he did. His character as a whole is so deeply based around restraining his desires, hiding his true self, and feeling like he doesn’t deserve to be with the one he loves and the only way he thought he could deserve to be with him was either watching him from afar or lying and sacrificing himself for the greater good. His character arc of slowly letting himself indulge more, because he knew his life was coming to an end, and then begging Zhao Yunlan to die with him, only to end up dying on his own anyway broke me. 

And I don’t think I have ever felt this satisfied with the way the ending of a novel was handled. I genuinely thought that at the end the Great Seal was going to be restored once again and everything would somehow hold back to normal in one way or another, but no, Priest pleasantly surprised me by resolving issues I didn’t think would or could get resolved at all!! Seriously, the ending was better than anything I could’ve hoped for, Shen Wei sacrificing himself and gaining a soul at the end, so his issues with feeling like he doesn’t deserve Zhao Yunlan get resolved?? The goal all of the chaos era gods, especially Shennong, wanted to achieve finally being completed and therefore resolving the corruption in the underworld and the ghost tribe?? I didn’t think I would enjoy the ending as much as I did, but Priest far exceeded my expectations with this!!