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A review by teastime
残疾暴君的掌心鱼宠 (The Disabled Tyrant's Pet Palm Fish) by 雪山肥狐
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I would like to clarify that I did start reading this because so many people on Twitter were loosing their minds at the fact that this is starting to get traditionally published by Seven Seas. The amount of "He does WHAT to a fish??" and "so you're telling me the fish gets pregnant not once, but TWICE???" on my timeline was kind of obscene. So, obviously, I had to read it. The first "book" was already out at that point but I knew that the web version would not at all be hard to find and download to my kindle. And I was right. I ended up reading the first "book" before switching over to the fan translated version because I didn't want to wait several months, possibly a year, for all the other books in the series to come out and whether or not I'll read the official translations when they get published is up in the air.
That being said! I did enjoy my time reading it and would probably have finished it up much faster (spending three months on a book no matter the page count is unheard of for me) if I didn't get hit with a slump right in the middle. Because despite all the screaming about it on Twitter it was actually quite tame. Any "spicy" scenes were fade to black and the relationship was actually quite tame and cute. If you consider tame to be the fact that one of them is a fish for a decent part of the story. For it being such a long story there are different villains throughout that cause at least a decent chunk of trouble. Though to the length in some sections it did seem to drag on a bit. But the beginning was wonderful, I liked it a lot, and the promise of drama and weird stuff kept me going. Though the weird stuff was minimal.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I do think that my favorite end for a villain was one of the first ones that is encountered in the book, the idea that you can drive a man literally mad for being a human-like fish is very amusing, and to be fair since he tried to eat our main character multiple times it's probably deserved. However I would say my least favorite is definitely what happens to the 6th prince, not because he didn't deserve it but more so because it felt lacking and simple for what he did throughout the rest of the novel. Death felt like to simple of a punishment. Along with the fact that it caused another female character to be gently pushed to the side. Most female characters featured in this book don't have a proper name or, if they do, are a villain or an asset to a villain. Except for the main character's eventual daughter who's name gets mental once before given a nickname like all the other children, the main wet nurse, or a singular side character that is important for a singular scene in the beginning of the book. Not to say it does a disservice to woman, as in the end it seems as though the author did try to make up for the fact, add a bit of feminize to make up for it. I jest lightly of course, it's definitely not as bad as I'm making it out to be, it's just that the lack of names for non evil female characters did make me raise an eyebrow when I noticed it. Though I also understand considering this book is a book set in a fictionalized version of ancient China and woman weren't quite seen as the wonders they deserved to be.
On a more amusing note I had found that, yes, the fish main character, who is a man, does in fact get pregnant. Not once, but twice. First as a fish (the dirty was not done as a full fish, do not worry) and had come four boys, of which my favorite was definitely the runt of the litter, and the second time in human form and having a singular girl. The "tyrant" in the title is very soft and caring and despite his more questionable actions towards the beginning he does just love to pamper his husband. It's truly not as weird as the people giggling about it on Twitter make it out to be. The relationship is wonderfully healthy (or at least as healthy as a relationship can get between a fish and a man destined to rule with an iron fist) and quite cute. Another thing that I did like was that the "system" in this book was more quest/game-like compared to SVSSS (the first danmei I have ever finished, this being the third), with prizes for finishing a quest and the threat of death for failing. Wasn't a huge fan of the whole mute reveal, that the love interest was only mute due to a poison that affected him the womb that he eventually gets medicine for to cure. Admittedly I did know that it would happen, I did get spoiled, but ever since that chapter ended I always found myself slightly... startled? almost? when he would speak after 100+ chapters of the silent communication that I was used to. I much preferred the silent communication, considering that it showed how much of a bond the two main characters had and how close they were. The love interest didn't speak much in the grand sceme of things even after getting "cured" but I was still never a huge fan of this trope. One that I think did it well was a webcomic I have sadly forgotten the name of, who has a character with a leg disability and when it's her turn to shine she doesn't get it magically cured. I find it much better when characters are loved despite whatever is considered a "flaw" disabilities included.
That being said! I did enjoy my time reading it and would probably have finished it up much faster (spending three months on a book no matter the page count is unheard of for me) if I didn't get hit with a slump right in the middle. Because despite all the screaming about it on Twitter it was actually quite tame. Any "spicy" scenes were fade to black and the relationship was actually quite tame and cute. If you consider tame to be the fact that one of them is a fish for a decent part of the story. For it being such a long story there are different villains throughout that cause at least a decent chunk of trouble. Though to the length in some sections it did seem to drag on a bit. But the beginning was wonderful, I liked it a lot, and the promise of drama and weird stuff kept me going. Though the weird stuff was minimal.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I do think that my favorite end for a villain was one of the first ones that is encountered in the book, the idea that you can drive a man literally mad for being a human-like fish is very amusing, and to be fair since he tried to eat our main character multiple times it's probably deserved. However I would say my least favorite is definitely what happens to the 6th prince, not because he didn't deserve it but more so because it felt lacking and simple for what he did throughout the rest of the novel. Death felt like to simple of a punishment. Along with the fact that it caused another female character to be gently pushed to the side. Most female characters featured in this book don't have a proper name or, if they do, are a villain or an asset to a villain. Except for the main character's eventual daughter who's name gets mental once before given a nickname like all the other children, the main wet nurse, or a singular side character that is important for a singular scene in the beginning of the book. Not to say it does a disservice to woman, as in the end it seems as though the author did try to make up for the fact, add a bit of feminize to make up for it. I jest lightly of course, it's definitely not as bad as I'm making it out to be, it's just that the lack of names for non evil female characters did make me raise an eyebrow when I noticed it. Though I also understand considering this book is a book set in a fictionalized version of ancient China and woman weren't quite seen as the wonders they deserved to be.
On a more amusing note I had found that, yes, the fish main character, who is a man, does in fact get pregnant. Not once, but twice. First as a fish (the dirty was not done as a full fish, do not worry) and had come four boys, of which my favorite was definitely the runt of the litter, and the second time in human form and having a singular girl. The "tyrant" in the title is very soft and caring and despite his more questionable actions towards the beginning he does just love to pamper his husband. It's truly not as weird as the people giggling about it on Twitter make it out to be. The relationship is wonderfully healthy (or at least as healthy as a relationship can get between a fish and a man destined to rule with an iron fist) and quite cute. Another thing that I did like was that the "system" in this book was more quest/game-like compared to SVSSS (the first danmei I have ever finished, this being the third), with prizes for finishing a quest and the threat of death for failing. Wasn't a huge fan of the whole mute reveal, that the love interest was only mute due to a poison that affected him the womb that he eventually gets medicine for to cure. Admittedly I did know that it would happen, I did get spoiled, but ever since that chapter ended I always found myself slightly... startled? almost? when he would speak after 100+ chapters of the silent communication that I was used to. I much preferred the silent communication, considering that it showed how much of a bond the two main characters had and how close they were. The love interest didn't speak much in the grand sceme of things even after getting "cured" but I was still never a huge fan of this trope. One that I think did it well was a webcomic I have sadly forgotten the name of, who has a character with a leg disability and when it's her turn to shine she doesn't get it magically cured. I find it much better when characters are loved despite whatever is considered a "flaw" disabilities included.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Pregnancy
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Miscarriage and Toxic relationship