It was an amazing read. Translation is brilliant, really love and appreciate them for bringing this Novel to an end, thank you!

Chapters breakdown, warning major arc spoilers

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Spoiler

From 1 to about 60, XWA had quite a carefree attitude. After a single moment, he suddenly changed, so this is where things start becoming angsty.

From somewhere 60-ish to about 134 (and truthfully my most favourite moment) XWA faced a lot, YHQ heart's been broken and really... heartbreaking. in short, Misunderstanding arc with a dash of sweetness and angst.

Spoiler

XWA escaped Northern Kingdpm, YHQ let him go thinking he hated him (P A I N) and then XWA with his companions start a new life in Taoyuan Village.

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134 to around 182, sweet arc, plus XWA following YHQ to the army to the palace, then angst. Painfully semi realistic angst, and more broken hearts.

183 to 210 (main story ends), much happier, more communications, more dog food, less angst much, much more closure.

For extras, its basically fluff, some closure and nice tying up of loose ends.

Not overly descriptive snu-snu ;D but it's pretty good hehehehehe

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In short, I'm in love. Every single character, I can't bring myself to disregard. I would definitely reread this. Would recommend it 666/10. Enjoy 💫 <<less

Enjoyable from beginning to end. The joyful character of the protagonist and how he described things in his mind made me laugh many times. Yes, there is angst and very painful ones, but it all make sense at the end, it all leave a warm feeling that people's path will eventually find the light, their true destiny. And for those meant to be together, their souls will find each other.

Is a beautiful story.

Cute, fluffy, adorable.... and incredibly painful and angsty at times.

Every character was charming in their own way, and this is one yaoi tagged book with excellent female representation, despite being in side stories.

The plot itself can get slightly draggy, and the miscommunications can get annoying at times, but the narrative is entertaining and engaging throughout.

I loved the experience of reading this book and its excellent translation.

Well I didn't go into this expecting it to be epic and to take all of my attention until I was done yet HERE WE ARE.

I didn't expect the depth this novel had at all. The first few chapters are a little rough (writing style, not translation), but stick with it and I promise it rapidly improves. It takes a severe tonal change about a third of the way in and it never. Stops. Again.

So my advice is to set aside however much time you'll take to complete because if... more>> you're like me you won't be able to put it down. <<less

I think that 'How to Survive As a Villain' uses the full potential a transmigration novel can have.

Some people feel frustrated with the MC's tenacity to follow the original plot, especially because it goes on for so long. I personally didn't think it was annoying at all. In fact, I found it quite endearing how the MC tried to pave the way for the ML by trying to follow the actual plot. I suppose many people feel frustrated because they percieve it as a plot device rather than part of... more>> the MC's personality. Overall, it's personal preference. As it is with any novel, really.

HSAV, in my opinion, has the right amount of humor and fluff to balance out the angst. Because when it gets angsty it's heavy. The lightheartedness inbetween is sweet enough to start healing the emotional damage the storyline gave you before ripping the wounds right open again.

Overall, I find all of the characters to be extremely likable, well, the ones you're suposed to like anyway. I also love that side characters get detailed attention, there is no plotline left open or incomplete, finishing the novel comes with a sense of closure and accomplishment because you feel like you've seen these characters go through so much and their endings, in most cases, are extremely fulfilling.

I am also incredibly biased because I love the transmigration trope though so idk how much credibility I can give myself here.

Spoiler

Rip to the Generals tho, your ship was not meant to sail my dudes I am sorry.

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Spoiler

Also no goddamn untagged noncon scenes we love the consent in this house

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Beautiful beautiful story! The ending and extras are wonderful! I have read the mtl version, but of course the translated is the best and the translator done a wonderful job on this book. There were quite alot of drama and aghast in this story, but the sweetness and bitterness really balance it out. And there’s a manhua too! So set your imagination abound. Recommend read, Thank you.

I liked this a lot. But honestly I've re read both the manhua (which is illustrated stunningly) and novel several times. For me is the right of bluff, sexiness, the tragedy is not as tragic all the time, as someone wrote: just don't think too much about it cause there are some moments. It has a nice pace and doesn't feel like there are too many characters. There are many mixed reviews because we are all different and we don't all like the same.

Loved it.
It has ups and downs, but the comedy aspect really is what sold me on this. I needed something lighter and this filled that need for me.

I recommend this one if you like your comedy with a side of agnst with a happy ending.

The novel generally is good. It's not something that blew my mind and left me in tears, but I enjoyed the time I spent reading it. As per usual, there's a huge pile of angst which is not very heart-breaking as long as you don't think about it much. The story is decently written, quite consistent, the structure and flow are nice, so I have nothing bad to say. If that's your genre, then I recommend reading it.

this was such a wild ride.

definitely a favorite! Why isnt this popular and overrated?! 😂 will add more thoughts once calmer just know that I cried a lot but it's satisfying. But you're gonna cry a lot, but don't fear! If you're not a huge angst reader, it's rlly not that bad it makes it so v interesting TT for me only the first angst arc was what rlly made me bawl so hard I had an allergic reaction LOL I usually avoid angst but this hits the spot! If you... more>> need both fluff and a good cry! Hits all spots !

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This story was hella funny... but just really painful at the same time... haaaa

The first chapter really made a good impression on me since it was quite funny to read then I slowly started reading more more, it was just really... good!! I couldn't stop reading at all. although I can admit that the main character can be.. quite dense...? He didn't even know the male lead even had feelings for him even when the male lead clearly shows how much he loves him which is kinda funny when you... more>> think about ahahaha..

The MC is very very kind to the ML and even to the side characters, each character has a type of impact, not like those other characters that just don't have any importance in the story at all, but this, this story has a lot of characters that really impact the way on how the story is gonna go, and that's what I like!!

now, let's talk about why this story is quite painful/heart-wrenching, it is because DAM why can't they just be happy together? Why does everyone have to hate the f*cking MC he's different now, don't you think so too??

Spoiler

and please, let's not talk about the time the MC fricken committed su*cide for the second time, the SECOND TIME!! you hear that?? I cried a little... plus some of the other side character's death got me crying too, ah...I'm sad again...

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PLEASE READ IT!!! JUST DODN'T LOOK AT THE BAD REVIEWS I'm telling you a blast to read it!! <<less

It was pretty good I was surprised at first I read the reviews with all the worst stars rate and had my doubts but I have been holding alot of BL on hold because of it so I decided to steel TF out of myself and read it and it was pre good.

I recommend this for those who likes angst in a story, kinda like classic ish but it doesn't ruin the fun

what a fun mess to drive into. I only read this because I was intrigued. I has it up and down. There part the were drag out. Unorganized as a whole story. Fun and easy afternoon cookie

But It strangely fun to read. Maybe it was my craving of transmigrate novel. Overall it barely standout from many transmigrate novel. I feel indifference. But that was better that being annoy tho haha

the charm is MC inner thought. Entertaining. His back stories are all messy and seem fake and arrogant. I'd rather him... more>> be that rich man who never understand any hardship then grow from that.

Spoiler

kill yourself in front of you sick brother? Only selfish brat would do that. And never once in the novel did he regret it. So It's hard to feel sympathy for him. Should've make him crying in regret in stead.

then the writer make him kill himself again. I almost stop reading
i think this is the part I was troubled with the most.

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Overview:
Get ready for one of the biggest bait and switch ever! Just when the light-hearted comedy sets the stage, the tone does a 180 and suddenly everything isn't all sunshine and rainbows anymore. The MC does what he can to prevent the tragedies of the plot from happening like in the novel only for fate to continue in a more painful path than before.

Characters:
MC:
It's quite funny to see the MC talking in modern slang in an ancient setting and confusing everyone. I'm surprised no one thought the king was possessed or accused him of witchcraft (or whatever is the Chinese equivalent).

Plot:
The author breaks some of the usual tropes in transmigration stories. She takes a different path than usual "it-seems-I've-transmigrated-into-a-novel-but-I-know-the-whole-plot-and-can-change-things" route. Which shakes things up quite a bit and sets off the tragic story of our main characters.

Unfortunately, the climax of the story occurred quite early in the story. After that, a lot of "tragedies" and angst just fell short. It felt like the author was just torturing the main characters for the sake of drama because afterwards they just brushed off their injuries and called it a day.

Ending Thoughts:
If you want to read about the main characters' unreasonable sufferings, this is the book for you. It has all the pain you can think of: Self-harm! Torture! Self-sacrifice! Separation! Misunderstandings! Overall the novel isn't bad because the interactions between the main characters are cute but the novel isn't very plot driven.

I like it a lot and I enjoyed it so much!

There are times that I bawled my eyes out for the characters but I also love it.

The only thing that I didn't quite like is that the main character was always: "too lazy to explain." Even if it only needed a word or two to clear the misunderstandings- not just between him and the ML but towards the other characters too.

I really liked it, but there were too many misunderstandings. They were entertaining, sure, but they were done at the cost of the the main characters' IQ and EQ.

"Only you understand him the most, " it said about MC regarding ML. ??????? At first, it certainly seemed like it, but in order to drag off their romance the author completely killed off Xiao YuAn's braincells. I know there are reasons why he's obsessed with following the plot, but his reasonings about the harem members and ML just didn't make sense... more>> at all, considering all that has already happened before.

Anyway, it's still okay. Romance, chemistry, fluff, angst, the side characters... they all make up for it. <<less

Edit upon completion:

This webnovel is probably one of my favourite stories ever. This story made me feel such a wide range of emotions, from laughter to pure grief to absolute joy and tenderness. I really can't recommend this story enough.

Through the course of this webnovel you really get to understanding these characters. You see them grow and change, you see how past events affected them, and most importantly you see the love that they have for each other. The main couple are so tender and so loving, but you also... more>> get to see the side couples and their journeys and the friendships between our MC and his newfound family and friends. The author always remembers the little details and makes callbacks to them that sucker punch me in the gut every time. I just finished reading this story, trying to find the right words to write in this review, and I'm still in tears over the ending. It's a happy ending, with a callback to the very first arc, wrapping up every plotline in the novel. It's absolutely perfect.

I'm almost at a loss for words for what else to say, beyond that I recommend this novel more than any other webnovel that I've read.

Original review:

The webnovel that got me into reading webnovels. If you're daunted by the length, there is an excellent manhua adaptation of this webnovel which I would highly recommend.

My friend recommended this to me as a light fluffy read, but I've cried at least twice so far. I love both the MC and ML, and their relationship has progressed really naturally. You can see why and how the ML falls in love, it's not sudden or inexplicable like in a lot of other webnovels. ML is extremely respectful of MC's boundaries, whenever MC says stop he stops. I've never seen this in any other webnovel before, where you have an ML that is devoted to the MC but still respectful of his desires.

I've seen some reviews saying that they didn't like this webnovel because the MC is dumb, but I think it's written in a really comedic manner and didn't bother me at all. MC is just a joy to read about.

If I had to recommend a webnovel for someone who's never read webnovels before, I'd recommend this one hands down. <<less

I have yet to dive deeper into the novel but all I can say is that I have never sobbed so hard in my entire life. I applaud the translator and the author of this book for making me this emotional over a book in a very long time. I highly recommend this book for those of you who have yet to read this and I will tell you this: you will certainly not be disappointed. I cannot express my love for this book in words but it has become... more>> one of the books I will never forget. It may be a bit confusing in the beginning but please be patient! It gets better (not that it wasn't amazing in the beginning) ! It will definitely take you on a whirlwind of emotions and I am enjoying every bit of it. <<less

This story actually surprised me, the first few chapters I wasn't really liking the flow, but once the exposition got out of the way the author's humor and writing style shined through. This novel is very very good if you like comedy, but it does have some action and some extremely tense moments (thankfully leading to a HE!).

so many plot twist which is different from usual transmigration stories. Also love the protagonist so much 😂Good job to author