Falling Dreams of Fang Hua

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I have a foster father…

Um, that’s not the important part. I just want to say, why doesn’t he understand the differences between boys and girls in this world? He insists a p*rnographic picture is actually a diagram of acupuncture points. And also…why did he raise me as a boy for 15 years?! It’s impressive that he can write prescriptions, but I studied poisons.

But, why is he a Fang Hua Beast…

Associated Names
One entry per line
Meng Luo Fang Hua
梦落芳华
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Jiang Hu’s Road is Curved (2)
Seven Unfortunate Lifetimes, All Thanks to a Single Moment of Impulse (1)
By The River of Forgetfulness for Seven Lifetimes (1)
Three Lifetimes of Trials; A Wind Chime Brings Tears (1)
Deceive (1)
Peach Blossom Debt (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Novels which lives in me
  2. The one that made me cry my eyes out
  3. The last short list?
  4. MissQ's Recommendation List
  5. I liked them

Latest Release

Date Group Release
01/10/24 Shugui Translations v1c1
12/15/16 volarenovels c65 part2 (end)
12/15/16 volarenovels c65 part1
12/10/16 volarenovels c64
12/06/16 volarenovels c63
12/02/16 volarenovels c62
11/28/16 volarenovels c61
11/24/16 volarenovels c60
11/20/16 volarenovels c59
11/16/16 volarenovels c58
11/12/16 volarenovels c57
11/08/16 volarenovels c56
11/05/16 volarenovels c55
11/03/16 volarenovels c54
10/26/16 volarenovels c53
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43 Reviews sorted by


Shio
Shio
July 21, 2016
Status: c43
Quote from TL-site (etvolare's)

" To the reviewer who was sad about the "unfinished ending" in the raws, don't worry. That's an incomplete site; the full raws are available from my link in the FDFH table of contents page here on volareTL. In addition, I've also tracked down an extra epilogue that the author put in another one of her books... but we'll get to that in the finale. ?"

So rejoice people! This story have a proper end.

Move to the review: it's a nice story. Being a romance... more>> novel, it doesn't put emphasis on cultivation or action. But when we do, our MC has more than enough to protect herself ;). All characters are written nicely. The early part of the story focused on slice of life- comedy, while the second part is more serious with tragedy undertone.

Personally I think this novel have to much melancholia on the later part of the series. It has 'funny and cute romance story turn into bitter tragedy' story progression which is popular back when it was written. <<less
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acatone
acatone rated it
September 6, 2018
Status: Completed
I missed the "Tragedy" tag and almost died from heartache T v T

Like, literal heart palpitations heartache.... or that might have been the coffee I just drank....

I read the first half which was sweet and cute and felt really betrayed when I got to the second half I was literally teetering on the edge of a breakdown most of the time aahhhhh! Then again, it was my fault for not reading the tags more carefully. I sure paid dearly! But also I can't stop!!! T v T

The second half of... more>> the story..... I almost dropped it because how depressing and infuriating the misunderstanding is, and how selfish or overly selfless one of the character was, and it made me just skim the last few chapters because I couldn't handle the PAIN (still painful even though I was just skimming,) but I didn't know whether I felt curious guilty and I decided to reread this and..... more pain.... I don't know if I regret re-reading or not.... but seriously, you gotta have mental strength to even just finish reading this. I can't believe I made it to the end. TWICE at that

I don't advice reading this in one go if you're a softhearted fool like me. Love yourself LMAO

But it's definitely a pretty good read. The characters are quite interesting, the premise is interesting, and I love how the author like reveals subtle hints regarding the MC's feelings rather than stating them outright which was honestly, really painful too because you know she isn't aware of all that....

This whole thing felt like a classic Grecian tragedy when you just KNOW bad stuff is gonna happen but you watch all the chara charge headfirst into the tragedy anyway and not only there's nothing you can do, but the conflict was kafka-esque which COULD have been solved easily if everyone chilled for like 0.2 seconds which was extra maddening but is also somehow very understandable, since the characters are selfish and sometimes unthinking (or overthinking???) in a rather humane way wuwuwuuuuu

God. I barely have enough willpower to finish this. thankfully the ending is..... kinda...... good? satisfying?..... not really, but I mean compared to what the MC and ML went through..... It was enough. Good Enough. Just. Stop. Giving. Me. Pain. T v T

Once you reread it you'll also see a looootttt of foreshadowing which makes it even worth a re-read, if you're prepared for the pain that is T v T

Of course, there are characters that I wish could have been developed better, such as the 6 princes, or Nongyun (i think that was his name, he disappeared for so long T v T) as well as Little Li and a few other characters, and left a few other mysteries unresolved, but still, this was more or less pretty good and absolutely painful to read.

Now if you'll excuse this old aunt after abusing the random novels button.... I'll need to recuperate (my mental health) for a few days before picking up another rando to read <<less
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SunsetChaos
SunsetChaos rated it
June 28, 2016
Status: c24
Pretty unique and entertaining story. Leaves you with many questions and speculations about their past as you read. Not really much of a romance so far, more slice of life family relationships.

MC is not educated since she grew as a poor hungry abandoned child, but she's not s*upid either, sometimes smarter than the father imo. The foster father is obviously not human, you'll be trying to figure out his past and how he is related to the MC.

The only gender bender is having her raised and dressed as... more>> a boy because the foster father is too s*upid to know the difference of male and female, but then again he's not exactly human. It makes some interactions awkward/funny. Some of MC's actions are pretty funny especially that one time when she got caught...
Spoiler

Ch.24: Well played, author. Didn't see that one coming.

I don't know why but sometimes I think it might even be possible for the father to actually be female... or at least in the past.

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Arrange
Arrange rated it
December 31, 2017
Status: Completed
... T-T *cry*
... more>>
Spoiler

I cry.
I roll in my tears.
I cry more.
It was beautiful but it didn't end well.
I hate the prince.
Even if he had his reasons to do it.
I still hate him.
But even if he wasn't here their story was destined to end as a sad tragedy.
The ending somewhat reminded me of a chinese TV series and novel that was called 三生三世十里桃花 (Eternal love) but in that novel the ending good bc they were both gods. (Even if my ship didn't sail in the end.. I still liked Shifu more!)
Fang Hua...
I think I will cry even only by hearing his name ;_;

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wingzofdarkness
wingzofdarkness rated it
September 5, 2017
Status: Completed
At first, I wasn't going to read this because the synopsis wrote about a "father"/daughter relationship, but I was curious to know why the MC's foster father had made her dress up as a boy. The story ended up being humorous, ridiculous, heartwarming, entertaining (for the most part), yet also confusing. There are a lot of unanswered questions.

I admit I cried a couple times - specifically for Fang Hua. His characterization was nicely formed that I can't recall many scenes when he fell out of role. He was the epitome... more>> of purity that is rare to find. The MC, on the other hand, wasn't bad but I couldn't feel empathy for her. Sometimes my heart was at a tug-of-war because the MC and Zichuan had more chemistry together than with Fang Hua. Nonetheless, Fang Hua had so much love for the MC but not enough screen time to show it. The other characters were interesting enough but could have been more depth had they not felt like they were forgotten. There were a few "filler" chapters, unnecessary descriptions, time jumps, and inconclusive ending that sometimes pulled me away from being immersed. The epilogue left me baffled and confused.

Overall, this was a roller coaster ride of emotions and I found it an enjoyable past time read. I really think Fang Hua is what held the story together and kept me interested, and probably the reason why I'm rating it so high.

4 stars - But giving it a 5 because Fang Hua is a breath of fresh air whose existence needs to be known to readers. <<less
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Blisfulloblivion
Blisfulloblivion rated it
July 3, 2016
Status: v1c24
So far I am loving this series. It's very atmospheric without lingering too long on the descriptions. Sometimes descriptions can be too brief but everything flows nicely and all necessary details given. The story moves quickly but still manages to maintain a relaxed atmosphere. This makes for a pleasant light read.

While the story currently has a very light feel there are some tragic undertones that may become a bigger part later in the story. This story has the potential for either a very fluffy or a very tragic ending. The... more>> story isn't very dark, just sad. There are some mature themes, but they are handled lightly and with humor. I think this story would rate as a YA novel (or josei) rather than a younger shoujo because of this. (There is a chapter that has an amusing but blunt depiction of menstruation) <<less
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Phour
Phour rated it
January 11, 2018
Status: c65 part2
Spoiler

Don't ignore the "Tragedy" tag. I did, and cired a river.

Does that mean it wasn't worth a read? HELL NO!

This was one of the best and most poetic and heartfelt stories I have ever read. But seriously, I had to take a 2 week break in the middle to get the guts up to keep reading. ~&Lt;3

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maiha-sama
maiha-sama rated it
May 1, 2017
Status: c65
I really don't know how to describe my feelings for this series. On one hand, I liked Fang Hua, he was innocent, pure and in all a decent character. On the other, I felt no sympathy for the Crown Prince or the MC. Most times the endless pain they put themselves through could have been avoided if they just opened their mouths and spoken to each other. But who does that anyway huh.

It started off interesting but as it progressed, it felt like misunderstandings were just being randomly thrown in... more>> to make the story appear complicated. Many times the MC did things that were reckless/did not make sense.

Spoiler

The gay-not gay thing just tired me out after a while. Also, the Crown Prince~now~Emperor took advantage of her amnesia to sleep with her and then he sends her back to Fang Hua as a 'service'. That was just despicable.

Truthfully, the most pitiful are probably the 7 princes she was baby-sitting. I liked reading their back stories and it looked like the MC really made a difference in their lives.

I think I would have liked this more if the ending had turned out differently. Some redeeming factor. Alas. Even with the whole immortal setup, we just never saw the two be happy as Fang Hua and Shao-er and that was just sad

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The writing style was average and a lot of effort was spent describing how beautiful Fang Hua and his cinnabar mole were (sigh). Mostly we were just told that character X likes Y and were expected to believe it was true, with no situational examples.

Not to say I disliked the novel. It was just fine. <<less
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Elyas
Elyas rated it
August 12, 2016
Status: c50
Wow this novel is really depressing, I wish I could at least finish the novel but not enough chapters out :/

I would definitely recommend this novel to most readers who are looking for a cute story with tons of feels.
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lolli
lolli rated it
July 18, 2016
Status: --
Yay~ Thank you translator and Shio~

I must say that the 3rd book is really heartrending. With miscommunication and misunderstandings leading to the tragedy undertone. But be happy! Its a happy ending. I just wished there was a bit more to the ending. Looking forward to the extra epilogue that the translator found. ^-^
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acetylcoa
acetylcoa rated it
May 18, 2020
Status: Completed
Angst for sure. A memorable story that's wrought with misunderstandings that'll eventually hurt.

Spoiler

two MLs, the FL loses her chastity to the second male lead first, which may be off putting to some.

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dysry
dysry rated it
July 28, 2016
Status: c47 part2
The female lead falls for her possibly gay foster father, and goes through several misunderstandings when interacting with him and several other men in the story.

After skimming through the series, it's weird to admit, but I honestly don't know what to make of it. If I had to pick between good or bad, funny or unfunny, interesting or dull, I'd marginally lean towards the former for each, but only barely.

... more>>
Spoiler

The plot is relatively simple - romance and misconceptions - where we're led throughout the story by a dense and naive MC who fails to notice a lot of what goes around her. However the removed writing style and the MC's casual narration makes it hard to believe any of the strong emotions the characters supposedly have, while their brief interactions fails to reflect any depth in their relationships or personalities.

The MC loves her father... why? Aside from his looks, and the fact that for most of her life no one else was around I honestly have no idea. Likewise, all the men who fall for her... aside from her looks and fiery personality... yeah it's probably just her looks...

The world is also pretty small, while the humour, drama and angst are weak. The characters lack charisma, and I still have no idea what a Fang Hua is (aside from flower eater but visuals would be nice i.e. horse). But honestly, all of these factors are secondary compared to getting the romance right.

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Overall it's a nice enough story that can help pass the time, but I'm just not convinced over a lot of the characters' personalities and their relationship and interactions with each other. Especially the MC's love for her father and how believable it is if/when he reciprocates. <<less
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lkarivp
lkarivp rated it
July 25, 2019
Status: Completed
I found this story while browsing the completed books library.

I fell in love with it. It's so heartbreakingly beautiful. This is one of the few stories that I was unable to predict the plot direction. The tragedy tag is there for a reason, but there is a kind of happy ending.
I strongly recommend this story. It's worth every chapter and the translation is good.
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klaxir
klaxir rated it
November 26, 2017
Status: Completed
I love this novel so much. I love Fang Hua. The first part of the book was funny, but the second part of the book was where I was hooked. I couldn't stop reading, even though I felt like my heart was being ripped into pieces!! The ending though... I wished it were a bit happier, but I can see why the author would have chosen to write it this way.
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White Head Ice Prince
White Head Ice Prince rated it
July 19, 2016
Status: c24
If the beating heart of a young maiden indicates no romance then, all you sirs who claim there's not really much romance have certainly not read enough shoujos!!

The ship on sail is the MC with her foster father Fang Hua (yifu) However, the ship is quite hard to set sail due to the mysteries of their past. Who knows when they'll say MC is half fang Hua beast and her yifu (foster father) is her dad ! Although the possibility is quite low.

The story is practically a slice of lifish... more>> story of the MC and her yifu of a different species as the MC grows up slowly with him in a bamboo forest. The character list is small but there is comedy, sad feels mystery, and is a good read if I should say so myself. The character personalities are very good so I recommend at least starting the novel then dropping if its not really your cup of tea.

if there's anything you would wanna look out for then it would be....
Spoiler

Fang Hua may have been gay as it is implied in some of his speeches. The object of his adoration was perhaps MC's dead father but... that fang Hua cant tell apart genders since all Fang Hua beasts are all male so he may have actually loved her mom, as he says after MC becomes beautiful that she looks just like her father (I seriously doubt that her dad looks like a beautiful girl)

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Fathom
Fathom rated it
June 20, 2016
Status: c7
Interesting start with a definite shoujo feel to the story. The MC's constant description of her foster father's beauty is a bit over abundant. However, considering the MC is a child and who she thinks the foster father is, that can be glossed over. Some parts of the story are amusing, like the foster father noi knowing what a female is.

I'm looking forward to reading more about how the child will grow up with such a s*upid and naive father. It's almost like "My disciple died yet again, " however,... more>> it feels more like a romantic comedy style of writing. <<less
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binomialnomenklatur
binomialnomenklatur rated it
August 26, 2018
Status: c55
This is so good that the story keep haunted my daily life to finish it up. My heart just cant handle such tragedy but in the end I relieved that I didnt leave this. Really beautifull ;)
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kalp456
kalp456 rated it
February 5, 2017
Status: c65
Note: I continued reading only from chapter 31 and it had been a long time since I stopped reading so the scenes before that might not be accurate. And if I say tragedy, it might mean angsty or whatever it really is called.

This is like 'Wife, I am the Baby's Father' wherein the female protagonist had amnesia and had their tofu eaten against their will (by will, I mean their true feelings). The difference is that if in 'Wife, I am the Baby's Father', the events that transpired happened due... more>> to illogical things, in this novel, although it is illogical, they are still within bearable standards. The crown prince, raised as the crown prince, is more likely to have his personality, a manipulator. The Fang Hua, with how it/he had a past as mentioned, is forgivable in its/his actions (and maybe this includes the 55th chapter onwards?). And the female protagonist, although she was someone raised and spoiled by someone like Fang Hua, is still very illogical in her actions. So, with only the illogicality of the MC, the author managed to create situations such that it will be very angsty and tragic, perhaps, to the viewers. As such, one could say that this is a novel created for the sake of tragedy, with some mix of comedic scenes.

Excused scoring:
Story: (2/10)
Premise and Setting: 0/2
Nothing worth noting. Some typical slice of life romance that made you think it is a feel-good novel (where Fang Hua and MC will be with one another romantically in a smooth manner) when in fact, it is actually not. Misleading and definitely not something I really like. (Watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood for a good example of a different premise and actual themes & conclusion).
Pacing: 1/2
I wouldn't say that it is totally bad since it does deliver the things that you need to know in a good manner but at the same time, it is quite fast in changing the scenes so the characters acting are now acting differently in just a few seconds (in the perspective of the reader, not the character). Of course, there are times when a character will act in a bizarre way completely different from what you will expect but that's just the MC anyway.
Complexity: 0/2
Nope, it is not complex at all. As I've said a while ago, it is a story made just for the sake of tragedy. There is a main theme or two but the angst made me not bother about anything at all and it (angst) just made me disappointed with the series. The plot is also average at best but definitely below subpar for my standards.
Plausibility: 1/2
Perhaps a 2/2 might have been possible but the actions of the MC is just too much for me to handle. In fact, I might have even gave it a 0/2 but that would make the total score for story...
Conclusion: 0/2
Epilogue is a shitty one. It just suddenly became a completely different setting with no real hint whatsoever. Even before the epilogue, it was still shit. A theme worked itself to death until the last moments (ch 63) but that cost it the conclusion of the other characters. So, it is a bad conclusion.

Characters: (4/10)
Presence: 1/2
Although the novel is written in the MC's perspective, the presence of the 2 other characters are still noticeable. Unfortunately, the imperial physician and 7 princes do not have that kind of thing.
Personality: 1/2
I'd like to give it a 2/2 but only 3 characters can be said to have a redeeming trait or two on each character to be said to have some sort of personality, albeit it lacks in some areas. As for the side characters, just 1-d people served as plot devices and conveniences for the MC.
Backdrop: 1/2
Fang Hua's the only one who has it (authentic, unlike the MC's) so not quite there. Edit: Forget it. I'll just give a point.
Development: 0/2
Characters don't have this.
Catharsis: 1/2
Tragedy so it exists, at least. The epilogue just ruined everything, though.

Writing Style: (5/10)
Average. At times, it can be quite confusing especially at parts when the author tries the "show, don't tell" parts but fails miserably due to lack of proper description of events. The presentation of scenes are also not something I'd call above average but they are not that bad, so I'll just treat it as average (even if it really is not).

Enjoyment: (4/10)
I somewhat forced myself to finish it after the timeskip but it was quite enjoyable at the first part of it.

Total: 15/40 = 3.75 = 1/5

(I thought it'd be 2/5. Seems not.) <<less
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Nommy4679
Nommy4679 rated it
August 20, 2016
Status: c50
... Why.

I enjoyed the various warm and comedic aspects of this novel. That was, till the second book.

Sadness envelops me. It is a bittersweet tragedy between the two. Tbh, it's actually much more frustrating than I'm willing to admit. The misunderstandings and whatnot, especially since there is just so much unspoken love between the 'main' pairing.

... more>> Highly recommended if you're craving for some tears to gush out your eye sockets and if you need a light laugh. Or two.

(Sweet, sweet misunderstandings... Where have you gone~? Replaced with the miseries from non- existent memories... sigh...) <<less
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Catweed
Catweed rated it
February 8, 2019
Status: Completed
I cried a lot reading this. I tend to cry easily when reading something sad but this one involved a lot of tears. At one point I ran out and but I was still crying. That might just be due to dehydration though.

I've read over others opinion on this novel and I gotta say, I'm conflicted. I honestly like this novel. Sure, there are some over done tropes line misunderstandings that could be easily solved. But let's be real here, we all believe what we believe, even if we get... more>> clear evidence in front of us. Even then, we interpret the truth to how we see fit.

I think a lot of us think that most of the story could've been prevented if they just asked more questions. But I think some readers have to understand that we're on the outside looking in. We see things the other characters don't, and we get information that isn't revealed to the characters living in the plot until the author see fit to do so.

I'm giving this only four stars. Despite how much I liked it and how much it made me cry, I start skipping parts of it because of how slow some of the build up was.

Spoiler

It was kind of crazy how shape hua would turn to drugs and then to this weird cultivation to forget fang hua. It didn't make sense that this cultivation manual would be tattooed on a body when it is so terrible and nearly killed her. What was the benefit behind this type of manual? It s**ked away her power and her memory.

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I definitely turned a blinds eye to this plot hole but I think it's because I really believe the romance was very beautiful and tragic.

Everybody pretty much deserved their endings. Except for the imperial physician, who was faded out of the story. And the six princes, who was like the seven dwarfs to her snow white. I guess they represented her yearning and her relationship with fang hua. They took care of her and every one of them had single aspect that was like him.

All I know is that I needed a good cry and I found it. But it really left me drained. And I rather this had ended in tragedy than in happiness as the author wrote a second novel to give them a better ending. <<less
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