To start off my review, I must preface it by stating that I am a yandere BL (and horror) fan.

It's been a while since I've read a novel that was consistent in reaching my expectations and kept me hooked and on edge. I want to commend the author for their ability to write good worldbuilding and to describe a culture so well. Although I am Chinese, I am ashamed to admit that I am not familiar with a lot of aspects of Chinese culture, and didn't even know about the concept of Miao people. Naturally, I cannot comment on the accuracy of the culture represented in this novel (though I'm sure it's been fictionalised to some degree). But the author has such a way of storytelling that you really feel like you're there with the MC, experiencing the sights and festivities, and walking through the grounds of the village and mountain. It feels so vivid and real, like a place you could really visit. And you feel that same ignorant fantastical fascination that the MC and his friends have over this foreign land and people.

And this makes the horror all the more terrifying when it does kick in, because you feel like you've been doused in cold water when the happy and warm facade of the introduction fades away.

If I had to compare it to another piece of media I'm familiar with, my experience reading this novel was very similar to my experience watching Midsommar. These two stories very much share the aspect of folk horror.

When it comes to the MC, I think the author did a good enough job in writing a realistic MC who is cautious yet ignorant and naive, strong-willed yet soft with a heart, and observant yet oblivious to his own feelings.

However, I did think that his survival instincts were written a bit inconsistently, as he seemed like a pretty intelligent and wary guy at first, and that waned after a while.

I thought the author could've written that better while still keeping the same story beats.

As for the ML, I did really like him and could very much understand the closeted infatuation that the MC was feeling for him. I genuinely sympathised with the guy and rooted for him at the beginning. Especially because I've experienced being in intercultural relationships before, and it takes a lot more work and patience to accept and appreciate cultural differences. Both parties need to make more sacrifices compared to if you both came from the same cultural background, and that makes it harder to work that relationship.

Regardless, I still really liked this novel and would definitely read it again in the future, which is a rarity for me.

It's a short story, definitely one you could finish in a single sitting. The plot does take a dark turn in the middle, especially after the Gong reveals his true nature. There's a r*pe scene, it was in the tags, and the dynamic gets a bit toxic at that point.

The story begins with the Shou and his group arriving at a village for a research project.

... more>>

Spoiler

By chance, the Shou catches the Gong's eyes, who turns out to be the future leader of an isolated, unassimilated Miao tribe hidden deep in the mountains. He confessed and the Shou then began to avoid him and wanna leave, so the Gong locks the Shou in his home, just like how his late mother did to his father.

[collapse]

Spoiler

Having grown up in such an environment, the Gong developed a twisted view of love, believing that love should be forced and possessive. There's also a love Gu involved; his mother once cast it on his father to bind him, keeping him physically close but never winning his heart.

[collapse]

The Gong is a manipulative, two-faced character xD At first, he comes across as gentle and tender, but when he realizes he can't win the Shou's love using gentle approach, his darker, controlling side emerges. Eventually, the Shou escapes.

The Shou himself is a deeply lonely person. Though both his parents are alive, they're emotionally absent.

Spoiler

After escaping, he comes to a painful realization: despite everything, the Gong is the only person who has ever truly cared for him. So, he returns to find him.

[collapse]

While the main story is told from the Shou's perspective, the extra chapters give insight into the Gong's pov as well.

Overall, it's definitely worth a read. I'm actually in love with the audio drama, which is why I ran to read the novel. The theme song from the audio drama was especially good too! <<less

Boring

I dont get these many high rating like..

Why u excuse rpe? Why u are blind to the plotholes?

... more>> And lets be honest if MC had a good relationship with his family at the start he would never dream or consider being with ml.

And the thing with "omg ML is the only one who treats me right" dude whats with your friends hello??? Also who in their right mind thinks being imprissoned by their rpey is *good person*.

I feel also I cant really jugde the MC for not fihhting back (that pisses me the most off) more thinking logical, like was he controlled or was it is real emotions to the whole thing and the ml, we dont 100% know.

Also ML *personality* if we can even call it like that his whole life is only MC dude do you even have idk some other interest??

And the thing with ML obsessive because of his parents situation, I dont care if its because of that, this doesnt excuse the horrible things he did.

I feel like the author had some depression state where omg no one loves me so I want a obsessive male lead to goon on me all the time. So lets make him as unhinged as fk lol and MC as self inserted powerhouse.. eegghh.

I also found it weird why did ML and MC even start to like each other?For example lazy author writes just "you are so seductive mc~ml" ML couldnt resist MC "beauty"?!!? Is every MC a beauty nowaday... lazy uncreative writting

Anybody who really knows to write romance knows to write a romance that it doesnt come directly from outside but also and more from the inside. Get your sh*t together!

This story was a waste of time the ML was so s*upid I even found him childish it makes no sense that he is the main leader with such a look like a twink. And for our MC being so clever and smart to becoming him "i really stepped into the shit, lets just fk with his ml, who provably doesnt care about my feelings", likr author please just give the MC a kinda power zp I dont care but this was really unbalanced its like you qant him to suffer as selfinsert like I saif author if u depressed go outaide and touch grass.

Bye <<less

It was an excellent novel.

What begins as a suspenseful thriller, a small group of students lost in a dense, mysterious forest, stumbling upon a strange village with an oppressive, almost nightmarish atmosphere, slowly transforms into something far deeper. It evolves into a psychological exploration of Stockholm syndrome, the politics and social hierarchies of an isolated community, and a biting critique of modern society, where love is fleeting, connection is fragile, and existence often feels painfully hollow.

At its heart lies a love-hate relationship between the main character and the male lead.

While... more>> I found myself despising the ML at several points, and honestly, I still can't forgive some of his actions (please check the content tags before reading !) , it's hard to deny that he feels like the perfect yet deeply flawed counterpart to our MC.

The MC himself is psychologically scarred, haunted by his upbringing, and seemingly incapable of forming genuine emotional bonds. Their relationship becomes both destructive and strangely inevitable, like two broken mirrors reflecting each other's damage.

The ending ties everything together beautifully, neither rushed nor dragged out. The pacing and length are just right, allowing every character to be fully developed.

In short, this novel is a masterpiece. <<less

Im in tears! It was soooo good😭✋️. The dynamics, the pacing, how the plot moves, the character development of MC and ml, even the side couples has been given justice! Not to mention it can be read in one sitting! Nothing more to say, no need for skepticism, if youre interested then just go for it!!! It wont be too late to drop if you find it not quite up to your alley✨️✨️

Guys, I didn't really read this properly and skimmed through most of it, but I think I got the gist of it.

To put it plainly, the ML is crazy and never changes and the MC chooses to be with him thinking he's changed.

I enjoy books with male yandere, but I have limits. The ML needs to have at least some sort of respect, and especially not kill/harm others, including the MC... if you're like me this book is definitely not for you.

... more>>

Spoiler

The ML does treat the MC harshly (physically hurting him and mentally), he confines him, later the MC escapes and the ML meets him in the outside world, telling him he understands why he wanted to leave and doesn't force him to come back... we later know that he had plans to make the MC come back to him either way so 😬

[collapse]

At the end of the day, books are fictional, the author could be writing such a story to display madness and Stockholm syndrome (or the like of it), which is really up to them. And as a reader, I didn't enjoy this book because it was too much for me so I'm not giving this a rating.

Wrote this review because I think the other reviews may have not emphasised certain components of the book enough 😭.

Just to clarify, I looked at the tags and nothing is hidden so this review is just for emphasis so you know what to expect before diving into the book. <<less

To think the writer narrated the story so wonderfully in first person...I'm amazed. Most first person narrations are too limited, but this one was different.

And the plot, damn it. It's one it's kind. I don't want to say much, because you should just go read it. The summary given here is quite vage actually... so let me give you one that clarifies it.

Li Yuze and his classmates from university go to a Miao village in China for reasearch purposes. While returning, they have a strange encounter and face chilling, unexpected... more>> events that completely alter the course of their lives.

This gave some Laws of the Other World vibes.

Beware of the tags, but do try this novel... I never felt more relatable to a character... <<less

This was such an entertaining read, with a yandere ML that basically took the concept of imprisoning your lover so they can’t leave and made it reality, and a MC that is so lonely that he ends up falling into the trap. I feel like there really wasn’t too much substance to this novel, but it was still really such a fun read that I don’t actually care that much. I also have a bias for green-tea type characters like this ML, wherein they feign weakness to take advantage of... more>> the one they’re interested in.

This ML really took the manipulation to the next level, faking an entire personality and exaggerating his backstory in order to get the MC to take sympathy on him and stay with him, and it really was such a fun time watching the lengths that he would go to. I’ll be honest, I fell for it every time too what with how cute he would act, so really I can’t blame this MC either for falling it so easily every time too.

Shen Jianqing has quite interesting reasons for behaving as he does, mostly due to his upbringing watching his mother imprison his own father, and believing that to be what love is like. He has no sense of what a healthy relationship looks like, and it’s especially evident in how he views manipulation and imprisonment as just normal parts of a loving relationship. Despite how he treats the Li Yuze, at his core he’s only an eighteen year old youth in love, trying his best to get the one he loves to stay with him.

Li Yuze as well has quite the awful family situation with absent parents and unrealistic expectations, so in a sense you could interpret this as a mutual redemption novel, with both of them finding love from each other that they weren’t able to in others. While it definitely takes a while given how the start of their relationship begins (noncon, imprisonment, manipulation, lies, betrayal etc), I was fairly satisfied by the end with their feelings for each other.

I also always find it so interesting how differently a character is perceived from first person perspective when you’re only able to view the world through their perspective, vs when other characters are perceiving them. The main character Li Yuze is really such a good example of this, as in his mind he seems much more vivid than others perceive him as, and he internally freaks out a lot more than he shows on the outside.

The side CP between Lingyu and A-Song also made me cry at the end of the extras, it really was such a touching story. While the main CP was a bit too dramatic for me to really reach that level of emotion, it was nice that the writing was still able to bring me to tears for another CP in the end.

Note that I read this on Changpei so no comment on TL but it appears to be edited MTL. <<less

Read the tags before starting this novel!!! They serve as somewhat of a warning. The novel would start going dark as the tags warned.

... more>>

Spoiler

Seriously though, in the later parts when MC gets locked up, those were really the parts that showed how bad obsessive "love" is. Poor MC and the father of ML.

Honestly, I really was worried when I saw the victim becomes lover tag cause I thought after MC was locked up for so long and was exposed to ML's "care", he wouldn't want to leave anymore. But well, glad he still did, though he did keep thinking of ML.

Spoiler

The camera part really was the worst. I can't forget it. It really was traumatizing cause MC dreamed of how he taught ML how to use his camera, only for it to be used on him like that ugh.

[collapse]

But after all that, in the end they were both happy so that's it ig. Lmao the last line for the novel was cheesy tho ig it wrapped the whole summary and title up lol

[collapse]

Still tho, you should try reading this. It's actually pretty interesting! <<less

Big thank you to the translator!!

Let me begin by sharing something, this is the only novel apart from TGCF for which I stayed up late into the night (despite the fact that I had to go to work the next morning).

And it is a dark read. A dark, bittersweet read. Please do take the tags seriously.

Initially it would seem real slow, like you'll start to wonder when will it even pick up pace, until bam! You're deep into this sh*t and it keeps you wanting more and more.

... more>>

Spoiler

yes, there is r*pe, and for more than half of the story I actually felt irritated with the ML but once you really delve deep into his past, you'll kinda get why he behaved the way he did. And yes even though that's no excuse for whatever happened to the MC and his friends, the ML's age, experience and circumstance has to be considered here.

[collapse]

The author did a good job with this and even though it was a mighty rocky start, the ending is sweet and if you're one of those who believe in 'All's well that ends well' then this story would be a perfect read for you. <<less

The author's use of first person is really, really good. Don't let it scare you away!! They know what they're doing!!

I was hopelessly endeared by all the characters, but especially the MC and ML. The ML remains the black bellied yandere from start to end, which is a nice change of pace.

There are definitely some glaring pacing issues, and some minor unexplained plot holes. I'm not a huge fan of how they handled final arc, and it's the only reason this is 4 stars instead of 5. It's just slightly... more>> too fast for the previous pacing, which was very leisurely.

In terms of its depiction of Miao culture... Eh? Pretty good, all things considered. The only thing I cannot speak to its accuracy is the red string to guide the dead— I've never heard of this. However, I am willing to give the benefit of doubt and assume it is a tradition I have simply never had cause to run into. Everything else is more or less well researched.

Obviously the concept of a Miao youth in an unassimilated town in the mountains kidnapping and raping a Han boy is wildly stereotypical, as is the whole "if the love you they'll never let you go" bit, but you probably didn't need me to tell you that. Even then, I will say that several characters disprove that particular stereotype.

Definitely read the tags for this one! The r*pe scenes aren't explicit but they exist.

I found this through the audio drama!! Go listen to it if you can!! <<less

4.7/5

Amazing novel finished reading in 2 days.

I can highly relate to MC, I could see my own qualities in him. I like how ML remained Yandere till the end and it was most realistic part like a his teachings since childhood can't be changed in just few month.

Love the side character too specially wen lingyu and ah song, wished they could have their own extra chapters.

there were some loose ends and some low writing in in middle chapters. But overall I like it.

be mindful of tags before reading.

So the ML is a psychopath but this story is well written, interesting, and memorable. The author is quite good at creating feelings of unease.

If you're looking for something different this is for you.

I am gonna start with - before you jump into this novel, please, really please, read the tags. And thank you to the Translator for sharing the story!

If you are fan of cute, sassy, sunshine and rainbows stories - this one is not for you. It's dark, it's greedy. Can mess with your brain at times - and you will end up asking yourself - what would I do in his shoes?

... more>>

Spoiler

There is SA, psychological trauma - I would even say some form of Stockholm Syndrome, abandonment issues - like big, big chunk of those on both sides, issues with expressing emotions - in both ways - not expressing, and being all over the top obsessive type, anger & manipulation

[collapse]

As much as I can manage myself, and not read thru the night if I work next day, this one is the third danmei (TGCF & Drowning Sorrows) for me that I stayed till like 3-4AM even tho alarm was set at 7AM.

The world was built up the way iyt sucks you in - if you like a little bit of horror, a lot of folklore (not sure how much of it's legit, but Miao miniority group is real), that creepy vibe at the back of you neck - go for it, unless you are not okay with the tags and the stuff I mentioned in the spoiler, because well - everything in there is in their relationship.

As mentioned in previous recs - the intro is slow, and at some point you are wondering if it will ever pick up the speed and yeah, it does.

This was an enjoyable ride, and yes, there is happy ending. So if you are not repulsed by the tags, go for it. <<less