Worth it!! You know what? It's Priest, so don't hesitate it, go and read right now!!! You won't regret (if you're a sucker of crime/ thriller/ mystery genre). Otherwise it will make your brain completely lose control.

I wanted to be generous because Priest is a dedicated writer but I'd probably rate it less than three.

I gotta be honest it's really hard to get through a book about a cop and a millionaire... in 2021.

Very much copaganda, very much billionaire worship, very not my kind of thing.

... more>> That being said, the dynamic between the two mains is really cute. MC is like a goofy dog who ends up being very determined and attentive towards schemey snake ML, who in turn grows to appreciate it. That part is great.

The pacing of the book is like an old-timey radio show. Where it feels very bap bap bap, one punch-two punch. Lots of dialogue. So if you're not super gripped by the plot, well then it sucks to be you because there's not much outer context. Very rarely will you get a fluffy beautiful description of something in the surrounding area.

I personally wasn't a fan of this type of pacing because I didn't love the plot, but rather felt like I was stuck in a cramped car with a bunch of humid mouth-breathing cops that I didn't like. <<less

I'm not much for crime novels so me actually finishing this is a testament to the writing.

Echoing the positive reviews, its thrilling, the main characters are likeable, competent and interesting (Fei Du especially), and when the plot gets going its really hard to put it down. The cases can be a hit or miss personally but even if I wasn't too terribly interested in the case, it is still interesting enough for me to soldier on if only to see what Fei Du is up to.

If you are looking for... more>> a more romance though, probably lower your expectation. For me the amount of romance was okay-ish, when its there, its more like a bonus with the plot being the central focus. One thing is that I'm kind of confused on why the MC fell in love with Fei Du, it kinda felt abrupt. The physical attraction was there no doubt but for more of the emotional kind, its hard to say.

Their chemistry is good though, if you love sun/moon dynamics and competent couples, you will love this two.

That said I still docked one point off for a couple of things that bothered me:
- The side characters are kinda eh. They are likeable but most are generic and forgettable with one off tropes and acting more as plot devices.

- The last arc (and the ending) was underwhelming and unsatisfying. The villains were given sad backstories but its flimsy at best and just makes them one dimensional. I feel like they are not set up properly beforehand so I didn't have any eureka moment when the truth is revealed. There was also no satisfaction in their ends, it all felt perfunctory. I felt really apathetic about their fates which is a step down from some of the earlier arc criminals. <<less

THE blueprint for crime stories

at first kind of struggle reading this cuz I feel something was not right.. and yes, I'm a dumb person, I thought the ML beside fei duo is Tao ran but actually no. It's Luo wenzhou! (So that's why this guy very against TR x FD. XD) I saw some fan art about this and that's why I have some misgivings, I thought Other ML is serious and mature and well... LWZ is not that xD he's shameless, he's loud, he's sometimes made people speechless and want to beat him,... more>> sometimes kind of childish. But He's good police captain, oh and he's perfect match for Fei Duo undoubtedly. Fei Duo is complex chara, maybe his courage is low, but I never yell about him about 'being such a coward' because he has reason (and trauma, though, he himself didn't really realize it), he also very sly and used gentle and soft mask, though that just made people (not girl) want to beat him up. although he can't fight, He also really really smart. So he's NOT useless. Watch their relationship progress from mutual dislike to I tolerate your presence to I care about you (I luv you) The case is fun- no that's a lie, it's thrilling, it made you want to read faster cuz THE MYSTERY! Focus on the case the romance is in between but it made it more sweet, the glimpse of their affection. It's also a pleasant surprise when you thought 'oh no this will be bad' but the author was like 'it's okay! There will no bad things happens (conflict) so I read this all the way without need to recharge with fluff story. Although in their relationship is LWZ who pursue it and he's the one who taking the initiate, it's also gratifying to see Fei Duo open up, because I know that was no easy, anyway good read. <<less

This was my first ever modern setting novel that I read and now is one of my absolute favorites.

I love those police/detective plots, im such a fan for it and I highly expected this to be good and it didnt dissapoint at all.

First the cases themselves and the whole plot was so interesting to me, the way the characters investigated everything was so good, it made me too start thinking about who could be a suspect and how the crime was done.

The way everything connected as the novel progressed really... more>> impressed me, the author really did a wonderful job.

Second the couple... OMG this is one of my favorite couples, they are just so adorable and Luo is such a sweetheart, I loved him inmediatly.

Fei's past was so interesting to me, I honestly saw it coming, but when they started explaining everything it surprised me greatly. His developement was so right and he has become such a lovely person too (he kinda was already). <<less

My first thoughts upon completing this novel were these. I would love to be able to walk into an English-language book store and see these five volumes displayed right in front. I would buy them all, full price, hardback copy without question.

There are a lot of novels I've read here that I've really enjoyed and treasured, but Silent Reading is a truly exceptional story that rises above the genre to stand as a great novel period. End of sentence.

I've read Priest's Sha Po Lang and was very impressed by the... more>> author's daring in choice of setting and the scope of the story and the skill with which the novel was written, but Silent Reading takes it to an entire other level.

This is a complex, thoughtful story. The author takes big risks. On the face a police procedural with a lively romance. But framed with themes from very famous works of literature, a lot of psychological depth and maturity, and questions about wealth, innocence, evil, trauma, vengeance and collateral victims of violence.

If you love books, read this. <<less

Full 5 stars.

Read the E. Danglars translation. Translation quality was A class and the novel itself was beyond amazing. Best mystery novel I've read in a decade, either Western or Eastern. The characters are complex and fleshed out, the ending was realistic, the loose ends were tied up all the way down to random unexplained coughing... Truly the best of the best.

Really really gooooood though it's super heavy, not recommended for those searching for a light read. For the romance, it's a subplot but it's super obvious and you can see the progression of the relationship throughout so still a recommended read for those searching for romance.

If you like mysteries and crimes and those typa stuff this is super super recommended. It's really good and I kinda regretted shelving it all this time.

Even if you're not here for the BL, the plot and the story itself is really good so... more>> try and give it a go.

Also spoiler about deaths if you wanna prep yourself:

Spoiler

None of the main cast died (the main people involved in the investigation etc throughout), the ones who died are the cannon fodders and minor characters that pass by with each arc (there's five arcs).

Also it's HE so all's good

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The ending is really satisfying and I really like the extras. The relationship dynamic between the main couple is really damn good. They mutually care, support and love each other. <<less

This is PURE GOLD

I am a fan of mystery books and I have read a loooot of them and this doesn’t fall short to any of them. The cases so far are very engaging, and well constructed.
After reading so many mystery stories sometimes I am able to guess some major stuff and that makes the reading a bit boring, yet my favorite thing about this novel is that I have no idea what the hell is going on.
Don’t get me wrong, I find the plot very easy to follow but it’s nearly impossible for me to guess what will happen next or who’s is the culprit and what motives do they have.

The writing and translation (I’m reading the E. Danglers one) are very good, I especially love how a lot of things are suggested but not explicitly said so you have to put your mind to work.

The characters so far are very realistic, they have flaws and virtues, even the “bad guys” are appealing and is easy to empathize with some of them (not all, some are real disgusting pieces of tr*sh) The secondary characters are also very interesting ad well developed.

The romance is not the main focus, is a sort of slow burn and the interactions of the MC and the ML are not excessively romantic. I personally don’t mind, the plot is so good that compesates for the lack of romantic scenes. There might not be that much romance but the bit that’s there is beautiful and exciting. And there’s a lot of s*xual tension as well.

This story is a emotional rollercoaster, it’s intriguing, sad, funny, it can make you feel angry a moment, helpless at the next, nervous and on edge practically the whole time. I fully recommend it.

I advice to take close note of the characters names no matter how irrelevant they may seem, reread as many times as you need to understand and not to skip any paragraphs because there’s bits of crucual information hiding everywhere and you might get lost.

Amd overall if you haven’t read it yet you should go do that asap cause this novel is incredibly good.

english is not my first language sorry if there’s too many mistakes in this

A perfect example of a wonderfully done novel. This was the first Priest novel I had read and honestly I love it so so much.

The Plot:

It's a psychological crime thriller, and it delivers spectacularly well. The breakdown of human emotions and thought process is absolutely gorgeous. All the cases are well thought out with all complexities highlighted. Although it gets a little predictable towards the end, especially how the end ties up, it's still so very beautifully written that I could not stop reading. Overall 9/10

... more>> The Characters and the CP:

Both the characters are such properly thought out I cannot express much. They aren't extremely deep, but just enough to pour their emotions into the plot. Honestly, before I had started the book, I thought that the plot would end up revolving around the criminal cases and the romance would feel out of place, but it all just weaves together so beautifully.

Luo Wenzhou is just adorable. I love how shameless he is, even in front of his seniors, and yet is one of the most hardworking and reliable people in the group. Fei Du, on the other hand, who is also shameless by the way, seems like a kid who has everything sorted, living his best life, is actually hurting inside but doesn't let on.

Both of them end up being each other's strength and it's so lovely to watch them slowly fall in love. It's just so smooth and natural you never know when they did. It's a complete 10/10 for me, I love these kind of romances.

Translations:

Very good. I couldn't have asked for better. Plus they give you an option to download too I remember I read this novel when I had gone to the countryside last year

TL;DR: Definitely definitely worth a read, go check it out! <<less

My first Priest novel! I read the E. Danglers translation and it was excellent

... more>>

Spoiler

I enjoyed how each volume was the name of a famous literary protagonist and how each arc fit in with the novel they were from (I didn’t notice the first name because I hadn’t read the original novel, but the others were spot on)

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I like brain teasers and this series made me anticipate what would happen in each arc and made me enjoy it more

If I could give more than 5 stars I would

Highly, highly, highly recommended <<less

One of the superior storylines I've ever known.. As a crime and investigation fan, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Worth all the time!

The plot is very intricate. Each case is TOTALLY engaging with good number of twists, reasons and thoughts.

... more>>

Spoiler

They seem like seperate cases at first and are really solved. Or atleast they think they are but all of them are connected by a master thread which is revealed in the last arcs.

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It's not at all annoying but rather even brings out your curiosity. Priest did a very good job writing this!

Coming to romance, it's a slow burn but I'm satisfied. There's a great character growth and consistency. Fei du the sexy brained seductive poison, and the husband material cop Luo wenzhou.

Happy ending.

Overall 9/10

Tho I would've loved to see more romantic and adorable moments <<less

Amazing

This is a fun thriller with good characters and romance, and on top of that, a very nice translation to read.

This is really awesome, I'm crying of happiness 😭 my heart is so full. This story is an easy read, the translators are great (you can choose whoever translated it) and it was really detailed. It's just kinda hard to understand at first and honestly, I only truly understood it near the end. Though I don't know maybe I'm number and the shock factor is not enough for me but this is good! What's only regrettable is that I didn't keep track of the characters and I read it too... more>> fast so I didn't feel most of it. So I suggest you try keeping track of it to not lose your way ah😉 <<less

The extensive cast of characters requires quite a detailed mapping to keep track of who's who and what is related to what. I thoroughly enjoyed mentally mapping out each character's motives and deducing the behind the scenes maneuvering. It's interesting as the story is told largely from the perspective of a detective with occasional 3rd person views from criminals or victims inserted. Ironically, the author does it in such a way that it can mislead readers into making false conjectures. Nevertheless, I relished how well-paced the plot was and when... more>> everything panned out, when collected information drew insane conclusions along. The intricate plotting and gradual unveiling of the MULTIPLE parties behind each case was so compelling and drew me in. I couldn't help but marvel at how all cases in each volume were interconnected to an overarching massive force. It was an intensive read through-and-through; although there's a somber tone that pervades the novel, the main and supporting characters have such lively and hopeful dispositions that alleviated much of the macabre atmosphere when solving cases. <<less

Beautiful story, I really fell in love with many of the characters. The plot was riveting, there were times where I questioned some parts that I thought would become plotholes, but the author was able to wrap everything up really well into a satisfying ending.

At first I thought Tao Ran was the ML which lead to quite a deal of confusion until things cleared up. The romance took up little of the novel but I feel it was for the best or else it would have distracted from the amazing... more>> main story. I'm a sucker for bittersweet love stories with a happy ending, and this had me in tears many times but I loved every bit of it.

I think I would only re-read this after waiting a few years and forgetting most of the novel, you can't know too much of the story or else it wouldn't be enjoyable. The story does give plenty of foreshadowing and hints at the obvious plotholes so you know something else has got to be going on, but not too much that it spoils the fun, being there in the moment and seeing everything fold out and become clear is a great part of what makes this enjoyable. <<less

You can really tell the effort that went into writing this just from the summary. It sounds like the summary is all about pursuing justice and fairness when judging criminals, (MAJOR SPOILER) ... more>>

Spoiler

and seems like it comes from the perspective of the main characters (who are police and seem like they're the ones pursuing justice), but it is actually written from the perspective of one of the villains in the story.

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So the summary won't make sense at first, but coming back after binging the novel for 3 days and nights straight, and rereading the summary afterwards just made me go wow. Also why I wanted to write this review and share my findings haha

Apart from that, I really love the way everyone is given a personality, and how everything is intricately interlinked. This isn't a novel you go into if you're just going to lightly skim - what makes it so good is spotting those small details the author blends in, and then realising what actually happened.

Spoiler

There are a few plot twists (perhaps because I didn't have a keen enough eye like our MC and ML does for those deets), and the novel really builds up the overarching conspiracy quite well.

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Unlike what some other reviews have said, the MC and ML are indeed OP, but still within reasonable bounds. When you have someone like Fei Du (ML), who has the genetics and has been brought up like he has... I figure you probably either go crazy or become insane (ly cold-blooded and rational). Fei Du has been studying psychology on his own for many years, so it isn't totally unreasonable for him to be able to get a child to talk when others hadn't been able to - sometimes a different person and approach is required. You find out that he's just a figurehead for the company and doesn't really have to be there >_> He also manipulates his way into getting involved for the first two cases, before being formally involved as a related personnel in the investigations (which he also kind of manipulated his way into if you just read the story properly).

Spoiler

The reason he seems so OP when solving the cases is because it just happens to coincide with what he has been investigating on his own and plotting ever since his mother's su*cide and his father's accident, and he understands a lot of what is going on - and is actually a major player behind the scenes.

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One question I do have is how

Spoiler

the villains have so many firearms... pretty sure you'd need to be authorised and stuff to be able to obtain them in China, but towards the end, there's so many gunfights and explosions going on.

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I've never heard of Priest before, but seeing other's high praise of them, and being convinced of their writing abilities after this novel, I will end this review here to check out their other novels. :) <<less

Rate: 10/10

OMG!!! I just spend the past 3 day and night binge reading this novel.

This novel was so intense and thrilling. The characters and the plot is so interesting. I definitely will reread this novel.