Good to Excellent Under-read NU BL

Good to Excellent Under-read NU BL
This is a list of BL I found to be really good reads with small NU readership (<4000 readers), and/or few reviews. They usually feature one or more of the following:

1. Strong plot

2. Good characters/characterization

3. Power couple.

Most (but not all) are HE as well. I generally read more historical, but there will be others as well. The list will be slowly updated over time. I will also try to add comments or reasons to why I like the novel, especially to titles I didn't leave a review for already.

Additionally, while this generally a rec list, that doesn't mean that I will have glowing things to say about every single one of them. I will still have criticisms and complaints about things I didn't like about each of these.

Note: This is NOT a list of all BLs that I consider to be excellent (there are many I consider to be good reads but are much more well-read i.e. >6,000 readers, even). An absolutely favorite list might be posted separately at another time.
2 1735 18
19 Followers
wetheril
Created: Jun 23rd, 2022, Updated: Aug 28th, 2024
Created Jun 23rd, 2022
Updated Aug 28th, 2024
CN (4.5)
240 Chapters Every 47.7 Day(s) 4466 Readers 43 Reviews 01-06-2023
This is still one of my top six favorite novels of all time (the others being LSWW, SYMX, Thousand Autumns, Can Ci Pin, and possibly QJJ).... more>>
CN (4.7)
66 Chapters Every 70 Day(s) 5555 Readers 92 Reviews 12-01-2021
This is actually one of the few angst-free recs on here, and also one of the best bickering couple dynamics I have read so far.... more>>
CN (4.1)
19 Chapters Every 45.5 Day(s) 670 Readers 3 Reviews 03-16-2023
I finished reading the entire novel in CN months ago (see my review). My translation is still on-going at Chickengege's website. 
CN (4.4)
0 Chapters Every 79.6 Day(s) 1213 Readers 2 Reviews N/A
I have only read up to Ch. 59 (where current translations are at, which are amazing btw with really good explanatory notes by the translator Naphyla), but oh, how I am tempted to continue reading the CN raws. If you love adventure, traveling, and immersive worlds, and a blend of sci-fi and fantasy, you may enjoy this. This actually feels like reading a shounen series, just with gays. Both MC and ML are a truly manly power couple. It also contains some of the most extremely kinky smut I've read in a plot-heavy story, and there are even moments of strong angst as well that snuck up by surprise.... more>>
CN (4.2)
25 Chapters Every 48.5 Day(s) 717 Readers 1 Reviews 12-19-2022
Currently keeping up with the translations, and it's very entertaining, not a dull moment. Set during the Ming Dynasty featuring many actual historical figures. The... more>>
CN (4)
0 Chapters Every 83.7 Day(s) 1773 Readers 1 Reviews N/A
Although the story opens with Xu Lingyun and Li Xiao, the focus of the story is really on an earlier timeline in the past involving crown prince Li Qingcheng (MC) and his bodyguards, one of whom is the actual ML. The life of the early timeline is actually the baseline focus of the story, but it starts to become apparent who Xu Lingyun, Li Xiao, and other present-timeline characters really are, and how they are connected to the first timeline. It's a story in which elements of foreshadowing are there already, you might already have been able to guess in some ways that the first timeline wasn't happy, but as more and more of the... more>>
CN (4.1)
122 Chapters Every 25.5 Day(s) 5000 Readers 49 Reviews 12-01-2023
Note: Has Inters*x MC and MPREG, and multiple character rebirths at different time points.... more>>
CN (3.9)
0 Chapters Every 1449 Day(s) 1600 Readers 5 Reviews 10-19-2020
6/20/2023: I finished reading the main story recently! Will be reading extras some time soon. Considering that this book was the first book of the... more>>
CN (4.1)
6 Chapters Every 86.7 Day(s) 1011 Readers 3 Reviews 12-25-2023
Warning: NP and BE. Wrote a review for it.
CN (4.2)
0 Chapters Every 98.5 Day(s) 3593 Readers 58 Reviews N/A
Depressed unreliable narrator, very evocative, and melancholic. You definitely get a sense for the political issues an Imperial Uncle has to deal with, and the... more>>
CN (4.5)
0 Chapters Every 1165 Day(s) 2237 Readers 18 Reviews 07-31-2021
Wrote a review for it very early on. I like the MC a lot, and I really enjoyed the story and the world-building quite a... more>>
CN (4.4)
0 Chapters Every 1160 Day(s) 3611 Readers 44 Reviews N/A
Jun Wei Xia is the lesser read between the two of "The Wife is First", but I personally enjoyed this one more. Some issues in general with this author's writings though (which I have noticed from reading TWIF, Submissive Emperor, and halfway through Peach), is that many female characters aren't portrayed very positively in general, and there's some racial stereotyping in depictions of some non-Han ethnic groups.... more>>
CN (4.3)
61 Chapters Every 62.9 Day(s) 2920 Readers 41 Reviews 04-16-2022
Note: ABO, mpreg... more>>
CN (4.5)
193 Chapters Every 61.9 Day(s) 4955 Readers 98 Reviews 04-30-2022
This is a story much more focused on kingdom building and the political maneuvers of power, and less upon the romance of the main CP.... more>>
CN (4.2)
0 Chapters Every 1931 Day(s) 4157 Readers 74 Reviews 06-24-2019
I think the biggest complaint some people had was that ML has a harem, and still continues to have a harem even when he first gets intimate with MC (but that is supposed to change, I will update when I get to the end). It's a valid complaint, but that doesn't make the ML a bad or unreasonable person considering the historical context. In fact, what kept me reading at first was that the ML was actually a very decent person who tries to balance his expected family obligations and his responsibilities.... more>>
CN (4)
142 Chapters Every 8.3 Day(s) 3043 Readers 11 Reviews 09-26-2024
Note: Features multiple characters rebirthed.... more>>
CN (4)
16 Chapters Every 36.3 Day(s) 555 Readers 1 Reviews 09-17-2023
8/28/2024: I recently finished reading this novel 《皇恩浩荡》, the sequel 《江山许你》, and the parallel universe short story 《浮生梦》, and I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected. The first novel, especially, surprised me in a good way. I thought this was going to be lots of knifey drama, but this ended up being a lot sweeter than I expected, especially with how the relationship developed and all the cute moments with the kid. The MC of the first novel (MC1) Zhu Yunjing seemed quite unlikeable at first because he's haughty and bad-tempered, but is actually quite cute in a tsundere way especially later on. ML1 (He Huailing) is so sweet, and only... more>>
CN (3.9)
19 Chapters Every 78.3 Day(s) 836 Readers 4 Reviews 06-28-2022
Comments (2)
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  1. StrawverryTae
    StrawverryTae· Feb 24, 2023 01:22 PM
    omg i like reading ur reviews! they helped me put some new books in my library 
    Reply · ·
    • wetheril
      wetheril· Author · Feb 24, 2023 03:39 PM
      You're welcome! I'm glad you've found this helpful. :) I forgot about updating this for more than a month, but I will try to post updates on it soon.
      Reply · 1 Like · ·