Fav (plot/overall) (any pairings)
Fav (plot/overall) (any pairings)
For personal reference/rereading. Mostly plot focus & serious favs, with solid writing/characterisations/overarching plot. Any pairings (mostly bl/het), but not many harem/stallion novels. Mostly CN/KR novels for dialogue. Roughly sorted, many genres, no/low spoilers.
I prefer wuxia over xianxia, tragedy over fluff, etc. Some less serious/non-plot-focused novels included/marked for their definitive traits.
Personal genre/trait favs: comedy, tragedy, historical, mystery, psychological, scifi, realistic, mature, bittersweet, wuxia, delinquents, strategies/war, empire building, betrayal, food.
I prefer wuxia over xianxia, tragedy over fluff, etc. Some less serious/non-plot-focused novels included/marked for their definitive traits.
Personal genre/trait favs: comedy, tragedy, historical, mystery, psychological, scifi, realistic, mature, bittersweet, wuxia, delinquents, strategies/war, empire building, betrayal, food.
26 Followers
Created: Jul 1st, 2022, Updated: Dec 17th, 2023
Created Jul 1st, 2022
Updated Dec 17th, 2023
916 Chapters Every 150.5 Day(s) 13676 Readers 240 Reviews 03-16-2018
Personal favourite (crafting, side disciplines, empire building) but rubbish ending. rounding to 5 for side-discipline bias without the ending, but the ending is about a... more>>
757 Chapters Every 1.1 Day(s) 18334 Readers 212 Reviews 05-05-2024
36 Chapters Every 2134 Day(s) 21445 Readers 441 Reviews 07-03-2018
981 Chapters Every 3.3 Day(s) 37855 Readers 587 Reviews 05-06-2024
58 Chapters Every 155.8 Day(s) 919 Readers 17 Reviews 11-18-2018
not tagged 'romance' for a reason. about a 4.
199 Chapters Every 76.9 Day(s) 9171 Readers 178 Reviews 03-19-2021
182 Chapters Every 71.6 Day(s) 5364 Readers 100 Reviews 08-02-2022
156 Chapters Every 72.3 Day(s) 12469 Readers 279 Reviews 07-18-2021
0 Chapters Every 857 Day(s) 3122 Readers 31 Reviews 01-01-2022
Non-plot/writing quality pick: mystery
147 Chapters Every 71.8 Day(s) 2554 Readers 19 Reviews 09-27-2023
rounded up to 5*, but only enjoyable if you like deductive reasoning games focused on solving mysteries. Slightly niche, perhaps, and not tagged horror or thriller for a reason; many chapters are less about "exciting things happening!" and more about "calmly finding gaps in alibis to pin down the crime". fans of deception/bluffing board games may like this. ... more>>
131 Chapters Every 46.5 Day(s) 17508 Readers 409 Reviews 06-22-2023
248 Chapters Every 22.4 Day(s) 4359 Readers 43 Reviews 09-11-2023
115 Chapters Every 21.5 Day(s) 5968 Readers 36 Reviews 02-19-2024
366 Chapters Every 23.1 Day(s) 4827 Readers 63 Reviews 06-19-2023
104 Chapters Every 290.9 Day(s) 4738 Readers 49 Reviews 01-11-2022
Non-plot/writing quality pick: food... more>>
113 Chapters Every 74.7 Day(s) 4340 Readers 84 Reviews 04-30-2021
Non-plot/writing quality pick: food
#47The Feast
321 Chapters Every 85.5 Day(s) 4128 Readers 61 Reviews 11-20-2020
Non-plot/writing quality pick: food
#48Yama Rising
20 Chapters Every 173.8 Day(s) 1098 Readers 15 Reviews 08-16-2020
Non-plot/writing quality pick: kingdom building... more>>
206 Chapters Every 103.4 Day(s) 9717 Readers 162 Reviews 02-20-2020
Non-plot/writing quality pick: kingdom building (sort of)
128 Chapters Every 85.5 Day(s) 8625 Readers 133 Reviews 11-12-2020
Comments (8)
BL is not my favorite genre nor romance in general but tbh u have solid recommendations here, good taste
I just finished ‘I’ve transmigrated into this movie before’. Very good , do u have recommendation of something similar, if possible not so romance (sub plot is ok but not main plot). I like that this story has great character development, rich in emotional scenes, great plot twists!
Thank you! Romance isn't a priority when I'm searching for novels, either -- although I do like some of them, I'm generally ambivalent about the genre itself.
To be honest, I'd really like to find something similar to ITITMB too, hahaha...especially if it's also mystery/horror/etc. Unfortunately, I haven't really got anything, and most of the unlimited flow/quick transmigration novels I've read are BL. Still, here are some recs that fit a few (if not all) of the conditions you're looking for, perhaps? They're not that similar to ITITMB overall, merely on a few points here and there, but nonetheless. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
"Low IQ Supporting Female, Waiting for Death Online" has some decently emotional scenes, some twists & developments with the overarching plot, and while there's some one-sided affection from the various male characters towards the FL, the FL never develops feelings and consistently makes an effort to be a villain. The "real ML" (if any) shows up at the last chapter for a couple of paragraphs, and that's it. However, it's not horror or thriller, and the character development isn't nearly as good.
"I Was Admitted To The Villain School" has some very neat twists towards the middle-end, although most of the novel is less serious and more comedic. There's some romance, but I think comedy takes priority.
And two novels I haven't read yet: "The Chronicle of the Oriole Island", which is a rather short, apparently well-written mystery that is allegedly romance-free, and "A Hint of Spring" is another mystery/crime novel that's apparently low on romance.
@evileye23 thanks for the recommendations! I just finished reading apocalypse lord and came back to the list to read more from your recommendation list
I already read the villain school one but I’ll check out the others. Tbh I was really surprised when I found ITITMB, that was a real hidden gem. I think the title doesn’t do the work justice , it sounded like a second rate novel title but it was definitely a masterpiece *chef’s kiss*
@sibyl97 Np, hope there's something that's to your taste! Happy reading.
I totally agree lol, it has one of those really generic and rather lame names that made me expect an extra cliché B tier novel, but it's actually really good (altho I didn't like the ending so much).
Not to underestimate your undoubtedly profound degree of literacy, but there's an "all pairings" note in the title of this list, as well as the "mainly BL/het" note in the description.
One would hope that you, a literate person on a site for aggregating novel information, would know to read a list's title and basic description before clicking on it.
Of course, I'll be assuming the best of you. As such, thank you for agreeing with my choices. I hope you enjoy my novel recommendations, especially the BL ones, which seem like your favourites, since your comment is so focused on them (despite the variety of other novels on my list).
Since you love BL so much, if you're looking for more BL recommendations, feel free to let me know.
Also, if you're looking for "het male MC x solo FL", there are already specifically harem-free MC lists. The ones I've read tend to not have any substantial romance, but romance isn't nearly my favourite genre, and seeing as this is a list of my favourites, it's not all that personally relevant.
As for actually romantic ones, idk, good luck, gotta be somewhere out there. Unfortunately, A Harem Of Cardboard Beauties is a lot more popular with straight male MCs compared to 1 on 1 romance and a FL with personality.
Edit: come to think of it, here's a non-BL rec. The most recent work I've read with decent writing, engaging plot, and a male primary MC that ends up with a girlfriend at the end is Snow Crash.
(No harems! Not BL! Girlfriend endgame for our charming male MC! Perfect for the picky reader ignoring others' list criteria!)
(The next sexy romantic novel with a male MC on my to-read list is Dream of the Red Chamber. Not BL! I've even heard that it's full of fascinating tales of love, life, and romance.)