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All Novels I've Read Sorted By Rating
All Novels I've Read Sorted By Rating
I have made a review and rating for every novel I've read on novelupdates. Since they don't have the user friendly capability of sorting a user's read list by rank I made one for myself ordered by best/enjoyed the most to least. The ranking within the same number of stars may not be right because it is usually from different genres, too different to compare with each other haha. All in one spot.
The bottom of the list that are my lower rated and unranked/dropped novels, I have moved to a new list "All Novels I've Read Sorted By Rating (3.6 Stars & Below + Dropped)" due to a list only having a max of 100. In the future, this will be basically my Top 100 list. The others will be from ranked 101 onwards. The other weaker alternative is the Reviews section in my profile but it can only be sorted by likes and date of review not by rank.
The reason I want to put my rating and reviews straight in the list is because you can't search for a specific user's review in the novel page if there are too many reviews. You will have to search one by one. Its easier to straight up see why I put the novel in a particular list plus my review in the list itself. Sigh, novelupdates is really not user friendly.
The bottom of the list that are my lower rated and unranked/dropped novels, I have moved to a new list "All Novels I've Read Sorted By Rating (3.6 Stars & Below + Dropped)" due to a list only having a max of 100. In the future, this will be basically my Top 100 list. The others will be from ranked 101 onwards. The other weaker alternative is the Reviews section in my profile but it can only be sorted by likes and date of review not by rank.
The reason I want to put my rating and reviews straight in the list is because you can't search for a specific user's review in the novel page if there are too many reviews. You will have to search one by one. Its easier to straight up see why I put the novel in a particular list plus my review in the list itself. Sigh, novelupdates is really not user friendly.
Poor to RichAncient TimesKingdom BuildingDoting Love InterestsModern KnowledgeModern DayCookingTransmigrationBusiness ManagementFarming
73 Followers
Created: Sep 21st, 2022, Updated: Jun 29th, 2024
Created Sep 21st, 2022
Updated Jun 29th, 2024
KR (4.6)
0 Chapters Every 154.3 Day(s) 22994 Readers 452 Reviews N/A
Completed Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Mature Mystery Psychological Sci-fi Seinen Shounen Supernatural Tragedy
5 Stars... more>>
Hot damn, this story T.T Ahh, I cried so many times. The MC is too easy to cry for. Man, this was such a good story? There is a very obvious amount of love and care that went into it. All the foreshadowing and circular plot points felt very airtight? At least as far as I can tell. And I can understand it? Normally, when these types of tropes are used, it gets super complicated or there are plot holes everywhere. But it was very easy to understand! Even when the scale gets super huge. Also, all the themes in the story are super heavy! And they were handled very well! Depression, loneliness, ab*se wow Also, I love the themes and how they all connect to each other, even to the medium of the story! I love almost everything about this haha. The found family, the adventure, the plot twists, all the feels man. And I especially grew to adore these characters so much.
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JP (4.2)
118 Chapters Every 87.4 Day(s) 13382 Readers 164 Reviews 09-21-2024
5 Stars!... more>>
I love this series! It's ongoing, so ugh but the official translations + extra comics + art are so worth the wait! This series has awesome worldbuilding and cool magic when it gets there, it feels like an actual fantasy series with real characters and feelings and plot and love and care in its crafting! I adore all the characters introduced with my favourites being Rozamyne and Ferdinand! I've read some minor spoilers(in that after I don't know how many books, we still don't get many hints of it) for the Ferdinand and Rosamyne romance! I'm not squick about the age difference because Rosamyne's age is too obviously mature enough for it haha. I adore all the building up from scratch knowledge and info that goes into introducing future advanced knowledge into a medievalish setting by Rosamyne and of course, profiting from it haha. I just love this type of stuff. Add in all this lore, character relationships, super likeable and fascinating characters, fantasy setting and all that ahhh I love it! Not to mention the humour all over. The vibe is wholesome-ness with an ambitious and likeable heroine and her friends and family. I adore this series.
Part 2 Vol 4
Dayum, I'm more and more impressed by these books as I go along. I even look forward to reading the short stories in other characters' POVs when I normally hate reading those because short stories usually are very boring and lacklustre compared to the main story but the books really hyper focusses on Myne's pov and there are surprisingly a lot of things she is not involved in that when you read these short stories you get so much new information, worldbuilding and scheming by everyone that it's so interesting! Plus, you really feel the love Myne and the people she cares about feel for her. The ending of this book was so sad I was a sobbing mess T.T
Part 3 Vol 1
Hahahahaha, the whole thing with Ferdinand was hilarious! I actually laughed out loud so many times! And the whole bringing the idol thing from modern times into these ancient fantasy setting is brilliant hahaha
Part 3 Vol 2
Oh wow!! This was the best book yet! Mostly because of all the family drama part with the archduke! Pheww, Rozemyne was so very cool there hehehe. The only thing I was disappointed in was that there was no pov about the whole scene in the short stories :( I wanted someone, Karstedt, to actually narrate what happened when all this was going down. I wanted to see what he thought from an outside perspective of Ferdinand, Rozemyne and Sylvester discussing Willfried hehe. Especially when Ferdinand was displaying how bitter and furious he was when he came in! Speaking off, we have learnt a bit more about Ferdinand and Rozemyne also finding out about how all that made him who he is today. And I also loved how she's helping him stop piling on unnecessary work on himself even if it's for her own selfish intentions haha.
Part 3 Vol 3
8/10
Still good but not as satisfying as the previous volume, only because that one had such a cool scene of Rozemyne being super capable and informing the archduke family what's what and also helping out Ferdinand all the way. I wanted more in regards to the Winter debut but I now realise that would have been too naive because these are just seven-year-old kids who barely know how to read and write and play compared to Rozemyne who is basically in all ways an adult, not in any way shape or form their equal lol. I love reading about people close to Ferdinand observing how he has changed and come to like Rozemyne in the Prologue and Epilogue haha. But I didn't really like Ingo's pov, I sympathised but didn't like feeling all of his feelings just because they were all negative feelings lol. And of course, the bonus comic scenes were very nice as usual.
Part 4 Vol 9
Nghhhh, Ferdinand's departure kinda unnoticeably broke the distance between MC and himself and all the feels is glorious. And guh, the art has a dramatic upgrade in displaying the sadness that is happening and the depth of the emotions involved. And ahhh, you can see more character development for Ferdinand because of all this! He asks for help and especially from Rozemyne! In fact, he asks her for help so naturally that it isn't until the end or when you are reading all the POV from the other side characters that you see the breaking of barriers hehehehe Ahhh, why aren't the translations complete so I can just binge and stay in this world until the end T.T
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KR (4.4)
830 Chapters Every 2.6 Day(s) 19231 Readers 225 Reviews 10-25-2024
4.62 Stars On-Hold: C263... more>>
I read the Manhwa up to c84. Then I read the light novel from the start again until here hehe.
Writing/Translation: 5/5
The translation I read is from woopread translations. Pretty good, zero complaints whatsoever. Now I want to talk about the prose. Yes, this is light novel prose. So not that dense or detailed. But wow, does the author have a way to convey what is happening. When things get intense, how the author writes the events is so vivid and kinda emotional. The further you read, the better it gets.
Pacing: 4/5
There are high highs and not quite lows pacing wise. As with all stories that have arcs, some arcs depending on your preferences start out a bit slow or boring. But once you get like 1/4 of the way through, there are so many twists and turns or introduces a surprisingly feelsy connection that you get so invested anyway hahaha. For me, the arc with the developer's past was that. It was confusing and so kind of draggy until you finally get to the climax and all the things at the beginning of the arc really pay off, and you get all emotional *sniff*. Again, the prose <3. But otherwise, very good.
Plot: 4.7/5
This story is more of a character development story focused on creating deep, meaningful relationships, wholesomeness and doing one's best to help everyone and all the harsh obstacles along the way. It's not really about fighting, even though it's there in every arc. But it's kind of philosophical too. As the Tower says to our MC, [You existence becomes more defined]. We follow our MC as he encounters new and desperate challenges for him and also strangers, and we see how he chooses to live a life that he would be satisfied with and grows strong enough to make it a reality. There is so much depth haha. Stick to like chapter 3 to see the first "twist" and then read until the 10th floor to get the first hint of the depth this story can produce. This would be just the start so stick with it! I can't say whether you read the manhwa or novel first but perhaps both together. The manhwa is a teeny bit more engaging but I feel like the novel makes the inciting incident of the whole thing more impactful because it was described more clearly how cruel the thing was. In the manhwa, I couldn't really feel it at the beginning. So yeah, it might be best to read them both side by side. My one complaint is that the MC sometimes gets really close to people a bit too fast for me haha. The prose and writing somewhat make up for things and still made me get the feels in spite of this but it could be better if the author made them bond a bit longer.
The execution of the overall plot isn't as tight as ORV but it is definitely close in terms of ambition and the execution of it is close enough hahaha. Also, I haven't read to the end yet and who knows, it might reach that level. But anyway, in terms of layers and depth, this might be better if only because the side characters are also explored.
Romance: 3.9/5
The romance is very interesting lol. But I still feel weird because, yes, the chemistry the meeting and all that was very very good. It still felt a bit off how fast they got to this die for each other level haha.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.8/5
So good! It's a climb the Tower type of setting, and the author uses the numerous floors to great effect!
Characters: 5/5
The best part of this whole thing! They are just so fascinating. I love our MC! You need to wait a few small arcs before you fall in love with him. He needs to show his good points first haha. And then his relationships with all the other people. That is like the main point of the whole story. Random npcs, will suddenly gain so much depth and meaning when meeting him. Noiceee.
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
I adored this story. I love how different it is from other epic type stories. This is more introspective and profound kinda. And the author just writes so beautifully to bring the world, the relationships, the events to life.The MC just keep dropping these gems ahhh.
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CN (4.7)
207 Chapters Every 24.1 Day(s) 5641 Readers 92 Reviews 01-13-2024
4.57 Stars... more>>
Date Read:21/06/2024
Personal Enjoyment: 4.9/5
I really enjoyed this! I love the more realistic and grounded experience of the whole rebirth experience. You know how in lots of other rebirth stories, whenever the MC shows the more serious and depressing parts of being rebirth (normally in some tiny throwaway sentences), it would elevate the whole story from just an all-sugar-no-substance type of story? Well, this one is all substance! But you don't lose what makes a rebirth story great ;) I love it all. The MC was so cool and cunning. But we get shown with every single sentence (shown not told!) how much he loves his family. And how much his family loves him! Even with all the typical Asian family awkwardness hehe. Coming from a wealthy family doesn't change that dynamic haha.
Short Summary: A revenge/protect those he loves rebirth story.
Plot: 4.9/5
Very good! I love all the excitement and suspense. And I love love love all of the mc’s plotting and hidden actions and especially the pretending to be a waste schemes. Nice. I love how the author woved in the cause of all this was the trauma of losing everyone he cares about while he was powerless. This is such a driving force of all his actions in this new life. And how the trauma affects him now. But it's not as grim dark a story as all this talk of trauma implies though. This is still a second-chance story. The story is full of the MC randomly feeling happy family feels without realising why (back to that awkward uncommunicative Asian family dynamics lol) because he keeps realising anew that his family is alive now. All the things they would do for/to him that was gone are back. Sniff.
Writing/Translation: 3.8 /5
The translation I read is from White Moonlight Novels. It is not very good but better than MTL. There were multiple times when I didn't really understand the whole sentence. Normally the business scheming side of things. I get the gist but once or twice the specific details got lost in translation. But it's at least edited MTL quality. So understandable most of the time. Not a dealbreaker and I encourage everyone to just read it anyway.
Pacing: 4.9/5
Good pacing, I never felt that it was slow or draggy.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.5/5
Lots of variety in the setting. And they felt utilised to advance the plot.
Characters: 5/5
I love all the characters. Especially the MC and his family! The motivations were all clear and I love how that affected their personalities. And the ML. He feels like a real person lol. No one was an NPC-type character. They all had their own interest and they were all realistic and like real people.
Romance: 4/5
The romance is above average. I liked the build up a lot. It's a late romance because the MC is too distracted by his goal. And that there were no obvious top/bottom dynamics. Just a bit in the extras though but eh it's fine. My complaint was that it was just a little bit too much show not tell lolol. The writing tells what physical feelings the MC and ML feel and lets us interpret what exactly they are feeling in terms of the romance. Until late in the story anyway.
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CN (4.5)
847 Chapters Every 133 Day(s) 11568 Readers 163 Reviews 08-16-2019
4.55 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation: 3.5/5
The translation I read is from C1 to C265~ is by lesyt. It was pretty good. Very readable with some errors that are not really noticeable. However, after 265 ish, the translator is FangMama and it's such a whiplash from the previous translator. Some names and important terminology were changed. Some snippets of the story were also removed. Also, there are more errors. In the end, I also read from the novelhi website. The names and terms are more consistent with the previous translator and have the missing tiny bits of text. Less errors too. Not the same or as good but much better than the new translator. It was weird. It was like reading two different descriptions of the same event. The WangMama one is missing so many details and even has different meanings. Like Gui Ze was peeking at our MC having trouble tying knots and wondering what happened in the novelhi website translation. But the WangMaama one skipped all the lead up to this scene and then translated as the MC was staring at his knotted hands and wondering if he is s*upid for not being able to tie knots. Two different meanings here. However, I also basically read the two translations side by side because of some slightly awkward new terminology.
At C286~, the quality of both translations kinda fluctuates. Some parts are better than others. So, again, highly recommend reading both side by side. If when reading one translation something feels off, it is highly likely the other translation is a bit better. And vice versa from this chapter on.
Ahh, I’m too lazy to note down all the details anymore lol. Basically the first TL was the more easily readable and enjoyable one while the rest had all their own little issues. So it's best to read the other for more info when the current scene or whatnot is confusing or seems off somehow. You won't regret the extra work because it clears things up. But anyway, please read the story! The different TLs aren't a deal-breaker! Most of the details are kept, so it's still quite enjoyable!
Pacing: 4.6/5
The pacing is pretty smooth, except for the last 40 chapters and especially the last like 5 chapters. The ending was kind of perfunctory and things weren't as detailed or explained as much as expected based on the previous parts of the story.
Plot: 4.8/5
The setup is pretty good! I like how we are thrown right into the story after the MC is transmigrated in. I also liked how we followed the MC 6 months after he arrived in the new world because we immediately got into the juicy details of this new place haha. This was my favourite part because we saw things through his eyes as a 6-year-old child. So he's basically at rock bottom lol. He has to learn everything from scratch. This intimacy gets less after the tribe achieves one of its major goals. Then more characters appear, so it's less just him and his mind haha. This part just sets up so many mysteries to learn about and explore! I love the anticipation of it all.
After that, in the middle, it was more about setting up their base and foothold. They are kind of an underdog because everyone else has progressed more than they have. This section also had a lot of group and togetherness feels.
The last third of the story was a bit more tribal politics with their various tribe mysteries in this vast ancient world as the Flaming Horns really builds up their tribe and deals with tribal politics which wasn't quite my thing but still very enjoyable just because of the setting, their unique thing and all the worldbuilding along the way haha.
Sadly, the ending was too lukewarm for me. I also don't understand how that thing is somehow the cause of the MC landing in this world. How did that thing appear in the modern world? Does it mean the MC was transferred to the ancient past then? Why would this thing have the function of transferring people to that era? Also, that last scene with the MC flying over the "edgeless" river. Isn't it just the Flaming River? Why suddenly call it edgeless? Since the disaster had already happened and the river shrank? It felt a bit like the author really wanted to include this thing in the story but it was already ending, so they had to slot it in willy-nilly at the end lol. Also, the final big bad. I just don't really get him as a villain. What was his goal anyway? He planned many things over so many years and did all this stuff supposedly for revenge, but then we see that he actually doesn't really care about it and treats the targets as tr*sh that is so useless that they might as well not clutter up the world? Then why did he go through all that 1000 years of effort?? Also, I feel like there were one or two plot threads that didn't get used? For example, Sapphire’s last shackle and its cult. I thought they were going to have some important role in the final battle but nope.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.9/5
So good! The worldbuilding is fantastic! So far, the best worldbuilding in a CN novel I've read! Mostly because it hit the spot for me, ancient world, mysteries, adventure, wonder and unexplainable awe over nature everywhere! I love the feeling of not knowing what is beyond! Most of this was focused on the first 300 ish chapters but there are all kinds of new things to discover in all the later chapters too!
Characters: 4.5/5
The MC is a quiet, smart, calm and silently adventurous guy haha. He's older than his physical appearance so he's more mature. I liked following him around :) The cast of characters is quite big, all have their own quirks and feel real. Especially the various tribes. They all have their own distinct beliefs, traditions, oddities and what have you. The only issue I have is that the longer the story is, the less quality time we spend with any character.
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
Sooo much fun XD. I read a good chunk of this during my first and so far only, COVID experience XP. So there was a lot of time alone that I willed away in this world, exploring things bigger than myself. And it's so deliciously long too! I think I spent two good weeks on this, so fun! This is my second tribal story I’ve read (I think lol). The Stone Age Husband Raising Journal was the previous one. That one, the world was super vibrant and I loved the whole setting. Their special characteristic was the dinosaurs as the animals haha. I love nature-focused stories so XD This. This is like an upgraded "real" tribal story hahaha. Just about every aspect is at least a little bit better than that. Except for the romance lol. Here, it is non-existent, while the previous one was a BL novel. This one is so much longer with so much more content; the MC has actual drive and is an active main character; the focus is on clan building which is executed far better; and the world is more vast, unfathomable and rich. I would like more deep character development too though ahaha.
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CN (4.6)
386 Chapters Every 22.3 Day(s) 5570 Readers 44 Reviews 01-04-2024
4.5 Stars... more>>
Date Read: 1/6/2024
Personal Enjoyment: 4.8/5
I enjoyed it very much! Though I dislike war stories, the ones here are reasonably quick and interesting. It is also not depressing so there's that. I also really like how personable the MC is. With more talk of emotions. And I like the romance! It was kind of surprising actually. Compared to the Ming Dynasty, the romance is actually good with emotional growth. The kingdom-building aspect was also very nice.
Short Summary: Basically, it's almost exactly like the Ming Dynasty story but with more vitality and emotionally accessible. With a far better romance. Also an FYI, the story goes until the kingdom is unified and despite the characters talking about them getting older and frailer and dying before the other angstiness, it is not shown on screen. The last extra chapter shows the modern world of that timeline. And the discovery of the MC’s tomb. So it is a slightly melancholic ending but still a happy ending.
Plot: 4.5/5
Very good! It feels tight and pretty complete. Lots of common sense and logic to govern in a time of chaos. Lots of war action and money-making during the first half. There were only a few things that I feel were a missed opportunity like more real scenes with the MC’s original grandfather since he was such a big part of the MC’s life. The other was Luzhu. I feel that how the author ended her character was too abrupt after having her be one of the main side characters at the beginning of the MC’s transmigration. The author kind of married her off, off-screen. We don't even know who the husband is. I feel like we should get a more involved send-off than that.
Writing/Translation: 4.5/5
The translation I read is from Chrysanthemum Garden C1-C138. As usual, it's amazing. Lots of research and footnotes for the complicated ancient Chinese history. The rest I read until C383 from KnoxT. The quality here is slightly less mostly because there are fewer footnotes for all the historical context compared to Chrysanthemum Garden. The feeling I got from the CG translation was a transmigration historical novel while the Knoxt one is a bit more of a transmigration novel lol. But the quality got a lot better over time. The consistency is there and that is good.
Pacing: 4.8/5
Very good, no complaints! I only wish there were more extras. I didn't feel bored or that it was rushed or dragged out at any point. Surprisingly since it has so many war scenes and I dislike war stories lol.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.1/5
Hmm, while there was so much history and setting in the story, basically 80% of it all isn't explained and you are expected to know. Like the history of all the members of the Sima family, Buddhism, Confucianism, the government of that specific era etc. It wasn't explained in the story. So a lot of these characters aren't introduced like new characters that joined the MC. They are just dropped into the scene as people who are affecting the Mc’s decisions by their actions. There were so many usurpers and rebels, war chiefs and generals from the enemies that just appeared and died from ancient history. So there is that. I feel like it would have been more engaging if I knew all this history. Or if it was explained in the story. But that might have dragged out the story so pros and cons.
Characters: 4.5/5
So much variety. I love the MC. And the ML has an actual character arc lol. Just wish the women had a bigger part of the story than they did.
Romance: 4.3/5
The romance is good! I didn't care for it at the beginning because it was so instant love from the ML’s side. And honestly, it was so one-sided for the majority of the story. And also, the romance isn't even half of the story but like 1/4th of it lol. But the ML’s character growth and the trials and tribulations of love for the poor guy haha. Delicious! When the MC finally wavered, I have fallen in XD. The ML’s jealousy, the insecurity from the different statuses of the MC and ML, and the era of the time all contribute to his feelings, so good! And all the feels when the MC starts thinking about his feelings and that scene when he came back from that almost suicidal war tactic! So good!
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CN (4.4)
261 Chapters Every 122.3 Day(s) 12313 Readers 187 Reviews 01-12-2020
4.5 Stars!... more>>
Overall
The beginning, when meeting with the neighbours and the ML made me a bit hesitant because I felt it was too fast. Because I just read the other zombie story by this author before this one. The previous story was very self vs others until like 3/4th of the way through while in this story the MC is open for a companion and other people right from the start. Anyway, I love it! It has all the things I love, heartwarming scenes with friends and family, amazing resource gathering, varied and distinct characters, and a MC that isn't dumb but instead is the meticulous planner and leader of the group, building a life they can thrive in an apocalyptic world. Eventually, there is a kid, then a baby, and then lots of adorable pets near the end! Unlike other zombie works, there is no magical space or golden finger, so everything is somewhat realistic, and wealth growth is smooth and believable. One thing to note is that there is no golden finger so the scale of growth is small! So whatever they do or whatever happens, it will have more weight on the lives of the MC and the team. This makes the story more enjoyable instead of no matter what happens, they will be fine anyway because of [insert golden finger here]. It's a slice of life, farming, resource gathering story with lots of zombie action haha. They level up quite smoothly too. It's only I really wish they didn't include the timeskips in the last couple of chapters. I would have loved to read about all the things they did before those points! Ahh, I already want to reread this!
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from WhiteMoon x BlackSun. The translation is not as good as it could be. I felt that some details in the setting up/planning by the MC such as how the locations of the planting spaces were set up or how the space is organized were lost because of the translation. Mostly because I don't know if the words chosen for the place are correct. For example, "Plants grown on the terrace." From what I googled, "terrace" means floor to ceiling windows, how can plants be grown on them? If compared to the author's other work, that one was translated beautifully, I got all the nuance. But this one, not as much. Maybe 10% is lost? However, don't let that stop you! It's far more readable than MTL and the detail lost is regrettable but not a dealbreaker. You can get the gist of the space organisation more or less. Other than those, all the other happenings are very readable! I seriously enjoyed it haha. I also think the translator got more experienced later on.
Pacing
The pacing is pretty consistent throughout the entire story except for the last couple of chapters for some people. Before then, you can assume it's already a happy ending if you want actually. The last 2 chapters have a couple of longer time skips because they want to wrap it up.
Plot
We follow our MC strive to live the life he envied and dreamt of when he lived in the basement for years in his previous life. To survive without as much hardship with a companion(a dog haha) to alleviate loneliness in a post apocalyptic world as an ordinary nosuper abilities person. We see him slowly gain companions on this dream along the way until this dream isn't feasible anymore and they have to make a big decision to rely on themselves in the outside world! That happens like 50+ chapters before the end of the story. A lot of the cool lifestyle design happens there haha.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
This is a slice-of-life, farming, resource gathering and a mass fighting zombies for their nuclei type of story. It is super heartwarming halfway through when the team gets closer and feels like family later on. There is lots of delicious food and bonding through meals that happens. I also love all the thinking and planning that happens in a zombie infested world. How to obtain stuff without dying? I also love all the action! It really spices things up very nicely from all the calm, soothing farming scenes haha. The excitement and anticipation throughout the novel, XD. Man, I loved it! I also love how all the things they do feel like they have actual impact! This is because the scale is small, so any of the actions by the MC and the team has a lot of impact on their lives. Because the plants produced are small, they have weight. If there was a magical space, there would be hardly any weight because it would be too easy! The author's other zombie story was like that. There wasn't as much weight as here because the couple could just live in their space indefinitely if they needed to. Here, there is just enough weight that you really root for them! If something bad happens, you feel angry and a bit anxious, if there was an unexpected harvest during their missions, you feel excited for them! Ahh, how the scaling was done. Reading all this, I hope the author will write more stories like this! Wealth building, poor to rich style with close friends haha.
For the romance part, eh, I feel like it's just as a backdrop to the rest of the story. I don't feel the love. I just assume this is an MC ML love thing and move on to the other parts of the story that interest me.
Characters
I love the MC. He's actually a shou but a smart and capable one! He was lonely but a practical survivor. He is very good at planning and leading people. The ML is okay, I feel like he's an afterthought in terms of romance as in I don't feel much as a romantic lead. But he's a cool and strong ability user for the MC and the team in this apocalyptic world! I like him much more as that than the romantic lead lol. The side characters are good people that really help lighten up the atmosphere especially since they are so prominent in the story. I love their presence here. There is a group bond that creates the feels. The you are my people, so I will fight everyone else for you together with you haha. Love that. Then, there are the cute kids in the latter part of the story haha. As for the bad guys, well, this isn't a revenge or faceslapping story so the villains kinda fizzle out or have anticlimactic ends. Not really the focus of the story.
Why 0.5 Star was Deducted:
- I'm still curious about some things that weren't explained. Maybe the author just didn't think it was important for the story. Eg,
1) How the zombies came about, why they were travelling in groups, how were they coordinating like they had intelligence, were they being directed by a leader?
2) What happened to the ML's father and the mother's lover in the end?
3) What happened to Captain Guo in the end?
4) Also, what exactly happened in the leadership shakeup?
- I felt that the story could have been even longer with no issues.
1) The last chapter timeskiped 3 years to a very interesting small bases alliance nearby that they sell things at the market (so interesting! Why didn't the author include these parts in the story?? So many potentially new and interesting characters!)
2) I wanted to know the progression of the pairing up that happened within the team!
3) I would have liked to read how the final nationwide battle 8 years later actually went XP.
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CN (4.5)
193 Chapters Every 65.7 Day(s) 5041 Readers 98 Reviews 04-30-2022
4.5 Stars... more>>
Translation/Writing
I read the translation by TheIronTreeBlooms. The translation is pretty good, there were zero awkwardly translated bits or wrong pronouns. But there are a few typos but it's easy to dismiss. The writing is pretty detailed compared to regular web novels. You can visualise everything, the setting, the mood, the people easily without it being dense.
Plot
Wow, it went on such an amazing journey. We travel from a farm to the best emperor of ancient China. It was epic and the scale of problem solving went from how to set up a safe place for his family in the country to how to give all the common people in China a better life. We watch Lin Yuan grow so much and all the different decisions he has to make until he becomes such a powerful and rational emperor. So epic haha.
Pacing
The beginning was farming and small scale development but from 1/3rd onwards it gets more military and espionage focused, in between exploring law making, researching, kingdom building and the execution there off. I only liked the military fighting parts the least, so that part was a bit slow for me but I just couldn't help being drawn to the story no matter what was happening.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
The main thing here is kingdom building and man, did it succeed. I've read a few other kingdom building stories, not many, but the breadth and width of the details written is amazing. I actually wish there were more details included even though it is impossible to put in everything. Once the provinces were conquered and then the capital, there were just too many things being introduced and implemented that I wanted to know! The author cherry picked some stuff to explain in detail but ahhh I wanted more! It felt super realistic and the setting is really apparently here. It was such a joy to explore ancient China. The only slight con is that there are lots of mentions of apparently famous people in ancient Chinese history? They are now important side characters in the story but I don't have any familiarity with them at all haha But it's still fine, you can get the gist.
Other than kingdom building, the characters are all super developed and with so much variety that the world feels alive, you can really see what is going on with all these small povs scattered everywhere. I feel in other kingdom building stories, either the kingdom building is the focus and the characters get the short end of the stick or the kingdom building is very light and happens too easily. For this story, both the kingdom building and the characters were fantastic. So the whole story had no major point that was bad.
Characters
We follow all kinds of characters in the story, many of them only appear once to represent part of the population to showcase how people who are not the MC are reacting to the changes the MC made. I normally don't like reading about other povs than the MC but here it happens so smoothly and was so interesting I didn't notice haha.
It was such a journey to watch our MC grow and develop into what he finally became. He's so level-headed, with compassion and yet the ruthlessness to achieve what he wants. His close officials came up with a good sentence, the MC is harsh to his officials but indulgent to the common people. I only wish there were more heartwarming scenes but alas, he's way too busy for that. And also, he's at the top now, so it's hard to have anyone close. For the ML, he really doesn't appear much so I don't have any opinion on him in particular. I do like that the MC has someone to be close to though. T.T Ahhh, the ending was so bittersweet! They were alrd past middle aged and they were alrd lovers for a long time by then, the MC said that he wants them to be in the same coffin after they die. That's the final pov we get from the main couple T.T Wahhh, I wanted an extra of them reincarnating in modern times where the MC doesn't have to work so hard and just focus on living happily with his BF T.T
All the side characters were just great. Mister Song, sniff, that ending for him was so freaking emotional gah. If you minus 30 years of his age, all his scenes with the MC can be considered romantic in a different perspective hahaha He has more screen time than the ML lol I loved the Big Brother, he was almost the only source of lightheartedness in the story. It's a bit sad that the generals all lived at the border for so many years. I wished the MC could have kept more brotherhood with them later on in life without worrying about power.
Overall
This story isn't just a simple one-note web novel but a real book haha There were all kinds of emotions from me reading this. The MC is a pretty rare character, there were no major or s*upid mistakes from him, but you don't feel that he is a Gary Stu. He's not a cold-blooded person to reach the status of Emperor but he doesn't let his compassion hinder him. I admire him very much! I do wish we got to see what happened to all the major side characters at the end though.
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CN (4.5)
109 Chapters Every 107.3 Day(s) 9781 Readers 127 Reviews 08-24-2020
4.5 Stars!... more>>
I really liked it! It was heartwarming, with high achievers tutoring the delinquents and becoming friends along the way and the butterfly effects from that, the cute romance that made me go aww and the humour that made me smile and laugh the entire way.
Translation/Writing
This was done by Chrysanthemum Garden, a group of translators and editors so the translation is very polished! There was, I think, only one error that appeared right at the end ish. The flow is very good, all the idioms the translator worked hard to make them understandable in English and also fit the flow of the sentences XD The format of the writing also fit the comedic timing of the story very effectively too haha. Basically, if I didn't know this was fan translated, I would have thought it was an official one.
Plot
We follow a 30-year old established couple reborn back to their last year of high school when everything went wrong in their lives and everyone close to them. They basically just want to be sticky with each other since the day they were reborn was the day they were to be married. Along the way, they also want to avoid all the bad decisions back then to make sure all the people they love are on the right track instead. It ends with the college exams and coming out about their relationship to the close family and friends casually lolol. The extras are a direct sequel to the main story plus an additional pov of the MC's badass older sister haha. And a wedding for the cp at the last chapter <3
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
Ahhh, this story basically did everything right, I feel moved. This is a high school to college story so there is high school drama with studying and exams and crushes and stuff. Also, this story is the first web novel I've read that has comedy in it! I basically laughed at every chapter. Most of it, if I didn't laugh, I at least quirked a smile with humour. This was a joy to read because it gave such warm and positive feelings the entire time.
The tutoring, studying, and exams part was one of the better executed in these types of stories I've read. There was gradual improvement, believable steps were taken to improve and the details of the subjects were even expanded on! For example, one of the side characters had to declare and explain the problem they still couldn't solve more than five times on the broadcast system in school in detail. It blended into the flow of the story, was in character for that side character and also added comedic effect to the story. With this detailed example of a subject being studied, I was made to believe in the realness of them studying subjects with the knowledge that exists in the story. In lots of these types of CN novels I've read, they just say the MC studied every free time, improved on their weak subjects from morning till night in between working part-time and romance but we never got any content on the subjects at all. So the whole learning part didn't quite sink in for me. Here it very much did, even if that was the only time it gave some content for the characters to learn. With that example, I know the author did some research or thought hard about this aspect of the story and so I had faith in the world they created.
Friendship. Ahh, the brotherhood and juvenile friendship between high schoolers was definitely one of the main stars of this story. The comedic scenes derive from the friendship and the helping actions of the main cp also majorly came from this friendship. And the heartwarming scenes all also came from this friendship haha.
The family drama and angst were not heavy at all! But still gave enough depth to the main couple and also helped me empathise with them which made me invested in them as characters more.
As for the romance, I'll leave it for the Characters section because it is so integral to the characters themselves haha.
Pacing
The pacing was pretty dang smooth the entire way. Nothing felt rushed even at the end when other CN novels can't get the climax and the ending of the novel quite right. The only issue I had was at the very beginning, like 15 chapters in, when I was getting to know the characters and the premise of the story. It was almost pure humour and comedic misunderstandings. I'm not a fan of misunderstandings as a plot device and I wasn't quite into the story or any of the characters yet, so while the humour was funny, it wasn't quite laugh out loud funny yet. So the beginning was a bit slow for me but I believe it's just my personal taste haha. The rest of the story got good.
Characters
Ahhh, the main cp is quite refreshing! There isn't really a shou that I can see in both attitude and actions. Both are mature and confident that they are ALREADY in a relationship together. And they were from an enemies-to-lovers type of couple haha. They spent a decade figuring things out, mending old hurts and injuries already. But now they are back, they can figure out more things they didn't realise as kids that were happening and then healing from it all together. Ahh, it's very nice to read about a couple who have long had each other's backs, know of the love each has for the other and shamelessly show their love to each other! When I read at the beginning during the before plane takeoff, how the MC noticed that the tough ML's hands were trembling because he was still nervous about finally getting married, ahh, I was totally sold on them as characters and their romance hahaha.
All the side characters are the other half of the whole story! Without them, this would be a completely different story, that's how prominent and important they all are. The interactions they all have are the source of all the humour and the warmth in this plot! They feel unique, real and have so much character hahaha. I also really really love that the MC and ML care about them very much and it is straight up mentioned in the story. In other novels, the only people in the CP's line of sight are each other. Like, the MC cares about the family of the ML but really only because the ML cares about the family. Here, they have family and friends of each other that they have honestly taken into their hearts. This is nice haha
As for the villains, good! They are very good villains, when they appear, their small mindedness, self entitlement and small minded selfish plans to raise themselves up by putting others down was so annoying. I love reading how their meticulous plans all got dashed and then they got karma. And they were all handled by the cp haha. I also like how the author loves to torture them lolol They could have gotten the big faceslapping at the end with the cp all present for maximum gloating....but eh, I didn't really mind not having it because the smaller faceslapping that occurs for a longer length of time was satisfying haha
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CN (4.2)
297 Chapters Every 60.9 Day(s) 9730 Readers 140 Reviews 07-12-2022
4.5 Stars... more>>
Overall Comments
This family building trope really hit the spot for me for the slice of life part! I love the romance, the MC takes the ML along on his work instead of them doing separate actions and then spending time together when they go back home. But I minused the half star because I didn't like the last 1/4th with them having to abandon all their land and hard work to another country sigh. By that point, it was all rushed until the happy ending. I didn't mind because those parts weren't interesting since by then, I felt they were in a good place alrd anyhow.
Writing/Translation
I read the translation by Ontimestory. In the beginning tens of chapters, there were a few mistakes but they were pretty small and infrequent. I think the translator got an editor later on so it got better. However, a couple of chapters at the end felt very unedited but otherwise, it is pretty good. Everything flowed well and was consistent and easily understood. The writing this time is 3rd person pov and you basically read the characters' thoughts on the page so it's pretty immersive. The way it's written, all the bad guys make you really feel so much anger! Very nice haha.
Plot
The first, like 30ish chapters, things were kinda bad for the MC and the things being told in those chapters don't really give you any happy warm feelings. The MC's body's family are seriously self-entitled to him and it really makes you want to slap their delusional faces. The good on the other hand, is how the MC straight up commits violence lol. How he treats them is super satisfying! However, since you as a reader are only just getting to know the MC, he doesn't come off as likeable in any way in these few chapters.
However, as the story goes on and the family is mostly dealt with, we proceed to the improve-the-quality-of-life of himself and his beloved ML part! This part is more interesting and you can see him being nice to people now. For the majority of the book, it is a slice of life, slowly accumulating money, business making and being happy with his ML. However, near the end, like from 120–160, it became obvious that people were making countless trouble for his success, so he had to go out and fight. Then, in 160+, they became fugitives invading another country and setting up modern China... The extras are all very nice though. Needless to say, my favourite parts were all when the scale was still village and county sized. All the heartwarming, working hard to improve their family's quality of life through honest means takes place there. The rest became quality of life preservation almost which wasn't as nice.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
The family/village/kingdom building. What I consider in this category to me is specifically the MC's actions in working hard to improve the MC's lover, family and friend's quality of life. So, for the first 3/4th, I absolutely loved it! It was so fulfilling and satisfying to read how the MC slowly made more and more money to give good things to his wife and in-laws XD. And then, as we got more and more side characters, he took them as his own and gave them a good life too! It was also nice to read how he improved his village as well.
But then, the story started to scale even higher which, of course, comes with its own troubles when you get too successful. People higher up get wary and want to hammer this nail for fear of the nail overpowering them. And all the other bigshot peers want to take down the competition. So I normally do not like it when the hard work gets to this level where it's more about preservation instead of building and growth. So, yes, while this does fit the theme and the characters, it wasn't enjoyable to read. Also, the last part was kinda rushed too.
I do want to put in a comment, I really did not like the last part where the MC had dealings with foreigners and straight up invaded their country, destroyed their culture and brainwashed them to become his vision of modern China. The whole deal with the Japanese ronin and their original country felt so icky and uncomfortable. He treats the Europeans with respect for their technology but treats this Japanese imitation so callously. I really wish the author had just made up a country that has no culture or foreign language that was being controlled by a cruel dictator so he could save them instead. And that the citizens gave their country to him in gratitude or something instead of doing this.
The romance. I actually love them as a couple! I find their dynamic really refreshing from the current CN novels I've read. The MC is the confident "seme" while the ML is the shy, uncertain "uke" haha. Normally, I read the opposite. I also really really like how the MC takes the ML along to be involved with all his endeavours! Usually, we get them doing separate things and then some romance or s*x scenes to progress the romance. But here, Jiang Zhen brings Jinge with him everywhere! I really like that. So much of the work the MC does, the ML is present! For most of the long trips, the ML follows. This way, all the time spent together, the couple is able to have all these different experiences with each other, which really made me believe in their care for each other. How could they not? There are so many events whose situations made their love (especially from the relatively sheltered frog in the well ML) grow in the same direction. I really like them together haha. Also, a great pro for me for the romance, is the lack of explicit smut! And any romps are all in euphemisms and relatively short haha. I normally find all CN novels' s*x scenes either very in-your-face explicit or so cringy. And usually, a lot of words kinda demeaning women and the men or the seme being, they got so excited they couldn't control themselves! And then the women or the uke who's the MC will be like ... ahh, so tired the next day, ahh the bottoms hurt hmm. The subtext is that their man is extremely powerful! *rolls eyes* But this story, since it's all euphemism and kinda short fade to black ish, it wasn't too bad haha The only part that seemed a bit iffy to me was the beginning of the romance. I felt that the MC was coming on rather strongly and that the ML kept being stiff when the MC behaved inappropriately. I felt a wee bit uncomfortable seeing that. But eventually, the ML started to have feelings and became more proactive so at least I was more clear that the feelings were mutual.
Pacing
The pacing overall was decent for 3/4ths of the story and then rushed at the last 1/4th. The first 3 quarters were consistent. Lots of things were happening but we were following the MC all the time in his head. The romance-building was present throughout too. But in the last quarter and especially the last chapter, a lot of things were just narratively told to us. To be fair, I didn't mind that it wasn't too involved because I wasn't interested in the power building and the fighting. There wasn't really much romance here either. The extras were a very nice epilogue though.
Characters
The MC isn't all that likeable in the beginning before you get to know him. He's violent on the first infraction by other people. And he took food from his baby nephew. I mean, yes he's starving but he alrd took the food from his family, did he need to take from the baby too? But as you read more, you slowly see him being nice to other people too so I slowly got used to him. Then, I got to see how he adored his family so I got sold on him haha For the ML, I found him rather cute? He's a strong, manly figure but he's actually a ger, kinda like an omega. I love his backstory and how he grows. His challenges in life and his s*x and how they interact. It makes him pretty refreshing to read about haha. He's actually uncertain and quiet but he loves the MC so he quietly works hard to be as good as he can for him.
The side characters are all good and likeable! Nobody feels like a caricature. The MC made a lot of good relationships here so that is just nice to read about. My only issue is that a lot of the underlings who are there a lot in the beginning and have some character development aren't followed up closely after their quality of life improves. I wish they were present more often alongside the new characters that get introduced too. It's like once their conflict is settled, we don't really see them anymore in favour of new characters with their newer conflict. However, I am sad we don't really see how the children grow or get to know more about their personalities. The daughter was okay but the son felt a bit bland since he's the kid that just follows whatever the elder sibling does. And the last kid is only a baby in the extras.
For the bad guys, nice! I love all the bad guys! Whenever I read about the new thing they are doing to fight with the MC, I always feel so angry! And then they get face slapped so satisfyingly by the MC directly! The MC will actively do something so you can feel his agency and his character. It's all very nice haha. I've read a lot of other CN novels where the villains get faceslapped by their own actions while the MC was just passively living their life doing nothing, or the faceslapping happened off screen which was unsatisfying, or it just took too long to happen. The faceslapping here is just right in every way haha.
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CN (4.2)
211 Chapters Every 68.1 Day(s) 4734 Readers 65 Reviews 03-12-2022
4.5 Stars... more>>
Overall
This is my first full length zombie apocalypse web novel that isn't part of a QT story. And I really enjoyed it! I felt the quality of all the aspects of the story was quite high. The characters, the powers, the hoarding, the worldbuilding and all that. I adore the feeling of living this life and being reborn/time travelled some time before the "event" so they can hoard and prepare for the apocalypse! I really love the feeling of secretly buying/stealing/hoarding stuff to put in their space before they all run out. The anxiety of can they make it in time? Will they be ready? Are they doing it in the most efficient manner possible to get the right stuff? Then, you add in the cool powers and the gradual scaling up is pretty consistent! I don't get the issue of constant one-upping between the zombies and the MC which can happen so fast that it can feel hollow. This one is quite good! My interest in power levelling was kept. My only issue is that I feel the space wasn't used for the most impact in the story. All the benefits that are exponentially too big for the couple were 90% only for the couple. Only in the extras do we see them manually producing food in a factory in their space vacuum sealing food from their space to trade among bases. But it was so short, just one chapter, so it wasn't satisfying. Like I really wanted them to utilise the space completely to obtain an equal or exponentially higher number of benefits for themselves. This is because I am more interested in the details of wealth building hahaha.
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from KnoxT by komorebi. I found it quite good! The flow is good, the English is fluent and there are only minor errors that are hardly detectable. Good.
Pacing
The pacing is super consistent until the end. But in the end, there were some time skips. Just want to warn you, the story ends when they get to level 5 so no worries, when they are at level 4 and there are only a few chapters left, there won't be a rushed ending where they become god and destroy all zombies or something lol. Keep your expectations grounded haha.
Plot
This follows a zombie apocalypse plotline. The main characters use all the resources they have to get more skills and resources to survive and in the CP's case, to thrive. They aren't aiming to end all zombies to save humanity but to live happily in comfort with each other. But throughout this long story, they unexpectedly and without really realising it, form some ties outside of their two-person world and grow. This part is seen more towards the latter half of the story, just by more contact haha.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
I adored the hoarding resources part haha. The setting being the end of the world with so many dangers outside just gave more meaning to the hoarding. I love the whole process of it haha. And I love imagining the future potential of all the stuff that was hoarded. It's not just hoarding for the sake of hoarding in the apocolyse but because it is dangerous to be outside with zombies. In those ancient time periods with a magical space web novels, hoarding is to give an edge over everyone else to grow wealth but here, it is a necessity.
Characters
The main couple really grew on me haha. We follow them for so long as they go on lots of missions. The MC is the seme and the ML uke. In the beginning, I felt the ML was a bit boring, a typical uke. But over time, he's quite a confident guy now. They both have bad experiences in their past. Well, the MC had a good life but a bad apocalypse past while the ML's is just sad haha. They both grow throughout the story and they really grow on you too haha.
The side characters are all varied and unique! Not just props for the story! They are likeable too and the couple very slowly make friends.
The bad guys though, when they were being scummy to the couple, I liked it but they quickly don't have much interaction with them the later in the story it gets. There was no satisfying faceslapping for them :/ They all basically just died with no help from the couple sigh
Some things that knocked off 0.5 star:
The ending chapters were unsatisfactory even if it oddly fits the story.
Lots of mysteries are still left unsolved like what is the gold power of the MC in the end?
Also, what is the history of the space? Is it another world in the space? And what is Tuanzi exactly? No explanations.
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CN (4.3)
430 Chapters Every 1.9 Day(s) 6656 Readers 29 Reviews 12-01-2024
4.5 Stars at C94 at least... more>>
I read the translation by Rainbow Mushroom Translations. The translation is pretty good.
So far, veeeery interesting! I really love kingdom building elements especially when it is done slowly with thought and proper escalation! The first part was this kingdom building and it is super nice. I love family/village/country building because it's just so satisfying. There is a goal you can support. It cannot be done in one shot. There is a lot of planning and thinking and executing to be done and every time something is accomplished, the feeling of satisfaction is so good! The MC has the power to design the tutorial/beginner mission system for new players so the players won't go crazy and start killing his people to level up as players do haha. And he's basically the designer of the gaming experience for all these players, sooo good!
This story is like a normal CN novel about the MC being reborn as a low-status person, then striving to improve their family's poverty situation to a happy and healthy quality of life. But the scale is multiplied by a hundred because it's not just a few close family members but all his people living on the planet! I love all the characters! They have such a variety of nobles, dead poor, mercenaries, elementals, the army, kids, students, researchers and there are so many just living their lives! Then add in the players XD The large cast of characters really makes the world feel big, alive and breathing. And the MC cares about them so he's working on levelling up the entire planet! It's nice haha. The only con is that I'm not too impressed with the romance and the ML. He's just a typical possessive ML so cue the normal seme uke relationship in bed which I'm not a fan of.
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KR (4.5)
1077 Chapters Every 2.6 Day(s) 39593 Readers 601 Reviews 11-30-2024
4.5 Stars... more>>
The translation I've read is by EatApplePies. Ahhh, what a marvellous ride haha. Please stick to the story until at least past chapter 135 ish as that is when the writing gets better and the characters start to get invested in each other. Somewhere here was when I finally felt any connection with Cale the MC lol. Basically, Cale is super dense and he actually really cares for people despite the first 100+ chapters.
After that, all the characters will care for each other and you will find yourself rooting for them. The battles can be hit or miss for me but when Cale is being badass, it is very cool. The parts I most liked were the breaks in between fights where Cale spends time with people bonding and when he gets the ancient powers after the 135+ chapter mark. The intangible characters are hilarious heh. The translation is consistent from the first chapter at a high quality.
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Chapter 98
Hmmm, I do like all the characters and the world. And the writing is detailed enough that I can picture what's happening most of the time, which is usually a huge deterrent for translated light novels where the writing is super vague, direct and simple. Even the plot is pretty good so far, I think. It's just that for every arc/mini-arc, the climax/aftermath feels so normal and anticlimactic. Like the moment an arc finishes and Cale gets the item or achieves his objective, we don't get to enjoy or celebrate it. The author just writes that now it's time for Cale to slack off and do nothing. Then the next chapter will be about how Cale managed to do nothing for 1 month this time. And then the next thing to propel the story happens and we do it all over again. So it's like the tension or plot is constantly at this level and doesn't really rise, so you don't get that rising action, exciting climax, engaging and celebratory aftermath before you hit the next arc...
Chapter 140
Okay, I gave it another go because I read a lot of people saying it was wholesome and stuff which I really like! But I haven't seen anything like what they were praising up to chap 98 so I figured to continue since there are 600+ chapters lol. And as I read more and more, and the plot returned more to the war, it got progressively more engaging! There was more character interaction! And 130+ chapters in with the dragon, I got unexpectedly hit in the feels. And it got more obvious that the healing of these characters haha. The humour was also funny to me then. I kinda feel like the author got an editor to improve the story lol.
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CN (4.6)
169 Chapters Every 86.4 Day(s) 7498 Readers 159 Reviews 05-27-2021
4.5 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation
I read the translation by Serena Love. The translation is not the best but not the worst either. Everything was mostly legible and any mistakes is easily autocorrected in the head while reading. There were some pronoun errors but it is fine. The only problem is that sometimes I feel like I don't understand what is happening (probably because it was edited from MTL) but you can usually ignore it or guess the meaning. Sadly, there aren't many footnotes or explanations of idioms. Luckily, this isn't an ancient China novel so while it is an issue, it doesn't affect the main pros of the story much.
Plot
The plot is slice of life, people working hard to improve the quality of life of the people they love. So there is conflict but it is smoothed over eventually. The conflicts that arise feel like they got stakes but it wasn't a too insurmountable feeling. I do feel that the choice to separate at just before the happy ending felt flimsy though. But we got through that part pretty fast so it is okay.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
Rags to riches, heartwarming scenes, earnest romance and supporting a downtrodden and beaten young man with life, warmth and good food. Achieved it all. The feelings held by the main couple were so sweet and filled with honey, you could feel the depth of it. The fl didn't really take charge of making money in reality as I expected from the synopsis but it was more she was there to support the ml's efforts by giving nudges, ideas, helping hands, love, warmth and comfort. Surprisingly, the food part was not even half as much in the story as in the Ancient Foodie. But it was nice to read about it. Ahh, the feels here were very good.
The time period also played such a big role in the story as expected of it being in the title haha. I learnt a lot about how things were back then in China. It was so different from how I have always lived. A fresh and eye-opening experience.
Pacing
Pacing was good, I didn't feel like anything was too long or too short.
Characters
I love the main couple and the ML the most! He's so rootable and cute haha. His feelings have touched me deeply. The fl is spunky haha. There's nothing much to say about her but I love her love for her old man and the changes she affected in his life. The side characters are all unique and relatable, which made me root for them too! Especially, the close friends and family. The main villains, surprisingly isn't the ex-husband (he's really kinda a minor one in screentime lol). The main villain wasn't really developed and is just really a plot device lol They were okay haha
Overall Comments
This story is really like reading honey! The romance or well, the feelings of the main couple weren't really like, I love her! I love her I love her! s*x s*x s*x like in other novels. You really read about how, yes, they love each other romantically but also how much you want them to live a good life and to succeed in life. How they will think and act in each other's best interests while living life. It wasn't a story about how to get into each other's pants though there is that, it was about how they could improve each other's happiness and wellbeing. It's very wholesome and sweet.
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CN (4.5)
617 Chapters Every 65.1 Day(s) 11706 Readers 143 Reviews 04-17-2022
4.32 Stars... more>>
Overall/Personal Enjoyment: 4.25/5
This was a really engaging and fun novel, I’m glad I read it haha. I smiled so many times reading it XD I say, this is one of the most thorough and coherent web novels I have read, despite the super long novel name lol. The plot was pretty tight and also pretty deep. The characters are all fun, vivid and real. And the romance, a very big part of the novel, is actually good? I mean, the relationship has growth, feels, chemistry, banter and is also hilarious and fun. Not only that, romance isn't the end all be all of the story, it is also a revenge/investigate conspiracies/save the world/cultivation novel. This is the main structure of the novel and the romance grows along with doing all these things. Very organic and surprisingly, a smooth ride with no hiccups for me.
Writing/Translation: 4/5
The translation I read is from Pinnochies’ Little Translation Corner. The translation at the beginning, especially the first 10 ish chapters, was quite off. Not many errors but all the sentence structure still had the Chinese structure and only the words were translated to English. There was a lot of "Your Prince, I... " like the order of the sentence is weird and doesn't follow conventional English writing lol. There are also a few inconsistencies in the names of the various levels of the hierarchy of the different armies because the translator forgot which words they used before but it doesn't affect anything. It got so much better as time went by which is why I rated 4.
Pacing: 4.25/5
In the beginning, like the first 30+ chapters, the MC was just going with the flow because she was powerless at the time. So it felt a little bit aimless because we didn't have a clear and determined goal from the MC except to just survive haha. However, once MC and ML begin to like each other, things become increasingly exciting as they begin to investigate things. Overall, no issue. The last chapter ending felt a bit abrupt to some readers but I didn't really feel it because I already thought everything had been settled.
Plot: 4.5/5
Very good, it was so intriguing and made me very interested in finding out all the little conspiracies and secrets. I also like the mystery of the Underworld demons. Something was always happening all the time so I never got bored. I never even had the slightest thought of dropping the novel, which is super rare! Also, although the number of chapters is not that large at 109 chapters, it certainly felt long. It took me 4 days to finish the story when I could normally finish 100+ chapters in 2.5 days.
Romance: 4.25/5
The romance is quite good! I liked almost everything about it. It was kind of an enemies/strangers to lovers situation where they definitely aren't friends and the MC was the most in danger at the start. It was so fun to see how the MC made snap decisions to manipulate the situation so the ML won't straight up kill her haha. Normally all these manipulations within the main couple of a story would be icky for me but the underlying humour in the writing just made it hilarious and fun to read haha. We start to learn more about the ML and the world and the ML also gets curious about this weird woman and they both really start to like each other. I really like that there is so much effort put into the romance haha. It also helps tremendously that both of these people are proper characters that have their own strengths and personalities that don't revolve around the love interest haha. Even their first time is hilarious lololol. My only quibble is that the story kept writing the girl in the relationship as having her legs go soft, was done until soft, the male accidentally overdid it, and so on, as in most CN novels. Well, it's not too bad lol because the ML really isn't that kind of overbearing annoying CEO male lead, and the MC honestly finds the ML hot haha. There is no shy, innocent maiden that loses her IQ in front of the male lead here.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.5/5
For a CN novel, yes, the worldbuilding and the setting are pretty good! So much mystery, haha. I really felt the awe, the scary middle of the night sounds, type of feeling, the hot-blooded action battlefield, etc. Of course, it's not perfect, but it's one of the better web novels out there.
Characters: 4.5/5
The main characters are so fun, haha. They are also super capable! I love all their discussions on their findings, their plotting, their humour, the banter, and the cool factor haha. Also, there were cute characters too, like their cloudbeast and the adorable puppet!
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CN (4.6)
86 Chapters Every 6.8 Day(s) 13642 Readers 144 Reviews 11-28-2024
4.31 Stars... more>>
"[Modern Day, Transmigration, Drama] MC transmigrates into a novel! His role: the favored son of a scummy man with five other sons (all older than the MC). When he wakes up in his new role, he finds out that he has SYSTEM in his head and the goal to a happy ending is the lowering of the two "Death Progress Bars" in the end. One of which is his own, and the other the ML's (who is the Big Boss of an underworld association)! Great characters. Great characters. Great characters. Have I already said that the novel has great characters??? Because it has great characters! The SYSTEM plot was pretty unique too~ The progress bars played a bigger role than I thought it would and it made following the plot (both the original plot with the MC's brothers and the new action-heavy, underworld plot) more exciting!" - tr*sh_generalist
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Writing/Translation: 4.5/5
The translation I read is from Betwixed. Pretty good translation. A slightly odd word every few chapters but pretty good. You can tell the translator is good at English, really likes the story and also cares about the quality of the TL.
Pacing: 4.5/5
No issues. There was something interesting going on the whole time.
Plot: 4.3/5
Pretty good story. The first, like, half ish part of the story was the solving of the external issues of the MC while getting to know the whole situation of the family. It was full of mystery and investigation. Along the way, we get involved with the ML and his side of the equation too. Then, after the external threats to the MC get solved, we now start the healing part of the relationship between the MC and his brothers, which I thought was the whole story ahahaha. This is where the hard conversation with no physical threats or danger gets done. This is also the part where the ML part has a lot of danger.
Romance: 4.3/5
The romance is pretty good. I like their relationship a lot. Better than the typical BL. They care a lot for each other, and no one is controlling or forcing the other into the relationship.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.3/5
The setting is also a bit better than most surface-level settings. There are underworld politics; the brothers also have some business stuff and modern world settings. We also have a wider variety of places where the story takes place too even though we still stay at a surface level. Amusement parks, police academy, various islands, nightclubs, hospitals, private beaches, various provinces, other countries, malls, restaurants, etc. Some other BLs only take place in like 3 main places lol.
Characters: 4/5
The main characters are so good. The MC is a vibrant, capable, goofy and just a delightful guy who was a policeman in his previous life. He is kind and cheerful. The ML is the underground leader of the biggest legal underground organization in the country and is trying to clean the whole organisation and the people in it into the light. Oh, he was poisoned a long time ago, so his legs are weak and not usable. He is possessive of the MC but also hates how his legs are preventing him from being a good boyfriend. He lets the MC do what he wants but is very good at communication in handling the relationship and also plays the boss and follower role with the MC.
I love the brothers too. They are so different from each other with their own issues haha. My favourite is the fifth bro hehe. They all have their own feelings and situations in the whole mess, good or bad. The Guas are also so fun and a nice, cheerful and lively bunch that hangs around the MC and ML.
Personal Enjoyment: 4.3/5
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CN (4.4)
701 Chapters Every 66.7 Day(s) 8499 Readers 200 Reviews 03-22-2022
4.25 Stars... more>>
Overall
Ahh, such a journey. We follow the MC for so many years, for 700 chapters T^T It has basically almost everything I want in this type of genre. Some of the endeavours were detailed, some weren't, but so many were done that I couldn't stop reading. It is truly slice of life, getting rich with family and friends haha Yes, it's definitely not perfect and there were some forgotten people and foreshadowing that resolved quite fast at the end but I enjoyed myself so much binge reading everything. It was very satisfying to read them set up all the pieces to be wealthy in the future. I only wish they wrote more detail of them just enjoying themselves and more people exclaiming how rich they are to make it more satisfying haha I also wish the 3 sons were main characters in the 2nd half of the story, like they were back in the village. The further along the story, the more characters are introduced and the older the kids got, the less they appear. Really, it was only the third that kinda stayed until the very end lol. But ahhh, we followed until the end of the life of the main cp so now I'm super sad and need to read a fluffy story lolol
Translation/Writing
I read the translation by Explore, Maggie. It sounds like she only did it because of COVID isolation and made daily updates, so the translation isn't perfect or polished. There are careless mistakes littered throughout. But it is much better than mtl, they included pictures whenever needed and it was perfectly understandable all the way through. There are some name mistakes and a couple of missing words/plural to non plural/gender mistakes and so on but honestly, it's very readable. The flow was uninterrupted for me.
Plot
This is a slice of life story from MC at 20+ to 40 at the end. Then a summary of everyone's lives until 90 and their peaceful death. It really follows the title of the story, raise the kids at the beginning, then develop their families in the capital and/or other cities.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
Truly a properly realistic development from poor village level to mega-rich story. With so many chapters, the author can really detail step-by-step how the cp can go from a to b and didn't skimp on the variety. At the beginning, there is a raising the family with good food arc. In between that, how to actually get the food via the black market with all the coupon restrictions in the 60s. Then there is the studying part to get to university. Then comes the capital part, where they really start doing business and really get wealthy. In between, all the family connections are being deepened and helping the others raise themselves up too. And matchmaking in the last parts.
I love all the business parts, it really ramped up at the capital. But also, in the capital, was also when the cp started going off by themselves to date or make money. It's just this part where they don't go into as much detail anymore. I would like them to describe the real estate more haha But I guess since then there is a lot of them so no need. I like how the author will periodically tell how much money was saved or how much monthly income was made in total. It really helps visualise the scale up to there.
For the side characters, there are sooo many that were given love. It made things vibrant and heartwarming because they are all family. I liked seeing how they will treat each other to food and how they can ask for help and advice and it is given. We see many of them grow up too so it feels close.
I also want to mention the setting. It is quite vivid. This is China in the olden days so the temperament of the characters matches it. I'm Chinese, though not from China, so I am familiar with the beliefs there. So I have to mention that it does get a bit annoying to read about them giving gifts to each other and then the other saying, "Aiya, no need to bring gifts ma, just yourself is enough!" Then the demurring, etc., happens. Then the other party visits the other person instead, and the exact same thing happens. Gifts, saying no, etc., Sigh, doing this a few times and when done well, like when the relatives set up shops and the MC visited there for the first time, when they gave gifts to the cp and let them stay over, I could feel the joy and sincerity because their success and happiness were due to the MC. It doesn't feel like a poor person giving to a rich person anymore, but truly equals sharing their joy. It was heartwarming. Later on, when this happens with the newer, richer people, it just feels a bit fake, even though they aren't. I guess I just don't like the demurring attitude when accepting gifts in Chinese culture. Just freaking accept the gift and say thank you and pay them back in some other way later. So much unnecessary "no you don't have to pay, no we haven't finished what you gave before, nooo I can't possibly accept this expensive thing, no you don't have to give me this thing that I also have a lot at home." Lol.
The other thing is probably also a cultural thing. This was published in 2014 and was probably written earlier. The romance mindset is kinda a typical macho man in bed, just brute forcing their way through and it is romanticised. This is true with the main cp especially vivid in the earlier chapters and even in the extras for the 2nd's daughter. The attitude in normal life is all more or less okay, just the entitlement the men have to the girl's body.
Pacing
The slice of life tag is definitely warranted. With 700 chapters, you can also read it as part get rich activities and also like those tv dramas with the family drama haha Addicting. Some parts are a little slow, some parts a little fast but overall, very slice of life.
Characters
The MC is quite stubborn and domineering. One is and two is two and nobody can say otherwise. She has a big heart for people who are good and if they are bad, straightforwardly cuts off contact decisively and immediately. She's smart and a planner. As for the ML, I don't know if I like him in particular lol. I love how much he loves his wife, his brothers, his family and how he works hard to support. But in all other aspects, he's a typical male of this period. There are some bad parts, like the s*x attitude and the preference of a daughter over the sons.
For the bad guys, wow they can really rile you up sometimes haha. All of them contribute some nice drama for the MC to conquer haha I do find that for the 2nd sister-in-law though, near the end of the village arc, it seems like she was getting okay? But then, it felt like not enough drama, lets change her to a bad guy again. Lol.
Some things that I found imperfect
- Some characters that feel like they will be a bit more important seem to have been forgotten lol Like Wang Li, the university best friend. They promised for the child to be the MC's godchild, but the character was forgotten until hundreds of chapters later and then, it was only a summary.
- The progression of the godchild relationship when the MC got pregnant was way too fast for me. She was there for like four months only. Also, it felt a bit hypocritical of the MC in how well she treated them. The Jiang family very quickly suggested to each other if they wanted to create a godchild relationship for the kid and the parents were very willing to climb up this capital family. But the MC were also quite willing to let them. It kinda feels weird that this family wants to use the Mc to raise up, the MC lets them so fast while others who are worse off does not because of bad character or something. Sure they gave a bad impression first it still feels a too benefit seeking for this Jiang family.
- The transmigration novel's plot didn't have much of an impact in this 700-chapter story. The two leads don't do anything. They don't have any role in the story. They were like only 1/30th of the story lol I wanted more from them. Maybe make them rebirth too and make them bad in character and cause some drama haha
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CN (4.7)
18 Chapters Every 190.5 Day(s) 26412 Readers 554 Reviews 08-18-2024
4.25 Stars... more>>
I quite liked it. Same author as The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System so basic quality is already there. It;s also more polished than the other one. Best danmei I've read so far. It really made me feel things when reading which is rare for web novels for me. Maybe it's because translated web novels make it harder for me to connect to the characters and/or world. But this does not have that problem, oh no. The plot was very good, the romance was so sweet and the characters were the best part, especially Wei Ying. He was just so likeable. And all the sad parts he was in or witnessed were nice and sad which is a good indicator of whether I enjoyed the story or not. I love how detailed the world was. All the monsters and techniques were new and interesting. I only don't like the use of flashbacks no matter how good they are, which they were. I just don't like going from one time to another, I dislike the feeling of being reluctant to part with the current story. I would much prefer it if we had just followed Wei Ying from the flashback to the present.
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CN (4.5)
117 Chapters Every 98.6 Day(s) 12014 Readers 92 Reviews 11-10-2023
4.25 Stars... more>>
Dayum, this was good! The pacing was fantastic. It never got close to being draggy or too fast! The characters pftt. Amazing, hands down. I loved our five main characters and the two masters! Their character development was wonderful to watch. And the plot! I was invested the whole way! The ending events got a bit overt and too big but all the plot twists whoa. A big factor was the truly good writing compared to most other light novels I've read, and the translations were so good! All the sudden feels were so natural I didn't noticed I was crying until I was crying loool It got so long and many things have happened that now, a year or so later, I don't really remember anything hahaha But I did remember that the characters felt so real and I loved them all so when all the bad things happen, ahhh my heart hurts haha
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CN (4.5)
206 Chapters Every 117.4 Day(s) 10188 Readers 170 Reviews 02-20-2020
4.25 Stars... more>>
Overall Comments
Overall, I enjoyed reading this a lot. It could have been better but all is well. I definitely liked The Only Favourite Ugly Husband by this author more because the MC actually actively works hard to improve his husband's and his family's lives but this story is enjoyable enough to read too. The new-to-me setting (it was super vivid to me) and the amazing translation kept me reading all the way through.
Writing/Translation
The translation by XIIN is very good! Top notch! The translator has 2 dedicated editors so there were no errors and everything can be read smoothly! The group seems experienced and passionate about translating so that is to be expected. The writing of the story is also nice, we don't feel distant from the events of the story and it is easy ish to be invested.
Plot
The plot follows half half the romance and the MC raising the ML as he earnestly works to improve the life of his tribe. The extras in the story further follow what happens to the couple and incidentally, the tribe as well in the years that follow. And the last extra follows a parallel world where the MC in the original world at age 48, dreams of the happy life of himself in the main story and decides to check out the Beast King ML. Pretty good.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
The story follows the indifferent MC, who has been living in a terrible apocalyptic world by himself. Now that he has transmigrated to this new Stone Age world, he just wants to be alone and live life. It is understandable that all his actions are to just be emotionally and physically distant from all these strangers after such a life. So all his actions make sense. The person he likes is really the only one he truly cares about. He won't go out of his way to proactively help the tribe but he won't prevent them from learning from him. However, the main draw of a village/kingdom building is when the MC you are reading the pov from has a desire to actively improve the village or kingdom. In the normal trope, this creates this delicious cycle of making the MC likeable and easy to root for so when you see the character's hard work pay off, you also get a sense of satisfaction of seeing something less become more. The feeling of happiness that comes from helping the people you like that appear in the MC is also there to add more dopamine. Then, with the increasing quality of life of the MC, they can continue to earn more stuff. These quick cycles of dopamine hits keep the story addicting for the readerto read.
However, in the story it isn't like that. For one, the MC's situation is not bad. He can grow his own food without any help as much as he wants. He can also hide himself from other dinosaurs with no problem. He can just live by himself anyway so we don't feel any urgency to improve a super bad quality of life situation. Then there is the ML. He's basically the young master of the tribe because he's so capable. Everyone generally likes him because he's a strong yet caring person for them. So his situation isn't bad and is, in fact, much better than the MC. So no need to help him improve either. Only the tribe in general is always hunting for meat but it's all pretty liveable. No one the MC cares about needs to have their life improved. So when the tribe's living situation is improved indirectly by the MC, we don't really care because the MC doesn't care about them enough to actively do something. So for me, the impact of all the tribe building isn't particularly high.
For the setting though, I really like it! It's so unique from what I have read so far, something in the stone age + dinosaurs + tribes + people who can turn into mammals. This is my first story in this clan building genre, so everything is a bit refreshing. From other reviews, it seems there are better stories of this kind out there, so I'm excited haha
As for the romance part, this author has yet another unique ML and a refreshing couple dynamic! I've read The Only Favourite Ugly Husband by them just before this one, and that one has a unique couple dynamic too haha. Here, you can't quite tell who is the shou and who is the gong at first. And even later on, when we realise the strong tribe chief ML will be the shou in the romance, it gives a unique spin haha. Such a manly strong man eagerly volunteers to be the shou in s*x because he's scared being the bottom will be too painful for his lovely, delicate mate haha. It was believable how the romance came about. Lots of convenient situations happened to easily let the couple develop feelings, but it was nice to read. Also, for the s*x stuff, there was basically nothing on screen lol. Everything was super vaguely referenced in like one or two sentences, then the story just skips over and moves on. I don't mind it because I find s*x scenes in cn novels super cringy or someone forcing the other to have s*x, which is unpleasant. The topping and bottoming things also happen here but so much is in euphemism and very short, I didn't have to skim anything which is great for me XD
Pacing
Everything is slice of life so the pacing is like that. Interesting things always happen soon after an interesting thing finishes, so you aren't bored. There will usually be a whole chapter of the Mc cooking nice food after an interesting thing happens, so some people who don't like this type of stuff might find it slow. As for the clan building stuff, it feels a bit more draggy than if the Mc had actually genuinely wanted to improve the clan. As it is, he only wants the clan to be better because the ML and the MC's living situation might become marginally better and not bother him in the future lol.
Characters
The MC is so so for me because of how indifferent he is to everyone. Even when he slowly learns to accept this world as his own, we don't really read this feeling from him so it still vaguely feels like he's not really close. Like, if it was between the tribe and his ML, he would choose to save the ML with zero hesitation. So while he isn't unlikeable or anything, he doesn't make it easy to really root for him and like him. I wish the author had made the MC more vulnerable actually. Maybe with the ML. This would have made us feel closer to the MC and made the relationship between the couple even closer. Here are a few scenes that do this but it's like only one or two scenes and it's only by one character being present in the scene. It would have been so easy to do so! The MC has a horrible past of surviving an apocalypse alone and now has ptsd and all the effects of living in such a place. If the author made him cry or tell something of his situation in a vulnerable way to the ML, I feel like it would make the ML fall deeper in true love! Because this MC who is always too jaded and distant to protect himself, if he can be vulnerable that means he has let down his walls for the ML to really get to know him. I believe there were missed opportunities there.
As for the ML, I adore him! He is just so freaking cute and such a cinnamon roll who just wants the people he loves and his tribe to love happily for all time. He's so excitable and easy to fool because the people at this time just don't have time to learn intrigue because they have to find food to eat! But he wants to protect his tribe and to get as much food as his people wants so he will train hard to be strong enough to do so. He's just so adorable and very likeable XD My favourite character in the whole story.
The side characters are all varied and nice to read about. Barely anyone really sticks around a lot but it is nice to read about when they are there. The villains are okay. My favourite villain is Shi Li but he's not there for a whole chunk in the middle. I really like to see his expectations all overturned and his plans all messed up hahaha.
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CN (4.6)
392 Chapters Every 60.5 Day(s) 19087 Readers 427 Reviews 06-22-2023
14 Nov 2022... more>>
4.25 Stars
Writing/Translation: 3.7/5
The translation I read is from lightnovelpub. The translation is probably from Rainbow Mushroom. It has surprisingly frequent careless mistakes, which was jarring because the translations otherwise were pretty good. Also, I’ve read other stories by Rainbow Mushroom and they were far more polished than this one. Kinda surprising. The grammar and sentences were all pretty good quality, it's just the careless mistakes. The translation is so good that the careless mistakes immediately jolted me out of the story for a moment lol.
Pacing: 4.5/5
It was pretty good. Most of the time, I was engaged; there was always something going on that kept my attention. The only blight was in the 130s, at the instance where they had to give books to Mosaic to read. That game was so dry, hard to imagine and quite boring, standing on grids. It almost felt like I was burned out on bingeing the story at that point. I persevered through and my attention span never went that low since and in fact, got higher haha.
Plot: 4.5/5
I’ve never read something quite like this in a light novel before. It was all so unique and quirky but mixed in with survival suspense, twisty thoughts, and action. But it also has this vibe of humour everywhere, even with the enemies haha. This kept the story from becoming too depressing, even when the situation was dire and millions of people were dying left and right. However, the ending and reveal seem a little too simple and like a cop out to me. I wanted more detail and explanations lolol.
Romance: 3.5/5
The romance is okay haha. It wasn't the focus so. I did like that the two people can confidently stand on their own and the person at the bottom is a perfectly capable and smart person.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4.5/5
Everything was so cool and unique, lolol. The instances, the games, the rules, the mystery, the enemies, the powers and the props.
Characters: 4.7/5
The characters are the best part. There is so much variety and all the monsters are so colourful and lively that they jump off the page haha. The main characters, I believe, serve as a lens through which to view the story. I wish we got to know the origin and background of all the monsters in more detail though. They were so fun and interesting, haha. All of the characters felt like real, distinct individuals, each with their own self-interest and set of strengths and weaknesses.
Personal Enjoyment: 4.25/5
I finished it, so I had fun haha. It wasn't my favourite or anything but yes, it was pretty good entertainment.
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CN (4.7)
6 Chapters Every 69.8 Day(s) 2872 Readers 34 Reviews 10-19-2023
4.25 Stars... more>>
Date Read: 12/4/2024
Personal Enjoyment: 4.7/5
This was such a perfect little bite of a story. Short sweet and made use of every word to give the story. I love the humorous tone the situation showed lol.
Plot: 4/5
The plot is pretty generic but with a mind-reading twist. It's super short so a lot of the detail isn't shown. But this doesn't detract from the story because the MC is only 6 and her POV is naturally limited so it's normal to not know a lot of the details. However, I would love for there to be more scenarios to be in the story though. I think it would be more fun haha.
Writing/Translation: 4.5/5
The translation I read is from Foxaholic. Thought it was pretty decent. I think there was only like one sentence that had a missing word. I also like that the TL merged a lot of the chapters because 1 chapter is pretty short.
Pacing: 4/5
I feel that it is because of how short, the tone and the writing style that made the snappy pacing word. Otherwise, I would have found it too quick.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 3.9/5
Just the normal ancient China setting. The surroundings were barely explained. I forgive a lot of the vagueness to the short story length though.
Characters: 4.4/5
I adore the MC! She's so lively in her head so it's very enjoyable to read. Her inner voice is hilarious. The emperor is amusing. The rest were okay. Not much we know since the story is so short.
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"A heartwarming tale of familial love and laughter, this uncomplicated story is sure to charm your socks off. The author deftly weaves together a heartwarming tale of family bonds and hilarious hijinks, effortlessly endearing their characters to readers within minutes." ~ Rhiech
"Uncomplicated and very adorable, also contains an Asian parent who apologises! Read it, 5 stars!" ~ Potatoteeth
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CN (4.5)
0 Chapters Every 1570 Day(s) 12186 Readers 236 Reviews 08-15-2020
4.25 Stars... more>>
Overall
Guh, this is too sweet and wholesome QAQ I just read Chapter 40 and nghhhh, so sweet, so touching that I teared up a little ahhhh. This relationship, sniff, I also want someone to treat me like that sniff.
Ahh, this story is great. It is the sweetest, most tender, most healthy and ridiculously heartwarming romance ever. With the most beautiful characters ever. The story has a comedic undertone, purely because of our beloved and adorable MC lol. And the cruel, silent and cannot be disobeyed tyrant is unexpectedly silly, also because our adorably adorable MC, the tyrant’s pet fish hahaha. After they get together officially, we get lots of dog food. I usually am kinda meh for dog food because the romances can be too cringy but this time, the two characters are just too unabashedly sweet on each other. And they aren't in their own world in seclusion from everyone else nope. The ML loves to proudly show off his BF’s considerations for himself to anyone who notices anything. He is especially adorable because he's mute... so he will prepare written answers beforehand, saying "... my boyfriend" just in case someone asks hahahaha. Honestly, the main draw is the characters and the romance! I'm normally not invested in romances but the writing here made it easy to love them!
On another issue, I love how long the author really stuck to the disabled part of the ML. In other stories, the disability usually gets magically cured almost halfway through the story. Here, it was all part of the story and part of the final mystery in the plot. And it only got solved at the final arc near the end. Otherwise, the muteness has shown its many effects in all the tyrant’s every action. I felt that it really affected his daily life and future and yet the ML still lived his life successfully with it. It's one story where I feel the disability isn't there just as a cheap gimmick to make the MC and the reader pity the ML or to make the MC be the miracle saviour for the MC.
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from Chrysanthemum Garden so you know it's good haha. The writing has a comedic undertone. The author also writes the characters until they feel so endearing.
Pacing
There are a few arcs. I feel most of them are alright except in the last arc, a couple of scenes/transitions felt like we skimmed some details. But overall, okay.
Plot
The first like 60+ chapters deal with the system missions and a developing romance. The next arc, they move out of the capital and have an established romance + babies hahaha. Then the last parts are more palace intrigue and mystery lol.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
A very heartwarming, beautiful, sweet, adorable, unabashed romance in a setting of a surprisingly decent palace intrigue with the premise that the MC is a fish LOL.
If ya didn't realise it at the beginning, this is one of the super few romances in web novels that I really feel it. The romance is really slow because the MC is a fish and the ML can't speak. So the MC has to really get out of his fish comfort zone to actually achieve anything hahaha. Including interacting with the ML. I love the development here, so funny and cute! This romance is the healthiest one I've read in web novels ever. Both characters you can genuinely feel really love each other and are constantly in that ngawww, I want to see you all the time feeling. Since the MC shou really loves the ML, ofc, he also really likes to have s*x with the ML! He's always happy and excited and looking for ways to happily seduce the ML XD I love this dynamic. Every single romance in web novels is always about the MC getting totally dominated in bed and being used multiple times until the next day. It's a long-running trope of waist tired/limping/"injured"/needing to lay in bed. Also, the MLs will be, "I can't control it, " "you won't let me suffer, will you?", "no definitely means yes", "your mouth says no but your body is honest" *rolls eyes*. I hate all that. In this story, these things never even entered their minds. This is a real effing relationship where both sides adore and are proud of each other. Quite equal.
The palace intrigue is present throughout the entire plot and it is surprisingly good. Better than most web novels that aren't pure revenge palace intrigue web novels anyway. It has stakes that are just enough to feel them, but it is lighthearted enough that it isn't an anxious, suspenseful time. It's not perfect, but I kinda liked it. The face-slapping was reasonably good.
The humour is everywhere haha. All the characters, even those that at first glance are intimidating, stern and scary, can be suddenly funny lolol.
Characters
The characters are the best part of this story. They are so earnest, sincere and very rootable. Also, super sweet and unexpectedly adorable. The MC is a chou and can be very cute when he's in a daze or being absent minded but he's smart, can plan things out and has the determination to commit even if it's embarrassing hahaha. He's no salted fish here. I love how unabashedly he goes after the ML after he finally acknowledges his feelings. He's always thinking of the ML as he should be if he's really in love. In all his actions, he's looking out for the ML. It is wonderful.
The ML is also interesting and very likeable! He's cold, emotionless and ruthless at the beginning but as we go on, we see more and more unexpected sides to him XD We can see his love growing so genuinely. And I love how much he shows his care through his actions. His muteness just highlights this even more. I love how his muteness forces the story to show more nonverbal language to compensate.
All the other side characters are just as good! They all have their unique roles and are distinct. Unfortunately, they don't stay in each arc all the time sadly. I adore the babies, they are so cute and funny. I only wish we have more scenes with them as they grow up. In this story, I like their shenanigans. It's funny and makes me know them more haha.
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CN (4.4)
160 Chapters Every 64 Day(s) 4089 Readers 111 Reviews 05-01-2022
4.25 Stars... more>>
Overall
Except for the college arc, I reeeeeally loved it! The family drama was super engaging. The best friend's drama was both super engaging and made me emotional too! I was surprised, lol. The important characters who were given screentime had so much care from the author. I love how the perspective of the MC from her past life gave so many fascinating and new dimensions to the situation in her rebirth. All the characters in her family and her best friends were so 3 dimensional and real compared to most other web novels. I also love reading about the MC discovering these new dimensions now that she's an adult and far calmer than her volatile teen self. Ahh, it was so good and addicting to read! It is only some parts like the college arc compared to the rest that felt more lacklustre. This is probably because all the conflict between the people close to the MC has already been solved so the college arc was shorter and nothing interesting really happened. There wasn't a clear goal for the MC to strive for anymore because her family situation was very stable at the time and she had already gotten into the college she wanted. The vague goal is to be a powerful woman. The other issue I had is that the ML didn't have any conflict or bonding sessions with the MC when compared with her best friend and her family. I feel like it was still too insta-love. I still can't quite get the ML’s personality. He feels like a generic perfect ML with no unique personality of his own. The best friend and other family members feel richer than him, which is sad. He doesn't get as much quality screentime either.
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from Empress Translations. I feel that the translation is pretty good. There are some super minor mistakes in the pronouns and names but they are quite rare. The sentences flow quite well in English. It feels like it was written in English, not a translation. This means the writing is pretty good too. No choppy, awkward sentences here.
Pacing
The pacing is very good for all arcs except the last college arc where it feels like we have sped through more quickly. I feel like the MC doesn't really do any interesting things then.
Plot
The goal of the story is for the MC to make better choices in this life than in the previous one. Last time she died as just another statistic after ruining her life. Now, if she just lives for herself, she won't do too badly. We follow her from the summer vacation of middle school where she catches up on classwork, navigates her family and sets up the foundation for moving forward. She also deals with her family a lot here. Then, she enters high school, studies hard and lives the good student life she missed out on as a troubled rich kid previously. She also makes friends. And made a best friend. And deals with mean girl drama at the very beginning but that ends quickly unlike the stepmother in the last arc. She also makes her first investment! Then, when all the exciting things are concluded, she enters university, has a kid and finally gets married in the last chapter.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
This really feels like a deliberate attempt at a second chance in life. The MC didn't completely change their personalities from the 1st life to the rebirth. She really did make those bad decisions so now there are a lot of reflections and thinking the MC does in her second life. Why did she do it? Was it worth it? She was such a kid then. All the regrets are reflected on and she is always sad that other people can't get a 2nd chance as well because it can really completely change their life direction the second time around.
On a side note, the reason I even chanced upon this story is that it has the Business Management tag. I really wanted to read about business and wealth making and the family drama faceslapping implied by the synopsis was just a bonus hahaha. So the few instances where the MC ventured into investing based on her 1st life’s memories were interesting! It was detailed too, with added development for her grandmother and her father! It's so sad that that was the only occasion it appeared in the story when that was the whole reason I came here lolol.
Her complicated family members are so interesting to read about! I love to read about their interactions and how the MC navigates all that.
Characters
I love the MC and the characters that have a lot of screen time. They get so much character development with the MC. The MC herself is a sensible mature adult compared to everyone else so I like the perspective. She was calm when before she would have flown into a violent rage as a teen. It's also nice to see her face slapped by being so much more mature hahaha.
The side characters are all so vivid and unique. The family members are not so black and white like the father, who is a pure scumbag with no good qualities. Someone said the characters are so nuanced and I completely agree! In the eyes of a troubled teenager, the enemies are always out to get you and deserve to die but in the eyes of an adult outsider, they have good and bad, strengths and weak points. Like the cheating father who had a mistress before the wife even died but he can also be the silly overprotective dad to his kids and have wholesome mother-son memories with the MC’s grandmother.
The 2nd male lead turned best bro friend, also has a history with the MC in the past but now he's only a teenager who thinks he's cool and da bomb. The first impression of him as the bad guy somehow changes throughout the story and he becomes best friends with the MC. He himself feels that he became totally friendzoned towards the MC and cannot think of her romantically anymore hahaha. During his part of the story, I actually teared up haha. I really liked his character arc.
The ML, hurmm. We meet him in the prologue, but we don't see him again until almost all of the interesting conflicts are resolved. And then there wasn't any drama for him to help or for the MC to help him so the level of connection between them that I felt was much less compared to the best friend. It's not that I want the best friend to get together with the MC, but I want the level of investment the author had in the best friend to be the same for the ML too. I don't feel close to the ML at all.
As for the bad guys, the stepmother living with the MC gave a lot of opportunities to faceslap her at home all the time. But the final one wasn't really satisfying, sadly. The others, they weren't really bad, they just had their own interests. The really scummy bad guys were taken care of too cleanly and distantly to feel any personal satisfaction. Well, this isn't really a faceslapping story most of the time anyway haha.
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CN (4.6)
251 Chapters Every 115.8 Day(s) 8167 Readers 151 Reviews 04-15-2020
4.25 Stars... more>>
Overall
It’s not a full five stars because the Bai Rui plotline ended a bit anticlimactically and we don't really get to know what his deal was and what was up with the friend and him in the end. Also, I just did not like the unbalanced relationship at the beginning half and the ML’s bullying tendencies then. It's good for the story but I rate based on my enjoyment haha. Otherwise, a fantastic and engaging long ride. I wish it was longer with more architectural stuff in it because that was the most interesting part for me. I would have loved it if the author had included some images too. I love how much the MC grew throughout the story. Abit inspiring haha. It made me nostalgic for when I was post-university looking for a job and working.
Writing/Translation
The translation from C1–11 is from Blues Translation. The translation is a bit halting. Some words are wrong. Some words are missing in a sentence lol. Not too smooth a flow to read at the beginning when trying to get used to the style. It's probably because the translation is just good enough that any errors encountered are unexpected so you pause for a while to correct the sentence in your head. So my tip at least in the first few chapters is to forcefully make your reading speed fast. This will make your head automatically and quickly correct the error sentences to keep up with your speed + make you get used to the translation style more quickly. Then, just wait until chapter 5-6, there is an editor! From then onwards, the translation is pretty good XD
Next, I’ve read from Snowy Notes onwards. The translation is good! There were no errors that I could remember and the sentences were not awkward. I didn't realise that they translated from chapter 1 so you should probably just stick to them from the start.
Pacing
Get through the first 4 or so chapters and then the meat of the story appears when the MC actually starts his job. And the office romance can begin lol. The pacing is pretty good and even. It is a very day-to-day story so there aren't many time skips until the end and the extras. But even then, the timeskips are so smooth and expected haha. This is like an office romance for the first 100 chapters then when they get together, it deals with how they fare after they get together.
Plot
We follow the MC, a young adult figuring out life post university, starting to work. Lots of life philosophies get worried about by the MC too. Like, can he get this job? Does he stay in this job he likes but doesn't pay as well as his old friends? Does he stick to it because it is fulfilling or make big cash so he doesn't have to worry about rent? Temptations everywhere, does he stick to his guns? He follows him, learns at his job, gets good, thinks about the ML, his sexuality, his prospects in the future, romance, friends and family. The extras will be like a year+ from the beginning to age 30.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
Man, at the beginning, the imagery of offices and starting work, the fancy iMacs on designing tables really brought me back to university (we had the architectural courses and their fancy classes right next door) and then the feeling of actually starting a job and earning so much money all of my own, wow brings me back. The excitement and nervousness XD. I’ve been working for five years and 3 of those years were affected by COVID, so it wasn't strictly 9-6 anymore lol.
The genre of this story is romance, plus young adult just starting work. The story explores their romance and charaygrowth for 2 years. How our young adult MC deals with his career in a depressed industry, if he will stick with it and his dreams or quit to make better money elsewhere, romance, sexuality, just adult life after college.
To be honest, my favourite part was all the architectural work. I felt like it was cool and I learnt a lot. I barely have any such knowledge so how it all works in the working world and what needs to be done was pretty interesting. I wish the author had added more cases with the same level of detail in the first half for the MC later on when he got good and experienced. Show us how good he is instead of telling. Working life is just so relatable and interesting.
For the romance, it feels like a typical romance book from a normal bookstore for the part before they officially get together. There were lots of does he like me? Does he not? Am I imagining it? Is he gay? The fact that the ML is a superior creates an unequal dynamic for ¾ths of the story so be warned about that. There were a couple of times where the ML kinda ab*sed his status as the MC’s boss to get what he wanted with the MC like saying deduct 500 if you don't do this, at a time when the MC was silently super stressed about his finances. The ML didn't know that but he still used his power over the MC. Also, a lot of the sexy scenes had the MC going "noo, stop, I can't take it", but the ML was "I have calculated and tested your bottom line gradually over these months, so you CAN take it", was just ugh =.=. No means no, or at least pause to confirm the other’s comfort level. Consent is super sexy. I was getting worried there because I was reading the story for its touted healthy relationship but for a lot of the story, the ML just loved to bully the MC which was, uhh, kiiiinda frustrating. Once they actually get together and have been together for a bit longer, only then does it gets more communicative and healthy. They go through lots of small fights and we see them cool down, reconcile, be vulnerable and discuss what happened on their end. But before this part, ugh, the ML really kept bullying the MC because he likes to see him cry. Yeah, that part was kiiinda frustrating to me. Because the MC was stressed enough man. -.- So I guess, be warned that the healthy relationship tag takes a good while to get started in this long 200+ chapters story.
Characters
We follow the MC in his thoughts and in his head the entire story. The writing was such that I really feel whatever the MC was feeling haha. That made me super invested in his life and his goals, his worries and anxieties. It was a joy to follow him, a just out of university young adult figuring out money, his future, his life, etc. Very relatable. I was reminded of myself when I just started working. Also, the character is very good. Sometimes, you can't really tell that he's grown until the story shows it to you and ahh, he really did grow. The MC really struggles to get his life and his beliefs together.
I didn't like the ML much at the beginning because he caused so much grief for the MC and the MC's head was the one I was in most of the time haha. So objectively, I understand but emotionally, nghhhh haha. He's also an interesting character and since we are in the MC’s POV, you can feel the charisma of the ML. He's so good at architecture, which the MC likes, that you can really feel the attraction there.
The character growth of the MC and how we really get to know the ML is so good! The process was a bit frustrating but at the end, ahh, it was so nice to see how they had grown. We also see how the ML opens up and changes from the beginning.
All the supporting characters are so good, varied and distinct! There are no placeholder friends and family to prop up the story here XD Everyone has their own lives and troubles as young adults, parents and siblings. We get to see part of their story with how the MC intersects with them.
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