khyie's Reviews (267)

 I almost DNF'd this so many times. The relationships are... not good. So not good. The author, at least, does seem to have some awareness that her gongs are trash but also... the relationships still happen. It's saving grace was that it had so many interesting plot hooks. Every time I'd think "nope, no more, I'm out" something really intriguing would happen and I'd get sucked back in. I don't really recommend it back I can't say I regret reading it either.
 

 !!!!!! I loved this. I loved this so much. The first 40 or so chapters were out to kill me from how horribly they squeezed my heart but it was worth it for how satisfactory the whole story felt. This one is less about the actual gaming and deals a lot more with the behind-the-scenes parts of professional e-sports and how some people can really get screwed over by it. Yu Sui broke my heart but I can't deny that I enjoyed how that meant there was pretty much nothing that could shake him afterward (although, my God, he was so young to be put through all that, my baby T__T). I loved Shi Luo and his cold bravado and also all of those hints that wasn't as coldly mature as he tried to pretend to be. I felt like the author really understood and wasn't afraid to lean into how boys like to show off and make themselves look cool

I'm very specifically thinking about the scene with the lion earring here, where he was so convinced it made him look like a badass and everyone else was kind of like 'yes, of course, you are the biggest, meanest of them all'

  but he would also crack me up so much

the kitchen knife scene! The kitchen knife scene! I was dying, I was laughing so hard

.
 Also, all of the side characters were incredibly well developed! I've read a handful of these gaming novels and most of the time, it seems like everyone else who plays the game is either there for face slapping or filling out numbers. In this case, the other players on his team had very vivid personalities and their interactions with the MC and ML weren't just for the sake of supporting the relationship. I loved Puppy and his verbal sneak attacks, and the way Chen Huo and Shi Luo would bicker like cats and dogs but truly had each other's backs. I loved the manager, fretting over his precious players and wanting to support them however he could. I got so choked up over that scene with Angel Sword's team--you know what scene I mean if you've already read it--and I thought it was wonderfully sweet how team Free would talk a lot of crap about Wawa but whenever he came around looking for a striker to support his attempts to be an assassin-healer, Shi Luo or Chen Huo would step up, even at cost to themselves.
The villains were the most two-dimensional part of the whole story and I never really quite grasped their motivations in the whole thing, besides being monumental a-holes, but it was very satisfying to see them get their comeuppance. They definitely deserved it. The ending was both a bit abrupt but also made sense in the grand scheme of things. I think it mostly came down to me wanting about about fifty more chapters of everyone playing around and having a good time and sniping at each other. I just... I have so many feels about this novel, guys. 10/10, will definitely read again. 

 Mostly fluff with a perfect MC who was stellar at everything he did but this somehow managed to be absolutely wonderful. I had so much fun reading it that even with the minor annoyances of repetitious misnaming

"Zhu Xia whispered with Zhu Xia about their families. Since the two people had the same surname, they were particularly close. Chen Xiaojun and Zhu Xia were ruthlessly forgotten beside them and there was no sense of existence."

  weren't enough to bring me out of the story. I really loved it when I was reading it.
That being said, less than a month since I finished it I can only remember some few details and nothing that could be made into a comprehensive recommendation review. I definitely do still recommend it because it was a good time while I was reading it, but I've knocked a star off my initial rating in light of the fact that it clearly didn't leave a lasting impression on me beyond really good. 

 I... forgot to even jot down notes about this one which just goes to show how big of an impression this story made on me. It wasn't the worst I've ever read but it's certainly far from the best. I actually had to go read other reviews just so I could remember what this novel was about. I think Braxiatel's review summed up all of my feelings about it for the most part. A lot of tie-ins to novels that haven't been translated yet, a lot of weird decisions in how the arcs worked out, and the stand out best arc was probably the chessboard one but I don't know that it helps or hinders the novel that I ended up caring more about the relationship between two minor characters rather than the one between the main characters.
It wasn't bad per se and at least I finished it which is something I've been struggling with lately, but I don't know that I would recommend it to anyone. 

 I probably would've killed the ML for the sheer amount of shamelessness he exhibited but honestly, I think one of my favorite things about him were the hints that he was such a paper tiger. The way his hands would shake when he was acting up and his little displays of nervousness were endearing. I also liked the reverse on the trope where the MC is the one who came from a ridiculously rich background and the ML is actually from a very normal family.
Relentless fluff and very little conflict. The characters were fun and it was a good time passer. I'm not sure I'm going to remember much about it in a couple of months but I had a good time reading it.

Reading this book felt like reading a light-hearted but ultimately unmemorable contemporary yaoi manga. It was cute but didn't really leave a lasting impression. The MC being able to see emotions was a somewhat interesting idea that didn't actually go anywhere except leading to misunderstandings and honestly, I wasn't too terribly impressed with seeing the author repeatedly emphasize that the MC having synesthesia meant that his brain was broken and I was even less impressed when

kissing made it stop temporarily and sex somehow cured it? WTF

  but it was a pleasant way to pass the time. 
 Actually, I do have one more big gripe. The main reason these two don't get together right away is pretty ridiculous.

The ML had one relationship that ended in a break up when he was in his early twenties and immediately swore off love? It didn't even seem to be a particularly malicious break up, just two people who's life paths weren't converging. Yeah, okay. How terribly traumatized he is.

 

For the most part, I enjoyed what I read up to this point but I honestly have no desire to continue this story. Maybe that will change in the future but probably not.
This is a pretty typical example of the cute pet boyfriend trope and nothing about it particularly stood out except that he was a fish and I had a great many questions about the realism of literally anything that happened in this story in relation to that. The other thing that I really enjoyed is that the ML really was mute and up to where I read, there was no magical fix that suddenly made him capable of talking, and seeing them navigate that part of their relationship was interesting, and I think in some ways, it spotlights just how easy it is to take advantage of someone who can't speak. There were times when they were arguing that I just wanted to scream at the MC because he could say whatever he wanted and he could just walk away and the ML wouldn't have any chance to really defend himself because he wasn't able to express himself vocally and the MC could just refuse to read the notes he tried to pass him.
Once all of the relationship stuff was straightened up though and the babies came into the picture, the story lost a lot of it's steam. I don't particularly care about the face-slapping and the MC is clearly going to find a way to become human for as long as he wants. The only thing I could see this story doing that isn't already incredibly apparent is

revealing that the ML's muteness is deliberate sabotage and doing something to rectify it. There's been hints already and one of the few things I've actually enjoyed about this story is that the ML's disability wasn't negated--I'm looking at you Insider--and I'm not interested in seeing the story go that route

Anyway, if you want a cute pet boyfriend story I don't think this one is all that bad but I really need to stop trying to read these. 

Well. I really enjoyed this story. The cases were interesting, the side characters good, and I absolutely loved the constant bickering of the two male leads. I enjoyed the fact that Cui Buqu really was constantly pitting Feng Xiao and it developed from Feng Xiao finding it interesting to finding him adorable when he did it. These two really didn't want to change anything about each other (well, actually, I suspect that Cui Buqu genuinely would love it if Feng Xiao just shut up for awhile) and they didn't really soften or temper themselves when they fell in love. Though, like with pretty much every one of these novels I've ever read, as the ML, Feng Xiao was pretty damned accommodating of Cui Buqu. Still, I really did love their relationship with each other.
I only have two complaints; one is that it ended incredibly abruptly. Like, the climax peaked and just as you were stepping over, the book was done. There were a lot of loose ends left dangling and I would've appreciated just a bit more to polish it off. Yes, one can infer a lot of the problems were dealt with because they knew they were problems but I would've liked to actually see it. Secondly, and this one is really just a personal preference, but I wanted some more sugar. Both of these problems could probably be solved when the extras are finally translated and I can read them but I hate relying on extras to give me the closure I want. Partially because half the time, with the extras, the author decides to do something with the pairing that I end up strongly objecting to and it puts a sour taste in my mouth. Partially because wrapping up your loose ends should be part of your main story, not something tacked on after the fact.
Anyway, good story, fun pairing, definitely recommend. 

 This was simply just sweetness. Watching these two go from an unlikely bickering acquaintance to a sweet, strong, and supportive relationship suffused me with happiness. I just really enjoy how much these two communicate and get along; how their bickering leads to laughter, all the card game jokes, the little bout of sulky jealousy, MC's supportive uncles, the MC's practicality and unwillingness to disrespect others

telling him almost immediately that he wanted to marry him to retain his inheritance! Wanting to break up immediately upon finding out his father only wanted them together to use the ML's family! He was so willing to potentially hurt himself in order to ensure the ML wasn't disserviced

  T__T I loved them both so much. I could just keep listing all of the things.

It was sweet, low conflict, and a wonderful relationship. Highly recommend if you want to read something short, light, and guaranteed to put you in a good mood. 

 Ahhhhhh, this story massacred me. I had so many feelings while reading this. From my indignant fury with the Emperors and the nobility of this world, to my heart melting over just how good Yan Xiaohan and Fu Shen were to each other, and my sincere appreciation over the healthiness of their relationship. Continuing in the vein of FLFL, these two actually talk to each other! They communicate! They love each other but they don't stop functioning without the other in their lives. Golden Stage does take a bit to pick up in the beginning because it does kind of feel like a lot of info dumping but when it picks up, it unfolds into a beautiful relationship and a whole lot of political and wartime shenanigans. Fu Shen might not be in the best place politically at the start of this novel, but he doesn't remain that way and both Yan Xiaohan and Fu Shen are very powerful and very capable people and it's just so damned nice to read a Chinese webnovel where the relationship actually feels balanced.
Also balanced, healthy, and beautiful is their intimate relationship. Fu Shen gives just as good as he gets and the pages are almost entirely blissfully free of him acting like shrinking virginal shou or complaints after every act of intimacy of being broken because the gong was too rough with him. I think it did makes it's appearance once, maybe twice, but there were circumstances around it and every time he willingly went into it and often instigated their encounters.
The extras were also good, especially the one about Fu Tingxin and the Prince of Su.