I just finished yet another danmei that now I'm dying to get in physical form when I already have so many that I said I would re-read. Why do I do this to my wallet?
But anyway, Governor's Illness
I really enjoyed it! The action scenes were so awesome and I loved the lore of the Garan assassins. This might be the most violent danmei I've read so far. Yeah, violence is nothing new in danmei, but this was more like a Kill Bill kind of violence (there may be better comparisons lol). The world of this novel is very cruel and the author has no mercy.
The relationship between Xiahou Lian and Xie Jinglan was very compelling, but I would have liked to see more romance in the main story. Don't get me wrong, they undoubtedly love each other, but I feel because their connection was already established in their childhood years, by the time they reunite they're mostly helping each other through the plot. There were some sweet moments, but then they had to go back to the plot. I needed more. The angst in the second half was good though.
I liked the side characters too, including one of the best danmei villains I've ever seen.
Now, spoilers!
As expected of a story revolving around assassins, so many gruesome character deaths! Xiahou Pei's was the most traumatizing for me. And the way her body was treated afterwards omg 😭 Then Xiahou Lian casually walked by her corpse, covering his nose from the smell before realizing it was her... Agh! It's awful. There's also Tang Shiqi whose corpse was used as a puppet to fight Xiahou Lian. He did not deserve that. And in the first chapters when that consort was assassinated as she was giving birth, along with her baby. That's when I knew this novel would not hold back. Situ Jin's death as not that graphic but it was very sad. He was such a good person and he had just reconciled with his wife 😢 It hit me hard.
Chi Yan became one of my favorite characters and his ending was so bittersweet. We don't even know if he's alive by the end. Speaking of that, what do you mean Xiahou Lian was unconscious for three years?! I'm still not clear if he was completely cured from the poison, but that element created some great angst. That point when there was no hope to cure him was heartbreaking. The way he just accepted he would die while Xie Jinglan was so desperate he climbed up that mountain to beg Buddha to save him 😭
Baili Yuan was so creepy. I usually don't make facial expressions when I read but I remember that when I was reading the scene where she stabbed that eunuch in the eye my jaw literally dropped. I wish she had showed up earlier because she's one of my favorite danmei antagonists.
More on Jinglian, at first I was happy that there's finally a sickly, delicate top for a change. However, Xie Jinglan is... not the best top. Is it because he was not good in bed and Xiahou Lian didn't enjoy it at all? Is it because I'm more used to delicate bottoms after all? Is it the pettiness he treats Xiahou Lian with sometimes? I'm not sure, but there was something lacking in their intimate life that left me unsatisfied, which has never happened with other danmei before.
And now the biggest spoiler and my true complaint: Xie Jinglan does not have white hair.
Reading a book that’s still in the process of being written, because I can’t find completed danmei books that fit my taste, sadly.
This book seems good. Supernatural horror, a genre I like. Scarier than most horror danmei (most are really weak), but not very scary to me. Still, the flavour is strong enough.
There is something deeply wrong with the love interest, Jin Feize. Enchanting, batshit in a smiley way, and psychopathic (by this I mean that empathy is often beyond his reach; there’s a reason for this). I like that. He has casually said several times that he wants to kill the protagonist, turn the protagonist’s head into a taxidermied specimen, and put it by his bedside. He has also suggested once that the protagonist kill him and turn his head into a specimen instead.
Also, he started out as the protagonist’s online girlfriend.
