So I finished Misvil recently and I LOVED IT SO MUCH ? GUYS ?
This probably entered my top 3 favorite damnei for so many reasons. If you like angst and fated love, this is for you. And if you saw on social media posts about a main damnei couple waiting 3000 years for each other (and more than 1000 reincarnations), it’s them, and it’s SO SO GOOD I PROMISE. It’s not officially translated yet (the first volume is out in November by Seven seas !! I’m so excited about it now) but you can easily find an epub on Internet
SPOILER FROM HERE, from the beginning until the last chapter
I have many thoughts about this book. The first thing that comes to mind is the devotion of the two main characters. They waited hundreds of millions of years to be with each other, quite literally. Both are the textbook definition of being devoted. It might seems dumb to think about a stone getting a heart for someone else, but it works so well here. Find yourself a man who grew a heart and a conscience for you actually Song Qingshi on top fr ❤️. Also the fact that they both know each other so well ? Even when Yue Wuhuan tries to hide his ‘darkness’ from Song Qingshi after the whole ten-years-coma, Song Qingshi isn’t fouled at all and can clearly see that his mental state deteriorated, and he’s not angry at him. He just wants to help him get better. He’s allowed a little bit a murder, and Song Qingshi gladly helps him kill his rapists like a good boyfriend 💞 also love Qing Luan perspective who’s been asked to hide the ‘bad’ things Yue Wuhuan did from Song Qingshi except actually he knows and understand him still and is just relieved that there is a possibility to help him. And she’s like ??? why do I bother actually
Another things I REALLY loved is how the genre kinda switch at the end ? When you start it, you expect a normal transmigration novel, which I usually struggle to get into because there is no explanation about why this person from the modern world is in a book suddenly because they died. But here there is an explanation ? One that is totally reasonable ? And it makes the whole novel switch to a fairytale, almost. It’s not just a transmigration novel anymore ; it’s a fairytale about a phoenix regaining his power thanks to a rock that grew a heart for him. The whole novel is about Yue Wuhuan journey to return to being the Phoenix, and it’s done very well and so emotionally … and the fact that Song Qingshi lacking a heart at the beginning and not understanding emotion it what made him capable of saving Wuhuan, where other gods failed ? So beautiful.
It’s also a perfect mix of angst and funny, which is always a plus 👌 there’s moments that made me crack up for sure, which sometimes you don’t expect from a novel with such heavy themes
I know I’m not the first one to say it, but the subject of recovering from sexual abuse and living with the consequences of it is also very well handled from my point of view. It’s never skimmed or forgotten when talking about Wuhuan’s mental state, and the effect of it are clearly shown during the whole story, not forgotten ten chapters after the fact. It totally influence Wuhuan’s decision and his personality throughout the book. For good reason, it turned him colder and distrustful, and it’s shown clearly after the 10 years old coma with Qing Luan, who realise that he can’t just go back to being the generous, patient person who helped look after the children before he was sold. But Song Qingshi always is willing to help him, to try to make him feel better, and he’s always so patient with him and willing to indulge him so that Wuhuan could always feel comfortable and safe. He also never blamed Wuhuan for his more ‘dark’ actions or personality traits that are born from his trauma and PTSD.
Another thing I found really interesting is the whole concept of several worlds and of gods really being all-knowing and clearly living on another scale compared to humans. We don’t see any gods before the last chapter simply because they don’t interact with humans, and their lives are counted in millions of years ; the mere few thousand years that Yue Wuhuan’s soul was stuck in a human body can’t compare to their long lives, and is but a drop of water in their existence. Which makes Song Qingshi worries in the last chapter valid to me. Yes, they love each other, and it seems like a really long time to us, but Song Qingshi thinks that Yue Wuhuan only loved him for, what ? 4000 years ? Out of the millions he already lived, and all those years are linked to traumatic events one after the other, where he got dirtied against his while, raped, and watched the person he fell in love with died again and again. In Song Qingshi’s viewpoint, would we really blame Yeu Wuhuan if he chose to forget him ? Obviously it’s a bit different if you know that Yue Wuhuan has been waiting for him literately since he was just a rock, but Qingshi doesn’t know that.
Also, it’s interesting that the whole ‘gods are divine beings with access to thousands of different worlds and lives counted in millions of years’ is such a different perspective than most novels, like TGCF for example where gods interact with humans on a regular basis, and are former humans in their world (I’m not criticising TGCF at all, it’s just different)
Also I love love love Kong Muhua he’s a true icon and I love his relationship with Bai Zihao. Really really loved the moment where Bai Zihao managed to break free of his shitty ex-‘husband’ influence and mental chain, and realize that it’s not love, and can’t be love if it’s done by someone who coerced you and literally bought you. Really satisfying to see him kill his ‘husband’ by saying ‘and now I have a BOYFRIEND who LOVES ME and has a BIGGER DICK THAN YOU and FUCK YOU’, also Yue Wuhuan helping in his way someone else break free from this piece of shit is 🤌. Also he really tempted karma with this lie lol. But Kong Muhua being like ‘if I can’t seduce someone else I’ll just stop 🤨’ (or something I don’t remember the exact line) like it’s an evidence (AND IT IS OBVIOUSLY but not for Bai Zihao, who’s opinion and consent was never respected).
Anyway that was just my little rant about this book with a WAY too small fandom, I’m really exited for the official translation to have more people to talk to about it <3
