Yap With Syd 📚

A place for all my ramblings about Anime, Manga, and Danmei~

[yapwithsyd]

A Very Happy Ending 😉 | Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

We’ve come to the end of our journey with Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. Book five holds the last 187 pages of the story and a few extras to entice you. The ending was cute, it wrapped up a lot of loose ends that I was worried about. Of course, WangXian end up together, the evil foes are defeated, and the juniors are happy and have become close friends. I will say, I was not thrilled with the extras, but that is for later in the review.

The tension within the temple could be cut with a knife. Jin Guangyao having so much power in those moments had me actually worried for a bit. Lan Xichen being kidnapped, Jin Ling being baited into the temple, and the unknown of what is to come makes for a risky situation. But it’s just like Wei Wuxian to choose that exact time to confess his love for Lan Wangji. I will say, this section made me feel for Jin Ling, this child is trapped between the loving yet over-protective uncle and the uncle who is setting up to kill you just as easily as his own first born.

Even though I knew that Jin Guangyao would be defeated, but I was not expecting to see him be skewed through by a tricked Lan Xichen. I will say, I was very glad to see him put shoved into that coffin.

The entire scene within the temple had some of my absolute favorite moments of tensions and high stakes, I loved that the power was thrown into Jin Guangyao’s hands (even though I hate him and want him to burn, I love when the heroes are up against the ropes). Having a thread around Wei Wuxian’s neck means being able to control Lan Wangji, and Jin Guangyao knows that fact.

Once all of that is wrapped up in a pretty bow, everyone leaves to return to their normal lives. Then, the shocking twist of Lan Sizhui coming out saying that he remembers the childhood moments with Wei Wuxian! I was not expecting that truth to come out, especially out of nowhere.

Now, on to the couple. With the sped-ran confession, I was expecting some type of affection to be sown between the two, but I was not expecting a full on sex scene in the middle of the forest. The sex scenes come out of nowhere in this book. I usually am not affected by random sex scenes, but these were super… interesting. Shoving someone down and just shoving it in without any prep or lubrication just made me feel so off. I could only imagine the pain that had to have caused Wei Wuxian. I could not think any of the scene was sexy as it was being described. For fucks sakes use some lub, do a little foreplay! It felt so dry (pun not intended) while reading that it threw me out of the story.

For the extras, I only enjoyed a few. The family banquet extra was cute, it was kinda domestic to think that Lan Wangji went and made food for Wei Wuxian because he knew the Lan food is… not his favorite. It shows another caring side from Lan Wangji towards Wei Wuxian.

The incense burning was what I was expecting the extras to be about. Focusing on WangXian and them living together after the events of the story come to an end. With the amount of lustful energy, I was expecting a few sex scenes in the extras, but once again, I had similar reactions to the initial sex scene in the book. It feels so rushed and feels so unsexy to read due to the unrealistic way it begins. I will say, seeing the difference between Wei Wuxian’s dreams and Lan Wangji’s dreams. Wei Wuxian wants to see the two retire and live together and the most scandalous part is that they were about to bath together. Lan Wangji thinks back to their teenage years and imagines him taking Wei Wuxian on the floor. The horny energy is strong in this one.

Now, the villainous friend extra left me in a mini reading slump. I was so bored because even though I thought it was neat that we got to know a bit more about the psycho Xue Yang, that was not what I was wanting out of the extras. I don’t care that much about him to want an entire extra about him, I also hate seeing Jin Guangyao so I really just tired to get through that one.

Now gate crasher was a nice extra to read. We got the couple interacting and the inclusion of fan favorite junior Lan Sizhui! I loved seeing them go through a whole mission and step by step show Lan Sizhui how to handle situations like this alone in the future. I love this extra the most out of all.

The iron hook was another good one, but for some reason did not keep my attention like gate crasher. I did love seeing all the juniors working together again, and seeing the seniors lead them well. I have nothing negative to say about this one, but I also don’t have a raving review either.

Lotus seeds was almost sad in the way Lan Wangji ventured so far in an attempt to feel close to Wei Wuxian. I didn’t love this one, it was just okay to me. I honestly don’t remember a whole lot of the beginning, I only think about Lan Wangji and his tracking to the lake in order to taste the fresh lotus seeds.

Yunmeng was the story that also got the colored comic in the back of the book. It shows such a cute domestic date between WangXian and I loved it so much. There was no tension, no risk, only a fun walk around Wei Wuxian’s hometown.

From dawn till dusk is another cute WangXian extra where they are both lustful and domestic. Wei Wuxian jumped through the window and cuddled up to Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji took care of Wei Wuxian after tiring him out, ensuring he was properly bathed. They review the junior's field reports. Everything is just so low key and I really enjoyed this one, it’s a very close second for my favorite extra in this book.

[yapwithsyd]

Everything Is Coming Together… And Falling Apart | Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is a wild ride. Books one and two set up a lot of information and book three lacked a lot of action to keep me invested. I have been waiting for something shocking to happen, either with the plot progression or with Wangji and Wuxian’s relationship, and welp, I got all of that and more in book four. This volume was well worth the wait! Not only do we get the events of the Burial Mound and the small victory for Wei Wuxian to prove he is not the mastermind behind this. But, we got the brain imploding reveal that Wei Wuxian not using his sword is not because he’s an egotistical asshole, but because be has no spiritual energy to properly wield the weapon. The fact that Wei Wuxian gave up his golden core for the 50% chance that it could be transferred to Jiang Cheng shows just how caring Wuxian is.

Starting off in the middle of the second siege of the Burial Mound, tensions run high as nobody knows who they can trust. Wei Wuxian is common enemy number one, but is backed by the trustworthy and honorable Lan Wangji. Su She is a no-good cultivator who left his original clan only to carry with him the secrets and techniques to his new clan. Those cultivators who climbed up the mountain to destroy Wei Wuxian surly had so much hatred in their hearts after they had to crawl into the Yiling Patriarchs cave for protection. Getting saved by Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning was a huge slap in the face to all of them.

This volume was full of anguish through and through. The never ending tension between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian could be cut with a knife, I have officially given up on any type of reconciliation of their friendship at this point. Returning to Lotus Pier after the catastrophe of the Burial Mound attack and seeing the budding relationship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji was clearly too much for Jiang Cheng who sees himself as the victim who lost nearly everything and must live seeing the cause of his downfall flaunt his good fortune in his home. The fight in the Ancestral Home seems to be the final straw in the friendship.

The discovery that Wei Wuxian no longer has a Golden Core because he underwent surgery to transplant it to Jiang Cheng was the most shocking piece of information. Knowing how much Wei Wuxian cares about his family (his excitement about his sister getting married and the life of her child, the disappointment of not being able to actually attend events for Jin Ling, and the guilt over the deaths) and seeing how terribly his relationship ends up with Jiang Cheng, someone who he views as a brother, is incredibly sad to see. Knowing what he went through in order to help Jiang Cheng be able to cultivate, you can see that he is selfless for those he cares about. Going through excruciating pain for the (less than) fifty percent chance of this procedure working. This led to Wei Wuxian only being able to cultivate the demonic path in order to have any type of power. He can no longer use his sword, and he is forever left to be hated by those around him for trying to save those he believes should not be killed for the acts of a few who happen to share their name.

The entire last section between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji was such a trip. Having both of them tense from the fight with Jiang Cheng and sharing a room was a recipe for disaster. A drunk Lan Wangji is a chaotic force of nature. Stealing chickens and fruit, drawing on the walls with his sword, and breaking a bathtub. The upset emotions are showing so clearly in his drunken state. Lan Wangji wants to show off that ha can be fun too, that he can be reckless like Wei Wuxian’s stories.

Having things escalate in the bathtub and carry over the line on the bed was probably the worst timing for this to happen. Both were upset and stress with everything that was happening at the time. Lan Wanji gets less filtered and proper when drunk, so he let those inner thoughts come out full force. Wei Wuxian has admitted his feelings and longing for Lan Wangji and is taken over by his emotions once pulled into the bathtub. Both have a sweeping realization after the act is done, neither of them know what the other was thinking, or how they feel about what just happened between them. The tense awkward atmosphere is the end of any type of comfort they feel with each other, leaving them thinking the other hated everything or advantage was taken.

The ending of this book is such a cliffhanger. Knowing the Wei Wuxian is having a mini mental breakdown thinking that he took advantage of Lan Wangji, he seems like he is going to go on a rampage that will result in him purposely hurting himself for the sake of mending his guilt in some way. I have no idea how this relationship will find common ground so they can talk everything out. I have no idea how the events of book five will play out, this ending is so open and there are still multiple points in this story that need to be wrapped up, so I feel like these last 400 pages are going to be even more hard hitting.

[yapwithsyd]

Too Many Timeline Jumps | Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

We have officially hit the halfway point of Grandmaster of Cultivation. Points are beginning to be connected and questions are finally being answered, but that also means that I have even more questions after finishing this novel.

With so many jumps in the timeline, it was a challenge to keep track of what happened where and how this effected the timeline. We get to see glimpses of childhood, the Sunshot campaign, and even a bit of the current day.

The biggest section of this book for me was the time spent during the education period held by the Wen Clan. This set up a lot of information like the extreme existent that the Wen Clan went to in order to retain control over the other cultivation clans. Threatening and punishing people for the smallest issue that could be spun into a call to overthrown the Wen’s was such an overstep of power, only to be followed up by a forced education program where every clan had to send juniors to be taught by the Wen clan on how to be proper cultivators. This was not the case (shocking, right?), but instead was a stage for Wen Chao to boast about his subpar skills and take credit for other’s hard work.

In taking the swords of the cultivator, they are left defenseless to large monsters and were used as live bait in order for Wen Chao to swoop in and deal the killing blow. This is shown in full force when the group is sent to an underground cave to hunt down a large yao beast. When push comes to shove, things take a turn for the worst and the juniors end up abandoned in the cave with a historical yao beast who has already eaten thousands of people. Through self-sacrifice all but Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are able to escape from the cave and flee to their homes.

The time in the cave is the only real point where we can see Lan Wangji saw raw emotions from the overwhelming stress he is under. We also see Wei Wuxian be able to a good person and put Wangji before himself. This does lead to the two pairing up to take out the big bad that is keeping them trapped, but in that 6 hour raid boss battle, Wei Wuxian’s injuries just get worse. You would not think that a quick moment riddled with sickness haze would lead to the moment Lan Wangji would recognize Wei Wuxian in a whole new body, but it does. A simple song that Lan Wangji sings to a half conscious Wei Wuxian leads to this huge story unfolding the way it does.

The only time that we see current day is when Wuxian and the Lans try to uncover evidence that Jin Guangyao is the evil mastermind behind these terrible events of the past book (the corpse puzzle). The big secret is revealed that the purity song that Xichen taught to Guangyao was altered to interweave a song that pushed for the death of a close friend. With the huge blow to Xichen’s mental state knowing that his sworn brother might have betrayed his good will, the brothers set out to meet at the Burial Mound.

This period is where we get a short reprieve to a more might hearted mood. With Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian paired up again for their journey, they run into a sea of bunnies, a pile of soft stray, and Wen Ning following them like a stray cat. Once the three get to the Burial Mound, they free the trapped cultivation juniors only to be surrounded by cultivators set out to rehash the original battle on the Burial Mound some ought fifteen years earlier.

The second big arc of this book is the Siege Hunt. Putting young, prideful cultivators from different clans together to fight it out for the most kills is bound to bring up drama. And the games didn’t even start before the pride jumped out. Egging on Wei Wuxian to one-up a bullseye on a horse can only result with him matching it with a blindfold on.

The blindfold leads to the scene that (to me) came out of nowhere. The first kiss. Happening with only one side knowing and being hidden in the dense forest surrounded by yao beasts and ghosts was not how I expected Lan Wangji to make his move.

A lot of tension happens on the mountain. From Lan Wangji about to have a mental breakdown, to Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan about to hash it out with swords and fists, emotions run high.

The last main section is a spotlight on Wei Wuxian and Jiang Chen’s childhood and rough start. Getting off on a terrible start, Jiang Chen is a menace to Wei Wuxian. Being force to get ride of the dogs that he loved for a random kids off the streets didn’t set well with Jiang Chen. The boiling point came when he was meant to share a room with the new burden in his life. Locking Wuxian out of the room and tossing his sleeping mat out into the hall was not the welcoming that was expected. Riddled with terror, Wuxian runs away only to be brought back by Jiang Yanli, the loving big sister that she is. They dynamic never seems to really change with the two boys. One always seems to be chasing after the other, jealous of the other’s abilities and insecure about his own.

This book seems more about putting pieces together as we only get a glimpse at the current day and set up the biggest suspense cliffhanger. Now officially over the halfway point, full pictures are beginning to come to light and the hostility is ramping up in preparation for the big fight. I can only image what can happen after the inevitable big reveal. The only question is how and when it can happen.

[yapwithsyd]

All the trauma | Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

One more book down, three more to go in my journey through Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. I recently wrapped up the second book of the series and I still have so many questions. My opinion of some characters have solidified a bit more, but I still have so much empty space in my timeline.

This book seems broken into two major sections. Exploring and finding the story behind Yi City, and all of the chaos that happens in Golden Carp Tower and finding the head of the corpse.

Having the dynamic duo of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji already established and focusing on the journey of finishing their meat puzzle left such a large possibility of events for this book. This novel had me learning so much more about the characters. Seeing Wei Wuxian’s extreme fear of dogs and Jin Ling’s over-reliance on his spirit dog, Fairy, are examples of how this book expanded on the human side of these cultivators.

With many of the parts of the corpse found, we start the book by wandering into Yi City. A city that is filled with fog, walking corpses, and not a single living soul. Not only is this a dangerous place to be with just Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, but it gets even more stressful when clan juniors are lured to this mysterious city too. I think that the Yi City part of this novel was the most impactful because it is the most I’ve remembered. Wandering into a city that reveals the location of Xue Yang and his terrible history of manipulating Xiao Xingchen, unraveling the awful history that happened during Wei Wuxian’s… time away.

Watching the events playback in real time, seeing how deeply Xiao Xingchen began to care for A-Qing and Xue Yang, it was heartbreaking when it all came to an end. The years of manipulation done by Xue Yang, the who knows how many people he made Xiao Xingchen kill through lies, all of these terrible things that went unnoticed made the reveal of betrayal hurt so much more. The most painful part of this arc was the death of Song Lan. The friend who Xiao Xingchen gave his eyes to, the one who was search for him year after year, to meet an end like that was something that makes your chest hurt. The moment Song Lan finds his long lost friend, Xue Yang cuts out his tongue and Xiao Xingchen kills him thinking that he was a walking corpse.

This section was the heavy, emotional one. Not a lot of positives can be pulled from this arc. But, at least the clan juniors were able to bond through the scary adventure together. But at least there is a little but of reprieve from the tension after the juniors see Lan Wangji drunkenly dragging a bounded Wei Wuxian up the stairs.

Even though the Yi City arc is more memorable for me, I think the next arc was what grabbed me more. When Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji arrive at Golden Carp Tower, a lot more unravels about the past of Mo Xuanyu. Finding out that the man Mo Xuanyu was lusting over was his half brother Jin Guangyao was somehow not the most shocking thing to happen, but it was certainly unexpected. But the most unexpected was the reveal that Jin Guangyao is not the sweet leader many see him as. Having seemingly murdered his own son, dismember Nie Mingjue, and push his own wife to suicide, he somehow is smart enough to sway the public to shift blame.

This novel had a lot of action and a big focus on the past to build up knowledge of the present. I hope that the next novel has more of a focus on Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji because this novel set up a lot of interactions that I want to see built on. I am excited to start book 3 and overall, this was a good set up book to solidify the relationships between a lot of characters.

[yapwithsyd]

A Very Peculiar Human Puzzle | Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

We have finally started the journey into our next danmei with book one of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. In typical fashion, I went in knowing nothing about the story and just took the recommendations in good faith. This story was a bit harder to get into compared to Heaven Official’s Blessing (which also took a bit but somehow grabbed me sooner?), but now that I have finished book one, I can say that I am ready to get into book 2 and see where this story goes.

Starting off your story by showcasing people cheering for the death of your main character is certainly a choice. And one that really sets the tone for how most people will react to hearing the name Wei Wuxian. Going from that to actually meeting Wei Wuxian in the body of this random cultivator was unusual. In a way, we got to see him as a new person at the same time he was becoming the new person. From early on, it is easy to see that he is very mischievous and plays around like a young child. This is so opposite to Lan Wangji that is creates the perfect pairing for their adventures.

Going back and forth between current day troubles and past events really sets the reader up to understand the relationships between a lot of the main characters (Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Jiang Chen to say the least). When wandering through the night hunt, it is easy to see that Wei Wuxian does not want to be around Lan Wangji and certainly not Jiang Chen. Getting that early story of their times together made part of the reaction make more sense and makes me more invested to figure out what is leading to the blood lust hatred towards Wei Wuxian.

Seeing the bickering and the dedication on Wei Wuxian’s end to torment Lan Wangji in order to get away from him is a huge draw for me to continue the story. With such a built in push and pull dynamic, I just know that this dynamic will evolve and I need to know what that will look like.

This entire first book seemed to be centered around playing hide and seek with a bunch of corpse parts. The arm that went on a murderous rampage in the beginning of the book was not satisfied with taking out most of the Mo family, it needed to hunt down the rest of its body. Thus begins Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s quest to put this puzzle back together.

This book left a lot of questions lingering, and who knows when I will get the answers. I want to know what exactly happened during Wei Wuxian’s cultivation path. What are Lan Wangji’s feelings towards Wei Wuxian? Does the donkey come back? I have so many things I want to learn and I’m now hooked on this series and am determined to find out the answers.

[yapwithsyd]

Starting My Journey Into Shojo | Horimiya

I have not watched a lot of Shojo anime in my time, but seeing as so many good ones have been circling, I figured I’d start with one that my boyfriend has been saying we should watch. Horimiya being my only Shojo that I’ve watched aside from Ouran High School Host Club back in middle school means that I have very little to go off of. But, I do think this is a great show to start off with. the show displays such healthy communication and relationships throughout the two seasons.

Having a romance anime that actually allows me to watch the development of the relationship and see what happens after they get together is so refreshing. Yes, seeing the buildup over a season and the finally is the two getting together is nice, but seeing how the relationship improves and develops after the initial get together is amazing and I want to watch more shows like that.

The personal development of every character in the show was what really surprised me. I was expecting a focus on the main couple with some action of a few supporting characters, but everyone grew and became more of their own person throughout the two seasons. Miyamura definitely changed the most, being able to come out of his shell once he found a friend group. I was not expecting supporting character like Sakura to show so much self growth. These types of things kept me incredibly invested even during the side stories.

Being able to watch such mature characters without much worry of a massive miscommunication ruining everything that has finally been built up is such a refreshing change of pace. Seeing all these amazing memories that these high schoolers are creating while they can is heartwarming!

Seeing how they dealt with the second season was such a shocker for me. I was expecting a season dedicated to the summer vacations, the group trips. I was not expecting a look back on season one. I loved how this was used to develop the side characters. Being able to reveal more of their personality and their lives was such a perfect way to open up the story. Seeing these parts of these characters that were only side characters made me feel more connected to them. I rooted for them way more after learning more about their lives.

This is such a perfect anime. I would not change a single thing about it and I would beg for more content in any way I can get it. I need to see their summer trips together before college, I want to see peaks at their college life in the style of season two. This is an anime that I would recommend to anyone.

[yapwithsyd]

This Might Be My (and many others) 2024 Anime of the Year | Apothecary Diary

For once, I’m actually on time with an anime release. I have not been able to stay away The Apothecary Diaries, it is everywhere! From the looks of it, it’s one of the best anime’s releasing right now. Since it just wrapped up airing it’s LONG season 1, I wanted to talk about what could potentially be my favorite release of 2024.

There has been so many videos trying to break down why The Apothecary Diaries is such a good anime and why it’s doing so well. I think it breaks down to a few little things being done incredibly well.

(1) Maomao is a great main character. She is highly intelligent in her own right. She doesn’t need others to help her, but she will take the help because she recognizes that more people working on a task is better than her working solo. She is headstrong, but will help anyone in need. She never comes off as a Mary Sue character or someone who is not like other girls. Her disdain for some of those around her shows her as a realistic character, not someone doing it to just hate the pretty boy everyone else loves. She is so important but not in a you are the ONE type of way, she is a doctor, so of course she is needed. Everything just feels natural.

(2) The relationship between Jinshi and Maomao is actually funny. With both characters being so cat-like, their personalities mesh so well. Maomao is constantly fighting Jinshi in the beginning because she can’t get a read on this odd man following her. After they get to know each other through different tasks and events, she opens up to the thought of him, she no longer seems to push him away as much. Jinshi is intrigued with Maomao as she does behave differently. She hides the fact that she can read because she doesn’t want her kidnappers to get the extra money, she only wants to serve her three years and return to her father. The more he learns about her, the more he wants to help, protect, and get closer to her. He never tries to use his power to hurt or manipulate her, only to help her larger plans that already are happening to serve others, not herself.

(3) The storytelling is amazing. The Apothecary Diaries tells a story about a girl who lives in a world where she makes herself less attractive to avoid being harmed, a world where people in power can do whatever they want, and those who have the misfortune of being sold after are turned into prisoners’. Nobody in this show is fighting for power, trying to overthrow the already in place system. They are working with what they have, going about their lives to the best of their abilities. The story does an amazing job of humanizing everyone involved.

Showing a behind the scenes of what happens for a woman working in a brothel and those who are consorts for those in power gives a grim look at the lack of freedom they have over themselves. The The pleasure district puts high value on women with skills, but will destroy their value as soon as they get pregnant. The Emperor’s concubines constantly are entangled in a struggle of who is the favorite, who will get the most attention from the Emperor. They know that once they fail to provide a useful heir, they can be thrown out of the rear palace, their usefulness used up at the drop of the hat. The best part about this show is it shows off this hierarchy is blatant view, they never try to sugarcoat it, they never try to hide it.

Even with the bluntness of the show, they show that not everything has to be depressing and hopeless. Maomao finds many people to become close to and she helps so many within the palace. Raw emotion is shown contently, from desperation to be with the one you love, to grief over losing a child, this show balances the sorrow feelings with the bright feelings.

Narrowing in on why I love this show, I simply enjoy watching a psychotic female character. Maomao loves tasting poison, she constantly wants to make better medicine and help those around her. She goes completely unhinged the the chance to be around poison or make something new comes up. Seeing her cat-like personality come out as her getting actual cat features only plays on those traits even more. Her and Jinshi’s developing relationship is gorgeous. The way Maomao is beyond blind to his feelings for her, the way she is constantly getting into awkward situations that onlookers might misunderstand never fails to make my die laughing. The barely held together jealousy from Jinshi are some of my favorite scenes. One of his best traits is that no matter how badly he want’s to step in, he always respects Maomao enough to hold himself back. He never dismisses her because she is a woman or because she is of a lowly birth. He seems like a genuinely good guy who wants to help those he is put in charge of.

The characters who you are supposed to like, are all likable. There are a handful of characters that the show shapes into being suspicious or unlikable and they fulfilled their job as I slowly (or quickly) grew to dislike them. I feel like this show just does an amazing job at having so may characters show up that the watcher will come to care about. The entirety of the show feels like a slice-of-life show to me because everyone is so comforting to watch and even when someone is hurt, I know that they will be treated and people will be there for them.

I love this show so much. I was not lying when I said I might have found my 2024 anime of the year and it’s only March. This show just does so many things rights and it is just a pleasure to watch.

[yapwithsyd]

Powered By Rage | Iron Widow

Diving into popular books that I pick up due to the pitch, I bought Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao on my kindle because I wanted to read a psycho female lead involved in a polyamorist love triangle. Following Wu Zetian as she ravages the world that put her in a position of feeble suffering was the main draw for a lot of people. My adventure with this book was a positive one, although I do have a lot of questions.

With the main issue for Zetian being her bound feet, we can see the physical restraints that her society puts on women. Seeing her family so careless with Zetian and her sister to sell them off as war fodder in order to buy a bride for their brother, proves how the society has shaped the gender divide. Her rare hatred for men and their position of power drives her to enlist as a concubine-pilot for the man who murdered her sister.

This book is entirely character driven, the world building is extremely limited. I do wish there was more explanation of the world and everything that happens. The limited description for a lot of the sections makes the world and plot difficult to image.

Viewing this story as a Shonen anime version of a girl’s power trip is the best way to go into this book. Seeing as the main goal of the lead is to destroy the system set up to sacrifice girls for the sake of boys. Pairing up girls with lower spiritual pressure than the male pilots in a mech will only result in the girls dying in battle, there is no way around it. Overhauling this system become the goal for the entire main trio.

The first time Zetian takes matters into her own hands is when she faces Yang Guang. The man who murdered her sister outside of battle. I wish we would have learned the reason behind the murder, this is the key event that starts Zetian’s mission, yet not a lot is revealed. The mind link allows the confirmation that Yang Guang was the murderer, I think that even if it occurred in a dream later that night (like a lot of memories she got from Shimin later) that revealed some type of fight between the two that led to the murder would have had a greater impact. The murder of Yang Guang in the mech could have been something that haunts Zetian or works as a reminder of what she has done to start the journey to saving millions of girls from the piloting system, yet it seems to just be the ember to ignite the other pilots hatred her.

After being paired up with the most unhinged psycho pilot in the entire army, Zetian tries once more to murder the man in cold blood the moment she enters the yin-yang realm. Failing to kill him has her waking up in the cockpit, both of them surviving. Not being the happies camper when the top strategist demands the two work together for the sake of humanity, this is when the real plot seems to begin.

Li Shimin is portrayed as this terrible, heartless killing machine. Plucked from the labor camp he was sent to while awaiting the death sentence for the murder of his family, he lives on by the grace of his incredibly high spiritual pressure. Being kept in an underground bunker, dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit, completing the look with a muzzle, he must be dragged at gun point to every slaughter. Now, what to do with this menace of a character? How does he turn into a point of the love triangle?

He encapsulates the trope of the big brute who is actually a teddy bear. This killer murdered his brother after he sexually assaulted a girl. He is not glaring he just destroyed his eyesight while doing homework in almost absent lighting. Those scares? He needed to pay for his expensive schooling, so he fought at night. He seems like the one with a good head on his shoulders at the core of his motivations. To top off all of the suffering that is revealed to get the full scope is the memory revealing that he was never an alcoholic by choice. Being such a useful tool resulted in him getting razor blades and funnels shoved into his mouth, getting force feed bottles of booze so the corrupt leaders can better control him. This seems to be the breaking point for Zetain, her hatred gets a refueling at this new bit of information.

During their first few days of their new (forced) partnership, nothing seems to go well. Shimin and Zetian have to sync, no bond to use to become a pair. They are not a balanced match, they can use match a balanced amount of pressure between the two.

Yes, there is a sliver of hope (in a way) when the duo doesn’t kill each other and manage to transform the Vermillion Bird (a bad one, but it’s still something). Even though progress is being made, they still have a huge wall in front of them. And luckily Yizhi come along to break down that wall. The childhood crush (or at least that’s how my brain categorizes him) that is the brains of the love triangle reappears swinging. Saving Zetian from being strangled to death by a vengeful pilot, he brings the solutions (and chemistry) to the newly formed trio.

Once the detoxing starts, the bonding improves, and the trust is built, things start to go in the right direction. They might have to play extreme hide-and-seek from the armed guards, but they are able to gain enough time to avoid certain death in the next attack.

The turning point happens when the proper transformation occurs, the attempt to takeout the watchtower, and brining in Yizhi as a qi source. The triangle seems officially complete and now they can take out the tyrant government.

The ending wrapped up pretty quickly. The counterattack goes as well as you think it would. Only one mech betrays Shimin and Zetian for the stake of saving their children, the freezer king is dethawed and is used as a tool for Zetian to take out the last emperor hundun and seek revenge for the death of Shimin in the Vermillion Bird. The ending plot twist came out of nowhere for me. There was all this scattered talk of the Gods who never showed themselves. They chose now to appear, take Shimin’s body, and let Zetian know that they would like to barter her obedience for Shimin’s life.

Like I said earlier, this book lacks worldbuilding in leu of being character driven. This left me a lot of questions by the end. What is the magic system? It is built around qi and spiritual power, but how does it actually work, is there factors that come together to have a child’s pressure be higher or lower? I want to know why we got three different readings for Zetian’s spiritual pressure, the first one being in the 600s, one above 6,000 after winning the mental battle against Yang Guang, and lastly 18,000 matching with Shimin. I want to know the connection with the spirit metal found in the ground, I have so many questions about how this world works. Since there is another book coming, I’m really hoping that it can give some answers and fill out the worldbuilding since this one is focused on connecting us with the characters.

The only thing that really let me know was that there was a heavy emphasis on a polyamorous love triangle, but I didn’t get a deep connection between the three. I wish the relationship has more development. In no way did I expect or want the romance to become the forefront of the plot, but I at least wanted it to be a subplot that could help character progression. I felt like the chemistry between Zetian and Yizhi should have been way more emotionally driven, they had liked each other for a while now and when they finally get to be together, there is more focus on his tattoos than anything else. Her and Shimin feels so messy. He thinks Zetian hates him, he feels like she is forcing herself to be with him, and when they do finally get together, it feels emotional for reasons outside of their relationship. The bond they share feels almost sterile. The only raw chemistry I felt was between the boys. Each boy gets his own blushy moment that blatantly shows they have feelings for the other, and then we get the moment where they talk to each other to confirm they want to be with each other and kiss. I thought after the kiss, the romance would peak through more, but no. We have Shimin die within the next arc and activate Zetian’s rage to bring the mission to an end and destroy the settlement.

I feel like you can’t look too deep into this book, or else you will lose the fun that I had with it. I never looked into why Zetian was able to hold these more modern beliefs despite being raised to meld to the flow of society. I never questioned why no other balanced pair woman fought back or had similar values as Zetian. The moment of Zetian basically cursing the woman who betrayed her in order to save her children (read: fight for herself and not care about others) even though her own mentality is fuck everyone except myself. Looking too much into that can only leave my brain fried.

I read this as a YA book, which it is listed as. If I went into this listed as an adult sci-fi, I would wonder why it was lacking some more things I want out of that genre. But, I think it does a good job at giving us a fun, power-fantasy driven my a girl’s rage against a system set up to sacrifice her.

[yapwithsyd]

Was the Live Action ATLA Good Or Bad?

Fans of the original Avatar: The Last Airbender cower in fear when hearing the words Live Action. After the disaster that was the live action movie back in the 2010s, hearing that Netflix was going to try again with an eight episode series, I know I wasn’t the only one who was worried. The only hope that fans held onto was the fact that the original creators were involved in the Netflix adaptation. Then, the fear started to crawl back in more and more as the release date crept closer. The original creators left the project after disagreements happened, news about major changes to the characters were announced, and worry about a new mess welled back up in the back of everyone’s mind.

And then, the show was released.

Taking a step back, the only way I was able to enjoy this show was to view this as what it is. It’s an adaption of a cartoon. Things will be changed, it was never marketed as a one-to-one remake of our childhood classic. Viewing this as a different retelling of events was the best way to get the most out of the live action.

The characters are different. That is obvious from the start. Aang is more mature, he doesn’t feel like that free-spirited child that fled his responsibilities in the cartoon. Katara lacks the rage that drove her to action, she has this air of constant calm. This alone makes everything feel off if you are trying to find that chemistry that was in the original.

Removing things like Sokka’s sexism when landing on Kyoshi Island had me worried that he wouldn’t learn those valuable lessons that women can also fight, you don’t have to be a bender to be valuable, and teamwork is crucial in a battle. And this is a prime example of how the show twists and turns the story. Sokka still gets all those lessons. He learns through his awe that the Kyoshi warriors are strong and are the protectors of the island. The teamwork demonstrated during the invasion showed how much he respects her as a fighter, he respects all the warriors.

The only big issue that I had with the storytelling was the fact that it had to be rushed. Due to it being limited to eight, one-hour long episodes, the major events took place in Omashu. It felt super odd to see so many characters that never really meet and are from different regions, different arcs, it almost felt wrong.

Since I am looking at this series as its own entity in a way, the compression of events is the main problem I had. Other than that, this series did a lot of things well.

One of the best add-ins was the backstories. Including a better look at the past traumas that shaped who they are for both Katara and Sokka gave more depth. Now knowing that Katara’s actions caused her mother’s death makes me understand why she was so attached to her memory and why she would constantly bring her up in the original. Sokka letting down his father is a perfect event that would push him to be the best warrior that he could, he felt the need to prove himself for his dad.

Even more impactful was the bigger role that Gyasto had for Aang. Being able to feel the connection that the two had drove home how upset Aang was to be deemed the Avatar and how he didn’t want to be sent away from his friends. Seeing the added scenes of Gyasto talking to Aang in the spirit realm and knowing that when Aang returned, he would not be there drew out so much raw emotion.

One of my favorite add-in scenes was the ones between Zuko and Iroh. The relationship between the two was one of my favorite even back in the original, and seeing it more fleshed out in the live action made it even better. In the original, we never knew the name of Iroh’s son, in the live action, we got a while funeral scene plus the sorrow Iroh and Zuko shared after losing someone close. Being able to see the interactions between the family (especially the early addition of Azula) gave a great overarching look at the family dynamics.

All this added information gave so much more substance to characters that I already though were three-dimensional with flaws and goals of their own.

This is not something that I would recommend to someone who has not watched the original cartoon if they want to get the full story. The live action is rush, it changes personalities, and mixes somethings from the original. But, I think this is something great for fans of the show that want more. Yes, you will get annoyed that Aang can just fly using air bending, but getting the extra look into the past of each character was worth it. The acting was good, the cinematics and effects were great (I was worried about the bending but was pleasantly surprised), and the martial arts for the bending was one of my favorite things.

The show was good. I think the people who say otherwise are stuck in the nostalgia they had with the original show. The live action was a solid take of the series, yes, it changed things, but I don’t think I ever wanted them to try and do an exact copy of the original.

[yapwithsyd]

Short, Sweet, and (not so) Simple | I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up

I Married My Best Friend To Shut My Parents Up, is a girls love manga that was personally recommended by my friend who is a self proclaimed GL connoisseur. This 158 page manga is super short so you can probably get through it in an hour or so. It tells a story about a woman who is being badgered by her parents to find a suitable husband and settle down. The only problem is that she does not want this. So, in order to get her parents to back off, she “marries” her best friend.

What I expected to see going into this read was two best friends who decide to marry in order to make a stand against one set of parents. I assumed both were gay characters who decide to make a stand and live their lives the way they would want, but instead, the story follows one straight girl and one openly gay girl who decide to enter into a fake marriage to stop the constant questioning. So, this major adjustment to expectations hit me pretty hard and maybe I should have just read the blurb before starting the book…

If you are looking for a super short, cute, domestic fluff piece to curl up with, I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up is a good choice to pick up.

Following the development of a more platonic leaning relationship of two adult characters without any misunderstandings or overthought feelings is a nice change of pace from a lot of younger cast romances you might come across.

One of the things that I love is that these characters are adults. This just opens up a lot more possibilities compared to high school settings where kids are limited to school, clubs, after school jobs and so forth. Having a job and then the ability to just go home allows us to see what the two are like separate and together.

Hana is an illustrator who has had crush on Machi for years, and after offering herself as a fake wife, moves in with Machi in order to secure their marriage license. She has this open and free aura about her, she will say what she wants and she will go after what she seeks, like telling a socially dense Machi that she likes her right to her face.

Machi is a loner who seems to hate people because of the pressure of her mother to be the perfect daughter. She never really thinks about what she herself wants to do, she has just been instilled with this urge to not fuck up her life and avoid making her parents look down on her at all costs.

After the two move in together, Hana takes over the homemaking, she keeps the house clean, cooks dinner, and begs to shower with Machi. She wants this fake marriage to be real and tries, ever so subtly, to get Machi to fall for her.

One of my favorite things about this manga is seeing Machi undergo character development in such a short amount of time and it seems. Living with someone who is so upfront about things pushes Machi to stand up for herself and try to live the life SHE wants to live instead of the one she thinks is safe. She goes forward and asks about a place of a work project that a week prior, she was fine being replaced on a week before. She FINALLY gets the courage to stand up against her mother after barging into her home and shaming her and Hana for their relationship. Before Hana, there was no way that she would push herself like this. It is also mentioned that even her coworkers see that Machi is happier after living with Hana, Hana herself obviously notices these changes and is thrilled, saying it makes her love grow even stronger.

The only section that threw me when reading was the fourth section, Anaerobic Love, because it completely changed the perspective of the story. We get a glimpse of the relationship back during their school days. It seems like such a hard turn and I would have preferred to see the timeline stay focused around Hana and Machi as adults traversing this new stage of whatever type of relationship that they have now. I wanted to see more development, romantic or not, between the two, even just seeing a more in-depth change within the friendship would have been nice.

I think the main thing bringing this manga down is the fact that we don’t get to see a whole lot of these two characters. I want to see more, I want more about how they came to this agreement, I want to know how the first week of living together went, how were they feeling when they got their license. I think adding things like that, things that could make the reader feel like they know these characters would have me rate this higher.

[yapwithsyd]

My First Cozy Fantasy | Legends and Lattes

Cozy Fantasy is not a genre that I have hear a whole lot about, and the main title that I kept seeing come up again and again was “Legends and Lattes.” I kept going back and forth on if I really wanted to check this title out, and when I found it available to check out on the Libby app, I pulled the trigger and tried it out.

Like most other books for me, this was a rough start. We get Viv finishing up her last mission as an adventurer before finding her new home. Most of the story involves Viv and friends creating the first café in the town, introduce coffee to the townspeople, and create new sweet treats.

On a surface level, this book is nice, its got its fun moments, it has highs and lows. But, I feel like it’s lacking some substance. Nothing that happened in the story came as a surprise, there was no suspense. We see Viv trying to start a new life, go down a new path, and build a life of ease in this new town after killing and questing for all her life. I wish we saw more of a struggle during the adjustment time for her, see some character development. We get to see only a glimpse at this when she questions on if she should solve her problems with violence (as suggested by her old adventuring crew), but she scrubs the idea quickly.

This is an issue I have with the other main cast as well. There is not a lot of depth to any of them. They each play a role, and that is it, none of them grow or develop. Tandri is the only main player that seems to have a real personality, she pushes for the shop to be better and she also wants what’s best for Viv. It can be explained by the stone brining people together, but Tandri dropping everything to give her life to a shop that sells a product she has never heard of seems insane. Cal shows up when he is needed and does help process the story by building up the shop, but he always has the answer one way or another. Thimble is a character that has personality by moving around and only speaking when absolutely necessary, I wish more could have been done with his character in some way, I feel like he could have been more important than just a baker that makes new treats.

I will say, there is a single person who has an incredible turn around, and that is Pendry! Pendry starts out so incredibly shy that he sprints out of the shop the first night he tries to serenade that crowd. He slowly develops into a confident performer who proudly plays and sings for the large crowd of customers. Plus, during the re-building stages, he admits that the family business is stone laying, but that his performing is simply a passion (as seen why he explains why he doesn’t feel right putting out a hat for coins). Pendry feels like a real character that finishes in a different state than he entered the book.

All of the big events that happen could be spotted from a mile away. The issues with the Madrigal was obviously going to find a compromise. I will admit that I love the compromise that they came to, I thought that was such a cute thing. But once threats started and Fennus came into the story, I just had this terrible feeling that the café was going to be set on fire… I didn’t expect it to be set on fire at night with Viv and Tandri INSIDE or it to be magical fire that can’t be put out and burned down the whole thing. I was sad to see all the hard work vanish in minutes, and seeing Viv so depressed (as she has every right to be) was really taking away from the nice happy feeling that I came to this book to feel!

I did enjoy reading the rebuilding section where everyone comes together to make the café even better than before, proving that the community is behind Viv and what she was brought to them all. The ending with the perfect grand re-opening was a beautiful scene to imagine. It did seem to tie everything up in a lovely bow with all the important characters getting a share of the café as a show of gratitude that they all built this place together.

The last three pages escalate the side-lined romance plotline more than the rest of the story combined. The inkling of progress happens with the adorable picnic that Tandri packs for them, plus Tandri insisting on staying in the café with Viv in case anything happens. It is clear that feelings are there, but it is barely touched on. Then, all of a sudden Viv invites Tandri to live with her in the café with her own room with a bunch of art supplies, like where did this level of infatuation and love come from? And then it just ENDS! Reading this on my kindle, it said I was 85% of the way done with this book so I was thinking, “where are we going to go from here?” Only for the story to just END.

Overall, this book had a great ending half, but the middle lacked a lot of substance for me, so I’ve given this book 3-stars. I would not recommend this book, but I do want to try out more books in the genre.

[yapwithsyd]

We Got A Happy Ending! | Heaven Official’s Blessing

My journey with Heaven Official’s Blessing has officially come to an end with the completion of book 8! This was such a happy and sad moment for me. Having spent so much time reading this story and getting attached to the characters, seeing the canon story end made me so sad. I was so happy that I decided to read this, and the good news is that now I can look up fan content without fear of spoilers.

Returning to see what the verdict of Mu Qing’s odd behavior was all about, things get a bit tense. My worst fear in book 7 was that someone was going to die. This is always something that lingers in the back of my mind when reading a book that involves a lot of fighting, not knowing where loyalties lie, I just fear that the next page turn is going to end up with a character bleeding out on the ground. Mu Qing dangling over a waterfall of burning lava was not something I ever wanted to read, add to that, Xie Lian JUMPING ON HIS SWORD TO FLING HIMSELF OVER. Only to barely catch Mu Qing with Ruoye had me as worried as Hua Cheng.

The Heavenly Crossing Bridge allowed the original trio to clear up a lot of lingering issues, but I pretty much glossed over that because, just like Xie Lian, I was NEEDING to see where Hua Cheng ended up after nosediving after Xie Lian into a face full of lava.

Seeing the face book between two ghost kings was something that I didn’t know I desperately wanted to read about. Imagining the fight: the quick movements, the clash of the weapons scrapping against each other, the tension in the room marked the point in the book that I DID NOT want to put it down till I was finished.

The entire fight was a wild ride of feelings. Seeing White No-Face toss off the mask, grab his sword and power up like a Shonen antagonist, only for Xie Lian TO JUMP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIGHT WITHOUT A WEAPON was not a delight to visualize. The only good thing was the knowledge that Xie Lian’s body cannot be killed… he can be wounded greatly - but he can never die. The others in the room, not so much. There was a good three pages there where I thought that Mu Qing and Feng Xin were going to die for sure. That damn cursed shackle sucking out blood just like it did to Yin Yu, and eight arrows stab into your chest are not events that usually leads to a happy outcome.

Xie Lian trying to defend with just his hands does not seem like the best strategy, and leads to one of the saddest (non-deadly) moments in this fight is when he tries to use Ruoye, only for the magical ribbon to be torn apart! As a super sentimental person, seeing this moment upset me a lot.

I know that Hua Cheng would do literally anything for Xie Lian, but I do not know how this man was able to stand back and watch Jun Wu beat this poor boy half to death by smashing his head into a solid rock wall while belittling him with every hulk smash. Being forced to watch the love of his life, the main that gave him a reason to live, being harmed must have been one of the hardest things to watch. Back in the shrine, with the 100 sword stabs, Hua Cheng was still a little flame, he couldn’t do much aside from gather all his energy and finally end the pain. Having him be at (almost) his stronger form and having to observe without being able to step in and save him had to have destroyed him inside. He is stronger than me because the first hand rustling Xie Lian’s hair and I’m tossing his ass in the lava with everything I got, even if I went in with him.

The fight that ignites inside Xie Lian as he’s screaming that he will never change was the start of the big build up, the moment where he would get the power to beat Jun Wu. This brings us the moment of breaking Xie Lian’s cursed shackles. Being able to see Xie Lian fight at full power was something that I was hoping to see since the beginning. He is such a powerful opponent even when restricted so much, so I knew this was going to be that “through the power of love and friendship” that was going to win them the fight.

The ending of the fight created a lot of emotions. Jun Wu laying on the ground, defeated, and finally having his mentor remain by his side made me feel for the inner child that was Jun Wu in the past. And then of course we have the moment that made me so sad because I finally thought that Hualian would have their happy ending, Hua Cheng disappearing in Xie Lian’s arms. Xie Lian trying to give back spiritual energy, him crying out because he only recently came to term with his feelings for Hua Cheng, the uncertainty of how long the two would be separated.

The depression mini-arc was really the wind-down after the final boss fight. Everyone comes together to try and rebuild the Heavens and the return (against her will) of Ling Wen to take care of the mountain of paperwork was sweet to see. But, we also had to watch Xie Lian isolate himself from everyone else, staying in his little shack and cleaning it up because he knew that his Hua Cheng would return to him soon.

The fact that Hua Cheng returned on the night of the Ghost Festival was perfect. Imagining the scene of them running into each other’s arms almost brought tears to my eyes. Them going back to Puqi shrine after the villagers rebuilt it was so meaningful. It was a great way to show that the actions that Xie Lian and Hua Cheng did to her those in that town really did have an impact. Seeing Qingxuan bring all the people who helped with the human array to the shrine to make good on the promise to feed everyone was so sweet. And the sweetness promptly ends after Heaven’s Eye opens his mouth. This seems to be the brick that falls to release the flood gates that is thirsty Hua Cheng. The insinuations that happen after Heaven’s Eye announces that he can sense evil qi from inside Xie Lian’s body sent me into a laughing fit. The call out that he is just walking around after a session without cleaning up, and the smugness of Hua Cheng when he comes up to hold Xie Lian - this scene took me out.

The bonus chapter really felt like fanfictions, it was like the author knew what fans wanted. And that was domestic scene with the couple after they have officially gotten together.

Seeing Xie Lian thinking back on the time where he longed for someone to share that one special food that he could no longer remember the taste of was so sad. I’m so glad that he no longer has to think about moments like that because he now has Hua Cheng… and the residents of Ghost City to keep him company. The ghosts setting up Xie Lian with all those word puzzles was so funny. It shows that even the ghosts really love that their king has found someone that he loves and that they all adore Xie Lian. Wrapping up that chapter with Hua Cheng bringing Xie Lian back to the shrine and surprising him with a surprise meal together.

The three chapters of the amnesia section were hands down my favorite. This felt like it was the most outlandish and most fanfiction-y of the bonus chapters - which might be why it’s my favorite. Seeing Xie Lian revert back to that (somewhat) dumb 17 year old prince, seeing how different he is was a testament to how much he has changed over the centuries. The entire time, seeing Hua Cheng screwing with Xie Lian, making him call him gege, gaslighting him all day, this was the most fun I’ve had reading Hua Cheng. He comes off as such a fox character, so being a tease to his love fits him perfectly.

Who would have thought that the simple request of a bedtime story would result in one of the most unholy retellings of a relationship. I cannot imagine how red Xie Lian got while reading about himself coming to a mountain and needing to seduce Hua Cheng in order to find a bunch of dead brides. The amount of substance that Xie Lian gathers in this one is unhinged. I just have this feeling in the back of my mind that the tale got spun because of Hua Cheng and the ghosts of Ghost City.

Seeing Hua Cheng’s statues in such detail showed off that they were not a bunch of random Xie Lian sculptures, they were moments of major events during his life. One of which being his time against the land of the tender. Why he would want to remember the time where the subject of his infatuation withering in pain and struggling against desires so much that he stabs himself into the ground to keep himself from straying from his path. The fact that Hua Cheng’s first solution to the statue coming alive is to craft a statue of himself to help relieve the pain proves where his mind is constantly at with Xie Lian.

And finally we had the Birthday chapter. Seeing Xie Lian so set on making Hua Cheng’s Birthday a celebration and get him a gift Hua Cheng would love that also was meaningful was such a show of how much he loves him. The ghosts working with Xie Lian to decorate the city and helping Xie Lian with gift ideas was so sweet - I love seeing Xie Lian interacting with the ghosts. The whole journey of him making a hand crafted gift only to be struck down with intense heart pain was such a sad moment to watch. Him trying to hide his pain from Hua Cheng so it didn’t pull attention away from Hua Cheng’s birthday only for Hua Cheng to carry him away after his collapse just feels like the embodiment of his bad luck. All that work, all that pain, just for Hua Cheng to have to crush the gift to alleviate Xie Lian’s pain. This gave us the sweet moment of Hua Cheng loving that Xie Lian still wants to be by his side, even if it causes him pain.

This book was the easiest 5 star read of the whole series. Seeing everyone’s happy ending and getting the adorable bonus chapter was a satisfying way to wrap up this series.

[yapwithsyd]

It Was HIM All Along! | Heaven Official’s Blessing

Coming back to present times, book seven of Heaven Official’s Blessing returns to the kiln with Xie Lian and White No-Face. I was waiting for the entirety of arc four to come back to the kiln. I wanted to see an epic battle between the two, maybe have Xie Lian unlock some hidden strength to defeat White No-Face and escape. That did not happen. Instead, the least likely thing happens and San Lang’s giant divine statue breaks Xie Lian out of the kiln.

Honestly, the Mount Tonglu scene didn’t grab me until Jun Wu descended to assist with the duel. Only the lending of spiritual power and the unique way of obtaining a sword grabbed me for more than a page. After everyone is sent to fend off evil spirits set on re-releasing Human Face Disease to the world, things start to heat up.

Once Xie Lian and Hua Cheng make it to the Royal Capital, Heaven’s Eye, and friends frankly are unless for the first half of what I dub the Human Array Section. None of the masters wanted to lend themselves to help defend the city. Thank god one of the best characters makes his return! Shi Qingxuan and all this broken glory is the only reason why the array gets started. Seeing him living life as a beggar, injured was hard. After reading the events of book four, I only want happiness for him, I wish he could be in better condition, but seeing him alive is enough for me.

Once the array got going, all was well for a minute, the masters gathered around to join, they brought disciples and the evil spirits could be captured. I was not expecting the Xianle state preceptor to be the thing that got the plot moving. It was a great way to transition back to the Heavenly Court.

This whole time, I thought that there was this deep connection between White No-Face and Xie Lian, but instead, I got the reveal that Jun Wu was actually the monster lurking around all the misery that had happened. Seeing Jun Wu take out most of the Heavenly Capital, the way he easily captured all the officials, set the court ablaze, and transformed the Heavens to be his own fighting machine finally showed off all the power that was mentioned throughout the series. Even though it was as the antagonist, it was nice to see that power in action.

Even with all the seriousness of this section, there were still moments of secondhand embarrassment to brighten my mood. From Qingxuan walking in on Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s goodbye kiss to Xie Lian pulling Qi Ying in front to hide his spiritual power exchange, there is always some way for Xie Lian to make a scene.

A lot of this novel revolves around keeping the human array intact and fighting against Jun Wu. After his near defeat in Black Water territory, I thought Jun Wu retreating to the Royal Capital signified the beginning of the final battle. This was a good fight scene, Pei Ming facing Jun Wu one-on-one, Qi Rong almost getting Guzi killed, and the three mountain spirits coming to the rescue by becoming a sword all added to the suspense. Seeing everyone come together to try to take out a single enemy was a nice change of pace. Bringing together most of the introduced characters from the series made this scene even more impactful.

The ending trip back to Wuyong was the most stressful thing to read. With the uncertainty of Mu Qing being who he says he is, and Hua Cheng rolling a one and saying that it means something dangerous is waiting for him, this was not the best way to enter a new scene. Entering the one place where the enemy feels most at home is not the best idea before what MUST be the final fight. Ending the entire book by finding Feng Xin alive and scared of Mu Qing is not a reassuring way to go into the last book of the series.

[yapwithsyd]

The Book That Broke Me | Heaven Official's Blessing

Coming into this volume, I received numerous comments wishing me luck… so that left me feeling great starting up my 340-something pages of Heaven Official’s Blessing book six. After finishing this volume, I can easily agree, this is one of the most heart wrenching entries in this series.

Barely getting into the book had me at the edge of my seat. Trekking up the mountain only to be crushed by an avalanche cause by Xie Lian’s bumbling former servants and awaken in a strange cave. Hua Cheng was acting so weird in this entire section, for a while, I worried that it wasn’t actually him. A lot of creepiness happens in these chapters and I was feeling like Hua Cheng was showing that he was actually this super crazy psycho stalker this whole time… take the thousands of statues and wall paintings as you will. The tension that was built up when Feng Xin and Mu Qing were dragging Xie Lian throughout the cave was so good. The feeling that Hua Cheng was going to catch them at any moment had me reading so fast.

A lot came out while inside the cave. Hua Cheng shockingly has been following Xie Lian for hundreds of years. The two junior officials that have been joining Xie Lian are actually Feng Xin and Mu Qing - I always thought that their actions reflected the older two’s and welp, this certainly explains why. And White No-Face is trying to make it to the kiln to increase their depleted power. With all the not-so-great things surfacing, we at least got the breakthrough with Hua Cheng and Xie Lian admitting they have feelings for each other!

Once we get to the kiln, and get a surprise first actual kiss, they jump hand in hand into the kiln. When Xie Lian ends up in the kiln without Hua Cheng and White No-Face standing in front of him, I was ready for an epic fight! Instead, I got poor Xie Lian getting re-traumatized by that mask before the start of arc 4!

Once again, we get flashbacks. This one is to right after the kingdom of Xianle has burned, Xie Lian is a banished god, and the group is on the run. Here is where all the deep-seated trauma comes in. This arc is rough and evokes a lot of feelings.

I felt even more annoyance towards the (former) king. As he gets more and more sick, he keeps silent. It’s not until he is coughing up blood that his wife says something and begs her son to get medicine so he doesn’t die! This annoyed me because instead of catching this early, he waits until a critical point and adds to much stress to Xie Lain and the others. At that point I was kinda hoping he would just die and that stress would be done with. He was so ungrateful for all Xie Lian was doing for them so I didn’t think he deserved Xie Lian pushing himself past his own morals in order to try and get his medicine.

Mu Qing leaving the group was rough to read. I knew he would leave eventually, but to have it be so abrupt was just a huge blow. The is only made worse by seeing him re-appear at the mountain and having to be the one to force Xie Lian off the mountain. The mountain seen had my mind swirling. When he found it and was finally seeing some sense of happiness for the first time in forever, that whole herd of Heavenly Officials think they can throw him out because they want the mountain instead. They were scared of him being stronger than them, I was trilled when Xie Lian destroyed all these martial gods with a stick! Then Mu Qing has to come around and ruin everything!

White No-Face picks a great time to show up, but at least we get to see that cute little ghost fire again, it’s just so cute how he tries to burn so bright for Xie Lian. The devotion is there! Even enough to transform him into a wrath just to protect Xie Lian. The temple scene single handedly broke me. Gathering a group of people to infect with a disease with only one cure, a cure that involves killing someone, so they will stab Xie Lian was possibly the most cruel thing I have seen. Breaking Xie Lian’s trust in people, proving that if pushed far enough, people will always do what they need to survive. My only question is, Xie Lian cannot die, so how can the stabbings count as a kill? I get that they are in a vital point and any normal mortal would die from it, but not Xie Lian.

This starts the downfall of his relationship with Feng Xin after White No-Face starts following him everywhere. Watching Xie Lian fall apart was hard. I hated watching him push Feng Xin away because of his fear of the friend leaving him first. I knew the dream that start was gonna come back in a more real way… Reading breakdown after breakdown mentally wore me down. After so many set backs and loses, waking up to find his parents bodies and him trying to hang himself was by far the second hardest scene to get through. Finding out this was how Rouye was made, yet is such a sweet and gentle spiritual weapon made me appreciate Rouye more.

Here we get a new Hua Cheng form with Wuming. The young solider dressed in black who will obey every order (for the most part) Xie Lian gives him. Those two go on their adventures to release the spirits of Human Face Disease. Seeing that Wuming was so dedicated to Xie Lian that he threw himself to the plague and destroyed himself in order to save Xie Lian. Proving that he will indeed die for his God. I need to know how strong his devotion for Xie Lian is because how can he, as a wrath, take out Human Face Disease?

The pain of seeing his last follower dying for him took a toll on him and Xie Lian begging to be banished in the same breath that Jun Wu welcomes him back to the Heavens proves that all this trauma is still dragging him down. I will say, from the very beginning of this series, I wanted to know the story behind the speed run of Xie Lian’s second banishment, and boy was I not disappointed in Xie Lian and Jun Wu taking this opportunity to fight each other once more.

Ending with Xie Lian’s terrible luck on full display and seeing the red flower and just seeming to know who it symbolizes was the perfect ending.

[yapwithsyd]

The Return, Reunion, and Reassurance | Heaven Official’s Blessing Book

Like every other book in the series, book five of Heaven Official’s Blessing picks up right where book four left off. Running away from a crowd towards a mountain calling for ghosts to fight to the death is certainly a way to start off a book.

We start off with pretty low stakes, Xie Lian and a child-Hua Cheng start off with a much needed wardrobe change. Stumbling upon an out of place inn leads to a reunion between Xie Lian and Qi Rong and the awkward baby daddy reveal of the fetus spirit. With such a big blow in the side story, we don’t stay here for long. Jun Wu decides that Xie Lian is truly his favorite child and tells him to return to the Heavens and help run it while Jun Wu goes and handles Mount Tonglu all on his own something that has been called a suicide mission. Since that is not something that would make any sense, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng end up going to the mountain instead.

Since this is a trip for ghosts, Xie Lian has to be disgusted in not only appearance, but scent. When questions go around about who is what, what answer does a Heavenly Official say? I’m a puppet master. The fight that breaks out after the investigation leaves a lot of questions. Why is there another Heavenly Official’s scent? What is General Pei doing here? Why was a man split in half like that? Luckily, most of these get answered in the upcoming fight in the middle of the mountains.

General Pei showed up to help take out as many ghosts trying to make it to the kiln, and the suspicious man is the man of many names. First a sword, then a once friend- now enemy. Once Pei’s trusted friend, now he lives through the general’s broken sword and has murderous intent. This section has the most out of pocket character gathering that I have seen so far. With the introduction of one new character, we see the return of three old ones. General Kemo makes his return from the Sinner’s Pit to join in the brawl between Pei and Rong Guang. Thinking on his feet, Xie Lian calls out for Banyu and Little Pei to flee the area - only for them to show up a few pages later - WHY ARE THEY ACTUALLY THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? This is by far the weirdest moment I have read so far.

The new group of travelers continue through the mountains. Threats of two strong enemies loom on both ends to the pathways. Come to find out one is our old friend Ling Wen. Turns out that strong ghost dressed in black was Ling Wen with the Brocade Immortal. They don’t stick around for a long time, but we do see the return of adult-Hua Cheng.

On a long journey up a dangerous mountain, what better way to traverse than inside a giant mountain spirit? This is where I think the most backstory is revealed. We get word that there is indeed a connection between Xie Lian and the fallen Kingdom of Wuyong, and the shocking part is it comes from Xie Lian’s former master. This is also where we see Qi Ying once more! The air-headed kid that helped in book 4 is back and stuck in the walls of the mountain spirit. We get the whole backstory of him along with Yin Yu, his former master, and the conflict that developed between them.

This section included a lot of connecting details, Yin Yu never seemed to really hate Qi Ying to the point of wanting to hurt him physically or emotionally. He does seem envious, he leaves the banquet because he was mistaken as Qi Ying, but he was never rude to Qi Ying himself. Yin Yu constantly stood up for Qi Ying’s unique behavior and even gave him a birthday present after failing to get the point across that he wants to distance himself. The only problem is Jian Yu. This is the person who hold hatred and resentment towards Qi Ying. He chose to disobey Yin Yu and switch the gift. He is the one to give Qi Ying the Brocade Immortal. He is the one to dismiss any fear over the powers of the gift. Yin Yu had good intentions when he approached Qi Ying, he just chose that moment to unleash years, decades of aggravation when his pride was hurt. This shows how poorly Yin Yu can handle stress, we see the downward spiral that happens until Jun Wu steps in.

The only break we get between craziness is seeing is Xie Lian sleeping on Hua Cheng’s shoulder and the others getting scolded for being too loud. There was definitely more of a focus on the story in this book compared to the past ones that split the plot progression with the relationship development. But, we do see Hua Cheng connect them with a red string of fate under the pretense of wanting to stay connected in the mountain spirit.

The city covered in ash was hard for me to visualize. This area was just super weird, between the talking rats (why why oh why do the rats gain the ability to talk after EATING THE DEAD PEOPLE) and stumbling upon Xuan Ji and Qi Rong, the only thing that could make it weirder would be if the Rain Master shows up and it’s revealed they are actually a woman…

I still do not understand why Xuan Ji and Qi Rong got together. I mean, yes, they both hold onto a lot of hatred and are making their way to the kiln, but why together? It was nice that a side character from book 1 was brought back and reconnected with the plot (her passionate obsession with Pei Ming) instead of introducing a brand new character to play the role of Qi Rong’s sidekick.

The Rain Master was probably the biggest twist for me. I seem to have a problem of imagining a lot of characters as older than they appear (thank you illustrations for showing me how wrong I am) and that is exactly what happened with the Rain Master. I pictured them as an older man who lives peacefully in the countryside. Instead, she is a queen who gave her life for her people… and now lives peacefully in the countryside. Her backstory was heartbreaking, the lack of emotions felt toward the Rain Master by her own family, and the narcissistic personality of her father makes me so happy that she can now live a nice life away from those evil people.

Wrapping up the story on a mountain-side shrine with Hua Cheng saying someone else is in the room with them was creepy. It left a haunting feeling when finishing this book and also the immediate urge to start on book 6. My last thoughts on this book is that if one more bad thing happens to connect Xie Lian with this place, he is going to have a full on mental break down.

[yapwithsyd]

368 Pages of Pain and Sadness | Heaven Official's Blessing

With a cover like book four’s, I would have never guessed that this was going to be one of the saddest things I’ve read in a while. Book three ended with the gang ended up in the abandoned Temple of Water and Wind, and that is where we pick up the story.

Plans might not have gone right, but there’s nothing that good food can’t fix. The original plan was to eat the best food they could find and a change of destination wasn’t going to stop them. After a Fire Social, a mobbing, and a kidnapping, the plot really gets going. The joys of reading the books include seeing the freak out of Wind Master at the first sighting of the Fire Social, the sharing of passwords (I found it so cute how easy it was for Hua Cheng to get Xie Lian’s password), and an embarrassment filled game of strip questions (seriously, one layer of clothing and they are still fully covered yet they act so scandalized by it).

Now it’s time for the downhill plummet of the emotional stability. After the Wind Master is taken in the flood of people, the hunt for him begins.

I was left with a lot of questions for a lot of this book. Xie Lian’s main tactic of helping the Wind Master was to use the Soul Shifting Spell and taking his place, knowing that he was not going to be effected by the evil spirit (or so he thought). The use of the Wind Master fan as a melee weapon showed both Xie Lian’s skills as a martial god and his inability to quickly adapt to others spiritual weapons (much would anyone in his position). But the main issue that brings up an errie feeling that never seems to leave in this book, is when Xie Lian makes it to a save place for the Wind Master to wait for rescue and switches back bodies.

Why did the Wind Master leave the safe haven made for him? Why did Xie Lian call for the Water Master after they knew where the Wind Master was? And why did the Water Master act the way he did when taking away an extremely distressed Wind Master?

This entire section left me feeling unsettled. Something is clearly wrong and nobody seems to care.

The Main Points

The Wind Master might not have gained Godhood in a legitimate way. Having been cursed as a baby, it seemed that nothing would mean safety. That is- until he ascended to Godhood. But, what did he do to earn his ascension?

Xie Lian is essentially tasked to protect and solve the issue of the Reverend of Empty Words. With the Water Master going into his third trial, it was up to the small group of three gods and a ghost king (who was only there to be close to Xie Lian and watch the chaos).

Going back to my main questions, why was the Water Master so weird when taking away the Wind Master? Well, because he knew that he was hiding dangerous information. He had traded off his little brother’s curse and stole an innocent child’s fate. Sending a stranger to become a ghost and his brother to become a God. All for his selfish desire to save someone he loves.

When the trails go awry, and the gang washes ashore of the Ghost King who rules the waters, it’s time to grab the tissues. Wind Master is found shackled and mentally broken after being separated during the groups war with the waters. The mysterious house they find after comes with not only a room to send everyone home, but a pile of bones later revealed to be the true Earth Master.

So, if the Earth Master is dead, who was travelling with us this whole time? The reveal of the Earth Master being Ghost King Black Water was one that connected a lot of points and added a level of terror. Once again, the Soul Shifting Spell is a life saver (umm life extender?). With the real identity of the Earth Master revealed to the brothers, it’s not much longer until the most traumatizing thing to happen in the story begins.

The death of the Water Master at the hands of Black Water, all while the Wind Master is begging and sobbing is heartbreaking to read. The illustration that depicts the scene only adds to the despair.

The only thing that could make this book worse, is if Ling Wen betrayed everyone and ran off with a dangerous tool right when a mountain is opening to birth a new Ghost King…

My Favorite Parts

Not everything in this book is depressing, only a good amount of it. There are some slice-of-life moments between the tear-jerking ones.

The first one is the care free attitude of Hua Cheng throughout the beginning. Him changing outfits while everyone is frantic is such a small comedic thing that is slipped in but doesn’t feel out of place or distracting. This paired with him getting Xie Lian’s password which was meant to trick you showed how in tune with Xie Lian Hua Cheng actually is.

Field work day is probably my favorite part in this book. Not only do we get domestic Hualian working together, but we also get jealous Xie Lian when asked about Hua Cheng’s relationship status. The lightheartedness of this section took me away from the dread I was feeling and I think that proves who well written this series is.

And of course, who can forget the retrieval of spiritual power scenes. With one being about taming a wild Ghost King going mad (Having to explain this to prove that the cover image was NOT WHAT YOU THINK was… tiring), and the other one being a protective need to keep Xie Lian at Puqi Shrine instead of with the Wind Master showed how far they will go for each other. Instead of running away like Hua Cheng told him, Xie Lian stays and bares the brunt of the strong spiritual energy because he couldn’t stand to see him in so much pain. Instead of staying out of fighting and letting Xie Lian help the Wind Master, Hua Cheng seems scared every time the Soul Shifting Spell is used, to the point where he takes back the spiritual energy being used to get Xie Lian back to him.

Wrap Up

This book marks the halfway point of the series. I’m not sure where it is going to go now that Xie Lian has lost two people who he saw as his only friends in the upper court. His world has been turned upside down, not knowing if the Wind Master is alive or dead, and knowing that Ling Wen has gone against the heavens for some unknown reason.

The only good thing is that Hua Cheng is there for him no matter what happens. I can feel the stakes raising as the heavens prepare to fight against a new Ghost King, so I can’t wait to see what Heaven Official’s Blessing has to offer next.

[yapwithsyd]

Ghost Baby, Temples, & Droughts | Heaven Official's Blessing

Book three starts with the end. The large nation of Xianle might be prosperous in the capital, but the area of Yong’an is suffering from a deadly drought. So, what is the martial god Xie Lian to do? Only to borrow the Rain Master’s hat and trekking back and forth to bring rain himself.

One man cannot keep a nation goin when they are on the brink of falling. Xie Lian’s efforts are for not, as he must watch the beginning of the end of his kingdom. A war breaks out after the class divide is put in the forefront. With the kingdom having banished the starving people of Yong’an, the people retaliate for the lack of compassion.

Everything seems to reach its peak when the ever annoying Qi Rong gets himself kidnapped, causing Xie Lian to chase after him (ever the good cousin, I would have left him to fend for himself). Thankfully, Xie Lian is not on his own, a skilled young swordsman refuses to leave his side.

After the scorn of the Earth Qi Rong, is sent off, Xie Lian’s cultivation is put to the test. When flower yao use all means of temptation, Xie Lian must resist giving in and destroying his purity, thus weakening his cultivation level. This scene demonstrates how dedicated he is to cultivation after he IMPALES HIMSELF ON HIS SWORD.

This first section focuses on the war that not only destroys the Kingdom of Xianle, but ends the good will Xie Lian has built up with his people. With the fate of the land changed by the actions of Xie Lian, a deadly disease sweeps through the kingdom, only effecting the people of the capital.

The burning of Xie Lian’s shrines are what wraps up this flashback.

Back to the present, Xie Lian is back in Puqi Shrine, with a tied up Qi Rong taking control of a father’s body. To take a break from the sorrow and destruction, we get a glimpse in an annual competition amongst the gods. Who will receive the most lanterns from their devotees? Obviously the God of Water and Wealth will be sent many, along with the other highly worshipped gods, but who would have thought that nobody god who has taken to scrap collecting would blow everyone else away with his donations.

Before Xie Lian can figure out what is going on, he is sent on a detour to deal with that pesky fetus spirit that he encountered back in book one. How else does one hunt down a vengeful spirit who is set out to attack others? By shoving a pillow under your shirt and pretending to be the pregnant concubine staying in the guest room of course!

Next challenge, how do you take on a quick moving spirit? Well, you first jump in the water to get away from it. Then you come up with the brilliant idea to swallow the spirt and then shove your sword down your throat. According to Xie Lian, this is by far the best and only way to deal with this situation.

Well Hua Cheng has better plans. Instead of risking his precious gege, just have his silver butterflies capture the spirit while he pulls Xie Lian out of the water. Hua Cheng’s protective tendencies jump out in this section, making sure that Xie Lian is okay and taking him back to Ghost City (because of course he would end up in Ghost City).

What better way to welcome Xie Lian back to Ghost City than to show him the Thousand Lights Temple (through no urge of Hua Cheng, he seems embarrassed of his infatuation). The shyness shown from Hua Cheng was so endearing, the big strong Ghost King didn’t want to upset the Crown Prince. My favorite part of this whole book was the adorable domestic section with Xie Lian (trying to) teach Hua Cheng how to write.

Of course, we couldn’t forget the main reason Xie Lian ended up in Ghost City. The fetus spirit.

The whole section with the fetus spirit seems like its there to progress the plot, so I worried that it would be forgotten. Have no fear, Paradise Manner catches fire and everyone remembers the whole reason Xie Lian ended up in Ghost City.

Some bickering happens, a little fighting, and a whole lot of suspense before the mother of the spirit is found and taken back to the upper courts of heaven. With the power the spirit holds, the father must be a powerful man, so the hunt in the upper courts to find the parent begins.

A lot of finger pointing happens here. You are the father! No wait, you are the father! Very quickly, her credibility freefalls as she picks man after man as her baby daddy.

Obviously, nothing can be done with this useless information. So, off to some holding cell while the gods find a mountain to shove her in. With all the business in the heavens taken care of, Xie Lian can peacefully return to Puqi Shrine.

The best way to wind down after a hectic workday is by having a nice meal. Puqi Shrine is filled with a god, a ghost king, and a pain in the ass ghost in a human’s body along with a child or two.

This section is a sweet domestic slice-of-life feeling with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng cooking a meal and even the spiritual weapons getting in on the fun. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. To wrap up book three, a nice meal is interrupted by the Wind and Earth Masters paying the shrine a visit.

The best subject to talk about over a meal is how you were cursed as a baby and have been running away from a deadly spirit that is hunting you down, and now, after years and years of being free, it has reared its ugly head once more. The Wind Master begs for help, he can’t go to his brother because of his upcoming challenges, so Xie Lian is his only hope.

Of course this book has to end on a cliff hanger. After just starting their journey, the group is thrown a curveball. The typical mode of transportation, teleportation, seems to have come across… an error and they now are standing in a run down temple of Water and Wind.