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Okay I'm gonna be so real. It started out decently fine. Though the incest was baffling. Not in the "I hate incest" way, but in the "they made them full on biological first cousins raised believing they are full blood brothers so how did they get the nerve to insist they arent blood related" way.

I don't mind incest! I am not some prude who gets huffy over fiction. But I think compared to "fake young master x real young master" or "raised knowing you're adopted with little to no blood relation", I think it's a lot more bizarre to insist it's not real incest when they are literal direct first cousins by blood. Just own up to it, man. You wrote the incest. Admit it's incest.

All that said, I think this is a different Eighth Party than the business war danmei Eighth Party. The writing style compared to the 8th Party I'm familiar with is... mm. Lacking. The style is completely different and I can't even use the excuse of this being just an earlier novel because I can't connect the development in style and tone at all, as well as genre preference, and the author notes feel like talking to a different person.

Also while I understand the grievances with the Japanese in China and like. Most of East Asia in general. There's a limit to how far you can go before you are just writing straight up racist shit. Like holy shit. It wasn't there in the first 3/4ths but once the spy traitor plotline popped up it was just an ongoing stream of calling the Japanese dirty and stubby and hideous. Plus there were full on eugenics getting pulled out there? Like full on rewriting genetic code for "improvement". And the cultivation world got jammed in in the final stretch? It wasnt there for like... any of the rest of the story? Just popped up his heeeyyyy I'm here too and by the end I was only finishing it because I was too close to the end to stop.

Anyways if the start was a majestic eagle soaring in the sky, the end was a bit like a half dead duck blind in one eye covered in feces. It just. It was a lot. I didn't have a great time, man. Wow. I sure persevered, though. I will just consider the day I spent on this a character growth montage. I guess.

I found this on a BL mindreading list but it's not BL and I'm not super into m/f romance where the main character is the man, which is why I have it marked as dropped.

However, as a gossip novel, with a hetero male lead, no less, it has none of the greasiness and discomfort I have seen when reading gossip novels with hetero male main characters. He honestly reads like a standard shou main character, if I'm being real, but the love interest is very much a girl. If you are looking, or even curious, for a gossip novel with a m/f pairing where the male MC is not a total creep, would definitely recommend this one.

The gossip is fresh and fun to read, without any borderline fetish material, and the twists are fun and exciting. The MC clearly adores gossip in its pure essence, not as a means of being a... voyeur, let's say it charitably. At the point I dropped, the FL was nowhere near falling for him, and was just enthusiastically following him around to effectively be gossipy with him. They feel like genuine friends to lovers.

Unfortunately, I've been too burned in the past and couldn't shake the creeping dread, so I dropped. But someone else may be able to enjoy it.

It was definitely cute but don't bother with it if you're looking for an actual omegaverse. I don't think the author was even aware she was supposed to be writing an omegaverse lol. No one even got their pheromones described, and there was nary a heat or a rut. Alpha and omega might as well have just meant gong and shou. There was just a handwave at the end that they had low pheromone compatibility and that was that. And then the alpha swore to remain childfree for the omega. So literally what is the point.

Feels like the author genuinely hates omegaverse because why else would you place a story in a setting, deliberately avoid literally every single element of that setting, and then go on to further say the actual point of that setting isn't even going to show up in the future you won't even write? Truly baffling. No pheromones, not even a mention of marking, not even a point of mentioning even suppressants or even scent blockers. Not even a gland patch! Actually, not even glands were mentioned?? There was no mention of anyone having a specific scent, literally NOTHING. They would just casually throw out xyz character is an alpha or omega every so often like they were worried we'd forget this was a setting the author chose that the author didn't even want to use?

Honestly I couldn't even pay attention to the plot at all because I was too busy being confused as to WHY the author picked this specific setting instead of just alternate universe China where gay marriage is legal. Is it just to make it so the main character is capable of pregnancy? But even then he deliberately avoided pregnancy. If you wanted to promote safe sex just have them use condoms as usual. It was just. Baffling. Utterly baffling. "Author chooses guideverse and has the guide main character have absolutely nothing to do with hunting whatsoever." Like okay girlie I guess.

I didn't realize until I requested it and started reading that this was a novel I read elsewhere and dropped but how do I explain it...

I started this novel bc it promised sand sculpture and comedy. So I went in with certain expectations. But it actually came off as extremely heavy and did not feel like a comedy at all.

It was almost exclusively the main character saddled with the original owner's reputation and sea king crimes that completely detracted from any attempt at comedy. The main character was treated horribly and the male lead was treating him like a circus to watch, while also not letting him actually leave just so he could get his entertainment from watching everyone treat the main character like garbage. It just. Did not fit my expectations and was a bit gross to read.

I think if I knew what I was actually walking into I wouldnt have much to say. But the summary and actual plot are at total odds. So bear in mind that if you go in here for "comedy" it may not meet your expectations.

The pacing is truly... I have no words. What do you mean everyone that killed your parents and you were thrown in prison in the first 10 chapters. Am I meant to get satisfaction from this. Is this even considered a spoiler when it happens in the first 10 chapters. Even if you're not primarily writing a revenge plot this is entirely too much.

am i enjoying this novel? no. do i still admire the courage and gumption to dive headfirst into showbiz as a genre while not knowing the difference in film awards and film festivals? also no. dropping.