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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Band 01 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
15 reviews
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
“If you walk the night road too often, sooner or later, you'll run into ghosts.”
➽ I wasn't really planning on reading this series, but my friend loves it, so I had to see why she was so obsessed with it. Fortunately, this story was right up my alley and I ended up falling in love with it as well 💞 This was my first danmei story and it already set the bar high for any other books I'll be reading in the future! The story follows Wei Wuxian, who was once a renowned cultivator before turning to the dark arts and dying a horrific death. Years later, he's resurrected into the body of a scorned young man called Mo Xuanyu who sacrificed his life to get revenge on those who wronged him. I was immediately fascinated by the world, especially as I hadn't read about this specific subgenre before. The focus of the world is on the cultivation of spiritual power and the hunting of ghosts and demons. While there are many clans that practice cultivation, the bigger, more powerful clans (the Jin, Jiang, Lan & Nie clans) have the greatest influence.
➽ I loved the switch between the present day and the flashbacks. Right from the beginning, you know that something happened to make everyone revile Wei Wuxian as the 'Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation' but there is still so much about the past we're only slowly uncovering. I love the mystery of what happened in the war with the Wen Clan and how exactly Wei Wuxian died in his first life. I guess we'll be getting a lot of flashbacks over the course of the series and slowly keep seeing the bigger picture. Things are already exciting in the present day as well, as there's a dangerous ghost arm on the loose!
➽ The heart of the story are of course the characters! To no one's surprise, my favorite is Wei Wuxian, as I love mischievous, morally grey characters. While everyone talks about him like he's the devil personified, you start to question how much of it is just gossip and rumours that went out of control. While Wei Wuxian practices an unorthodox path of cultivation, he cares about protecting the young juniors he encounters on a Night Hunt. I loved his playful personality and humor, he's my kind of character, especially since there also seems to be a tragic background story! Our second main character is Lan Zhan, an old acquaintance who is held in high esteem in the cultivation world. He's a man of few words and often it's difficult to tell what he's thinking. I loved their dynamic from the start as they're such different characters. We even get a flashback that shows their first meeting back in their youth. Wei Wuxian has to maintain the identity of Mo Xuanyu, the man whose body he now inhabits, but staying close to Lan Zhan might be a good idea for now!
➽ I loved the switch between the present day and the flashbacks. Right from the beginning, you know that something happened to make everyone revile Wei Wuxian as the 'Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation' but there is still so much about the past we're only slowly uncovering. I love the mystery of what happened in the war with the Wen Clan and how exactly Wei Wuxian died in his first life. I guess we'll be getting a lot of flashbacks over the course of the series and slowly keep seeing the bigger picture. Things are already exciting in the present day as well, as there's a dangerous ghost arm on the loose!
➽ The heart of the story are of course the characters! To no one's surprise, my favorite is Wei Wuxian, as I love mischievous, morally grey characters. While everyone talks about him like he's the devil personified, you start to question how much of it is just gossip and rumours that went out of control. While Wei Wuxian practices an unorthodox path of cultivation, he cares about protecting the young juniors he encounters on a Night Hunt. I loved his playful personality and humor, he's my kind of character, especially since there also seems to be a tragic background story! Our second main character is Lan Zhan, an old acquaintance who is held in high esteem in the cultivation world. He's a man of few words and often it's difficult to tell what he's thinking. I loved their dynamic from the start as they're such different characters. We even get a flashback that shows their first meeting back in their youth. Wei Wuxian has to maintain the identity of Mo Xuanyu, the man whose body he now inhabits, but staying close to Lan Zhan might be a good idea for now!
“Young man, sometimes in life there are a few sappy things one must say.” “What?” Jin Ling asked.” ’Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’,” Wei Wuxian replied “there’ll come a day when you’ll say them through tears.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness, Torture, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love Lan Wangji so much. He's so precious 🥺💜💜
Him saying"Mine" to Wei Wuxian when he was drunk was so cute! I didn't think we'd get that so soon.
The fact that Wei Wuxian keeps joking around about liking men early in the volume and then later ends up with a man is just so much fun lol. He was so funny throughout most of the volume.
If you don't want a slow burn with a LOT of plot, this isn't the series for you! I love what's going on though. There's so much.
I only had a couple of issues with this first volume:
- Wei Wuxian drinks Emperor's Smile and says he never got to have it when he was younger but in the flashback, he did? Not a big deal, but it irked me a bit.
- Lan Wangji tells this long ass story explaining a lot about a specific incident. I would have much rather gotten that information spread out.
Him saying
The fact that Wei Wuxian keeps joking around about liking men early in the volume and then later ends up with a man is just so much fun lol. He was so funny throughout most of the volume.
If you don't want a slow burn with a LOT of plot, this isn't the series for you! I love what's going on though. There's so much.
I only had a couple of issues with this first volume:
- Wei Wuxian drinks Emperor's Smile and says he never got to have it when he was younger but in the flashback, he did? Not a big deal, but it irked me a bit.
- Lan Wangji tells this long ass story explaining a lot about a specific incident. I would have much rather gotten that information spread out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia, Torture
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual harassment
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Pretty solid start for a series. There's a huge cast of characters who have various forms of address so it can be difficult to keep track of everything in the beginning.
The dynamic between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji is hard to describe of only because you don't know the whole history they have yet, nor where it will go in the future. So far, one is basically a class clown/jock type while the other is a stoic nerd type and I'm having a great time with it.
The dynamic between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji is hard to describe of only because you don't know the whole history they have yet, nor where it will go in the future. So far, one is basically a class clown/jock type while the other is a stoic nerd type and I'm having a great time with it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, War
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Genocide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder
Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I decided to give the novels a try after watching the drama, CQL.
And after reading just volume 1, I will say, I appreciate the novel for expanding and clarifying the lore, but I think my "canon" will be the drama.
MXTX truly struggles to relay exposition in a smooth manner, instead choosing random info dumps that derail the plot and make it very unclear who knows what. I have no idea what information Wei Wuxian knows (or how he knows it, after coming back) and what information is included just for me, with him unaware.
This story is a diamond in the rough. Knowing what I know about how this ends (and also how much has been changed from original text to adaption, as I have also read the manhua and also several posts comparing the drama to the novels), I think the drama improved this story which lays down an amazing foundation. Great ideas, intriguing characters, but so much mess in between.
And after reading just volume 1, I will say, I appreciate the novel for expanding and clarifying the lore, but I think my "canon" will be the drama.
MXTX truly struggles to relay exposition in a smooth manner, instead choosing random info dumps that derail the plot and make it very unclear who knows what. I have no idea what information Wei Wuxian knows (or how he knows it, after coming back) and what information is included just for me, with him unaware.
This story is a diamond in the rough. Knowing what I know about how this ends (and also how much has been changed from original text to adaption, as I have also read the manhua and also several posts comparing the drama to the novels), I think the drama improved this story which lays down an amazing foundation. Great ideas, intriguing characters, but so much mess in between.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War