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Reviews tagging 'Violence'
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Band 01 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
88 reviews
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A bit more complicated than HOB because of the family ties/clan politics being set up, and our main guy is a mischief maker from page one. I’m still interested in seeing where it goes!
We stan Jin Ling’s uncle ;)
We stan Jin Ling’s uncle ;)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol
Minor: Sexual harassment
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Death
Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Classism
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Torture, Death of parent, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-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:
N/A
A very good start to a very nice series, one of my favourites!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Gore
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The dynamic between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji is exciting and unexpectedly wholesome. They each have their flaws, but their characters compliment each other well.
A fun read and a sweet slow burn romance.
A fun read and a sweet slow burn romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Gore
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
I am going to LOVE this series. I initially had a bit of a hard time getting into this book because the first chapter is absolutely horrible. It gives context and background information in an extremely confusing way, you don't know who is talking, it's a lot of info dumping all at once, so I don't really remember most of it, and it wasn't in any one person's perspective. It isn't until chapter 2 (thankfully chapter 1 isn't THAT long, only about 10-20 pages, but it still discouraged me from continuing reading, so I put the book down for days) that we finally get Wei Wuxian's perspective, and it is SO FUN being inside his head. You hear all about him and how he is this evil force and destroyer of clans, but he is so charming! He is such a babygirl! I love him, and I want to protect him. As of the end of this first volume, I still don't know WHY he became this figure that everyone had to team up to take down, and I'm so curious about that. He comes off a bit selfish, but he never fails to help someone in need. It's partially dual timeline as well, so we get to see him with Lan Wangji in adolescence, which is fun. I love both timelines so far (I am currently a bit more partial to the present timeline, though). Lan Zhan is SO DOWN BAD for Wei Ying, and it's so obvious! I am just waiting and I desperately want to see moments of Wei Ying also being down bad for Lan Zhan (there are clear moments of fondness for him, but I want to see this progress further; he's also a bit oblivious as to how much Lan Zhan cares for him, poor dear). There are so many things I want explained (in Lan Zhan's case, where and why he has so many whip marks on his back; is it because in the past he was secretly helping Wei Ying? I think so, but I want to be sure! ). I am usually a person that lets time go by in between reading books in a series, but I wanted to go straight into the next book, and I was so mad that I wasn't able to (you better believe I'm getting it the next time I go book shopping). So much trauma is undoubtably going to happen, and I just want the best for these characters. I love them, and I got attached to them so quickly. Get through the bad first chapter, and you will undoubtably get roped in by Wei Wuxian. (Yes, almost every character has three names, which can be confusing, and they do use all of them, but you get used to it) This is going to become a favorite series; I know it (I also made sure it would have a happy ending before starting this series, because I don't know if my heart could have handled it; I know they are going to go through so much before then, though (no details beyond a couple things, though).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Attempt the impossible.
A few years ago I really, really tried to get into the tv show based on this book because so many of my friends were gushing about it. Long story short, I just couldn’t vibe with it despite trying. Recently, the same friends started talking about it again, and about the fanfic for it that they were reading and writing, and the fanfic sounded interesting enough that I thought, hey, maybe I should tackle the canon again to be in the know. Maybe it will work for me better in book form.
It… both did and didn’t work for me better in book form. The super amateurish translation sadly didn’t help—the resulting prose was of such low quality and full of such weird turns of phrase that it was legitimately hard to focus on reading. Instead of getting immersed into the story, I kept poking at odd sentences and/or thinking, “I wonder what the actual author meant to say here and what the effect would be if I could read it in Chinese“ (sadly, I don’t know Chinese).
But despite that, when I did manage to get immersed, it was pretty good? Wei Wuxian was an entertaining and interesting protagonist to follow, and I was fascinated by the worldbuilding. And the plotty bits were seriously good. Actually, in a weird turn of events, I was more interested in all the external/setting-focused plottiness than the relationship developments, especially when it came to the main relationship. Apparently, no matter the medium, the hype and I are just. Completely on different pages with this story. It’s strange, because the tropes here are the ones I usually enjoy, and the dynamic should be pulling me in, but every time the book focused on Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, I was like, “Yeah… cool… can we another evil ghost encounter or something now?“
Guess it’s one of those cases where a popular story just doesn’t resonate with me enough, but I’m still glad I gave it a chance and I’m actually interested in picking up some other danmei books now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror, Homophobia, War
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Death, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, War
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