Guardian

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Guardian novel carrd. Guardian chinese novel kiss chapter.

Edit Drama Novel About 镇魂丨Guardian[] Guardian is a Chinese m/m web novel with 106 chapters (plus 5 extras), written by Priest in 2012. This wiki uses terminology coined by the translator, RainbowSe7en, except where those terms were changed in the translation of the novel by the subsequent translators/editors. Blurb[] Zhao Yunlan is the
Guardian, responsible for relations with the Underworld. He has founded and leads the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). He is bisexual and not shy about it. Shen Wei is a powerful Underworld being, the Ghost Slayer, who has been keeping watch over all incarnations of Zhao Yunlan for thousands of years without ever meeting them, until their paths
inadvertently cross (again).
They meet in the context of a supernatural SIU case, at the University of Dragon City, where Shen Wei teaches as a professor of Classic Chinese Literature. Zhao Yunlan is immediately intrigued and starts to shamelessly pursue Shen Wei. The Four Mystical Artifacts[] The story is divided into four arcs, each one deals with a mystical artifact: Plot[] In
addition to the four mystical artifacts, there is an interlude recounting events from the "Primordial Past" and some extras: Novel Links[] a) Official Chinese Publication, b) Zhen Hun in Simplified Chinese c) Zhen Hun in Traditional Chinese d) English translation on Google Drive and on Dreamwidth (ebook) Translation is complete. first 82 chapters
translated by one translator remaining chapters and extras completed by a team of four translators Selected chapters have been independently translated by Dayadhvam (dtriad) on AO3.
Master list of other partial translations collected by Dayadhvam (dtriad) on tumblr. Jump to ratings and reviews《镇魂》小说是晋江大神Priest所著都市灵异耽美文，小说围绕两位主角赵云澜、沈巍前世今生的种种展开，以四圣器为主线描述了人间、鬼界、仙途的互相博弈。"Guardian"The Special Investigations Unit is a covert organization that no-one in the city knows
about, dedicated to investigating bizarre occurrences beyond the comprehension of the living. The Chief Zhao Yunlan isn’t a simple guy either, being the inheritor of the Guardian Order, he has always been a righteous conformist, excelling between realms of the living and the dead. While investigating a school suicide case, Zhao is attracted to the
calm and reserved Professor Shen Wei, but the Professor seems to be rather fickle towards him…GenresFantasyLGBTRomanceChinaBoys LoveFictionParanormal Associated Names:* Priest* (Thai Profile)Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviewsAugust 16, 2018Just realized that it's probably weird to write an English review for book that I read in
Chinese, but oh well. My Chinese is fluent but lacks eloquence, plus this is not even the first time I've done this, so.This was such a fun ride! From what I gather from the author's notes, Priest basically took some elements from traditional Chinese mythology and folklore and then just ran with it. And she did it AMAZINGLY well.
Not being a Chinese mythology expert, I'm perfectly content to accept her version of the Chinese creation myth, haha. Aside from the typos that kept bugging me here and there, the writing is very good.
The language is mostly lighthearted humor, but with a decent mix of serious prose thrown in, which I personally enjoyed. There are certain parts that that were particularly lyrical that I absolutely loved--like the descriptions of the ancient time of gods and the epic scale magic that was depicted. The plot and pacing are really well handled, and I think
the author managed a good balance with the humor/romance and the mystery/horror. Another great thing is that the characters are all so interesting and well drawn! Even the side characters are all fascinating. And of course Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan/Kun Lun's relationship was a joy to read. They just have such a fun dynamic together! I love them
both a whole lot. Oh! And the epilogues are all gems to be treasured.I would absolutely recommend this to people who are into mystery, mythology, or fantasy. I just wish it were better edited. 4.5/5, would definitely read again.[ETA]: this is a review of the online version I purchased on 晋江文学城, and I would assume that the print versions would be
better edited. I’m definitely considering getting a copy for myself.March 18, 20135++++ stars! I'll admit, the premise wasn't exactly original, but the author put a lot of thought and imagination into the plot and the characters and it was beautiful. Beautiful. Maybe my only complaint will be the fade-to-black sex, but whoa, what a ride, 420k+ words
dudes and dudettes! I loved the characters, loved the story, loved the humor, loved the dynamic...gahhh needless to say, this has now become one of my top 3 BL favorites. I'm a total sucker for lovesick tops with unrequited love, and 5000+ years of that just had me holding my breath and feeling the wrench in my heart indeed. Not to mention, the
reverse-mainstream dynamic was such a huge plus, lol! This fic was just so brilliant. Never had I wished for a happy ending as much as I have, and am I glad the characters got their HEA. I always knew the author was one of the most popular in the Chinese BL fandom but never really got into her works (mostly because of the characters/dynamic set-
up), but now I understand why and that popularity is well-deserved. Now, if the author would write some actual smut in the extra chapters...my life would be complete.all-time-favorites bl chinese September 11, 2020“If death is chaos, then life is a never-ending struggle.”This book made me realise that I did not pay enough attention when my
grandparents tried to teach me about Chinese mythology I'm honestly more mad at the drama for getting rid of mythology-centric plot (although I understand why it happened) and switching to a simple hero vs villain thing than for censoring the romance here, it's actually incredible how well it managed to portray the (b)romance despite the
censorship laws. The two lead actors (especially the actor for Shen Wei) really carried the drama to be honest, because the plot rewrite was... Not great.Novel Plot: 10/10Drama Plot: 5/10Novel Romance: 10/10Drama (B)Romance: 9.5/10Those not well versed in Chinese mythology (like me) will probably find the second half of this novel quite
confusing, but it's well worth the time spent on Wikipedia doing some tangential learning along the way.May 11, 2020 I am rich with the wonders of the world. When you think of it, they are nothing but a few running creeks and lush mountains — nothing to be awed over. Out of everything I have, the only thing worth something is my sincere heart.
You want it? Take it. — Lord KunlanTL:DR It’s a 4.5, 4 because of Goodreads and the inability to give half stars. My concerns are largely my own. It's a complex story in the latter half that relies on time travel, reincarnation, mythos, romance and lies to fulfil its promise. The book is not the web series they share a name, character names and some plot
points, their details are different. A big that you to the translators for all their hard work.I’m going to be completely honest and say that while I enjoyed Guardian I really didn’t know what to make of it towards the end. It felt like Priest changed her pacing, realised that the end was nearing and had to find a way to wrap it all up. I have never read any
sort of romantically inclined story that is as convoluted and complex as this in its last maybe 20%. It relies quite heavily on mythos, mystery and your investment in the characters to be understood.Some of my issues may have come from the translation I was reading. At this point, the translator changed and she was using a more complex language,
possibly using more Romanisation and keeping truer to terms used by Priest rather than simply anglicising. It was a bit to wrap my head around, who is that, where is that, and what does that mean? None were new in the source material but they were to me. In all fairness to the novel it likely would also make more sense if I was better versed in
Chinese origin mythos, I know just enough to try and follow it.Despite how it may appear I truly appreciated the ending though. It felt right.

It felt like the build-up was leading to something big (even it did suffer from that pacing problem). I think I will need to reread this in a few months and see if I can follow it any better the next time around. I liked the characters.
I came in with a favourite and that didn’t change.
Da Qing is fantastically sassy, he is exactly what you expect when you think of a several thousand-year-old cat, who apparently looks like a black version of Garfield.

The leading men are likeable and multifaceted, there is a mystery around both of them for the entire book, no one in play knows the whole truth about anyone. The bizarre little side plot between Chu and Gao is interesting for me and I really wish Priest had done a bit more with it. Unfortunately, the women are scarce and more than a little propey.
The writing isn’t the best but I think it suffers taken out of its original language, I can see the loss of lyricism and tempo. Even without that there are some questionable moments that I won’t go into but let’s just say context and sense of self is a thing.This is a BL in potentially it’s sweetest form while sexual contact is noted and Shen Wei and Zhou
Yunlan are decidedly a couple, Priest doesn’t write it in detail (thankfully, sorry her writing style does not suit it). I did struggle with some of the writing. The terms “husband” and “wife” are used by ZYL, I think it is supposed to be indicative or cutsie but it feels off. Not just because of my idiot western brain, I think it might have to do with English’s
clunkiness. I’m not convinced that those terms are a direct translation.Finally a note on the drama. Calling the web series “Guardian” an adaptation of this work is disrespectful to them both. This is a BL with the cases the group solve intrinsically connected to the leading men, Sen Wei and Zhou Yunlan and their past. The web series is more of a
police drama. The cases in the novel are used but the series has added many more (and a mini-boss if you will) to replace the WeiLan romance because censorship. It has used the same supporting characters but changed them substantially. Notably Lin Jing from a “fake monk” to a tech. Chi Shizui is drastically different from a “corpse king” to a
physical fighter. Da Qing is still a cat but he spends most of his time in human form, which is a shame because his cat form is quite accurate. It exerts much more creativity than the standard adaptation. If you like the one you will likely enjoy the other, they are similar but not the same.Because I haven’t finished the drama, I stopped reading while
reading this, I’m halfway through, I still have one extra chapter left. Extra #4 the fix it Priest wrote for the drama(I do know some of what is coming. I see more tears and pain in my near future). The other extras do add something. They explain the ending, they make things more on and they don’t detract from the experience, unlike one book which
shall remain nameless. No wonder the old saying goes like this: For love, the living can die, and the dead can once again live. The living who feareth death, and the dead who cannot again live, art those who love enow not. — Shen WeiA representative gif: ebooks kt-reviews mm-romance December 21, 2019I watched the series first then read the novel
then found out that the novel ten times more good and beautiful than the live action. This is my first novel from Priest, and it definitely won't be the last cuz I'm in love with the writing!!!Recommended!!!2019 chinesebl danmei August 29, 2021watching the drama: the B in Bromance is really silent in this onestarts reading the novel: WHATOctober 16,
2021July 25, 2021Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are, both, AMAZING.

THEY ARE AMAZING. YES. Their dynamic is very interesting to read and all of the characters esp them in SIU are so cute and lovable. (Yes, Da Qing, especially YOU, Your Honour, are the BEST). I love the plot and the mysteries too.
Very unique and page turning. All of the fantasy aspects and mythological references are the best too. Add in all the funny jokes and it's an absolute 5/5.But sadly, I could say that the writing is kinda "too abrupt" ??
some parts are gone (?) i guess. and there are tons of confusing holes that need a lot of times to be unfolded, which really make this book need a second reread to actually make the readers could link the whole clues. It can be because the vocabularies are so rich, there are a lot of classical poems, and tons of distant mythological references, and i'm
especially dumb that makes this book so difficult to understand, but overall there are indeed really too much of it that needed to be read over and over again with double effort to get what it means so it's really a hard read.Still good tho. 3.5/5.May 26, 2021I started this under the impression it was a sci-fi novel, which it isn't, so I didn't really get what I
thought I would out of it. It's more Chinese mythology intersecting with modern supernatural police drama. Still cool, but creation mythology generally isn't of much interest to me. I liked the Zhao/Shen interactions, Guo is adorable, and the Guo/Chu interactions were pretty great as well. Zhu as a character was cool, but the unrequited love angle and
misogyny associated with her was tiresome. Overall pretty good.c-novel lgbtq-representationMay 27, 20213.5 starsI love Priest and I will read everything she writes.Guardian the novel worked a little bit less than Guardian the tv series for me.

I liked the main duo dynamics better in the tv series but I definitely recommend to experience both.My favorite quote from the book: “There is probably this one thing about me that’s worth a little something: my heart. You want it? Take it.”June 7, 2022Caught covid and decided to make my way through this book. Yeah this is the one priest book I just
can't get behind. Convoluted plot, slow pace, and lacking the characteristic wit and charm of priest's writing... This was very hard to get through honestly. I ended up DNFing at about 80% again.chinese-books read-in-2022January 10, 2022Good at the start lost me at the end with the translators changing and the super convoluted plot HEAVY with
mythology that I wish I understood. Vastly different from the drama. September 10, 20203.5 stars?
Still trying to figure out how I feel about this, so this review might not make sense. XDch87:所谓命运，其实并不是什么神神叨叨的殊归同途，其实也并没有什么东西在暗地里束缚着你，而是某一时刻，你明知道自己有千万种选择，可上天也可入地，却永远只会选择那一条路。That which we call fate isn't an invisible force that can bind you to a single destination. Rather, it is the
moment when you know that there are millions of choices stretching infinitely in front of you, but there's only one path you'll ever take.I would say that this novel is very much a conceptual and character-driven one. The structure of its writing doesn't really let it fall into either the fantasy or romance genre, as there's a huge tonal shift in the middle
that I feel leaves both romance and fantasy unfulfilled. (Which may or may not be the point! But doesn't discount the rocky pacing and the number of details that were lovingly set up then set aside.)The first half of the novel is an urban fantasy/supernatural procedural, with some hilarious adult romance and team dynamics--this is what I read the novel
for! There are huge pacing issues (after the 1st arc, there are 10 chapters of plot not advancing), but I loved this so much! The urban fantasy details are lovely: Zhao Yunlan burning a talisman into a teacup so a cup appears in the Ghost Executioner's hand. A human-sized paperman with a painted-on mouth sliding under Yunlan's windowsill to deliver
a message.
A miraculous flower blooming from decay, only to be mindlessly crushed under the Ghost Executioner's heel. The skeleton puppet that's trying its best. :(((((( The subplots for the first two arcs are vicious and sad, but off-set by the team shenanigans. (My favorite dynamic is Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan, because they both work so well together, even
though Chu Shuzhi fantasizes a lot about killing Yunlan who, unfortunately, is too well-connected to all three realms to be his prey. XD)The third arc pivots into the mythological arc, which is heavy on infodumps. It may just be that I'm not very familiar with Chinese mythology, but I found this entire storyline too convoluted. (Also, this was way too
difficult for me and my pop-up dictionary to parse, haha. All of it went over my head. I also wasn't able to follow how the 鎮魂令, which Yunlan uses as weapon, was established.) At this point, the modern-day elements fall away, as the focus is on Yunlan and Shen Wei's romantic relationship, as well as their past. The most interesting part of this novel
for me is how it positions Shen Wei's character.
Zhao Yunlan is definitely the protagonist: you follow his life and see the different parts of his personality refract against each other. He's a roguish introvert who's very good at both the supernatural, physical, and social parts of his job, and he's very, very good at getting what he wants. But on his days off, he's a disaster hermit who can barely feed
himself.Meanwhile, Shen Wei is the 5,000-year-old Executioner of Souls. You don't get to see the full breadth of his experiences, but you get to see how his arc begins and ends. Shen Wei is written as both love interest and antagonist.
He doesn't actively harm Zhao Yunlan, but when he sabotages himself, he sabotages both of them. Born from the ghost clan, he's bound to his instincts of hunger and loathing. Over time, he's managed to "control" his urges, but the selfishness and the loathing (for his own kind, and by extension, himself) go beyond physical restraint. He's "fated" by
his inhuman nature. The only way to get a happy ending is for him to lose and, in so doing, free himself from his fate. This was really nice!(There also appears to be another metaphor about Shen Wei living on someone else's light and warping his darkness around it, and him needing to finally carry his own light.)That said, I still don't really understand
why and how Yunlan loves Shen Wei to give up so much for him?? Maybe it's just his nature to be good and forgiving and selfless. Conceptually it makes sense, and I do love their interactions, but romantically it doesn't really fall into place for me, like I feel like I'm missing a step???Other notes:- POV: For most of the novel, it's a very omnisicent POV
that hops from head to head at a dizzying pace (you can tell whose POV you're reading from because the character voices are pretty distinct).
But once it shifts towards mythological half, it pulls you back and leaves you in Zhao Yunlan's POV as he figures out what he's going on. Shen Wei, whose longings have been so deeply transparent, becomes opaque. (I can't tell if this was a conscious decision of the writer, or if she just settled into it lol.)- I feel like the novel spends a lot of time talking
about the Ghost Executioner's scent and the coldness that comes with his arrival, and then...
after he and Yunlan get together, it just stops being a thing?
- Probably my favorite character is Chu Shuzhi because he's so fun??? He's a very powerful cultivator of the undead(?) path who pays close attention to the stock market. He hates his boss but is highly professional about it, except when his love life is involved. :D He has mad respect for the mysteriously powerful Professor Shen and gets so excited to
do his best to make a good net for Shen Wei to see. :D He's definitely not a people person, but sometimes he gets lonely and he secretly just wants to gossip. :D- The pre-relationship stages were so funny because ZYL's POV was all about how he was pervertedly touching Shen Wei with his perverted hands, while Shen Wei's POV was all about his
poignant and powerful bursts of yearning that occasionally fall sideways into vore fantasies.cnovels lgbt read-in-2020 October 16, 2020Despite the tv adaptation turning out to be one giant ball of mess due to heavily changed and significantly different content shown throughout, I'm still thankful it served as the necessary introduction to the original
book, which is definitely tons time much better, well-written (with much appreciated spooky & fantasy vibes), and overall end up being as a solid read for me. It's such a huge shame I wasn't entirely knowledgeable with how chinese mythology went on (which heavily back up the whole book) though, it does quite rely on that especially on the last 20
chapters, and being clueless over everything kinda stunted my reading pace for this.
I first read this a couple years ago, being an avid follower for the translation for a while before getting left out due to my growing disinterest & slowly running-out patience for waiting all the chapters to be done translated, so I'm really glad (and a bit proud hahah) that I didn't give up on this in the end. Guardian takes up a rather precious place in my
heart as my first danmei novels I've read (or is it Advance Bravely?I think these two are ones that started my whole journey for danmei until now), so it feels great to have finished reading this at last !September 22, 2020Plot twists kept piling up as I read, I'm so sad to have finished this one! The plot originally deals with myths, reincarnations and
mystery kind of stuff, but especially at the end, there was heavy emphasis on myths and it got quite complicated as the author tried to wrap up the plot.
So, I feel like I would like to read it again after some time. This time, I read it for Zhao Yun Lan and Shen Wei's romance (hehehehe), can't wait to watch the drama version of the story.
I found the angst to be of just the right amount, and I loved Shen Wei's unrequited love for Yun Lan. ╥﹏╥April 24, 2023I had to give it four stars for the sheer…the sheerness of it all. Wanna start by saying: congratulations to me. I finished this 861 page book in two days flat, with nothing but the Lego Monkie kid cartoon and my unwillingness to click
links to guide me through what, TO ME, was absolutely a dense and haphazardly signposted path into what I think is….not completely orthodox Chinese mythology. Good for me, he who only ever reads books that cap off that like 200-300 pages. If that. Anyway, as such, I am going to have real difficulty even beginning to recount what the plot of this
book was. I picked this up because I saw a gif set of the drama and tried getting through an episode. Then realised it was adapted from a BOOK, then realised that book was a WEBNOVEL and then realised that webnovel had no official English translation, then realised some dedicated volunteers had taken upon themselves the task of providing just
that to the masses. So I began. I love when there’s a ragtag bunch of weirdos and outcasts with attitude who have some sort of urban paranormal setting to work with. So that was something I was really excited to read about and the first part of the book was kind of fascinating in how it went about setting this world up. We’re introduced to my
favourite character archetype: the Butt-Monkey, the pathetic wet flop with a heart of gold, Guo Changcheng who’s an absolute nervous wreck trying to find his new office building at 2:30am. He’s been recruited on good word from his uncle into a special magical cop department led by the notorious Chief Zhao Yunlan, a kind of reckless scoundrel
type, but also known for being really cool and dangerous. (He’d like to think so). Anyway Zhao is our real main character, and the first arc of the story involves him and Guo, along with the other members of the SIB (their magical cop department) solving the mystery of a murdered student on a nearby University campus. Basically, they investigate
crimes that involve supernatural/mythological creatures like ghosts and evil shadow beasts and zombies and animated skeletons, oh my! The like, you see. While investigating at the Uni, Zhao runs into the enigmatic but strangely familiar Professor Shen Wei. Shen Wei ends up helping them a little in their investigation while Zhao remains oddly drawn
to him. It turns their paths are way more intertwined than he thinks. Their dynamic is the heart of the book, the way it evolves its characters and the way their characters reveal layers and contradictions and histories every chapter is so fascinating and compelling; and it all weaves together at this grander than life, death and the universe scope…like,
it’s truly incredible, trying to recount it from this humble beginning.But yes, the story really starts off with a low-stakes but twisty mystery of a murdered girl that soon spirals into a web of intrigue involving Underworld politics, a restless ghost, evil demons, patricide and ends on an ominous note about some terrible prophecy about to become true…I
keep listing things but the book really piles on the mysteries. I don’t know if it’s ‘cause I’m particularly dense but questions pile up on one another as the clues float out of reach and then suddenly all is revealed as if it was so tremendously obvious all along and then it. Keeps. Going. Each major ‘arc’ leaves several plot threads hanging; paid off maybe
in the very next arc or continually revisited and recast until the literal climax of the story. That’s what the story largely hinges on, to be honest, everything, details and the stories and histories and myths getting wrapped up in one another and unfurling over and over until you get to a truthful sequence of events that actually explains the whole thing.
The story transitions from its seemingly mystery/monster of the week premise to be revealed for what it’s actually about: a grand scale tale about warring deities and ancient artefacts and hidden reincarnations. Four magical artefacts and the magical seal on the Earth are at stake, and this is the main plot that drives the story forward with propulsive
momentum. Information and worldbuilding is delivered and absorbed into the story’s plot without warning and without stopping for you. Maybe it’s a lost-in-translation thing, maybe it’s a webnovel-adapted-to-a-book thing or maybe a I-truly-have-not-a-clue-of-head-or-tails-of-Chinese-creation-mythology-or-folklore thing but genuinely mind-bending to
keep up with every development. At a certain point I just experienced it all as I would a fantastically magical realism book; you know, it all makes sense as a vibe. A state of mind. The flow state. You just kind of let it wash over you, and the minute and fleeting connections made by the brain carry you over in a state of enlightened yet shallow
understanding. Ideal.
Long-winded way of saying: yeah I totally know what the plot of this book was, don’t even worry about it. Zhao needs learn the truth of the four artefacts and keep the seal from breaking. He has to figure out his true identity. He has to figure out the meaning of life and death. He has to come out to his parents and also try to get his immortal dad-god’s
bowl to stop possessing his mortal bio-dad. Shenanigans.china elgeebeeteequplus fantasy July 17, 2020This is a fantastic fantasy book about a cop & a ghost except that's not who they always were. Dealing with themes such as reincarnation & duty, Priest weaves a world of power, loss, and how happy endings can come of tragedies.
December 24, 2022[4.5/5 stars]The end almost made me swear to never read another priest book EVER because that was nerve-wreaking!!!! went into it expecting nothing because I had a bad history with sha po lang but this one is definitely one million times better thank goodness.danmei favorite-books read-in-2022March 27, 2023I'm still a little
confused about the plot thoughMay 9, 2020A God who defied his destined path, a Ghost who desired to be more than what he was... The beauty of this story is how it weaves together mythology with fiction with the modern world as a backdrop.
Zhao Yunlan is the Chief of the Guardian Order - a taskforce designed purely to manage the supernatural crimes on the mortal plane. His clients range from ghosts to demons to Hell's habitants, and his comrades include a startlingly competent dynamic of a talking cat, a monk, a snake demon and a zombie. The addition of a well-mannered, polite and
gentlemanly Chinese Linguistics Teacher to this bunch seems absurd at first, but of course, all is not as it seems. With Shen Wei's entrance into Zhao Yunlan's life, strange occurrences related to Zhao's past lives begin to unearth. Old Gods and new, Hell's rulers and Ghost Kings, the Four Mystical Artifacts... with everyone emerging out of the
woodwork, this year is the most chaotic Zhao has had to endure. And also the most fulfilling. Beautifully written arcs with a mystery tied into each instance, I loved Detective Zhao's quick witted and practical approach to them. He is not the perfect boss, or the most compassionate comrade, but he certainly has his team's back. Even when they don't
expect it of him. Charming and laid-back, this character is hilarious and uninhibited, and for once I have so completely enjoyed reading from the detective's point of view! While all the chinese mythology references do seem to be slightly too convoluted - but which mythology isn't? - it is definitely a fascinating read! All characters have their purpose,
are intelligently written and having satisfying closing arcs. Priest totally deserves all the praise heaped upon them!c-novels favourites-2020 lgbtqaOctober 23, 2020Actual rating: 2.5 starsHm, how do I say this? I just didn't understand what was going on because everything was really confusing and even when the story reached its climax, it just felt
really underwhelming to me.The pacing was off and it was only more than halfway through that I thought, "finally, something's happening" but soon after, I lost interest all over again. In my opinion, there were too many elements in this book that weren't well developed and fell flat, and the story was very convoluted for the sake of being convoluted. It
was tiring for me to finish reading this.I also couldn't connect with any of the characters, especially the MCs and I thought that the interactions between the main couple felt forced?
It was kind of weird and I wasn't invested in them at all, which greatly contributed to me not liking this story since the romance was pretty heavy/apparent in this novel.I did like some of the side characters that were funnier such as the fat cat and fake monk, but overall most of the characters were quite dull and coupled with the muddling plot, my
interest couldn't be captured, unlike with her other novel 'Silent Reading'/默读 which is one of the best novels I have read in 2020.The extras were fun and cute though but I would not reread this.July 15, 2021Maybe 3.5, idk Having watched Guardian beforehand, this novel was actually a very enjoyable experience that felt really different from the
drama.
While the drama turned this story into a sci-fi, its source material is actually all about ghosts and myths which made the storyline have a completely different energy, that I personally liked more. It might be because I had already watched the drama, but I thought the characters were likeable from the start. I loved the main couple, and it was really
cool to see their relationship develop without censorship getting in the way. Their dynamic was really fun, and their romance just felt natural to me, which I truly appreciated. With that said, I did have some issues with the romance in this. The whole "husband" and "wife" thing is something that I don't like at all.
It's just a heteronormative way to classify a gay couple, while also defining them as either top or bottom... That's not really my thing. I don't really understand why people are so fixated on learning about people's position in a mlm relationship. Also, there was a particular scene in which dubcon was present, and thank god nothing happened, because
that's just wrong and unfortunately still immensely romanticized. Even though it was just that one scene (as far as I can recall), I felt like it was important to point it out. Possessiveness was also a present element at some times, and it's another really common thing in the romance genre when it shouldn't be. In conclusion, I did enjoy this novel a lot. It
wasn't perfect, but very fun to read. Not gonna lie, the plot was a bit messy by the end. Overall I found the mythology aspect to be interesting, although it can cause confusion to us western people. The main problem was that in the last 20 (?) chapters we got info dumped with a lot of mythology knowledge, which was overwhelming in my opinion, and
also felt a bit rushed. That really dragged down the last bit of the book for me. SPOILER ALERTI'd also like to say that Shen's character in this was so complex. In a good way, but also in a bad way. To me, the problem was not that he lied to Zhao Yunlan, but his motive felt so selfish. I initially thought he had lied because he was trying to save Yunlan
or something along those lines, but after learning he did all of that just to get Zhao Yunlan attached to him, I was really displeased. That didn't feel like him at all? Fortunately, in the end he chose to sacrifice and wipe Zhao's memories instead of letting him die with him, which to me was way more fitting to the story and the character. I just didn't like
that they made him so weird like that.2020-reads asian-novels ebooks September 10, 2020trigger warnings: dubious sexual consent, self harmI feel hesitant rating this so low because I feel like most of my issues are tied directly to the (fan) translation I found and read. Guardian is not currently available to read in English in any form other than fan
translation.
Honestly about 50% of the translation was pretty solid, especially the parts focused mostly on the romance between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan; anything interpersonal was really well done. But the translation of the primary conflict? Eh...a bit unclear. This might be also related to the fact that I think Guardian might have relied on a bit more
knowledge of Chinese mythology than I was have a background in, and the translation was not prepared to handle that. There are things I do love about this book. I love that Shen Wei is like, this gentleman character who apparently is actually a complete sexual monster and ghost king: “The moral of this story informed us that despite being covered
in sheep’s skin—even if the sheep’s skin was capable of blushing—it still couldn’t change the fact that he was intrinsically a wolf.”I don't even mind that the book never goes further than "fade to black" sex scenes. Once we got to the backstory elements the book just felt a bit bogged down and I wasn't driven to care about the central plot. April 26,
2019The Chinese to English translation I found was rocky, but I got the underlining story.Cute if not full of tropes. I enjoyed seeing Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's canon romance after watching the first 8 episodes of the web drama. Sadly, due to Chinese government censor they can't be a canon couple, but the actors do a good job trying to make it as
sweet as possible between them (which is probably why it still got band in China).Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviewsGet help and learn more about the design.