The Subplot Of This Novel Is Peculiar Chapter 130 Discussion

Rating: 3.5

The title may be 'The Sublot of this Novel is Peculiar', but it is the stream of consciousness writing that is truly peculiar. The story jumps all over the place, from one of the protagonists thoughts to another. Then it swaps to the Male Lead's perspective of everything that had been written so far

This means that it feels like it takes forever for anything to happen and you have to reread large sections once there is finally a literary climax.

This book might be a masterpiece if the translator had bothered with any proofreading. This type of artistic novel absolutely suffers from any use of MTL or AI. It requires a human touch for the writing to draw you into these emotions of the two protagonists the original author was trying to share with the readers. Unfortunately, I broke my sense of immersion several times a chapter. I found the story boring thanks to this, but I didn't hate what the author was attempting.

This is a relatively interesting dive into a relatively normal relationship. The major abnormality of their lives is that the main character's world (though a version of it from several years in the past) seems to have merged into a book world overnight. The 'transmigration' provides the readers some context into the overall situation. The extra years do not help the main character mature much. He gains a heavy smoking addiction at a young age and the foreknowledge is not very helpful. He does know two of his friends will become a couple in advance. The main purpose of this 'insight' is just to give him a massive misunderstanding about his own future lover. It does not seem to add to the plot in a particularly positive way. The true highlight of this book is still the exploration of the two protagonists as they navigate an obsessive love and try to make very different personalities work together despite both of them bearing a temper. The two clearly care for each other. Still, they must put in effort to maintain a relationship through everyday mundane struggles. When is the right time to:

• confess?
• move in together?
• inform their friends that they are dating?
• inform their family?
• ask about each others pasts?
• reveal the white lies and expose their little secrets?
• show their true selves?
• set healthy boundaries?
• buy a gift?
• apologize?
• share insecurities?
• reveal you have to take care of something at school instead of your partner?
• comfort each other?
• say "I love you"?

Real life can make the smallest issues messy, and the author manages to catch this aspect well. The only thing this couple seems to get right is physical intimacy. They have a real spark and the fire burns passionately and in great detail. The author does not write many of their s*x scenes, but the ones depicted are very intense and less contrived than most smut on NU. It is believable and more than worth the annoying amount of chapters I had to slog through to get there.

I really think this story might be a diamond in the rough. It is worth a try as is if you can ignore genders getting swapped around, names getting used for the wrong characters, janky grammar, and sections of text getting summarized instead of translated. I do plan to reread if it gets a serious translation. My rating is low because I just could not enjoy the story much despite my overall appreciation for the plot. Part of this is definitely the style of writing itself, and not entirely the fault of the translator, or I would have rounded up instead of down on my star rating. I admit I am curious if a serious translation might change my mind about that 3.5 rating or if the book itself is just not as good as I think it might be after some proper polishing.