- #1
Only halfway through the novel at present, but I had to stop and write a glowing review first.The characters are so well-written and compelling, they feel like real people with real, human motivations. I love the character growth and seeing how Shen Zhuo (our cold, principled, super-intelligent MC who definitely has many layers of secrets under his skin) slowly thaws and becomes more human around Bai Sheng. By volume 2, Shen Zhuo's true personality is coming out - and under the coldness, he is snarky, bitingly funny, always ready to trade quips with Bai Sheng, and less rigid than we realise (when he deals with children like Yang Xiaodao, for example).Bai Sheng, also, is an amazingly intriguing character. He looks like the less mysterious of the two, but under his joker's persona and charismatic and sunny disposition, there are times we see flashes of his own ruthlessness and the darkness in his past. A running gag is that he is just the stereotype of an air-headed, rich 2nd-generation heir who will throw money around cheerfully, and that he can't match Shen Zhuo in intelligence, but from subtle clues we learn that's not true. Bai Sheng is as smart and strong as Shen Zhuo, he just hides it better behind his extroversion and good humour.Also, I can't get over the endless stream of nonsense that comes out of his mouth - I've not laughed so hard at such shamelessness since Luo Wenzhou from Silent Reading. The banter between Bai Sheng and Shen Zhuo is 10/10 entertaining and is a good break from all the action and serious plotting in the background.The translators are doing an amazing job, clearly. Give it a read!
