Arrival of the Wealthy Wife Chapter Dropped Discussion

Edit: Since I'm being quoted, here's my two cents:

I stand by my review.

I think a novel meant to be cute/fluffy/romantic but also featuring a ML with misogynistic behaviour is in itself a dichotomy/oxymoron.

And excusing said actions with the general gist of "oh but he didn't really mean it", "he felt bad afterward and look how contrite he is now", " it's just a misunderstanding"... Please. Bad behaviour is simply bad behaviour.

Mind you, most historical Chinese novels contain a baseline of chauvinistic ideology, whether it's through context (systemic) or portrayed in side characters. So we all need and have a certain pain threshold when stepping into the genre.

Towards casual misogyny and lack of respect towards women, à la 2023, being portrayed in a love interest (the ML), my tolerance is close to nil. It's the very reason I can't and don't read a lot of Chinese novels written by male authors, regardless of genre.

The only time I tolerate it, in historical novels, is when they are either:

a) thrillers/tragedies like Wife can't escape or Strategy to Capture Men (no romance there) or like the heart-wrenching Mei Gongqing (where foolish MC is ruthlessly and selfishly used by her prospective mls)

b) survival themed - like Dreamer of the Spring Boudoir (hardly would call that romance, more an arrangement between grown adults)

c) bodice rippers/yandere-esque - a very clear-cut "Abandon all hope -and brain cells- yee who enters here"

d) or where a ML atones for current/past misdeeds type with a cue for their happily ever after. Needless to say, a lot of those are... questionable. The topic is generally just whitewashed and swept under the rug. Very few truly acknowledge it, hold ML accountable and show growth. One of the rare good ones atm is Chang'an's First Beauty.

Notice a trend here? All the books I mentioned are somewhat dark/serious because they deal with tough topics and don't shy from it.

This novel here never really reached, imo, case (d). As I've already clearly said in my original review, the whole tone of the writing as those events were happening, were one of lightheartedness and cutesy talk. It hit a nerve, so I decided to give up on it.

Ultimately, it just comes down to my personal preferences and limits.

So, I'll finish by saying this: imo there is no absolute for what should be or should not be, well tolerated. Hence why trigger warnings exist. If you've read and enjoyed this novel, that's great. Just because I can't doesn't mean you can't either. But to come and say that others' feelings or point of view are "exaggerated", just because they don't match yours, speaks more to your mindset than it does mine.

***Unedited Original review***

Beautiful translation, and was enjoying it till that hateful ML showed up.

My opinion and rating? Purely emotional.

So... as it goes for all personal reviews, take it with a grain of salt. Read the chapters available and decide then. Meanwhile here's what I think.

it's a transmigration novel where MC wakes up to scum in-laws and a "nice" ML who went to war and apparently died there, leaving her with his awful family and infant daughter. She decides to leave and make a life of her own. It's the summary and interesting to read up to there.

You get pretty cool moments with the MC and the kids life and then the supposedly dead ML shows up... and in the span of a few chapters, walks all over her, proceeds to dismantle any plan and mesures she had previously put in place in order for her to live safely and independently as a single mother with three children in ancient time... ALL IN THE NAME OF LOVE.

And no, ML is not a yandere (a.k.a chronically brain-damaged guy who needs a shield woman to reign him in), nahhh. Our boy here just thinks that as his wife she belongs by his side, that she is obviously incapable of taking care of herself as women are too weak (and implied s*upid) and needs a man to take care of her... So just plain old misogynistic rethoric. Oh, and he also proceeds to stalk her home, force entry into her house, destroys her cover as a widow by telling his neighbour he is her "man", she leaves and then he tries to follow her to her second house, and when he falls into her b**by traps and fails to find her, he then gets help from his military men to destroy the traps and manages to find her second house.

Y'all, reading it left me with this big ball of dread and anger in my stomach. And here is the KICKER, all of this is told by the author in a very well-meant to be, lighthearted and slightly comedic tone with a pretty complacent MC and a ML whose behaviour is portrayed as just somewhat awkward, and "overprotective" and not proof of his utter lack of respect towards her.

No. Just no. Normalizing and rationalizing stalkers and entrapment and describing it as a type of simply misguided form of love and care is a travesty.

Had the MC been given just a smidgen of choice or a voice in the decision process of the ML, I might have been more tolerant of it but there was none there. Plus, everything happening so quickly (just a few chapters) just emphasizes how much he steamrolled her and left me with the feeling of a fish-bone stuck in my throat.

I can take author who write pretty messed up characters but I can't stand author who write messed up characters and try to pass it off as normal behaviour. For me it's the difference between make-belief and the author's real life view and values seeping through their fictional writing. And when their value and mine clashes, well... you got this.

Maybe I took it too personal, maybe it gets better but I saw red and couldn't keep on reading.

Rating before ML: 3 ~ 3, 5 stars

Rating after ML: 2 stars