Webnovel Review: Fake Slackers by Mu Gua Huang

Title: Fake Slackers

Author: Mu Gua Huang

Chapters: 112 chapters + 3 extras

Publication: 2018

Summary from Novel Updates:

After class placement were decided, the school’s two infamous ‘problem youth’ not only shared the same class, but the same desk.

They’re clearly good at studies, but pretend to be slackers. Fakers from head to toe who just keep walking farther down the path of their performance.

Hear on the grapevine about the two big brothers who always fight over the last place in class.

Basically, this is a serious comedy. About the little matters of growing up.

5 STARS - I LOVED IT

MY REVIEW: 

This was a hilarious read. First of all, the premise! Two super geniuses (and also known as the school tyrants) are actually fighting for last place in their school and are seriously concerned that their boyfriend's not gonna pass high school with their abysmal grades. He Zhao's 0 point essay made him notorious throughout their grade lmao.

He Zhao was half of the entertainment himself. His shamelessness, friendly attitude, and perpetual smile made him likable and easy to get along with. He easily gets roped into any hijinks their class came up with and always dragged Old Xie along with him. And his over confidence either made you want to laugh or cry lmao. Whether he was showing off at sports or boasting about making at least a 20 on the exam, he certainly knew how to get your attention lol. Also, his terrible aesthetics and attempts at romance really killed me. However, I really liked his duality. When he wasn't smiling, when he was truly angry, you really saw the overbearing aura of a school tyrant and remembered that this guy wasn't someone you should mess with.

Meanwhile, Yu Xie looks cold and indifferent and radiates lone wolf vibes. He doesn't care about other people and is hot tempered and uses his fists to solve his problems. He treats words like gold but is A+ at provoking people lol. However, he slowly realizes through his interactions with his classmates that he's slowly changed, and you see that he's actually soft. Even though he has a cold demeanor and people assume he won't help out, he's secretly a tsundere and will tell you he won't do something but then immediately do it lol. Also, he's a tease, a straightforward tease that's always leaving He Zhao surprised lmao.

The romance was a great natural progression from enemies to deskmates to friends to lovers. There's no unnecessary drama, no random love rivals, and no waffling around. It's just two guys slowly realizing their feelings and acting on it. They gradual learn how to date at school, and their classmates slowly catch on because they're really not subtle lol. There's a bunch of ambiguous misunderstandings along the way, so their classmates already thought that they were dating already lmao.

Their classmates make up half of the atmosphere. They have so many antics and all have distinct personalities that rub off of each other and make every interaction either full of shame or hilarity. Like, one guy's nickname is Know-It-All because he's notorious for snooping outside of the faculty lounge for gossip that even the teachers know him lol. I love that after they get over their fears of the school tyrants in their class, they stand united against all odds whether they're against teachers or sports competitions. 

Also, shoutout to Old San for being the real MVP. I loved how he accepted his students for who they are and genuinely worried about them and their mentalities as they went through exams and became third years. He's always capturing small candid moments of his class, and it's so sweet and heartfelt.

I really liked the whole vibe of the book. The writing is succinct like Yu Xie, but the dialogue and tone is full of hilarity and shamelessness like Ye Zhao. Unlike a lot of books I read recently where it was more passive and full of explanations and thinking, Fake Slackers was active, full of cursing, fighting, and straightforward action. The writing and the characters makes you keep on reading until late into the night. Anyway, this is a definite recommendation if you like rom coms or yaoi or slice of life.

If you want a hilarious, more visual (spoilerish) review, I highly recommend you check out @hz_xy's READ FAKE SLACKERS presentation because it is 100% accurate and funny lol.