Mini Reviews: Travel Through Time and Become His Stupid Ex-wife, Trapped in a Typical Idol Drama, Heroine Saves A Gentleman

Title: Travel Through Time and Become His Stupid Ex-wife
Author: Zhǐ Zhǐ Bù Zuì
Chapters: 89 chapters + 3 side stories
Publication: 2019
Summary from Novel Updates:

Xue Jiayue travelled through time and became the s*upid female supporting role of a book which was about a bossy man’s love story.

This s*upid woman was adopted by the Xu family when she was a child. Since then, she grew up with the hero, Xu Yanwen, and called him brother but later married him.

However, she was so unruly and did many s*upid things. Xu Yanwen’s grandpa, who had loved her so much, was even too angry and then passed away. As a result, Xu Yanwen divorced her. Worse still, she finally was sent into a mental hospital!

Xue Jiayue, who had traveled through time, was looking at the man standing in front of her. She quietly stepped back, thinking: The male role wanted to be happy with the female role. But she just wanted the money not him!

However, Xu Yanwen indifferently butted her against the corner of the wall and gnawed fiercely at her lips. “You want it! You have to!” he growled.

2 STARS - IT WAS OKAY

MY REVIEW: 

This was pretty boring. The original owner had a lot of misunderstandings with her husband, which I wasn't that interesting in uncovering either. I kept on reading it wondering if it'd get better or more interesting, but the story's just okay. 

Also, what was with the side couple? The author at first was working up to it and even said in the author's note that they played an important role to the main couple's relationship, but then they never appear again until at the end in the extras. I guess readers really weren't interested in the side couple so the author removed that plot point.

Title: Trapped in a Typical Idol Drama
Author: Ash River
Chapters: 52 chapters 
Publication: N/A
Summary from Novel Updates:

Ye Xi crossed over into a typical idol romance novel as the villainess.

For the sake of her safety, she decided to distance herself from the male and female protagonists while silently observing their real-life version of a school idol drama. Everyday, she would repeatedly ridicule the main protagonists in her thoughts, along with their group of friends and fans.

It’s not surprising, however, that the male protagonist’s special ability is to hear the voices of other people’s thoughts. So he listened to all kinds of curses that Ye Xi secretly harbored and recorded them one by one.

Expressionless Male Protagonist: the future is long, your debts will slowly be collected.

Ye Xi covers her ears: I’m not listening, not listening, *recites Wang Ba’s Sutras*

2 STARS - IT WAS OKAY

MY REVIEW: 

The writing at the beginning was very amateurish, which made it hard to power through at first. However, it got better throughout the story. 

Watching Ye Xi trying to be a passerby/matchmaker was entertaining at first. It was also especially funny seeing the male lead's reaction to hearing Ye Xi's thoughts and subverting her ideas, but the romance seemed to come out of nowhere. You could see the male lead's gradual feelings for her, but Ye Xi's realization came out of nowhere?? There was no lead up or foreshadowing!

Also, like Ye Xi stated later on in the novel, "I thought this was a campus idol drama!" The climax was so random and unexpected! The climax was solved abruptly and inexplicably, too. There was no sense of success. Some of the characters' endings were so abrupt. The actual ending was also left on a cliffhanger. I couldn't find any other sites that continued after that last chapter other than one which had a couple of extra chapters, but they were just repeated chapters. 

Overall, I don't recommend this book to anyone unless you're not easily frustrated by cliffhanger endings lol.

Title: Heroine Saves A Gentleman
Author: 龚心文
Chapters: 49 chapters 
Publication: 2018
Summary from Novel Updates:

Zhou Xiaoxiao, an ordinary fine arts student, transmigrates over to a strange ancient world. She becomes an insignificant character who is highly skilled in martial arts.

Zhou Xiaoxiao was determined to escape her lowly identity as a henchman and live independently. However, she suddenly comes across the exquisitely handsome scholar Yu Xingzhi, who was tormented until he was on his dying breath.

Since staying alive in this dog eat dog world is already difficult, will she rescue him or will she go down her own path? And can she possibly return to the modern world?

This is an unlikely romance story between a heroic woman and a frail yet beautiful scholar.

3 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

This is by the same author as Let the Villain Go and Apocalypse Arrival. Similar to those books, the female lead is the more active one in their relationship while male lead is too shy and embarrassed to do it due to his refined upbringing. It's super cute watching their interactions because of that. 

Even though this book was short, there was a lot of romance, politics, and drama that made it fulfilling to read. I liked that the book had a twist about Zhou Xiaoiao's transmigration, so it was interesting seeing how that played out. I feel like her dilemma wasn't fully explored with no fixed resolution because certain things happened at the end that only gave her one option. 

I wished there were some extras that talked about their future because that would have definitely answered some questions instead of leaving it open ended. Overall, not a bad read. 

Book Unhaul 24

I felt like cleaning up my room lately and found some more books I didn't want to keep anymore.

Battle Rabbits vol. 1 by Ameichi

Battle Rabbits vol. 2 by Ameichi

Battle Rabbits vol. 3 by Ameichi

All the Feels by Danika Stone

Chew on This by Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Webnovel Review: Transmigrating as a Mary Sue Character by 一夜从灯

Title: Transmigrating as a Mary Sue Character
Author: 一夜从灯
Chapters: 90 chapters + 5 extras
Publication: 2020
Summary from Novel Updates:

Shi Ning transmigrated into a story in a book.

She transmigrated as a female supporting character in a school-life novel named “F4 and Their Little Fairy”

In the book, Shi Ning was a daughter of a rich family who grew up with four male childhood friends. She was their pampered princess and they showered her with love. However, in the original book setting because she had feelings for the male lead, she was overly envious of the heroine and staged a series of events to hurt her. This caused the four male leads to break ties with her. Since then, everyone shunned her and she ended up being miserable.

After Shi Ning learnt the flow of the story—she felt elated and satisfied!

It’s better to transmigrate as a female supporting character. Falling in love was a matter that only involved the male and female lead and had nothing to do with her.

As long as she stayed away from those protagonists and made sure to do everything to avoid her death, she wouldn’t turn into a cannon fodder.

She could finally study with peace of mind. She could finally make her dreams come true and be admitted to Peking University.

But there seemed to be something wrong with the current script—

How did this F4, who supposedly only loved the heroine, became like this;

Her brother, Shi Chen, who was originally disappointed in her: ‘Those three boys, don’t pay attention to them. This brother of yours will support you for life.’

The hot and honest top student: ‘Shi Ning , you never noticed that I have loved you for many years…’

The future top idol in the entertainment industry: ‘Who the hell wants to be your brother? I want to be your boyfriend instead.’

The most outrageous was Nan Xiao, the supposed male protagonist of the story, who almost destroyed her appearance for the sake of the heroine in the original script.

In the corner of an aisle where no one else was present, Nan Xiao grabbed her hand and kabedoned her against the corner of the wall.

The possessiveness and desires of love were so strong that it couldn’t be suppressed. He grabbed her waist and with a fiery gaze asked,

“Shi Ning, why do you ignore this Laozi*?”

Shi Ning’s inner thoughts retorted: ‘Because your name is Nan Xiao, not learning.’

The male lead would be decided on as the new plot continued to unravel.

#The whole world loves the heroine, but the heroine only loves learning#

* arrogant term to address himself

3 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

The beginning was a little hard to read. You could tell that the author's writing style was immature and relied on having the melon eaters in the story to hype or roast the main characters to show who was popular and who was not. 

The gossip style of focusing on every little move of the infamous people in the school got really boring and almost made me want to quit. However, Shi Ning and her brother's interactions kept me hooked. I really liked how their relationship improved and how Shi Chen slowly showed his tsundere character! I'm glad he got a happier ending compared to the book's original ending. He originally had a sis complex, but it only got worse after they mended their relationship lol. 

Shi Ning in general was the main reason why kept on reading. I loved how because she treasured her life and still wanted to achieve her dream of attending a prestigious university. She only cared about going to university so much so that she didn't care about love or relationships and only focused on studying. She wanted to break ties with all of the main characters so she wouldn't have the same canon fodder death like in the original book, but all of the male leads kept on entangling with her after she "changed" and so the plot drastically changed lol.

In addition to all of the studying , I also liked how she maturely handled some situations and made up for the original owner's past mistakes. Even though she never bullied anyone, the previous owner was a notorious bully in the name of love. However, because Shi Ning now occupied the body, she felt it was her duty to make up for the past owner's mistakes, which was really nice of her and showed some depth in the side characters.

The love interest is hinted at throughout the book (and you have to guess because it's a reverse harem), but it isn't realized until the almost at the end, and I'm not mad about it! It really showed how much Shi Ning was only focused on studying. Like everyone said, she's super smart intellectually but is an idiot with emotions lol. Overall, a good book to read once you get over the beginning chapters.

Weekly Haul 134

Happy President's Day!

The manga bundles I bought during one of Rightstuf's sales came in! So did my Mouse Books limited edition Kickstarter!

Saint Young Men vol. 1 by Hikaru Nakamura

Saint Young Men vol. 2 by Hikaru Nakamura

Saint Young Men vol. 3 by Hikaru Nakamura

On Hell box set by Mouse Books

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! vol. 1 by Satoru Yamaguchi & Nami Hidaka

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! vol. 2 by Satoru Yamaguchi & Nami Hidaka

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! vol. 3 by Satoru Yamaguchi & Nami Hidaka

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! vol. 4 by Satoru Yamaguchi & Nami Hidaka

Mini Reviews: Transmigrating to Before the Big Boss Blackened, Villainess Wants To Turn Over A New Leaf, Transmigrating Into The Heartthrob’s Cannon Fodder Childhood Friend

Title: Transmigrating to Before the Big Boss Blackened
Author: 锦橙
Chapters: 125 chapters 
Publication: 2019
Summary from Novel Updates:

Shi Mu transmigrated into a comic that is a combination of fervor, suspense, and horror. As the dignified, big-ch*sted, and thin-waisted female villain, those who met her all wanted a “late-night chat” with her. But in the end, the blackened big boss sold her off abroad. Rewind to ten years ago, 17-year-old Shi Mu met the still fairly innocent big boss. The boy stood under the sun with squinted eyes, and asked for her name. She trembled.

“Shi Mu…”

Thought for a moment, then said, “I’m male.”

“….”

What can she do? In a world where the plot centers around love and disregards the storyline, the only ones that can protect themselves are males. Only, she didn’t expect that one night, big BOSS suddenly told her:

“I want to be on top. If you make me happy, I’ll occasionally let you get on top too.”

“??????”

What the f*ck did you say?

In order to not get caught, Shi Mu concealed her gender, trained hard for abs, got a tan, developed her morality, intelligence, and physicality, but in the end-

“You’re so pretty,” the big boss smiled devilishly.

Shi Mu: QAQ what’s wrong with you little bro?

3 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

This was hilarious! Shi Mu is the most dedicated person trying to maintain her boy cover. The amount of work and effort she put in trying to maintain her identity was both shameless and hilarious. I about died in almost every chapter whenever she tried to come up with new excuses to try to prove that she's a "normal man" lmao. 

It's a very slow romance, so just come and enjoy Shi Mu and her friends' hilarious antics.

The summary doesn't mention it at all, but this genre is not only a gender bender but about supernatural aspects like ghosts. Even if that's not your usual cup of tea, I'd still recommend it just for how funny it is!

Title: Villainess Wants To Turn Over A New Leaf

Author: Chun Dao Han
Chapters: 114 chapters 
Publication: 2020
Summary from Novel Updates:

Lin Feilu, or better known by her nickname—Green Tea Princess, was the best of all the scheming b*tches that the world had ever seen. She was the Oscar-winning actress among the masses with real life as her stage. Acting coy, slandering, feigning innocence, or playing the saint, she aced it all. Simply put, she was the proverbial villainess.

Ah, but retribution came way too early for this malicious personage and she died on her 27th birthday.

In death, Lin Feilu reflected on her career of 20 years as the Green Tea Princess. She was full of regret and remorse over the life she once led. She vowed, if there was an afterlife, she would atone for her misdeeds and be a good person.

She transmigrated into a five-year-old princess of the Dalin Dynasty. In the name of family, she had a sickly mother disfavoured by the emperor, a mentally challenged and daft older brother.

Her life was constantly in danger, with having little to eat and trying to stay warm.

The living environment was very harsh.

Lin Feilu, who wanted to be a good person: … You forced me! Sorry, I can only activate my unique skill.

Harem fight? Striving for favor? Climbing the ranks?

Apologies, but let me show you what it means to be slaughtered by a maxed out player.

Note: “Green Tea” is a woman who presents herself as innocent, sweet, and kind but is very scheming and calculative in reality.

3.5 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

I didn't know that this was written by the same author as Transmigrating To Become The Boss’s Little Fairy, which I also really liked! 

I loved how Lin Feilu completely owned up to her actions in her previous life. She knew that all of her scheming finally caught up to her and vowed to be a better person in her next life. Unfortunately, she transmigrated into a five year old in the Dalin Dynasty with poor living conditions because of her disfavored mother. Everything was against her and her family, and she had to quit trying to be a good person and activated her green tea acting again lol. I loved how she originally viewed everyone as NPC's in a game in her quest to make a better living environment for her mother and brother. 

This novel focuses more on her individual growth and her interactions with her family members, which was heartwarming to read about in between all of the harem drama and face slapping. Mental illness is also discussed, which was a nice surprise, especially for a palace drama novel. 

The romance is a very slow burn, so any interaction between the leads is cute and memorable. This novel was also pretty funny. I laughed aloud multiple times because of Lin Feilu's reactions lol. 

Overall, a very good book to read!

Title: Transmigrating Into The Heartthrob’s Cannon Fodder Childhood Friend
Author: 妾在山阳
Chapters: 105 chapters + 1 extra
Publication: 2019
Summary from Novel Updates:

The protagonist shou, Xie Sui, was a proud son of heaven. He had an illustrious family background, was cold and removed from desire, and attracted many (psychopathic) admirers. From the gentle senior to the paranoid president, to the haughty and proud arch-enemy, these big guys were all top leaders of their respective fields, yet they were all crazy about him.

After pushing him down a series of mentally and physically abusive paths, the three of them decided to join hands to destroy the Xie Family, imprison Xie Sui, crush his pride, and turn him into a pet that could only rely on them.

While the crowd of readers howled “Wuwuwu the feels~”.

Song Yu was already so angry he was going crazy. Not wanting to read any more of this eye-searingly bad novel, he cursed, “Idiots.” and hurried offline.

As a result, when he woke up, he’d transmigrated.

He’d transmigrated to become the Third Young Master of the Song Family in the novel, who had only been briefly mentioned in passing, would die of a terminal illness, and was Xie Sui’s childhood friend.

Song Yu was terribly upset. At the same time, he’d already come to a decision in his heart––those three idiots, had better not think about wanting to get close to his little childhood friend!

*

Xie Sui was born cold hearted. In two lifetimes, he’d never tasted the sweetness of love, nor had he ever experienced the feeling of being protected.

After destroying three big families and personally killing his enemies, he was reborn back to when he was 15 years old. He had to hide the violence and coldness in his heart and pretend to be the youth with a gentle and clean appearance that he’d been in the past.

Everything was the same as before, except that the little childhood friend who was nothing but a vague memory in his previous life was exceptionally different this time.

Like the spring breeze that thawed the frozen soil, someone reached into the abyss and grabbed his blood-stained hand.

*

Song Yu tore apart a love confession letter like he was venting and fumed, “Don’t pay attention to those people, don’t believe in their sweet words. They’re all scum, and their love is worthless. Don’t like them, okay?”

Xie Sui gazed at him for a long time, then laughed, “Alright, I don’t like them.”

I only like you.

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

This novel was really good! I will definitely reread this novel when it's completely translated. I got too impatient and MTL the rest of the novel lol.

I loved Song Yu's character. He follows his own path and does whatever he wants. His poisonous mouth even makes him infamous lol. Because he read about Xie Sui's terrible life, he just wants to help prevent him from experiencing all of those horrific events again. Little did he know that Xie Sui was reborn and was purposely being bullied in order to get revenge, so their friendship starts off with a rocky start lol. 

Watching Xie Sui slowly thaw and accept Song Yu's friendship was so sweet. His feelings definitely blossom earlier than Song Yu, but he knows to be prudent and to take it slow because Song Yu is too focused on preventing Xie Sui from falling for any of his deranged suitors like in the book lol. 

This novel had a different spin on transmigration, and I really liked slowly uncovering the mystery with the main characters. 

The side characters were also hilarious. I loved how they added to the crazy hijinks, and the CP fangirls bystanders were also ridiculous and hilarious. The forum excerpts were especially funny lol.

DEC: Visiting the Parents, Allergic Reaction, Avoiding Gatherings Again, COVID Scare, Relaxing

December was a mostly chill month because we mostly stayed home lol.

The first weekend of December, I had a dentist appointment while Shelle had a hair appointment on Saturday, so we stayed home that weekend and ran out doing errands half of the time.

The next weekend, we went down to visit the parents. We bought more wine bottles to bottle the rest of dad's muscadine wine that we didn't get to do the last time we visited. I think there were a total of around 18 bottles! Other than that, we just hung out and ate a bunch like usual. We originally planned to come down again for Christmas, but I'll get to that part in a minute lol.

I also noticed that something was wrong with my face after I used a cleansing balm when I was at my parents house at night. It only got worse after I washed my face in the shower the next day. I wasn't sure if it was because of the cleansing balm because I think I had it opened for more than a year (I always keep it in my travel kit, so I don't use it often) or if it was because of something else because I also recently started using a new toner and sunscreen moisturizer. 

My face was just so bumpy, inflamed, and irritated. It was so dry that it started getting flakey after a week. Like, noticeably flakey and gross looking if I didn't exfoliate my face in the shower, which only made my face more irritated. It was a never ending cycle of dry and irritated skin. Even my eyelids started getting dry and irritated! My face only started getting better after the third week when I stopped using everything but my serum and squalene oil mixture, eye cream, and Dr. Jart Ceramidin Cream to lock all of the moisture in.

I later found out that it was probably the new Pyunkang Yul Essence Toner I was using at the time. I had used it a few times before the allergic reaction, so I didn't think it was the problem, since there wasn't any immediate reaction the first few times I used it. However, I tried it again after my skin calmed down, and I immediately noticed that it made my skin bumpy again. I also think it was why my face was so extra dry and irritated for that first week and a half because I was using the toner to try to soothe my irritated skin (what it's marketed to do). I just made it worse!

Anyway, I learned my lesson: Always keep backup products that you know are your tried and true calming products for when you have irritated skin issues. I had already used up my previous toner and moisturizer that I already knew were really good for calming skin issues, so I didn't have any on hand when this allergic reaction sprang up. Instead, I had to try different new products to see if it helped or not and hope for the best. Luckily, the Biossance 100% Squalane Oil and Dr. Jart Ceramidin Cream deluxe samples I had worked out really well.

The next Sunday, Shelle and Kyle were hosting Christmas for Kyle's mom's side of the family, so I decided to last minutely hangout with Archana again. She was still in the middle of her mediation instructor course, but she would be free after that. However, CJ had already made plans to kidnap her later at 4, so I decided come earlier so we could have breakfast together before her class lol. Little did we know that she forgot she made plans to attend her friend's virtual baby shower that morning, so that's how spent our breakfast, me getting to know her friends while she makes fun of them lol. While she did her meditation course in her room, I spent the time reading, snacking, and napping like a true degenerate lol. After her course, we had lunch, and then I helped Archana clean up because CJ texted and said that she was coming over early. Lol Archana hadn't even packed or wrapped her present to CJ and her husband yet. I met CJ briefly, and it was good to see her since it had been almost a year since we last saw each other.

After they left, I went to go for a walk at the trail connected to Archana's apartment complex. Last time we went there, we just followed the road since it was getting dark. This time, since there was ample sunlight, I chose a side trail which eventually starting just going straight uphill, which I took as a sign to turn around lol. I wore my casual boots that day and was not expecting to go on a proper hike with my heavy overcoat on lol.

Since I had a light workout, I figured I deserved some bubble tea as a reward lol. I decided to try out a new place 15 minutes away (can't remember the name anymore), but it turns out that I went there before the last time I went to the Ginya in that location with Shanice and the girls. Still, the milk tea was tasty.

Then, I drove around and hungout in a parking lot for an hour to wait for everyone to leave our house because I didn't want to socialize lmao. Only to find out that LeeAnn, Kyle's mom, came over earlier and announced that her husband wasn't coming because he had a fever and that they weren't sure if it was just a fever or Covid symptoms. 

We were on pins and needles for the next few days as we waited to hear back his results. Then, we found out that he tested positive while LeeAnn tested negative. We think she waited too soon to take the test, which is why she tested negative. However, we tried to get a test the day she told us the results, but everything was booked and closed for the day. The earliest date to schedule for a test was the day after Christmas, so we decided to not go visit the parents for Christmas as we originally planned, especially since it would take a few days for the results to come out. 

Luckily, the results came out after three days, and we all tested negative. However, because we didn't want to accidentally carry Covid to our parents and because my face was still super irritated and flakey, we decided to spend our whole week off at just relaxing at home. I finally read Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil, which was SO GOOD but also SO LONG, and we also watched the rest of season one of the Fruits Basket reboot and the second season of The Mandalorian. We had plans to do a lot of baking, but reading and watching shows and starting a new drama kind of derailed us lol.

However, it actually snowed on Christmas Eve! It only snowed for a little bit, but it snowed! :D

So yeah, December was had it's ups and downs, but it was mainly a relaxing month since we stayed home for the most part.

Mini Reviews: I Am Not Fit to Be the Male Lead’s First Love, Guide To Raising the Sick Villain, The Rich Woman Is No Longer Acting

Title: I Am Not Fit to Be the Male Lead’s First Love
Author: 赵史觉
Chapters: 67 chapters + 11 extras
Publication: 2020
Summary from Novel Updates:

Only after Chu Yin died did she realize she was the first love (white moonlight) of the male lead in a novel.

The stubborn male lead fell in love with her at first sight when he was young, then took over the company when he was older.

Chu Yin was tortured by his crazy possessiveness and died a desolate early death.

Opening her eyes again, she returned to the day before she transferred schools and met Lu Zhen.

“Ding~ Bound to the learning system! Host can change the original script of the novel by learning!”

【You can change a word from the original script after completing homework!】

【If you place first in your grade, you can change one sentence in the original script!】

【If you place first in the college entrance examination, you can create your own ending!

Get rich! Be famous! Do whatever you want!】

That night, Chu Yin finished her homework and obtain the reward to change a word in the original script: “On the day of their first encounter, Lu Zhen walked into the school as light rain poured down the sky.”

The next day, Lu Zhen walked into the school, and a knife suddenly fell from the sky.

Young Lu Zhen: ?

Someone wants my life.

***

The whole school knew that the daughter of the Chu family from the countryside swept the entire grade and placed first, and also took the throne of the school’s flower.

But one day, the whole school went crazy, saying that she somehow provoke the big devil Lu Zhen.

…

After doing bad things to the male lead, Chu Yin was cornered, feeling a little guilty.

The young man in front of her was like a trapped beast, his dark eyes that was restrained for two lifetimes, showed madness: “Want my life?”

“——Take it.”

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

Chu Yin died horribly trapped and suffocated by the male lead's obsessive love and was reborn back to when she was 17 and about to meet the male lead for the first time. This time, she has a learning system that let's her change the script if she reaches certain learning goals. Now, she loves to learn! 

It's hilarious seeing her use her imagination flexibly to change the script. Even her learning system is impressed and has to constantly warn her that she can't kill the main lead lol. I came for the laughs, but got sucked into the plot as I learned more about all of the characters and the roles they played in their previous life. 

I definitely recommend this book! However, I read MTL, and some chapters were cut off. I couldn't find the completed chapters anywhere, so you have to use context clues in the next chapters to figure out what happened. I would definitely reread this once the translations are complete though.

Title: Guide To Raising the Sick Villain

Author: 小孩爱吃糖
Chapters: 122 chapters + 5 extras
Publication: 2019
Summary from Novel Updates:

Qiao Lan transmigrated into a novel.

She became a cannon-fodder who was rescued by the heroine after being bullied but was jealous of the heroine because of her love for the hero and ultimately ended up miserable.

When she first entered the novel, Qiao Lan met a cannon fodder more pitiful than her. He was bullied, severely autistic, and had crippled legs.

Qiao Lan: …

Thinking of the male partner who had only been able to live for two years, Qiao Lan had a distressed conscience and began to take care of the gloomy boy.

Tan Mo is the most popular character in a best-selling novel. Fans are dissatisfied with Tan Mo’s bleak ending, so they wrote a fan-made novel featuring Tan Mo. In the book, Tan Mo had crippled legs when he was a child and was bullied. Later, he stood up again and became a powerful businessman.

Many years ago, Tan Mo was still the gloomy young man who felt inferior because of his body. A classmate laughed behind his back that he was a fool that could not stand. Tan Mo clenched his fingers on the wheelchair until they turned a stark white. Suddenly, a thin girl rushed in from the crowd and punched the laughing boy.

Later, the girl gently pressed his atrophied legs, Tan Mo’s face turned pale, “Don’t look, it’s ugly.”

Qiao Lan looked carefully, “It’s not ugly at all.”

“Will you always stay with me?”

“I will.”

Tan Mo clasped her waist fiercely, “Then never leave me.”

Qiao Lan nodded because Tan Mo only stayed alive for another two years.

Two years later, Qiao Lan was hugged tightly by Tan Mo who was struggling to stand up. At that time, Qiao Lan realized that there seemed to be something wrong. She seemed to have transmigrated into the wrong book.

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

This was so good! I loved both of the characters' growth and how they're constantly trying to be better for each other and always trying to help each other. 

I haven't read many webnovels that focus on both mental illness and physical disabilities, but this one handled Tan Mo's depression, Asperger syndrome, crippled legs, inferiority complex, and anxiety SO WELL. Qiao Lan met Tan Mo at his worst, and it's incredibly sad and heartwarming seeing him regaining hope and wanting to become better.

Qiao Lan's growth was also portrayed really well. She was already confident and decisive, but watching her feelings grow from pity to love and not being confident in her feelings because of this was so refreshing to read about. Watching her learning how to be better for Tan Mo and handling their relationship was so sweet and funny at times.

This wasn't an insta-love but was a slow progression of trust and friendship that lead to more feelings after so much communication and understanding. If you liked My Husband With Scholar Syndrome, you will probably like this book.

Title: The Rich Woman Is No Longer Acting
Author: 桃花引
Chapters: 61 chapters + 2 extras
Publication: 2020
Summary from Novel Updates:

Meng Chu is the fiancée of the male lead in the romance novel. She knows that the female side character is gentle and kind. Everyone thinks that she has deep affection for the male lead, even if he is extremely cold towards her.

The day the male lead and female lead reconciled, the male lead went to find Meng Chu to break the engagement with her.

Meng Chu heard a wonderful voice: “Congratulations to the host for successfully completing the female supporting character’ story.”

Just when everyone felt sorry for Meng Chu, she was busy buying planes and yachts to date a little fresh meat.

Her good friend next to her persuaded Meng Chu: “Don’t be sad, you’ll find someone better.”

Meng Chu: “Okay, I will find a better one.”

After a while, the male lead regretted his decision and asked, “Where is Meng Chu?”

The male lead’s assistant: “President, Miss Meng is about to get married.”

The male lead: “???”

2 STARS - IT WAS OKAY

MY REVIEW: 

It was really hard to understand this book. Granted, I MTL the entire thing, but the sentence structure was even worse than usual. I couldn't understand a lot of stuff the characters were saying. Plus, some chapters got cut short, so I missed a large part of the story and had to figure out what was happening based on context clues. 

Also, the romance was basically nonexistent? The male lead had a love at first sight moment and continued to chase the female lead, but it seemed like the female lead just treated him as a friend the whole time and only got married for the plot near the end. 

I think I kept on reading the book for so long because I was waiting for the male lead's reveal, which seemed liked it was foreshadowed to be a big comedic surprise. But the reveal wasn't that exciting either! All that hype led to disappointment. 

This book was just okay. I'd recommend it if  you have nothing else going on.

Books I Want to Read This Month

Would you look at that, I actually read two books off of this list last month! I'll try to do the same this month :)

1. Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal
2. The Way of the House Husband vol. 1 by Kousuke Oono
3. The Way of the House Husband vol. 2 by Kousuke Oono
4. The Way of the House Husband vol. 3 by Kousuke Oono
5. The Rising of the Shield Hero vol. 1 by Aneko Yusagi
6. The Rising of the Shield Hero vol. 2 by Aneko Yusagi
7. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? vol. 12 by Fujino Omori
8. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? vol. 13 by Fujino Omori 
9. I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level vol. 2 by Kisetsu Morita & Beniso
10. I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level vol. 3 by Kisetsu Morita & Beniso
11. The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
12. Tamiko and the Two Janitors by Forthright 
13. Euphoria by F.S. Yousaf
14. Love Looks Pretty on You by Lang Leav
15. The Consumption of Magic by T.J. Klune

January in Retrospect

I don't know what happened either, but I've finally stopped becoming addicted to reading webnovels and have turned that obsession to reading manga again lol. Or so I thought! I just spent this last week reading webnovels again lol. I also watched a couple of shows and anime towards the beginning of the year lol.

I read: 

• Quickly Wear the Face of the Devil by Feng Liu Shu Dai
• A Guide to Raising Your Natural Enemy
• Mushroom Syndrome by Chidoriashi
• Anti-Platonic by Orishima Yupopo
• Battle for the Top Position! by Chidoriashi
• Daddy Tastes Like Butter by Chidoriashi
• Hitotsu no Futon ni Yarou ga Futari by Eikichi
• A Man and His Cat vol. 1 by Umi Sakurai
• A Man and His Cat vol. 2 by Umi Sakurai
• Even a Hero Has Desires vol. 1 by Hinata Inozaki
• Even a Hero Has Desires vol. 2 by Hinata Inozaki
• Even a Hero Has Desires vol. 3 by Hinata Inozaki
• My CEO Goes OoC by 小岁
• Trap City by Team JT
• Hearty by Yoshida Yuuko
• Torokeru Kami-kon by Hasumi Hana
• Akai Ito no Shikkou Yuuyo by Yoshio Akira
• Kanawanu Koi no Musubikata by Yoshio Akira
• Tsunaida Koi no Kanaekata by Yoshio Akira
• The Guy Next Door's Just My Type by Honda Yuita
• This Is Taking Brotherly Love Way Too Far by Honda Yuita
• I'm a Villainous Daughter, so I'm Going to Keep the Last Boss vol. 1 by Nagase Sarasa & Yuzu Anko
• I'm a Villainous Daughter, so I'm Going to Keep the Last Boss vol. 2 by Nagase Sarasa & Yuzu Anko
• I'm a Villainous Daughter, so I'm Going to Keep the Last Boss vol. 3 by Nagase Sarasa & Yuzu Anko
• Drop!! ~A Tale of the Fragrance Princess~ vol. 1 by Shimizu Yukiko & Yuki Yu
• Drop!! ~A Tale of the Fragrance Princess~ vol. 2 by Shimizu Yukiko & Yuki Yu
• Drop!! ~A Tale of the Fragrance Princess~ vol. 3 by Shimizu Yukiko & Yuki Yu
• Nichijousahan Bi - Beautiful Life by Moto Haruko
• La Dolce Vita di Adelaide by Chae Ha Bin & Li Su Ho
• Omega Shunki by Akahoshi Jake
• Sex Drop by Shikke
• Can I Eat You If I Cherish You? by Sakura Rico
• I Became a Villain Daughter by Kuroda Yuzuki & Koura Maru
• Love at First Bite by Tojo Sakana
• This Time, I Will Definitely Be Happy! vol. 1 by Saiki Riko & Fujimaru Mamenosuke
• This Time, I Will Definitely Be Happy! vol. 2 by Saiki Riko & Fujimaru Mamenosuke
• This Time, I Will Definitely Be Happy! vol. 3 by Saiki Riko & Fujimaru Mamenosuke
• This Time, I Will Definitely Be Happy! vol. 4 by Saiki Riko & Fujimaru Mamenosuke
• I Will Definitely Keep This Engagement Breaking in my Absolute Memory by Funa
• Our Sweet 1R by Kamoburger
• Iyayoiyayo mo Kiss no Uchi by Michinoku Atami
• Asatte ni Kiss by Fumikawa Jimi
• Fukigen na Kimi to Kimagure na Kiss by Fumikawa Jimi
• Iyayo Iyayo mo? by Fumikawa Jimi
• My Brother's Sweetest Spot by Mizuhara Zakuro
• Honey Wolf, Come Here by Hinase Yuuki
• Can I touch your inside deeply? by Yoshio Akira
• In Another World I'm Called the "Black Healer" vol. 1 by Fujima Miya & Murakami Yuichi
• In Another World I'm Called the "Black Healer" vol. 2 by Fujima Miya & Murakami Yuichi
• In Another World I'm Called the "Black Healer" vol. 3 by Fujima Miya & Murakami Yuichi
• In Another World I'm Called the "Black Healer" vol. 4 by Fujima Miya & Murakami Yuichi
• In Another World I'm Called the "Black Healer" vol. 5 by Fujima Miya & Murakami Yuichi
• In Another World I'm Called the "Black Healer" vol. 6 by Fujima Miya & Murakami Yuichi
• In Another World I'm Called the "Black Healer" vol. 7 by Fujima Miya & Murakami Yuichi
• I'm Now Homeless, So I Let an Aggressive Host Take Me in as His Pet by Eikchi
• I'll Like You More Tomorrow by Ina
• Mizutama Honey Boy vol. 1 by Ike Junko
• Mizutama Honey Boy vol. 2 by Ike Junko
• I Seriously Can't Believe You... by Fumikawa Jimi
• Transmigrating Into The Male Lead’s Villainess Older Sister by Zhí Dēng Yè Xíng
• After Rebirth I Became Spoiled by Shi Liu Yue Xi Gua
• Get Rid Of The Male God And Marry The Rich by Zǐ Qīng Yōu
• My Son is a Reborn Villain by 余书乔
• This Alpha’s Pheromones Are Exploding by Shao Tang

I watched: 

• Dash & Lily (2020)
• No Game No Life (2014)
• No Game No Life: Zero (2017)
• Record of Youth (2020)