More manhwa I bought during Right Stuf's birthday sale. Mikey's been trying to convince me to read this series for months, since it's his favorite series. I figured I'd finally bite the bullet and buy the volumes already available!
Solo Leveling vol. 1-6 by Dubu & Chugong
Also known as: "I'm Waiting to Die in a Rich Family"
The money-loving Sang Yao crossed over and became the fiancée of the male supporting role in the novel. In the end, the hero sent her to a mental hospital.
People close to her persuaded her to break off the engagement, but she smiled and shook her head to refuse.
The outside world said that Sang Yao was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Only she knew that the male supporting role would not be able to jump around for long, and later died to save the heroine. At that time, as his wife, wouldn't she be able to inherit his property?
Her only dream is to hang out in a wealthy family and wait to die~
Until one day, her fiancé's big brother blocked her at the door after being drunk, and said in a low voice: "What he can give you, I can give, but he can't give it to you." I can give yours too, so, do you want to consider me?"
Sang Yao:? ? ?
2.5 STARS - IT WAS OKAY
MY REVIEW:
The romance and pacing was pretty slow. Most likely that was to show the ML's forbearance and restraint, which is understandable. He was trying to do the right thing. I felt like the male partner needed a more satisfying ending. He was a total scumbag who didn't care about anyone other than his feelings, and he needed a better ending than just quietly disappearing at the end.
While reading a novel, Fu Erdie thought more than once that if she arrived in an apocalyptic world, she could only wait for death.
The cars could not be driven, roads could not be recognized, they could not even cook food.
There was also physical strength involved…there was no need for her to encounter a zombie because with just a sudden drop of temperature, she could get a cold and fever and die from it.
As a useless person of the new century, she sincerely hoped that the whole world would be prosperous and free of disease and calamity. At the same time, she could just draw at home and earn living expenses while muddling through.
As a result, God played a joke on her.
After a shower of rain, the world changed. There were zombies and dead plants everywhere.
She looked down from a window on the 10th floor and saw the crowd panicking. The cars rammed and blocked the road, and the small noodle shop she often went to was now stained with blood… Everything pulled back Fu Erdie from her fantasy.
The world had truly changed.
Fu Erdie decided to go out to find her relatives, and she would bet on whether she would become a zombie or an alien. She gathered her courage and opened the door, then stepped back and closed it. The zombie neighbors in the corridor were horrible! It is impossible to fight zombies, you can only wait to die in a wretched manner. And any chance, there was a lot of stored food at home that she could eat for a month.
But her ending was probably one of the two choices she had in her mind, to die now or die in a month. And she chose to lay down and continue her everyday normal life. She would just wait to meet the upcoming water and electricity cuts.
On the first day, everything was the same. The next day, everything was the same. The next day after, everything was still the same. The next…
A month later, it was time to pay the utility bill. The internet got disconnected and she did not pay the bill. The rest of the building was pitch black.
But her room was still bright.
The flush toilet could be used as usual. The natural gas could be used for her luxurious bathing. The small kumquats, small peppers, and shallots planted and grown on the balcony even thrived at a rate that did not conform to the laws of nature.
Fu Erdie suddenly found out that she had not mutated, but her own house had mutated?!
4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT
MY REVIEW:
I think this was a more realistic portrayal of how an ordinary person would handle surviving in a sudden zombie apocalypse. The beginning was pretty dark and bleak as Fu Erdie came to terms with her situation and her helplessness. However, she eventually grew and became the kindergarten director (lol), and the mood and overall pace of the story became less dark and more humorous as her plants continued to grow. Overall, a great zombie apocalypse novel, especially if you like plants vs zombies lol.
My sexy neighborhood gangster.
Lovesick college student Uijun works part-time at a convenience store in a sketchy, dangerous neighborhood, when one day the sexy, dangerous Geonu makes his grand entrance! But after drunkenly pouring his heart out to him, will Uijun get more than he bargained for?
5 STARS - I LOVED IT
MY REVIEW:
Gotta love the crybaby sunshine bottom x stoic and intimidating top combo! Loved their chibi expressions! They're so funny together! And the smut... WOW.
Also, consent is sexy.
It only took half a year, but I finally read ONE book off of this list last month! Lol I'm going to keep the momentum up and read at least one more physical book this month!
I think I read and watched a sufficient amount of variety this month lol.
I read:
I watched:
Following the trauma of a studying-induced death, Jinny is reborn into a fantastical realm filled with magic, orcs, and talking spirits. As Geenie Crowell, the daughter of a noble and a bona fide genius, everyone has big plans for her, including her new parents, teachers, and even the king! Not too keen on all these high expectations that might end badly for her again, Geenie thinks up the perfect way out from slaving over a hot magic wand: if she becomes a summoner, she'll be able to summon a spirit and have them do all the work! But Geenie will soon learn that there’s more to it all than just adorable spirit companions and collecting mana. Being a summoner comes with great responsibility–and dangerous consequences as well. Based on the hit novel.
4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT
MY REVIEW:
I loved how Geenie was so unapologetically herself. She knows she's selfish, conniving, greedy, and a total facecon lol. She also has no empathy, which causes hilarious situations all of the time! If she's not your cup of tea... idk, stop reading instead of complaining?
There's not much romance either, so don't go into this with high hopes for that either. It's a super slow burn if any because Geenie isn't interested in getting into relationships or being tied down by marriage. This is her second chance to live; she's going to do whatever she wants!
I actually wonder if she's aromantic because she totally gives off that vibe even knowing that people like her. Instead, all of her love and affection (and sass) is given to her spirits lol. I especially love her bickering relationship with Rai and her endless love for the cute Undine!
It's a shame that the webtoon artist has dropped the series after the third season. Turns out they decided to end the series because the webnovel was now over 600 chapters long. I heard from some commenters that a new artist is taking over the series, but am not sure when that will start being released. The art was great, but I'll be glad to not see the occasional yaoi hands anymore lol.
June was unexpectedly uneventful. The month flew by quietly as we spent our days doing our usual daily routines, so I feel like there’s not much to talk about this month.
If anything, there was a burst of houses on sale because of summer vacation, so Alec and I spent our weekends looking at homes. We put in an offer on one home, but they chose someone else. Apparently, they had around 10 offers!
The housing business is ridiculous right now! Now that it’s near the end of July, the house listings have also slowed down, so I’m not sure if/when we’re ever going to find a home lol.
But yeah, the usual stuff happened this month. We went to the farmer’s market in town and realized that I’m a regular at this one stall because I always buy their sea salt chocolate chip cookies lol. Luna was super cute as always, even when she’s cranky because her teeth are coming in. The parents and Brian came to visit and left a lot of food as usual. Alec came up to visit to save time while house hunting. I spent a weekend at Alec’s place.
Mom and dad were hanging out with friends in Florida, so we spent Father’s Day chilling at home because that’s what Kyle wanted. We even put Luna in her Spider Gwen outfit for Kyle and then changed her into Brian’s tiger outfit for a video call with dad lol.
But yeah, even though not much happened this month, my phone gallery is full of pics of the moon lol.
Jiang Moli has a little secret, as long as she gets other people's favor points, she will become more and more beautiful.
For the beauty of the prosperous age, she conscientiously seeks the favor of people from all walks of life from the rich and powerful, from noble wives and daughters to servants and aunts at home, all of which are her goals.
In the end, the little sister who was holding the script of rebirth revenge abused scumbags regarded her as her only best friend, and after the poor little rich man became a ruthless boss that the outside world feared, he proposed to her.
3 STARS - I LIKED IT
MY REVIEW:
I completely MTL'ed this book, and it was pretty confusing in the beginning. That definitely didn't help when you're trying to understand the characters as they're being introduced lol.
The relationship was nice and funny as they reunited, but I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it was properly translated.
As an interstellar female major general, Ren Tingxiao, a peerless straight daughter, died protecting the empire. When she opened her eyes, she found that she had become a coquettish bitch/good female supporting role in an interstellar novel. The female supporting role continued to fight to the death, competing for the favor of the emperor and the heroine, and was finally killed by the heroine. When the war broke out again, she became an abandoned child, was taken away by the enemy and died of humiliation.
Ren Tingxiao: The old man on the subway looks at his face on his phone.
She originally wanted to make a quick decision, finish what should be solved, and continue to do her own thing after finishing the plot. But she found out, why does this emperor, who is called iron-blooded and unintentional in the original text, look so much like Ling Zhuo, who was once the most beautiful man in the universe and also her best friend Ling Zhuo?
She quickly flipped through the original text, and found that the hero Ling Zhuo had Bai Yueguang, who died young ten years ago, and he never forgot it. This Bai Yueguang's name is Ren Tingxiao.
Ren Tingxiao: ... Good brother, you are so loyal.
According to the plot, Ren Tingxiao met her brother and best friend. In this scene, she was supposed to be a stalker and must become the only concubine in Ling Zhuo's empty harem.
Ling Zhuo looked at her, a violent wave of memories arose in the depths of his pupils. "She's my empress."
Ren Tingxiao: ...
You've made a brother out of nowhere!
The war broke out, and Ren Tingxiao returned to the battlefield. The moment she held the joystick, she ruled the world like an emperor. This is her brother's country, how can you wait for her to be presumptuous!
Later, when she stood on the top of the interstellar world, all the four corners of the universe surrendered. When all races mention that powerful country in the distant Milky Way, the first thing that comes to mind is that bold figure. She is not restricted by her identity, not trapped by race, but is crazily revered by all living beings, making the evil species of the universe kneel down.
Ling Zhuo, who was already her husband, held the crown, walked past all the soldiers and civilians, and knelt devoutly on one knee in front of Ren Tingxiao. "I have paved the way for you ten years ago, and now I can finally give it back to you." Behind him, thousands of subjects saluted together, looking at her with eager admiration, expecting her to take over the crown.
Ren Tingxiao: ...help.
The heroine is the strongest, super strong, and invincible! Has heartthrob tendencies. Everything serves the heroine Qiang He Shuang.
4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT
MY REVIEW:
There was a lot of faceslapping in the beginning, which I liked. I also liked the flipped gender roles. Ren Tingxiao was a self-assured charismatic leader while Ling Zhuo was her hopelessly smitten (and suffering) support throughout their time together.
Shi Yunnan was sent out of the country by his parents since he was young, and lived like an unloved child, but he still played around wantonly and relied on his appearance to make trouble~
As a result, he was deceived by his elders into returning home and was informed that he was about to marry the young master of the Luo family.
“What kind of feudalistic ideology is this? It’s outrageous!”
Shi Yunnan packed his luggage that night, planning to escape the next day, but when he fell asleep, he dreamed of a terrible scenario——
He dreamed that his life was just a supporting character in a book. Because he didn’t get along with the protagonist who transmigrated into the book, he eventually ended up in a situation of being forsaken by everyone.
All tragedies began with this willful escape from marriage.
After waking up, Shi Yunnan hadn’t had the time to let everything sink in when he was blocked at the door of his own house——
“Second young master Shi thinks that our Luo family is not worthy of you?”
The man in front of him had a heavenly face, his temperament was abstinent and outstanding. His whole body was wrapped in luxurious outfits. Even those long legs, which relied on wheelchairs, wildly shook second young master Shi’s aesthetic point.
Sigh, I’m a good boy who listens to his parents and matchmakers!
Shi Yunnan pretended to be reserved for three seconds, then nodded like a chicken pecking on rice, “Worthy, of course, you’re worthy! Is the wedding banquet ready? Husband~”
The man stared at his smiling face and answered subtly, “Let’s do it this evening.”
3.5 STARS - I LIKED IT
MY REVIEW:
I really liked Shi Yunnan's wholesome relationship with his brother and his found family. Instead of the usual being competitive and jealous of your sibling, especially in wealthy families, you have brothers who support and care for each other. Little Goldfish was super cute and lovable, too!
Shi Yunnan's playfulness and Luo Lingsheng's endless doting was also pretty fun. The misunderstandings between them weren't too unrealistic and just to get the plot going.
There's a lot of faceslapping, which was great, but it did get tiring since it happened so often. Like, Shi Yunnan would run into a fight almost anytime he went out somewhere, which seemed overdone and unnecessary.
There was a SEVEN SEAS sale at RightStuf the other week, so I caught up on my danmei series! One even came with a cute little notebook!
Heaven Official's Blessing Novel vol. 6
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Manhua vol. 1-2
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Special Edition Novel vol. 5
