Arrrrghhhh!! (╯°Д °)╯╧╧ Use your own abilities Raven!! (Does his powers only activate if he's killed??)
I didn't make it far in this series. It started off somewhat interesting, but I soon found myself drifting while reading it. The only time I perked up is when the FL and her secretary were having a scene together. I'm also not a fan of the ML and I don't see any real chemistry between them; their togetherness is forced and full of cringe. I really was on the fence between dropping it and just stopping and picking it later to read, but I figured if I wasn't too interested in the main characters there was no point in trying to read it again later. (¬_¬)
Just as someone below said this story's overall plot is erratic and doesn't even focus on the smaller plots long enough leaving you wondering if that storyline has been resolved. But, honestly, in my opinion, it is still entertaining. I enjoy watching Ning Bei walk around with extreme confidence as the Northern King.
I like the Tang twins and really want the female for Ning Bei instead of his former fiancee. They jive together well and I believe she respects his position better and isn't ashamed when he flaunts it. Hopefully, this story will update faster soon.
I'm hoping just this one time Raven is able to save himself with his abilities without having to be rescued by that gangster viper. I know the onus of this story is Raven's continuous bad luck, but he has survived this long, so he must have some survival skills other than throwing his ass at people. I won't mind after escaping this situation he runs into Vetally again, I just want to see some other (non-sexual) kind of survival instincts from him.
This is the second Chinese manhua that I've read where the ML doesn't fully become a zombie/infected after being bitten due to an underlying medical issue. Almost War War Z-like. I'm waiting for the family to disembark from the train and do some street survival as they try to make it to their home or a safe zone. I'm also interested in the Psycho Half Zombie and his story too. And I have a theory about the twins that I wonder if it'll be true. Drama!!
Hopefully this manhua will get picked up by another scanlation team and update soon.
Honestly, giving it 3 stars is generous as I didn't appreciate the twins plot twist part of the ending. It felt contrived and a serious letdown to everything that was building up. And the worst part is I kinda felt it was moving in that direction, but was hoping that author wouldn't take it that far...but they did. I wanted Libertia to survive and I didn't care a fart about Alisha despite her soul being in Libertia's body. Also, my preferred ML, the Duke, wasn't picked either, but that's all right, as I chose him for Libertia and not Alisha. -_- (Give me back my Libertia!!)
Those who finished this story: y'all are stronger than me. I had to drop it. I couldn't watch Ji Wook keep getting knocked down every time it seemed like he was pulling himself up. It was like reading torture porn. Every single time Ji Wook finally saw light at the end of a dark tunnel it turned out to be a fake out and he was thrown back into the darkness once again.
To any potential readers of this one: just guard your heart. I failed and this story almost (mentally) broke me before I had to let it go.
I haven't reached the "dropping it stage" but if they don't get out of that darn hole and take a shower -- I'm out!! The amount of dirt, sweat, semen, and other bodily fluids just caking on their bodies is creeping me out. UGGHH!! ಠ╭╮ಠ (Also it would be nice if they returned to the actual plot, too.)
Raven is so unlucky. Can't he catch a break just once?! Or is that too much to ask? F*ck it!! Just go build a nest somewhere, Birdie.
3.5 Stars. The story started off strong and ended strong. It didn't meander into an unnecessary plot points and it didn't give you any fake-outs: what happened happened. I appreciate that aspect. While I feel certain situations needed more detail, I understood why the author didn't explore them fully as it would have taken away from the main plot of the story.
As for the ML and FL they were honestly great together. The ML wasn't too overbearing or a complete simp for the FL. And the FL didn't make stupid cringeworthy decisions. She was always honest with the ML and communicated with him to discuss her reasons behind her actions. *chef's kiss*
Now all I need from the author is for them to give me a nice side story with my best girl Bibi!! (I seriously considered dropping this story if Bibi was killed.)
I can't praise this story as those commenters below me; however, I will not completely give it a negative review. The story started out very strong. I was excited at the prospect of having a Saint of Darkness instead of the usual holy saint of light/healing. But the author abandoned the idea soon in favor of family moments with cocoa and then a time skip. We, as readers, learn almost nothing about the abilities of Darkness. We don't even learn why MCs ancestors realized that sacrificing those children was a huge mistake. Your interpretation may swing between low fertility or low ability usage. But the author never explains it. We get a couple of training chapters using Darkness, but it's barely used again until the end.
Next is the ML -- his family issues aren't fully explained. He has a usual trope of: high expectations father, sick mother, younger brother, but suddenly his father is siding with the enemy. We don't see the father as anything: not a knight, a nobel cleric working in the palace, or a loving husband. As for the ML's position in the family an earlier plot tone in the story made it seem like he was plotting to overthrow his father with help from the Salvatore family. But that idea went mostly discarded and only the shell remained in use at the end. Thereby, making his interest in FL very odd.
FL/ML -- Y'all might dispute me, but they have absolutely NO chemistry. Hear me out: FL has issues with trust outside her adopted family, so her first friend is a friend of her brother who happens to also be the tutor approved by her mother. We never see during the time skip FL meeting with her peers or getting to know others outside the ducal estate. So of course, FL latched onto the familiar (ML) as she never officially spread her wings to meet other people. FLs second friend only was able to break through the barrier by being a huge fan of her mother. FL gave no one else a chance to be within her social circle (males or females) as we saw her rejecting all invitations. As for the ML, he gains interest into FLs small circle by being a family approved visitor. He brings her sweets, which he despises; he manipulates his way into being her guard or partner whenever FL is away from her family's home. This may all seem sweet until you realize ML initially started bringing her sweets, so she would be less wary of him during their tutoring and so he could maintain his connection to the Salvatore family. Where's the love?? FL is suffering from slight Stockholm syndrome and ML had an agenda that the author discarded but still alluded to in their interactions.
Other minor issues: The Duchess -- she needed a girl child to be Arabella and was excited to have and train a Dark Saint, but that went nowhere. Several mentions of her betrayal, but it's never really revealed (maybe??) if the Dowager Empress was behind it or caused it. The weak Emperor...the second prince (who became CP) that came out of nowhere beside mentions; the first prince was he fully plotting/evil or not (being manipulated by the flowers the DE gave him)?? His emperor father still did him dirty with the CP announcement and the avoidance. The Dowager Empress was a good primary villain with excellent helpers, but the author muddied the reasoning behind for her villainess behavior with too many dead plotlines. Revenge?? Seeking power??
I honestly started skimming chapters as this story moved on without anything really interesting happening. I gave it a full star for its strong beginning; it gets a half star as I did enjoy the family and another half star for chapter 121 with the sacrificed children -- it made me tear up. All in all, not that great of a read.
I'm unsure if I want to continue or not. I'm only a few chapters in and I really don't like the MC. The MC is angry and rude for no reason -- the things that happened to him before aren't happening to him now. I don't mind him being realistic or harden, but his nasty attitude isn't endearing. He's trying to save the girl, but he's so plain nasty going about it. Yes, the girl is way too optimistic for this zombie apocalypse, but she saved the MC's life first. Instead of calling her names, yelling at her, pushing her, and just being an all-around douche, he could have had sensible conversation with her about their new reality. And definitely used the thug incident to make the conversation stick -- but, nope, not our MC!! More yelling and douchebaggery. I think the only time I was on the MCs side was when he told the girl to put on clothes and she came back wearing a dress like there wasn't a bunch of zombies loitering around outside.
I can usually abide by most manipulative and borderline abusive MLs. But this ML I can't stand to read anymore and watch him get his HEA ending. This ML is an abusive cheater and forces the FL to enter into a extremely toxic relationship. I had hopes for the FL as she was spunky in the beginning, but soon fell victim to idot-damsel trope where she tries to justify the abuse around her as protecting her loved ones. FL even has a great relationship with ML2 who could have helped her thwart being involved with ML -- but that relationship was stumped upon hard. And despite the author's attempts the FL & ML have absolutely almost zero chemistry between them. Yes, they are intrigued by each other, but at the same time they despise each other and due to the MLs rank and power he is abusive in his interactions with the FL. There is NONE, ZERO, NADA, ZILCH, NO love between the two!! FL should have known he was a red flag when he kept killing her birds!!
(The art is pretty.)
I think Raven prefers abusive interactions and doesn't want anyone to care for him due to losses in his life. He believes he's cursed and it extends to those who get too close to him. Speculation: I think his bird half is extremely protective of Raven and probably only rouses when Raven is knocking at Death's door or in real mortal danger. Kinda like a split personality.
It finally updated!! How fortuitous!! I grabbed this to reread it early this morning only to later see an update notification. Hopefully, the updates will keep coming since this is an interesting story.
ML is the prime description of a manipulative, destructive, and crazy. I can't believe he thinks it's all right to flat out torment the woman he "loves" in order to reach his end goals. The majority of his deceptive practices against the FL would have been moot had he gone to her and said their first meeting, while argumentative, made him drawn to her and wanted to marry her. Instead this Crazy ML went about his proposal in the most threatening and manipulative way. ML thinks his cousin, the Crown Prince, is crazy he should definitely take a long look in the mirror. A very long look.
I applaud FL for her elaborate plan for running away. And being able to stay hidden for as long as she did against her battle with her crazy husband. I do wish that her miscarriage hadn't been real and she escaped not only for her peace of mind but to remove her child from their father's manipulative influence.
That poor happy family got all messed up once the ML set eyes upon them. He is scum!! SCUM!! SCUMMM!!
I got that off my chest!! Can't wait for season 3! (ง ° ل °)ง