Tag Archives: Grade A

Team TBR Challenge Review: It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager (宫斗不如当太后) by by September Flowing Fire (Jiu Yue Liu Huo, 九月流火)

It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager (宫斗不如当太后) by by September Flowing Fire (Jiu Yue Liu Huo, 九月流火)
Historical romance published in 2021

It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager by September Flowing Fire Book CoverTang ShiShi was the number one beauty. She was arrogant, domineering and aggressive. She accidentally acquired a book and learned that she was just a vicious female second lead in a palace struggle. Later, she would fight for favor with the female lead, and eventually she was ruined and died miserably.

Now, they have just entered the fief of Jing Wang, and the first meeting of the male and female leads has not happened yet. There are two paths before Tang ShiShi. The first is to hold the heroine’s thighs tightly and join the female lead camp early; the second is to please the male lead and steal the favor of the female lead.

Tang Shishi chooses the third way.

Tang Shishi knew that the male lead’s adoptive father Jing Wang seemed to be low profile, but in fact he was overly ambitious. In the near future, he will invade the capital and proclaim himself emperor before the imperial court, but it is a pity that he passed away before passing the throne to the male lead.

This year, Jing Wang is twenty-four years old, still young, and has yet to marry a wife.
Anyway, she already in the game. Instead of being the concubine of the male lead, it is better to be his adopted mother, the empress dowager in one step.

————–

Zhao Chengjun had no intention to get married, so he adopted his subordinate’s son as his heir. He thought he would be with his army his whole life.

Later, the imperial family sent a team of beauties to Prince Jing, and the leader was named Tang ShiShi.

His young, adopted son and his subordinates also persuaded: Your Highness, this is a beauty trap.
Jing Wang: I know.

The so-called beauty trap was merely a bait for those who wish. – lightly edited from Novel Updates

The prompt for this month was “Once More With Feeling” and I figured since this is the only Chinese romance novel I’ve re-read so far, it fits. We’re going with loose interpretations here. It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager features another delightful mad romp of a story with a loveable heroine, a grumpy but entirely devoted hero, and a frustrating cast of characters you love to hate. I described the heroine as an utter chaos muppet, and I stand by it. She’s such a delightful mess handicapped by what she thinks is a “life cheat” and it makes her constantly second guess herself and make the “wrong” choices that ultimately of course turn out to be entirely right. Continue reading

TBR Challenge Review: Greetings Ninth Uncle (九叔万福) by September Flowing Fire (Jiu Yue Liu Huo, 九月流火)

Greetings Ninth Uncle (九叔万福) by September Flowing Fire (Jiu Yue Liu Huo, 九月流火)
Historical romance published in 2019

Book cover of Greetings, Ninth Uncle by September Flowing Fire Plain read book cover with a yellow gold rectangle running through about the middle third with the title written in Chinese vertically. Next to it is a small block with the authors name in the style of a Chinese shop sealCheng Yujin was the elder twin sister, who was supposed to be engaged to an excellent man. However she later learned that her fiancé, Marquis Jingyong, had proposed to her because he mistakenly recognized her as her younger twin sister. Marquis Jingyong and her younger sister had a deep relationship, and after many twists and turns, finally broke through all hardships and became eternal lovers. While Cheng Yujin was the villain who replaced her sister’s good marriage, kept framing her sister, and hindered the main couple to be together. A really wicked older sister and poisonous late wife.
After the younger twin sister was reborn, she revealed Cheng Yujin’s ‘conspiracy’ early on. Everyone scorned her, and her so-called fiancé was indifferent. Cheng Yujin sneered and tore off their engagement letter in front of her fiancé.
Everyone was gloating and happily waiting to see her regret her actions. However, before Marquis Jingyong had a chance to see Cheng Yujin’s regret, he saw his former fiancee marrying her uncle.
The ninth uncle of Cheng family was truly a hidden dragon, his real power frightening everyone.
***
Cheng Yujin, this coquettish little wife, lightly lifted her eyebrows and casually said, “A mere Marquis Jingyong, is he worthy? Do you think that robbing him away will affect me?”
Almost forgot to say, ninth uncle wasn’t surnamed Cheng. His real name was Li Chengjing, the crown prince.

If you’re randomly happening upon ALBTALBS, let me tell you, I’ve left the continent entertainment wise this year. If you’re a ~regular, or follow me on social media, you know I went hard on watching c-dramas for much of this year, then turned to reading translated novels. I’ve been having a grand old time, even with some really terribly translated books. Luckily this isn’t one of them – and in fact is one of my favorite reads of the year. I know the title is a bit lacking, especially in English, but 🤷🏻‍♀️. The point is the story is a delight – and in fact when I was reading it I kept thinking “the author has got to be a psychologist or something” – the analysis and interpersonal relationships are that good.

I’m a week late on the TBR challenge, but that’s pretty on brand for me. The “prompt” for this month was “Festive” and … does it count that the hero’s birthday is on a festival? This book spans a number of years so there are also multiple festivals mentioned … so I’m going with it. Also because this book is worth gushing about. Continue reading

Review: Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Science Fiction released by Tor on April 11, 2023

While we live, the enemy shall fear us.

Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the majoda their victory over humanity.

They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.

Alongside her brother’s brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr escapes from everything she’s known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.

This was one of the books on my list of anticipated books of 2023. I read an advanced copy after reading the first chapter posted by the publisher earlier this year. One of the blurbs on the cover describes the experience of reading this book as “palm-sweating,” and I have to agree. This is not a romance, not even as a science fiction novel with romantic elements, even though sexual orientation is an important element to the society that Kyr is a member of. This is very much a character-driven novel, but that doesn’t mean that plot and setting aren’t important–the main conflict is how making different choices effects the final outcome and the lives of people that the main character doesn’t even know. Emily Tesh provides important content warnings at the beginning of the book, and she was not exaggerating them at all, so if you are the least bit triggered by any or all of the things on that list, then please take care of yourself when choosing to read this book. The book is broken up into five parts or acts, with the last two parts retelling the story so that there are different choices available to Kyr. The parts are prefaced by in-universe excerpts of books, which serve to provide a bigger picture and context to what Kyr knows and believes, but not too much. This isn’t a choose-your-own-adventure type of book, because the reader doesn’t get to make the different choices; it’s all up to Kyr and her fellow characters. The book is told from Kyr’s point of view, but not in the first-person. It is important for you to be very clear on this point—Kyr is not a likeable character. She isn’t misunderstood, or prickly on the outside and soft on the inside. The most flattering description of her I can give is that she is a self-righteous, perfectionist, rule-abiding bitch. She’s smart and very good at being a soldier, but those are her main redeeming qualities for most of the book. Continue reading

TBR Challenge Review: The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage (重生之将门毒后) by Qian Shan Cha Ke (千山茶客)

The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage (重生之将门毒后) by Qian Shan Cha Ke (千山茶客)
Historical romance published in 2014

The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage by Qian Shan Cha Ke book cover - it depicts a painted image of a woman and the title written in Chinese charactersThe di daughter of military lineage, pure, amiable, quiet and yielding, foolishly in love with Prince Ding, throwing oneself to the role of a wife. After assisting (a ruler) for six years, she finally became the empress. Accompanying him to fight for supremacy, to expand the country’s territory, taking risk to be a hostage in another country, after returning five years later, there was no place for her in the Inner Palace.

The beauty in Prince Ding’s arms smiled brightly, “Older sister, the country is stabilized and you should retire.” Her daughter had met with a violent death and son the Crown Prince was deposed. The Shen family who had sacrifice themselves for the country, not one of them were lucky enough to escape. In one dynasty everything was overturned, her clan had perished and she needed to mourn for her children! Shen Miao never thought that as a married couple who went through trials and tribulations and mutually assisting one another was just a joke to him!

He said, “Seeing that you have followed *Zhen for twenty years, I will grant you with an intact corpse. Thank me for my kindness.” Under the three meters of white silk, Shen Miao made a malicious vow: In the time to come, she will take part in each and everyone’s end!

Upon rebirth, she returned to the time when she was fourteen, where the tragedy had yet to occur, her family was still alive and she was still the pure, amiable, quiet, and yielding di daughter of military lineage. Relatives hiding a black heart, elder and younger cousins are ruthless and malicious, the new Yiniang is like a tiger watching its prey and the disreputable man that wants to repeat events?

Family must be protected, the huge enmity must be avenged, the Imperial seat of the country must also be part of the trophy. In this lifetime, let’s see who can beat the others! But that little marquis from the Xie family, the arrogant and obstinate spear carrying youth, stood at her side and proudly said, “it’s just the fall of the Imperial power. Remember this, the world belongs to you. You– Belong to me!” – Summary taken and lightly edited from Chubby Cheeks Thoughts.

So November’s TBR “prompt” was “Once Upon a Time” and … why not Ancient China?  I have found my new most favorite romance hero ever. Xie Jing Xing (XJX) can’t be discussed too much without spoilers, but it’s him. I loved him so much. If you’ve visited the blog at all you know I’ve only been reviewing Chinese dramas this year – because it’s mostly the only media I’ve been consuming. However for whatever reason I got the urge to try to read the source material of an upcoming drama, and I was hooked. This book was my second read by the author, but I’m currently on my fifth book by her. I’m crushed I’ve blown through her backlist. Not only have cdramas been my jam this year, but specifically rebirth and revenge stories. Heavy focus on the revenge. This book brought me such joy. This is a pretty niche genre, and of course it requires some suspension of disbelief, but … what novel doesn’t? Continue reading

OH DAMN Y’ALL! Team TBR Challenge Review: Miss Mystery

“Blurb”: 18 years ago a young and innocent Xue Tong witnessed her family being brutally murdered. Since then she has hidden herself quietly and patiently, waiting for the day she could put her revenge plan into action. Well that day has come, and Xue Tong has finally returned to her hometown as Miss Lin Bao Er, the daughter of a wealthy Nanyang businessman. Now an adult, Lin Bao Er is clever, cunning, good with a gun, and skilled at understanding the depths of human nature.

When she meets the charming young master Zhu Guan Wen, the two decide to pose as couple in order to progress their own interests. Neither can help but grow feelings for each other, but will their love be their greatest strength or their downfall? [– from MDL]

You. Guys. I am giddy as I write this review. Revenge, a kickass FL, and THE most supportive ML. I was constantly *STAR-EYES* and *HEART-EYES* while watching this drama. Honestly, I think you “need” both trailers to get an idea – it’s definitely got it’s dark moments (nearly all presented in trailer two), but there’s a lot of romance too. The TBR prompt for October is “Danger Zone” and … Miss Mystery really fit the bill here because our FL (female lead) Lin Bao Er/ Xue Tong is throwing herself into unknown dangers in order to avenge her family. She’s got a plan, but in life you never quite know how things will turn out. Lucky for her she has ML (male lead) Zhu Guan Wen who could be labeled “Mr. Supportive.” (ETA: I forgot to add that as a potential bonus, each episode is only 5-10 minutes long, so it’s not a big commitment.) Continue reading

A Drama to Delight Your Cold Little Black Heart. Team TBR Challenge Review: What’s Wrong With My Princess

General Murong Qiu Yu was infatuated with the second prince Li Mo, she aided him in seizing the throne. However, she was betrayed and killed by Li Mo and her sister Murong Xin Er. After being reborn, Qiu Yu found herself back on her wedding night with the seventh prince, Li Jian. Qiuy Y decided to join forces with Li Mo’s rival, Li Jian, to ensure that Murong Xin Er and Li Mo face the punishment they deserve… – source, MDL


I followed the TBR Challenge Prompt for “once!” This is a new to me scriptwriter (Luo Man Ying) – which isn’t something I usually check, but I did here. It’s also fitting because the story is the best part of the drama. What’s Wrong With My Princess is one of the most satisfying revenge stories I’ve seen. It’s a short drama so definitely not big budget, but definitely worth watching. I think I’ve seen both lead actors in other dramas previously, but ironically the one who I’d be most interested in seeing again was a character I hated – the SFL. (I chalked it down to the directing and good acting – her character is awful.)

When it comes to Chinese dramas the way lead characters are discussed are “Female Lead (FL),” “Male Lead (ML),” “Second Female Lead (SFL),” “Second Male Lead (SML),” and occasionally there’s a third FL and ML. Although ML and FL are always the hero/heroine, it’s not the case for SML, SFL, etc. – just they also get the more developed stories and longer screen time. There are some trigger warnings needed for the beginning – although it’s so unrealistic and absurd seeing it at least for me wasn’t that big of a deal – in fact I kept thinking and even said “that’s not how this shit works” but it was so awful it’s one of those “I don’t mind it’s wrong” things. The evil characters kill FL’s child in utero… right as she’s going into labor. It’s deeply fucked but that’s the point and why she comes back so angry and determined to exact justice. There’s also the dark history (or purported history) of consorts and concubines doing this sort of thing in the palace in order to grab power for themselves or preserve power … so it’s slightly less “what the FUCK”/more common to see to a native audience than to a Western audience.
Continue reading

What if the “Villains” Were the Heroes? A belated TBR Team Challenge Review of Dong Lan Xue

“Summary”: The maid in charge, Shen Yan, has assisted the Seventh Prince Chu Ning Yuan in seizing the title of crown prince. The two, who also had tragic experiences, became cold-hearted in order to seek revenge and seize power. They are used to seeing the dark, and the little warmth is only left to each other. Chu Ning Yuan gradually fell in love with Shen Yan who was always by his side, but Shen Yan was indifferent to his love, and even took the initiative to match Chu Ning Yuan to marry the daughter of a powerful minister in order to destroy the current crown prince’s plan to stabilize his power by taking the prime minister’s daughter as a concubine. Chu Ning Yuan saw Shen Yan’s intentions and became more determined to keep Shen Yan by his side. [Lightly edited by me, initially taken from MDL]

Trailer:

Dong Lan Xue is a short webdrama that is obviously low budget but doesn’t look like it at all. The costumes are gorgeous, as are the actors, the sets are well done, the script is excellent, the acting is good, there’s great fight choreography, and even nice background music. I think it was the first super short I’ve seen – as in each episode is only 2-3 minutes, and I was impressed with not only how much gets packed in, but how well the story is told. Continue reading

She dies the first time they meet. He dies the last time they meet. Team TBR Challenge Review: An Ancient Love Song

JUST WATCH THIS TRAILER

This is one of the rare times I’m “in line” with the TBR Challenge prompt – July is “opposites attract” and while this maybe isn’t what one would think … I feel it fits here. I might also be a little off with the second sentence of the post title, but it’s pretty safe to assume. So this is a love story but it is NOT an American genre romance. Obviously.

The premise is … what if you and your soulmate were trapped in reverse timelines.

I want to talk about the details of this drama for once – because the way An Ancient Love Song came into existence is SO COOL. As far as i know it’s a short, low budget “low production” series. However, I saw some interesting buzz about it, and had liked the FL (female lead) in another drama I’d watched before. Initially I saw a trailer and was like “while the visuals are beautiful it looks sad, so pass” but then I heard about the origin. So apparently someone made a random but intense fan music video (FMV) years ago. They took clips of different dramas and put them together (very impressive – they made the visuals seamless and it really looked like it could’ve been one show) –  and even hired voice actors for new dialogue/a story. It went viral, and eventually someone decided to turn it into an actual series. The original creator was even brought on as a scriptwriter. I believe someone said it’s the first time this has ever happened. Continue reading

Team TBR Challenge Review: Word of Honor

LOOK IT’S SO GOOD OKAY? 
*CAVEAT: To be honest, I put off watching this series for a bit because there were some mixed reviews, and for the first episode(s) the critics are legit. The beginning is … a lot. They throw a lot of shit out there, and introduce characters that are instantly killed off. Also, for whatever reason the first (few?) episodes – I’ve replaying from E1 as I write this review for me … third? fourth? rewatch – anyway, especially in episode one it’s like the director firmly told everyone “hey, overact as much as humanly possible.” Even knowing that/having seen some gifs that had me facepalming, I almost DNF’d at E1, but powered through, and am so glad that I did, because this series truly is excellent. (You need to watch the first few episodes the first time to get the background, but IMO the series only really starts/gets good once the hero loses is stupid awful “disguise.”) So … lol truly – if you pick up this series, which I hope you do … POWER THROUGH THE FIRST FEW EPISODES. Ping me, tweet me, email me, I will let you bitch all you want! I’ll encourage you and we’ll get through it! (It’s taken me months to write this review where I started and stopped…) Anyway, here’s the blurb/summary.

As leader of an elite unit, tasked with protecting the imperial family, Zhou Zi Shu was not a man to be taken lightly. A man of great honor, who commanded much respect, he served with the utmost loyalty and was rewarded accordingly. However charmed his life may have seemed on the outside, in reality, it was not the life Zi Shu desired. Unsettled within himself, Zi Shu ultimately decides to leave his position in order to pursue his own dreams.

Putting the past behind him, Zi Shu is determined to start anew but even the best laid plans can be waylaid by fate. Not long after setting off to see the world, Zi Shu finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy that rocks the martial arts world. At the same time, he meets Wen Ke Xing, a mysterious martial artist from the Ghost Valley, who is on a quest to avenge his parents’ death. Brought together by fate, the two become fast friends as they share a series of adventures that leads them ever closer to a legendary treasure that is rumored to give its owner ultimate power over the martial arts world.

Entangled in conspiracies and hunting treasure, Zi Shu and Ke Xing find themselves caught up in an adventure so epic, it could alter the course of history forever.

Adapted from the novel, Faraway Wanders by Priest, Word of Honor is a 2021 adventure fantasy drama directed by Gary Sing and Jones Ma.

I posted online a little bit about this series while I was watching it and I said it has some of the most complex main characters I’ve ever read or watched. One was basically forced to become an assassin to protect not only himself but his entire martial [arts] sect (Four Seasons Manor) of nearly 100 people that he was entrusted to lead at just 16 years old. The other is willing to watch the world burn as he tries to avenge the tragic death of his parents – and with good reason, because they were betrayed by the world. Then there’s the added level of this being a same sex relationship/romance drama which is definitely ~not allowed in China, so the whole thing is overall subtle and it’s mostly hints and innuendo. (Since the airing of this show there’s been an outright ban…) Still, I really enjoyed Word of Honor and started rewatching it to write this review. Again, I also entreat people to “endure” through the first few episodes because there’s some pretty painful overacting in them which thankfully doesn’t last.

The “prompt” of the TBR challenge this month is “love is love” – and this is a “BL” series – “boy love” which is unfortunately banned now, so shout out to the iconic Word of Honor. (LOL seriously – considering comments I’ve read, these characters live rent free in a lot of people’s heads. 💯) And truly. Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan give a masterclass in chemistry here, with just looks. Continue reading

Team TBR Challenge Review: A Familiar Stranger

Shen Qin, the Prime Minister’s daughter, is due to be married to a powerful general, Xiao Han Sheng, but she is already in love with another man, Prince Ning. In a nefarious bid to disentangle herself from this marriage, Shen Qin traps a female artist, Shi Qi, and uses a magician to perform a type of sorcery that enables the two ladies to swap faces.

Shi Qi wakes up with her face now belonging to the Prime Minister’s daughter and is blackmailed by Shen Qin into marrying Xiao Han Sheng. To her surprise, she recognises Xiao Han Sheng from an old encounter in the past. Conflicted, she has to carry out a charade as his wife, Shen Qin, and matters get complicated when Prince Ning also starts getting interested in her. (Source: MDL)

A Familiar Stranger is a hidden gem. I hadn’t heard much about it and think more people should be giving it love. This is a short webdrama that I thought was incredibly well done. (I don’t quite get all the differences between web dramas in China and such – I do know they’re more an established medium than in the states – but sometimes still quite low budget. That’s not the case here/I don’t know how much was actually spent but it definitely doesn’t lack in terms of quality.) The sets, actors, script, musicality and OST (original sound track) are all great. In fact, after first watching it a week or so ago I rewatched it again a few days later, and have re-started it again for this review. And I’ve watched two other dramas that the male and female lead star in, respectively, I thought they were that good. (Also the theme for this month is “unusual historical” which … *gestures* – I mean, everything I watch now is an “unusual historical” in terms of our usual romance novels.) Continue reading