Do you like non-standard protagonists? Especially female ones? Especially ones that are narcissistic, shameless, highly flirtatious, and chaotic neutral at best? Well, my friend, look no further than Fu Wanqing, who kills four people in like the first 3 chapters. And then goes on to kill many, many more.

You can't go into this with the expectation that the protagonists are great people. They aren't, and they themselves say they aren't, and the narrative pulls no punches about them. The author's own note from the very first chapter says that the... more>> protagonist is 'really, really rotten'. There's no 'oh, they're just misunderstood' nonsense, though their actions are understandable. For the MC in particular, pretty much all of her victims deserve it in some capacity, and even for the ones that could be argued as being not super deserving of it, it still makes sense that she would kill them, because that's how she is.

As the translator, I can say that my decision to quit proofreading partway through and do it all en-masse at the end was a good idea. I noticed that there were some plot things, which had seemed random in earlier chapters, that made me go 'ohhhh' upon a second read-through. For that, I'm nicely surprised. Also, this being a short novel means that it doesn't chew the fat or get too convoluted, and is easy to digest.

I've never really read a novel like this, and am sort of thinking that I'll never read one like it again. I described it on twitter as a 'lesbian wuxia conspiracy mu*derfest'. It's apt, trust me.

Honestly, I put five stars on this review with the expectation that I would come back and bump it down once I was done, but I... really don't have any complaints. (If I had to think of one, maybe the fact very few of the male characters get good endings? But honestly, I'm sick of women getting the same treatment in other novels and crave difference, so I don't personally care.) You have rare non-standard protagonists, character growth, face-slapping, constant flirting, a full wrap-up at the end, and re-readability. This isn't a 300-chapter tome with far-reaching, worldwide plots, constant poem quotes or references to old literature, and paragraphs of visual descriptors, but not everything needs to be to be enjoyable, you know? <<less

The novel is like it's heroine, an unapologetic whirlwind of explosive energy... She is high chaos but with a goal and people (plus the readers) can't help but be dragged into the giant tsunami she creates everywhere she goes.

The plot holds up far better than I had expected, the motivations of the characters are clear, it doesn't drag on (it sometimes cuts a bit abruptly?), the characters are funny, the romance is cute... All in all, it's a really refreshing novel where a bunch of very different women don't have... more>> to apologies for being whatever they want to be. <<less

I'll give it a 4*, because there were things I didn't quite like about the book. One of these things is the main character.

Now, this might seem like a strong start for my review, outright stating that I didn't like the main character. But honestly, there was just nothing about Fu Wanqing that I would like. She was the exact opposite of what I look for in a character. Her motives make no sense, which is kind of a bummer, given how the execution of her plans are great. The... more>> only thing I liked about her is her narcissism. Well, I'm not sure if it can be called narcissism, but she never forgot to emphasize how she is the strongest. Or rather she has only one thing in her way to become the strongest.

And that one thing, is the character I liked. I'm not saying Yu Shengyan was my favourite. Hell, she isn't even in my top 3. But I liked her, mostly for the passive way she "advanced" the story. There is not much I can tell about her though, as we learn oh so little.

Now, I shall also mention my favourite. Or rather, two favourites. And I would love to mention them so much, and yet I can't. Because I forgot their names. That's right, every other character had such a minor role in the story, they were just forgettable, to say the least. Even if one of my favourites turned out to be the villain, I just can't seem to recall the name. The other one, well, I think the readers were supposed to hate her, but for some reason I emphatised with her. That's so much about them.

With all that being said, some might wonder why I gave 4*, when most of what I said is not positive. Well, that's the thing! I don't know. I've finished the book around a month ago, and finished some other books since then. And yet, this one every so often comes back to my mind. Because for some reason, in the end, this book was a good journey. I'm not saying it's really one of a kind, or special, but it is good. Good enough for me to recommend it to others. So here it is, my review: Worth reading! It might has some downs around midway, but it picks up the pace after that, so no need to worry.

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I am loving this so far! MC is such a breath of fresh air. She's evil, entitled, narcisstic and a total mood when it comes to thirsting over Yu Shengyan. I can't wait to see how their interaction evolves. It's only just the beginning and I'm already hooked with this fire and ice dynamic between the two of them. I only wish the translation is a bit faster but I'm grateful for what we have so far.

Update: Hands down my favorite GL novel ever since I started getting into the... more>> genre. It's short and sweet and gets to the point. Love, love the MC and FL as well as the side character who also gets a surprising twist in her arc. I felt like their romantic development did feel a bit rushed at the end. Once Yu Shengyan finally thawed Fu Wanqing absolutely did not know what to do with herself. I really wanted to read more about their relationship after everything settled down purely because their interactions are just the best.

The surrounding mystery with the jade statue and all the different players and sects was confusing at first but it came together in the end. My advice - don't get too hung up on the details of it. It's all just for show and intentionally meant to be make the reader as confused as the characters investigating it. I will definitely reread this from time to time. It's such a fun little adventure. <<less

TL;DR: Complex plot, interesting characters with fun interactions and Yuri content good enough you would wish there was more.

Ignore the description, it has little to do with the actual story.

As is common in a Wuxia novel, we have a complex interwoven mesh of old grudges, greed and deadly intentions. You are just dropped into this world, slowly discovering all the players, their background and their motivation.

There are two main characters. First is the beautiful Fu Wanqing, the red wearing, mercurial, fiery and yet always cold and calculating daughter of the... more>> leader of the righteous faction. Almost immediately it becomes clear Wanqing has a plan to cause chaos, but how and why?

Second is the mesmerizing Yu Shengyan. She is the head of the evil faction, yet this aloof and ice sculpture like figure has no interest in the world. She has only come out of her usual seclusion to find a cure for one of her martial sisters due to an old promise.

Wanqing wraps Shengyan in her schemes for her own purposes, but this intermingling affects both deeply, causing both to struggle between their beliefs and way of life and their budding love.

Highly recommended, pick it up.

Translation is quite good to excellent. There are some misses, but this is clearly a very difficult to translate novel.

Some complaints. The story is a bit too pared down. I would have liked to see more characters developed and see the backstory of more characters. Even the conclusion is somewhat obscure in regards to several characters. A slightly spoilery complaint.

Spoiler

There is also not enough fluff in the end. The story ends pretty well, but there isn't enough about the main pair after the big clash/reveal.

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This! YES! The evil that comes out of the MC is HOT! This was a unique read! The translation is awesome, plot is easy to follow.. Not sure why reader baticeer said they're confused in their review.

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I love how those two ladies are usually doing their own thing but somehow ends up being the center of attention 90% of the time haha.. They're both so good lookin that people just stop and stare, and the fact that they don't care being stared at too lol

Fu wangqin all over Head Yu... more>> in public and private, dang that lady really give no care with PDA lol. I love it.

Overall I highly recommend this novel. Fu Wangqin is the #1 Villainess and I f*cking love it. Like she said "I am number 1, I am the top, I will have it all my way." Yessss girl destroy it all, I am on your side! <<less

A bit of a cryptic read, some stuff is difficult to understand, barely any fluff. I dont mind the bloodshed as its a wuxia novel.

But I hoped for some action betweem the MC and FL. Its not bad but not great either just meh but since theres little yuri content it will do

I kinda liked this one, it didn't commit to itself but the fluff was present and I liked that we jump right into the finale of what would've normally been a long novel to the interesting part.

I only wish the ending was clearer in getting a good understanding of the relationship and I don't know I wanted like five more chapters of pure fluff from both sides.

The translation isn't that good and honestly I didn't understand a lot of things said due to translation but I wouldn't have cared what... more>> they said anyway. <<less

story : 3.5/5

characters : 3.5/5

world building : 3.5/5

... more>> writing style : 3/5

this review is more like a warning I guess.

The story is writing around the 2 main characters in a 3rd person perspective with some of their thoughts revealed sometimes. Fu wanqing is what you'd call a villainess mastermind filled with vengeful motives. demonic creed head yu is just someone totally detached from life, living without much goal and apathetic.

The translation is good, but the novel is written in an old chinese style with 2 sentences of poetic description for everything... if you take out just the story without all the poetic description, you'd get half the length in one go.

the main couple gets closer because they're linked by a promise and multiple close interactions made them fall in love but the development was... a bit random. I know feelings aren't supposed to have constant progression in reality either, but it felt forced.

The whole plot of the story is about a vendetta. It felt really complexified to hide all the holes in the story.

It wasn't an awful read, but I didn't feel particularly moved while reading.

Not really recommended.

on a last note : don't expect yuri fluff if you're looking for that <<less

I enjoyed the book. It had a simple plot, though it was wrapped up in complex happenings. The protagonist was a little unlikable but overall, the book was interesting.

This could only be recommended to people who would enjoy multiple characters combined with martial arts. Despite the book being an interesting read, it didn't focus a lot on the romance between the protagonist and FL, so not a book that would hook in casual romance readers.

EDIT 11/12/2024: sevenseas is licensing this novel!!! As they should! Yippieee!!!!

The Beauty's Blade was an interesting and new type of read for me. I've never seen characters written this way before, and I loved it. As in, I've never had a main character like Fu Wanqing before. Just a strong woman who has been plotting revenge for years finally gets her plan nearing the end. She is a woman who is supposed to be good wanting to do wrong because of wrong that was done to her.

Fu Wanqing has always... more>> been one to cause mischief in the Whitepath Alliance. One very important thing she does is break the senior sister of the leader of the demonic sect's legs. This leader of the demonic sect then, in order to help her senior sister, strikes a deal with Fu Wangqing: she will stay by her side for three months in exchange for a medicine that will heal her senior sister.

So, there begins Fu Wanqing and Yu Shengyan being with each other for three straight months.

Yu Shengyan is also another incredibly powerful and feared woman. Knowing this, Fu Wanqing believes that she has found someone to match her. Yu Shengyan is the only person who deserves to properly duel with her! She will die by her hands. Fu Wanqing is dedicated to being the end of Yu Shengyan.

At first, it does seem like a lot of events that are just random and happening, but once everything is drawn together, you can see things were done for future plot or to introduce characters or to even possibly explain the characters--for instance, sometimes things happen to show how brutal Fu Wanqing can be.

I'm someone who doesn't really like the toxic relationships too much, but this? I was super into this dynamic. It didn't feel like they truly hated each other. Fu Wanqing genuinely wanted to duel and kill Yu Shengyan in the beginning, but so entranced by her beauty and having to spend three months with her, she switches to more of a burning desire to only be the person in Yu Shengyan's eyes. It turns into a burning need to be the only person for her and to kill anyone who would get in the way. And any shred of hate is gone.

Fu Wanqing also has a genuine reason for being the way she was. If she didn't, it would honestly feel a little... bleh, to throw her into this path of wanting to do bad when she's supposed to be righteous. For minor characters, I wouldn't care, but for a main, I desire a character to have depth and a reason other than "just because" and the author gave her a solid and understanding reason. It built her character and made it stronger.

Somethings could be confusing, but the author tends to explains things a couple times instead of throwing you under the bus by telling you once and never again. However, there are also a lot of characters and groups of people who come and go through, so there is a lot to remember there. But the storyline and plot of it is actually quite easy to follow along with.

There is a lot of intimate acts before they are even together. And all of it is consensual. It was kind of spicy... Like bite here, kiss there... whatever. Fu Wanqing loving to sit on Yu Shengyan's lap and curl up like a cat.

Do I recommend? Hell yeah, I would. It's a great wlw cultivation novel with strong female leads here and there, and even strong female side characters. Frankly, none of them disappoint. The bad guys are hated, and the good guys are loved. The plot flows quite easily in my opinion. "It seemed rushed"--this is a short 50 chapter novel. If you wish for something longer, read something with more chapters then. But to me, the events and the timeline seemed perfect to me. <<less

The MC, Fu Wanqing is flamboyant, narcissistic, dare to hate and dare to love, fiery and she's setting fire wherever she went. She's pretty, strong and unapologetic.

The FL, Yu Shengyan, in my opinion, rarely speaks to the point that even I don't know her. She's supposed to be cold and unfeeling but it wasn't executed properly in a way that we still feel like we know her. I feel like the author wanted a "I'm cold as ice but with you, I melt" type of character. Saw many cold characters... more>> that I liked (like The Dragon's Zhong Michu), and she's not one of them. She's like Wenqing's prop in the background. She didn't get fleshed out and wished she could've a better backstory detailing about her past.

The book is okay but it's not one of my favorites. I rate it as 3.5 but since I can't, decided for 4. I can't say it's an unforgettable enough book to the point of wanting to reread it countless times but it's decent. I feel like it can be something more but it didn't reached it's full potential. And romance wise, it didn't go deeper. It's not a slowburn too, since Wenqing has been flirting with her early on and she lets her. I feel unsatisfied because they do know they like each other but until the end, they didn't talk about how they feel. (In short, it's HE but it isn't FLUFFY) The plot is there, writing is okay but it's not a page turner for me. I had to take breaks reading it because before I reached half of the book, I already guessed what will happen. But given our small library of baihe, this is already good compared to other books. Give it a try. :) <<less

It’s ok. The characters don’t feel realistic and the plot is rushed so much that the stakes never settle in or allow the reader to grow an attachment to the characters.

Essentially, the plot is relatively contrived which makes the characters feel like caricatures of themselves.

I'm caught up with the English translation [as of posting time] so I'm now halfway through this novel, which seems like enough time to make an assessment, so I'll leave a review for the part I've read so far. Will update later when the novel is finished. [[EDIT May '21: The translation's done now! I will come back and finish reading soon.]]

CHARACTERS & ROMANCE: ★★★★☆

The Beauty's Blade provides a unique entry in the cnovel world by being a xianxia/cultivation GL story and on top of that, having morally gray main... more>> characters and an enemies-to-lovers romance. The MC Fu Wanqing is the heir of an orthodox sect leader but is vicious and will do anything to get her way, while her "rival" and eventual love interest Yu Shengyan is the leader of a demonic cultivation sect but has a more calm personality.

Their relationship develops quickly as within the first few chapters Fu Wanqing has "won" Yu Shengyan in a game and forces her to stay by her side for the next three month, an agreement which leads to a lot of flirting, touching, and s*xual tension... I loved Fu Wanqing's vicious attitude and thirstiness LOL! It's a very fun and sexy dynamic, different from your typical slow burn, and I'm looking forward to how it will progress.

There are some cool side characters (primarily women -- all the men in this book kind of suck, which is a-ok with me, LOL) but I don't think I'm far enough into the story to have a full grasp of them yet, I'm hoping they will keep developing towards the end.

STORY: ★★☆☆☆

I might just be dumb, but the actual plotline of this novel confuses the heck out of me. There's an ongoing mystery the leads are looking into involving the theft of a valuable statue, and some side plots, but I don't think it's explained well at all, although it's possible that it'll be one of those books where everything makes way more sense right at the very end?? The author's pacing is jumpy, often introducing new concepts and characters in a way where I couldn't tell what will stick around and be important vs characters who disappear a chapter later. It kind of felt like the author had grand worldbuilding ideas and then forgot that the readers don't have the same level of investment in their world unless given a reason. (I can tell that my difficulty following the plot isn't a translation issue as I'm also reading another novel by the same translator right now and that one feels much more coherent!)

Still, especially considering that this novel is on the shorter side (at 52 chapters), carefully tracking the mystery plot is not really what I'm here for, right? This is a fun romp, and the relationship drama always carries you through the chapters. If it were BL I might say pass, but there are such slim pickings for GL that I would still recommend this one for the romance alone. (I'm kinda harsh with my star ratings, 3 is solid!)

TRANSLATION: The translation by Chichi is great, I particularly like how they try to give translations for all the names of sects and techniques as much as possible to make things easier to follow. Update frequently on a blog and will be collected in epub/pdf when finished. <<less