Modern School Life Ordered by Rating
Modern School Life Ordered by Rating
More tags: Boy Love, Straight Love, Slice-of-Life, School Exams, Academic Competition, Possibly Poor-To-Rich
All the novels I've read that takes place in modern times, usually high school. I find high school romance (if there are any) in cn novels more real and earnest because the characters are usually high school age and more innocent. Most of the stories here would be some form of transmigration or rebirth or second chance where the MC would have some form or fore knowledge or experience as an advantage. And they would work hard to not waste the 2nd chance to work hard and improve their future and/or their lover's future usually by studying to get into the top university of the story.
All the novels I've read that takes place in modern times, usually high school. I find high school romance (if there are any) in cn novels more real and earnest because the characters are usually high school age and more innocent. Most of the stories here would be some form of transmigration or rebirth or second chance where the MC would have some form or fore knowledge or experience as an advantage. And they would work hard to not waste the 2nd chance to work hard and improve their future and/or their lover's future usually by studying to get into the top university of the story.
7 Followers
Created: Apr 7th, 2024, Updated: Mar 13th, 2025
Created Apr 7th, 2024
Updated Mar 13th, 2025
CN (4.5)
109 Chapters Every 123.7 Day(s) 10405 Readers 130 Reviews 08-24-2020
4.5 Stars!... more>>
I really liked it! It was heartwarming, with high achievers tutoring the delinquents and becoming friends along the way and the butterfly effects from that, the cute romance that made me go aww and the humour that made me smile and laugh the entire way.
Translation/Writing
This was done by Chrysanthemum Garden, a group of translators and editors so the translation is very polished! There was, I think, only one error that appeared right at the end ish. The flow is very good, all the idioms the translator worked hard to make them understandable in English and also fit the flow of the sentences XD The format of the writing also fit the comedic timing of the story very effectively too haha. Basically, if I didn't know this was fan translated, I would have thought it was an official one.
Plot
We follow a 30-year old established couple reborn back to their last year of high school when everything went wrong in their lives and everyone close to them. They basically just want to be sticky with each other since the day they were reborn was the day they were to be married. Along the way, they also want to avoid all the bad decisions back then to make sure all the people they love are on the right track instead. It ends with the college exams and coming out about their relationship to the close family and friends casually lolol. The extras are a direct sequel to the main story plus an additional pov of the MC's badass older sister haha. And a wedding for the cp at the last chapter <3
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
Ahhh, this story basically did everything right, I feel moved. This is a high school to college story so there is high school drama with studying and exams and crushes and stuff. Also, this story is the first web novel I've read that has comedy in it! I basically laughed at every chapter. Most of it, if I didn't laugh, I at least quirked a smile with humour. This was a joy to read because it gave such warm and positive feelings the entire time.
The tutoring, studying, and exams part was one of the better executed in these types of stories I've read. There was gradual improvement, believable steps were taken to improve and the details of the subjects were even expanded on! For example, one of the side characters had to declare and explain the problem they still couldn't solve more than five times on the broadcast system in school in detail. It blended into the flow of the story, was in character for that side character and also added comedic effect to the story. With this detailed example of a subject being studied, I was made to believe in the realness of them studying subjects with the knowledge that exists in the story. In lots of these types of CN novels I've read, they just say the MC studied every free time, improved on their weak subjects from morning till night in between working part-time and romance but we never got any content on the subjects at all. So the whole learning part didn't quite sink in for me. Here it very much did, even if that was the only time it gave some content for the characters to learn. With that example, I know the author did some research or thought hard about this aspect of the story and so I had faith in the world they created.
Friendship. Ahh, the brotherhood and juvenile friendship between high schoolers was definitely one of the main stars of this story. The comedic scenes derive from the friendship and the helping actions of the main cp also majorly came from this friendship. And the heartwarming scenes all also came from this friendship haha.
The family drama and angst were not heavy at all! But still gave enough depth to the main couple and also helped me empathise with them which made me invested in them as characters more.
As for the romance, I'll leave it for the Characters section because it is so integral to the characters themselves haha.
Pacing
The pacing was pretty dang smooth the entire way. Nothing felt rushed even at the end when other CN novels can't get the climax and the ending of the novel quite right. The only issue I had was at the very beginning, like 15 chapters in, when I was getting to know the characters and the premise of the story. It was almost pure humour and comedic misunderstandings. I'm not a fan of misunderstandings as a plot device and I wasn't quite into the story or any of the characters yet, so while the humour was funny, it wasn't quite laugh out loud funny yet. So the beginning was a bit slow for me but I believe it's just my personal taste haha. The rest of the story got good.
Characters
Ahhh, the main cp is quite refreshing! There isn't really a shou that I can see in both attitude and actions. Both are mature and confident that they are ALREADY in a relationship together. And they were from an enemies-to-lovers type of couple haha. They spent a decade figuring things out, mending old hurts and injuries already. But now they are back, they can figure out more things they didn't realise as kids that were happening and then healing from it all together. Ahh, it's very nice to read about a couple who have long had each other's backs, know of the love each has for the other and shamelessly show their love to each other! When I read at the beginning during the before plane takeoff, how the MC noticed that the tough ML's hands were trembling because he was still nervous about finally getting married, ahh, I was totally sold on them as characters and their romance hahaha.
All the side characters are the other half of the whole story! Without them, this would be a completely different story, that's how prominent and important they all are. The interactions they all have are the source of all the humour and the warmth in this plot! They feel unique, real and have so much character hahaha. I also really really love that the MC and ML care about them very much and it is straight up mentioned in the story. In other novels, the only people in the CP's line of sight are each other. Like, the MC cares about the family of the ML but really only because the ML cares about the family. Here, they have family and friends of each other that they have honestly taken into their hearts. This is nice haha
As for the villains, good! They are very good villains, when they appear, their small mindedness, self entitlement and small minded selfish plans to raise themselves up by putting others down was so annoying. I love reading how their meticulous plans all got dashed and then they got karma. And they were all handled by the cp haha. I also like how the author loves to torture them lolol They could have gotten the big faceslapping at the end with the cp all present for maximum gloating....but eh, I didn't really mind not having it because the smaller faceslapping that occurs for a longer length of time was satisfying haha
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CN (4.6)
143 Chapters Every 94.5 Day(s) 10334 Readers 150 Reviews 11-03-2021
4.25 Stars... more>>
Date Read: 2/12/2024
Personal Enjoyment: 4.2/5
I enjoyed my time here. I thought the MC would be an oblivious idiotic airhead from ancient times in the modern world from what the synopsis implied but she actually isn't. She has all the memories of the body so she is pretty realistic. I was also surprised by the ML. I thought he would be a broody bad boy but he's a refreshingly loud and honest gangster teenager haha. He's always so honest about being a teenage boy embarrassed hahaha. The whole thing felt quite smooth, not much dips. Very sweet.
Plot: 4/5
It's more character and romance-focused. The plot was basically the high school slice of life and romancing of the main couple. Up to university in the last like 10-20 chapters. I do wish we had more of the side characters part of the story though. Seemed like a missed opportunity to make this not just a pure romance story but an overall wholesome and all-around amazing book. I feel like we should have dived and explored the father and the woman a bit more though. Get some more definitive conclusion from that side in the end.
Writing/Translation: 3.9/5
The translation I read is mostly from Midnight Rambles. Almost all the sentences I understood. The other translations were definitely very edited MTL. Missing words, weird sentences and all. Better than MTL but 85% readable. MR is only a bit better though, like 90-95% readable. Some errors here and there like a few pronoun errors or sentences that feel a bit too direct translated to understand smoothly.
Pacing: 4.5/5
Pretty smooth most of the time. I didn't feel anything was draggy except for a few little bits like after some scenes.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
It is a typical modern high school type of setting in some fictional China city. They didn't really show much variety other than the school or homes or normal cafes either. But it serves its purpose for the character-driven/romance story so it's fine. Ideally, I would want more detail for the surroundings though.
Characters: 4.4/5
MC is a shy, quiet and at first glance meek weak woman type of FL but is surprisingly a wonderful execution of this character type! It's super rare that I would actually like and root for this type of FL. She's "weak" and a damsel in distress type of person but she still is a human being and can show a temper haha.
And the ML is so much fun. And all the humour is actually from him reacting to the MC in funny and blunt ways. I kept laughing or smiling at him lol.
And the side characters are so much fun! None of them felt like npcs. They all feel real and relatable. So varied and full of personalities. It is just such a missed opportunity that the author didn't include side plotlines with them in much detail. I have read other high school second-chance romances with the ML and his friends being a group of delinquents but a large focus is on them pulling up the bad boys from the bottom of the grade. It was pretty wholesome, full of friendship and satisfying. And this story had them, but so briefly! It was mostly a side effect of the romance. This area could have thrived with some focus as the author did for the romance. Even with the sister and psychologist. I also would like some elaboration on their relationship. And the ML's family too.
Romance: 4.8/5
The romance is wonderful haha. A wonderfully healthy and sweet relationship. No misunderstandings. Kinda funny. Cute.
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CN (4.4)
160 Chapters Every 80.4 Day(s) 4193 Readers 114 Reviews 05-01-2022
4.25 Stars... more>>
Overall
Except for the college arc, I reeeeeally loved it! The family drama was super engaging. The best friend's drama was both super engaging and made me emotional too! I was surprised, lol. The important characters who were given screentime had so much care from the author. I love how the perspective of the MC from her past life gave so many fascinating and new dimensions to the situation in her rebirth. All the characters in her family and her best friends were so 3 dimensional and real compared to most other web novels. I also love reading about the MC discovering these new dimensions now that she's an adult and far calmer than her volatile teen self. Ahh, it was so good and addicting to read! It is only some parts like the college arc compared to the rest that felt more lacklustre. This is probably because all the conflict between the people close to the MC has already been solved so the college arc was shorter and nothing interesting really happened. There wasn't a clear goal for the MC to strive for anymore because her family situation was very stable at the time and she had already gotten into the college she wanted. The vague goal is to be a powerful woman. The other issue I had is that the ML didn't have any conflict or bonding sessions with the MC when compared with her best friend and her family. I feel like it was still too insta-love. I still can't quite get the ML’s personality. He feels like a generic perfect ML with no unique personality of his own. The best friend and other family members feel richer than him, which is sad. He doesn't get as much quality screentime either.
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from Empress Translations. I feel that the translation is pretty good. There are some super minor mistakes in the pronouns and names but they are quite rare. The sentences flow quite well in English. It feels like it was written in English, not a translation. This means the writing is pretty good too. No choppy, awkward sentences here.
Pacing
The pacing is very good for all arcs except the last college arc where it feels like we have sped through more quickly. I feel like the MC doesn't really do any interesting things then.
Plot
The goal of the story is for the MC to make better choices in this life than in the previous one. Last time she died as just another statistic after ruining her life. Now, if she just lives for herself, she won't do too badly. We follow her from the summer vacation of middle school where she catches up on classwork, navigates her family and sets up the foundation for moving forward. She also deals with her family a lot here. Then, she enters high school, studies hard and lives the good student life she missed out on as a troubled rich kid previously. She also makes friends. And made a best friend. And deals with mean girl drama at the very beginning but that ends quickly unlike the stepmother in the last arc. She also makes her first investment! Then, when all the exciting things are concluded, she enters university, has a kid and finally gets married in the last chapter.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
This really feels like a deliberate attempt at a second chance in life. The MC didn't completely change their personalities from the 1st life to the rebirth. She really did make those bad decisions so now there are a lot of reflections and thinking the MC does in her second life. Why did she do it? Was it worth it? She was such a kid then. All the regrets are reflected on and she is always sad that other people can't get a 2nd chance as well because it can really completely change their life direction the second time around.
On a side note, the reason I even chanced upon this story is that it has the Business Management tag. I really wanted to read about business and wealth making and the family drama faceslapping implied by the synopsis was just a bonus hahaha. So the few instances where the MC ventured into investing based on her 1st life’s memories were interesting! It was detailed too, with added development for her grandmother and her father! It's so sad that that was the only occasion it appeared in the story when that was the whole reason I came here lolol.
Her complicated family members are so interesting to read about! I love to read about their interactions and how the MC navigates all that.
Characters
I love the MC and the characters that have a lot of screen time. They get so much character development with the MC. The MC herself is a sensible mature adult compared to everyone else so I like the perspective. She was calm when before she would have flown into a violent rage as a teen. It's also nice to see her face slapped by being so much more mature hahaha.
The side characters are all so vivid and unique. The family members are not so black and white like the father, who is a pure s*umbag with no good qualities. Someone said the characters are so nuanced and I completely agree! In the eyes of a troubled teenager, the enemies are always out to get you and deserve to die but in the eyes of an adult outsider, they have good and bad, strengths and weak points. Like the cheating father who had a mistress before the wife even died but he can also be the silly overprotective dad to his kids and have wholesome mother-son memories with the MC’s grandmother.
The 2nd male lead turned best bro friend, also has a history with the MC in the past but now he's only a teenager who thinks he's cool and da bomb. The first impression of him as the bad guy somehow changes throughout the story and he becomes best friends with the MC. He himself feels that he became totally friendzoned towards the MC and cannot think of her romantically anymore hahaha. During his part of the story, I actually teared up haha. I really liked his character arc.
The ML, hurmm. We meet him in the prologue, but we don't see him again until almost all of the interesting conflicts are resolved. And then there wasn't any drama for him to help or for the MC to help him so the level of connection between them that I felt was much less compared to the best friend. It's not that I want the best friend to get together with the MC, but I want the level of investment the author had in the best friend to be the same for the ML too. I don't feel close to the ML at all.
As for the bad guys, the stepmother living with the MC gave a lot of opportunities to faceslap her at home all the time. But the final one wasn't really satisfying, sadly. The others, they weren't really bad, they just had their own interests. The really scummy bad guys were taken care of too cleanly and distantly to feel any personal satisfaction. Well, this isn't really a faceslapping story most of the time anyway haha.
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CN (4.5)
116 Chapters Every 41.1 Day(s) 4540 Readers 91 Reviews 12-30-2023
4.24 Stars... more>>
Date Read: 22/8/2024
Personal Enjoyment: 4.2/5
I enjoyed this! It was surprisingly wholesome even though the ML is s*um at the beginning. But the parent-child relationship of the ML is surprisingly amazing. It was so refreshing. My favourite part actually. Also, I just agree with all the reviewers praising the story! It was a nice, calm and enjoyable experience. I love the friendship. One of the comments by the TL is that there are lots of bad people but there are also good people. Nice. More than the romance, I just love all the different relationships here.
Plot: 4/5
It's a rebirth story for the MC but it's not so calculative to improve every single line item from her previous life.
Writing/Translation: 4.5/5
The translation I read is from Second Life Translations. Fantastic translation. 10/10 would recommend.
Pacing: 4.2/5
The pacing is good for most of it except for the fate of one of the antagonists. That felt a little random, quick and so nonchalant lol. But it was at the very end anyway.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
The setting is typical of a light novel. A university, part-time job places, and residences. Not that detailed. But it was fine for me.
Characters: 4.5/5
Love all the characters! Even if some of them have extreme views, it all still feels down to earth. Everyone feels rather down to earth. The ML as well even though your first impression of him is pure extreme scum. But over time he is surprisingly very worldly and grows to be quite wholesome and have a fantastic and healthy relationship with his parents.
I also love the friendships between the MC and her friends, her friends with his friends and her suitors with the ML. There is only like, one of each kinda but they are all nice.
Romance: 4.3/5
The romance is one of the better ones though not the best. It's wholesome after a bit and with lots of communication eventually. The s*um parts were in the previous life haha. The ML has some character growth.
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CN (4.6)
68 Chapters Every 98.7 Day(s) 6160 Readers 90 Reviews 07-30-2021
4 Stars... more>>
Overall
Ahh, the romance is pretty believable! At the beginning, you can really feel that they were just new classmates, to friends with zero romance in between, and then, there will be a random thought in the ML's head that shows a progression of good will towards the MC. I so far have not seen in detail, within the characters' heads, how they fall in love. It was always from the outside perspective or that love was love at first sight *rolls eyes*. For example, the delinquent group is having a summer camping trip at the beach, it was all high school youths having fun and then the ML just randomly thought, "How can such a good boy be bullied?" XD Overall, this was a sweet high school romance with a more realistic romance development than usual. It was a little short, had some high school bullying and exams and what not but quite nice. The other boys love high school romance I've read is Reborn with an Old Enemy on the Day of our Marriage. That one had more tropes that I prefer, such as wish fulfillment, heartwarming, making better choices in rebirth, and hard work with friends haha. This one doesn't have any rebirth so a significant advantage is automatically gone for me XP. However, character-wise, the couple is definitely cuter, more vulnerable and spunkier because they are actual high school students haha. Also, the cool, strong, tyrant ML is the one in a bad situation and is super vulnerable and finds a safe and loving space with the MC <3
Writing/Translation
The translation I've read is from ThatLazyPotato. The translation is pretty good. Any mistakes are super, super minor and have only happened like, a couple of times. Otherwise, it feels pretty polished.
Pacing
The pacing is pretty smooth, nothing seems rushed or anything. Maybe some actiony events were a liiiitle faster than expected but this way, you also don't feel like it's dragging. So I have no issues.
Plot
The plot is pretty simple. The younger by 2 years from his grade, smart but low EQ at the beginning, MC was bullied at his previous school. We don't know the details. He has transferred to No. 7 high school and is seated next to the scary ML. Then begins the budding relationship between the ML and his group with the MC as brothers and friends. Then, the relationship grows until the college exams in the last chapter. And the extras are from college and beyond.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
This is a pure high school love story. The main couple are really high school kids but there aren't any of those s*upid high school shenanigans that make you roll your eyes in irritation or anything like that. The ML does make s*upid actions that if the author had given any warming, I would have went oh, no, don't do it, it's a bad idea, etc, etc and would have reduced my enjoyment of the story but the author didn't! Basically, we only knew what the ML did when the consequences had reached the MC and then, there was a tense, fast-paced sequence of events that was solved super satisfactorily by the MC with some faceslapping haha. Then, there are no more s*upid actions XD
Characters
The main couple are super likeable! The MC is a cute, surprisingly self-confident shou! He was bullied like that at the beginning but with the help of his first real friends and the ML, he got back his childlike and serious deposition. He's a smart guy because he's 2 years younger than his grade so he really thinks through everything, even if he might have had a low EQ at the beginning. In terms of the romance, he is the initiator and really kept up the momentum hahaha. The poor ML couldn't hold on and surrendered eventually XD He's surprisingly quite spunky.
The ML is the strong, of little words, tyrant big brother type. But also keep in mind, he's only 17 years old so there wasn't any unbelievable prowess or amazing family situation. Compared to the MC, his situation is basically on a whole other lower level haha. He's all alone even when he has relatives. The ML isn't a s*upid gong who during s*x just goes with his d*ck and ignores the other person. In fact, it's kinda the opposite, he has to be the mature person to cool down the excited MC and run away lol. The author also showed him being vulnerable and at his lowest point. The MC comes to his rescue as a safe harbour! Even though the MC is still arguably just a kid XD
The 2 friends are also pretty good. I find that high school yaoi will have good male comradery compared to het high school romance XP. The friends feel real, alive and have some heartwarming scenes. They don't exist just to prop up the main couple or to have roles to advance the story.
The villains are there and they are super ugly but after some time, there is a finale to slap them in the face. I just wish we could have slapped all of them, the bystanders and minor ones too. I also wish we could have seen what happened to the ML's relatives, I wanted to one-up them so much haha but we don't see them in the extras sadly. Like hah, the ML got good grades on the college exams, what about the annoying cousin?? Like authorrrr, you forgot this person to face slappp.
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CN (4.6)
153 Chapters Every 90 Day(s) 11464 Readers 214 Reviews 01-20-2022
4 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation
The Green Tea translation for like 71 chapters had very good translations. It's easy to read and understand. Then, for the other chapters until the end, all the online translations I could find were just bad. It was still not the worst as I could generally get it more or less but it was still bad. My trick is to just rush through reading, you somehow get used to the badness kind of. The pronouns, 1st pov, 3rd pov, and names, to a lesser extent, get mixed up constantly, so most of the time you just guess who exactly it's talking about.
Plot
The overall plot structure takes place 70% in high school and 30% in university with the extras after graduation and marriage. It goes from the ML being super ferocious and on guard against the MC at the beginning, falling in love with the MC's daily kindness to him, working hard to be worthy of the MC, realising she likes him only when he is his real self, married and has a kid.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
This story deals with heavy topics. The author tried their best to show how having a mental illness can affect someone and how they deal with it. I love how the ML was shown to experience autism here compared to a previous CN novel, this felt more authentic and not just there as a plot device for the MC to care for the ML. Since you are in the ML's head a lot, you can really feel the difficulties he has living his life. Also, the language being used around it doesn't treat it as an illness to be cured from. The MC's objective is to make sure the ML is happy and not misunderstood by other people, which is why she teaches him about facial expressions and emotions. She treats it like he just needs to learn another language more or less. I very much like this. Even after everything, we still know the autism didn't go away, it's still there and has to be handled by lots of communication and not hiding.
The romance is nice and slow. It really establishes the foundation and setup before they finally admit to having feelings for each other. It was nice, really made me believe in their feelings and satisfying because it wasn't insta-love. I still skimmed all the s*x scenes though lol. I just find light novel s*x to be too cringy and that men, of course, are beasts in bed and women are always tired the whole day afterwards *rolls eyes*. But still, I must say it wasn't that over the top this time haha
Pacing
The pacing, I felt, was just right. It didn't feel particularly rushed or slow. Or if it was, it didn't bother me.
Characters
Really, only the two main characters are fleshed out in any manner. The side characters are pretty brief or only superficially there. The main couple is pretty likeable. I liked the ML more haha. The friends made well, you don't really feel that close to them because there aren't any bonding scenes to feel that they are friends. But well, they are there. I like the 2 caretakers of the ML the best out of all of them. They just love the ML like a son haha. The villains, ugh, I don't like them. Especially how they targeted the ML's insecurities. Surprisingly, this is like the only CN novel I've read where the ML is targeted in this way instead of the MC. The MC's enemies are the family, who are ridiculously self-entitled. But they all get a satisfying comeuppance haha
Overall Comments
I liked the mental health exploration in this. The romance is a slow burn to get together even though there are alrd feelings early on which is nice. Sure, there are some loose ends and plot holes and stuff because it's not perfect, but I enjoyed it for what it does.
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CN (4.6)
123 Chapters Every 126.1 Day(s) 8601 Readers 128 Reviews 06-18-2020
3.97 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation: 4/5
The translation I read is from Chrysanthemum Garden. Not as polished as expected but still way better than most. The only errors are a few very minor careless mistakes.
Pacing: 4/5
It was pretty even throughout and the ending wasn't jarring like other similar stories. By then, the story felt very complete, and the flow of the ending felt the same as before even though there were time skips. My only issue is that I needed a bit more stuff to be happening haha. So some small parts felt a bit slow or something was happening that I was a bit bored by and wished it would finish quicker, like that truth or dare game lol.
Plot: 4/5
I enjoyed it and I finished the story so that's good haha. It was sweet and all the characters were refreshingly wholesome ish to read about. The Mc’s father and therapist were so nice, mature and lighthearted.
Romance: 4/5
I liked the romance too. It builds up gradually until I got it. The romance wasn't shoved in my face to believe it. Usually, most high school BL romance works for me lol. Others not so much haha
Setting/Worldbuilding: 3.5/5
Well, it's high school. Nothing much else.
Characters: 4.3/5
The main characters are nice. I liked all the adults. The friends have personalities and their own dynamics too.
Personal Enjoyment: 4/5
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CN (3.9)
549 Chapters Every 63.9 Day(s) 7407 Readers 159 Reviews 01-25-2023
3.89 Stars... more>>
Writing/Translation:4/5
The translation I read is from Boba Tea Translation. It is above average. There were some sentences that confused positive and negative connotations but I think it's because Chinese is like that and doesn't quite translate to English that way. A few sentences were a bit awkward. But overall, nice. I love that it's completed too.
Pacing: 3.9/5
Pacing seems fine. I just found the last bits too quick and summarizing compared to the rest. But this is normal for CN novels so.
Plot: 4/5
I concur with everything all the other reviewers said. The story is a bit more josei and has a bit more substance than normal. I also like that there are actual details in all the studying and knowledge of what is being studied. Other similar stories just say they studied hard and then aced the tests, and that's it. I highly doubt anything technical being shown is all that accurate though lol. Also, I couldn't understand anything she was researching at the end. But at least the author tried. And I prefer something rather than nothing.
I do prefer the parts with all the character development and where the ML’s advice was needed. That was way more interesting than when she just researched stuff and the romance at the end.
Romance: 3.3/5
The romance is kinda meh. I loved when the ML was acting as a mentor but I just couldn't get into the romantic relationship. For one, 80% of the time, the MC was just too young emotionally and experience-wise. The dynamic was too skewed. This just made it super hard to understand why the ML fell in love with her. It doesn't help that the author didn't really make the ML all that charismatic or likeable. I also didn't feel any chemistry between the two. It totally felt one-sided.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 4/5
The setting was a bit more detailed than other similar school-type stories.
Characters: 4.3/5
There were some good characters here! The mom has such character growth, the stepdad is cool, the various friends have some screen time and stuff. Nice.
Personal Enjoyment: 3.7/5
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CN (4.3)
104 Chapters Every 79.2 Day(s) 3620 Readers 35 Reviews 06-05-2022
3.83 Stars... more>>
Read: 04/04/2024
Short Summary: MC transmigrates to the 2nd year of high school into a delinquent. He then proceeds to win at life using his book smarts, his love of math, and his earnestly serious personality.
Plot: 4/5
The main focus is the relationship between the MC and ML. I was hoping for a more plotty book with romance as an accompaniment but it's the other way around. It took me until around chapter 20ish to start getting really invested in the romance lol. The climax of the whole story is at the end of year 2 with the extras of year 3 and college. In the end, they solved the issues that were preventing their relationship (it was pretty short and there were zero misunderstandings! It was all external. We find out the back story of the transmigration and they get their college results. I admit I was a little let down with the choice of the conflict since it felt too otherworldly instead of some reality-based conflict like fighting against the antagonist parent or something like that. But it was a unique take compared to other transmigration/rebirth modern high school BL stories so that cancels it out. It has some typical netizens commenting on every trope which I dislike since they don't actually add anything to the story. But it is thankfully, brief. Five or six comments after each exam instead of hiring water armies everywhere for page-long texts.
Writing/Translation: 3.7/5
The translation I read is from WhiteCherryBL. Just a warning that the Next button on their website doesn't work. Need to go from novelupdates. The TL is kinda awkward. Full of weirdly translated words and direct translated slang. But the grammar is pretty good actually. It could definitely be worse. I just read fast and ignored those parts. Anyway, the story is pretty simple so it's easy to understand.
Pacing: 4/5
Pretty good. There wasn't any place where I felt it dragged or was too fast.
Romance: 4.5/5
The romance is rather sweet. I find that I really feel the romance in these modern high school BL stories haha. The ML is surprisingly, not that much of a bully compared to my first impression of him. Maybe my expectations are super low for cn bl novels hahaha. The ML likes to bully and tease the MC but always stops before it gets annoying because he's afraid the MC will be really mad and doesn't like it when the MC gives him the cold shoulder. The best part though, is how thoughtful the ML unexpectedly is. The actions of the ML compared to other BLs are how not over the top his actions for the MC are. Even if its first impressions implied he will be a forceful won’t take no as an answer possessive as*hole lol. And he is. But not that bad. Am I making excuses for this ML or what hahaha. But well, they really are quite sweet. I love how the author gives space for the characters and us the readers to pause and appreciate the MC or ML’s actions for each other. That is how we can feel the proper impact of the romance. It's in the quiet reflective few seconds after the other person did something out of their way for them.
Some cute quotes from the POV of the bully ML, “Even if he usually speaks a lot of nonsense at times, he is still just a young man in love at the moment.
The person he likes is lying next to him, wearing his pyjamas, pillowing his pillow, and covering his quilt, and the joy in Ying Jiao’s heart jumps up uncontrollably.
He wants to jump twice, he wants to roll on the bed, he even wants to go downstairs and run a few laps.
Ying Jiao raised his lips gently.
He is so happy.”
Like aww, it's so innocent and wholeheartedly earnest in his feelings. Around halfway ish, you can really feel that they are a team against the world like a proper couple awww. They each think wholeheartedly of each other and work hard to be the best person for the other. And they are both high schoolers alone against the big world. It's nice to see that there is support for them.
Setting/Worldbuilding: 3/5
It was a generic high school setting. Nothing detailed or special or elaborated on.
Characters: 3.7/5
The main characters are the focus so they have the most screen time. The antagonist was kinda eh. Just an idiot high schooler and the power behind that never got any screen time lol. The hated relatives were pretty generic too. The father and stepfamily. For the side characters and friends, they were just friendly people. The three friends of the ML, two of them have one quirk each and other than that, they were interchangeable. Could have been worse. I could at least feel that the ML and MC cared about their existence lol. I liked the class teacher too haha.
Personal Enjoyment: 3.9/5
I enjoyed most of it until we started with the conflict. Because they had already gotten together by then, the sweet reflecting on each other's little actions for them stop being anxious for each other. And also, the maths competition is legit boring lol. I do wish these stories would put more effort into the material being studied so I can feel the catharsis that comes from the effort of studying. I mean yes, I do like how the ML slowly slowly got good. But I don't know what he's studying. It just tells that he does questions all the time. But it's so bland and generic lol.
I loved all the sweet moments of growing to love each other. But those moments got a bit cheapened by the whole fated love thing we got to know at the end. Still good enough. I read this during my uncomfortable period and it was a very nice, sweet and comforting distraction.
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CN (4.2)
64 Chapters Every 75.1 Day(s) 5102 Readers 93 Reviews 08-08-2022
3.6 Stars... more>>
Overall
I like most of it. It's just that some transitions are a little off like the timeskip from when the ML moved into high school when the book's plot finally starts. I wanted more family bonding before that happened to really cement the changes first. We skipped a year so quickly. Then, when the ML agreed to move to the Wei family and decided to bring the MC along, I wish there had been more discussion with the parts first. The author just made the MC think, huh, they really listened to the ML a lot these past few months and never showed the parents about the whole letting their son follow the ML across the country to live with another family who's super wealthy. It's like, too unrealistic. I also felt that the ML’s whole thing was a little inconsistent. After the injury, the text and the author and even the ML himself kept saying his emotions felt super dull and nonexistent after the injury. But when writing to him, he clearly has lots of emotions, like him being worried about how to make friends, how to talk to the MC, how to talk to people without ruining the mood, how to buy presents, etc. That definitely does not feel dull to me. Another thing is also that I don't like that the ML’s capability all came because of the head injury. Compared to if he just studied and got all these skills from his own hard work and natural talents, it would have been far more satisfying instead of getting a perfect memory after the injury. It feels cheap. I was looking forward to seeing how the MC would help the ML get success and have a good relationship with him because the ML really hated the guy before. In the end, the change in the ML’s heart came from the head injury changing his personality into a more rational, emotionless person. Because he's more rational after the injury, he is able to think through other people's actions properly. Too much of a shortcut and lazy writing.
But, I did enjoy myself. I finished the story after all. I also found the romance kinda cute eventually. The ML is kinda cute from the MC's point of view haha. My only issue is that the MC kept calling the ML Baby to his face before the romance and the ML didn't blink an eye. It is definitely weird for a 14-year-old kid to call a 15-year-old kid, both middle schoolers, "baby" in a slightly coquettish manner.
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from Chrysanthemum Garden. The translation is pretty good.
Pacing
It was okay, just that the time skip after that part in middle school to high school when the book plot starts was unexpected. I do think we could have benefited more from more family bonding during that period of time. The way it switched to high school made it seem like the author didn't want to care about unnecessary stuff and wanted to move on to the book plot quickly. Then the high school plot happens. It was okay. But the ending was a little open-ended for my taste.
Plot
We follow our MC as he tries to win over the ML despite years of bullying him, helping the ML’s situation during middle school. We also follow the ML and what he thinks is going on and also how he earns money. Then, time skips to high school and we follow them as they enter the Wei family and deal with all the drama over there. Finally, the extra shows what they do at university. It's a bit open-ended though because that is the only extra about the future.
Themes
The execution of how the author handled the whole age thing is not smooth. MC is mentally older but he keeps acting like a normal middle school kid. Even his thinking. He doesn't seem that mature. It feels like a 14-year-old kid has got memories of his older self and then is worried about all the stuff and handles it as a kid. So, whenever he thinks that the ML is his Baby! His Baby has grown up! Let's buy his Baby cute animal pyjamas because he wants to see the Mal in them! This is really messing with me. It's a bit disturbing; either he's a 14-year-old kid calling his 15-year-old friend Baby, wanting to photograph and dress them in cutesy pyjamas, calling them Baby to his face, or it's a 20- or 30-year-old adult doing all that. Either way, it's too weird and a kiiinda pe*verted. I also don't understand why the ML didn't react in any way when the MC refered to him as "Baby" to his face. Before the injury, I would have thought he would be offended. After the injury, surely there would have been some questioning if the MC liked him or something. But nada.
As for how the ML slowly found positive things in life, well, I really love how he collected pictures that mean family and love for him on his laptop. That was just ngawww. I do wish he was more outspoken about the Shu family as his own family though. I would have liked some verbal confirmation, haha
The money-making was sadly unbelievable to me. I really wanted to enjoy it but learning programming in a week? Then learn to invest? The thing is, we don't get to see it grow from zero knowledge to tycoon in detail. It's just mentioned and it quickly grew so fast until he ML could afford a villa, no sweat. However, I do feel like the author used jargon effectively.
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CN (4)
500 Chapters Every 116.3 Day(s) 4223 Readers 107 Reviews 10-30-2020
3.5 Stars... more>>
Overall
Honestly, the extra point 5 star is purely for Kangyao, I think my favourite ML ever? By the end, I was sticking through just to read more of their love. Too bad there really isn't much. But what we do get is so very sweet. The guy is absolutely adorable and all his thoughts and actions are ridiculously cute. The use of emojis with him in the text is brilliant in bringing to life his cuteness.
Okay, for everything else. The beginning was actually not bad, the premise was interesting. I love how it gave a chance for the ML to show off his good traits to us. It was pretty good until the showbiz part where I was completely uninterested. Because the MC did not work hard at all (at least not shown to us), has zero interest in showbiz and has no plans to be in this industry, I also have zero interest in it. I don't understand why the author put so much detail into it. Not the MC’s hard work to be in it (because she's automatically amazing in everything) but the industry details and every single netizen comment which are repetitive and boring.
I enjoyed the studying part at the beginning, where she had to work hard to improve her scores in her first year and part way through her second year. But after she got into the maths quiz thing, all the school-related stuff got boring and dry because we don't get what she is studying really. The author just throws around all the titles of what she is doing but I don't understand so it's just a blur. It's also a bit stale with the netizens commenting on every exam and stuff.
The cultivation part, I thought was an interesting thing to add to a second chance modern world story. If used properly, it could spice things up. But this was really only prominent at the beginning when the MC was worrying about her livelihood and her goals and how she, as a minor, could achieve it. After that, it was only at the end where there was zero detail and only a third-party narration on her life and achievements.
Basically, I agree with all the previous reviews.
Writing/Translation
The translation I read is from wordrain69. The flow is sometimes not smooth. It can feel like I missed a connection from one part to another. And sometimes it almost feels like the chapters are messed up? But none of the commenters for each chapter complained so maybe I just didn't get the sequence of events properly. Like the character left the room and in the next chapter, the character is in the room, like did I miss this character coming back in? Or was the character that went out a different one and I confused them? There are a few parts like this for me. Also, later on, there are lots of quick POV changes that seem like a side tangent to the current scene which is unnecessary and long. But generally, the translation is pretty understandable and consistent.
Pacing
It felt like it was getting more summed up near the 2nd half of the story. And from the last 100 chapters, you don't read from the Mc’s pov anymore. You hardly get her in the scene except as a paragraph. Everything else is just other people's pov commenting on her actions or her family worrying about her actions and then the results come out and the tune changes. It feels like the author has alrd shown the various scenes in the MC and the ML’s pov previously, so there is no need to show them again. Instead, the author decides to show random people's pov on the MC when that is the most boring part.
Plot
We follow 3 years of the MC’s high school, then very quickly into her university life until her death. The first year is quite engaging and detailed, the 2nd is similar with less interesting conflict, then the third year was kinda dry about all the competitions and side characters of other students I don't care about and the university where she sets up her laboratory... but it wasn't detailed like in her first year X (.
Themes/What Story Tried to Achieve
There are 3 main things the author focuses on. Cultivation as the MC’s goal in life, school as her professional legit way to achieve her goal and showbiz as the capital to achieve her goal. The cultivation is there but not really detailed after the start. But it is the driving force of all the MC’s decision-making. The school art at the beginning was also interesting because we followed her from almost zero. She has to do lots of stuff to get good. Sure, it got dry at the maths competitions but it's still low key nice to see her succeed. I only dislike that we get ohhh she has a photographic memory and high cultivation, so she absorbs everything like a sponge no matter what. The showbiz is where I really didn't like it because she was good at it all without seeming to need to work for it. Everything in this part is contributed to "luck" *rolls eyes* That's the most boring reason for me as the reader to read about. We don't even get a target amount of money she needs to save for anything. If that was given, I could at least get that feeling of accomplishment whenever any of her showbiz stuff earns money because it would mean that she is getting closer to her goal. Sigh...
Characters
The MC was interesting and made me sympathetic towards her at the beginning. Then, she got so OP later on that it was kinda stale. After awhile, we don't get her personal feelings anymore because everything gets narrated by side characters.
The ML, Kangyao, is the best thing in this story! He's cute and ridiculously sincere in the most shy teenager way. This was one of the very few web novels where I could really feel and root for the love! The other one I felt so much for the ML’s love was in Bai Su Mei of the 70s.
The side characters are actually distinct and aren't just there as roles needed for the story. They all have their own circumstances, opinions and worries. They feel real even if they don't have much screentime as the main characters. I like the couple's friends haha.
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