Name: 二哈和他的白猫师尊
Rating: 4.321428571428571 (14 reviews)

肉包不吃肉

二哈和他的白猫师尊

Ren 

4.75

gays everywhere, I'm feeling homophobic

no but really this book is *cheff kiss* mo ran is an idiot, and chu wanning is the best

Autumn 

Holy sh*t this book! It really impressed me. 
I know a lot of people talking about this book focus on the non-con/dub-con factor and the general sexy stuff, which is a huge disservice to the book not because there's anything wrong with erotica (not a personal fave genre but each to their own I guess?), but because the book is not actually just about the sex and the r*pe stuff are actually:
1. Treated as something really bad, done by the bad guys and the characters falling on the darker side of the morality spectrum. 
2. Physical and sexual agency and autonomy are both a part of the love interest's character arc and it is in exploring this that the non-con stuff find context and are explored. It'll make no sense if the story didn't have the conflict without actually having this nuance.
3. After everything, this is a work of fiction and one should not treat its content as a guideline for how to maintain relationships or how to treat survivors of traumatic situations. It's fiction. About characters who fly on swords. I mean...
(That said, if you are uncomfortable with reading about sexual abuse or interactions between former abusers and their victims in any capacity, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK! Just don't do it! Seriously, read something else. Love yourself and take care of your mental well-being. )

And my personal takeaway from the book and its handling of the subject was that rape is bad and you are a fool to think it's hot because consensual, mutual relations are way hotter and more fun! Idk, maybe that's just me?

Anyway, now that I have dealt with that, I want to name some of the other themes explored in the book which are most unfairly undervalued and dismissed but are seriously well done in the book, and credit is due. 

1.Xianxia/fantasy martial art world: the book is obviously xianxia and it's a damn good one! The world-building is rich and the fantasy elements are interesting. The world order makes sense and operates in a logical (magical ) way. 

2. Classism, elitism, and the villains the social hierarchical order makes: both the main character and the main villain who operate as foils, are the results of a defective social system that repeatedly creates undesirable outcasts then abandons them to fester into little villains. Actually, quite similarly to mxtx's the grandmaster of diabolism, this book also represents and shows the aftermath of a highly classist system but takes it to an extreme. It's very well done and funny enough, that's something I think comes across even in the naming of the novel, but you'll only get that if you read it. 

3. Agency/body and mind autonomy: on top of the thing I said about the main love interest, the other key characters, the main character, the main villain, and even some of the less prominent supporting characters, all struggle with agency to different degrees. They either have their control over their lives and themselves forcefully taken away or are put in tragic situations where it becomes inevitable. Moreover, the book takes the initiative to actually present this loss in nuanced ways; sometimes it's done without ill intentions but out of ignorance. It's fascinating and the book takes a roundabout, subtle way to do it but oh boy is it effective.

4.Redemption/guilt/forgiveness: the book asks a lot of questions about a lot of things. One of those is asking about what it takes to redeem oneself. It asks, what if, there was a different life, and during that, you were evil and did really unforgivable things to your loved ones, and then those things became known by those loved ones. Are responsible for those actions? What does it take to redeem oneself? What about personal guilt? Is it enough if those loved ones forgive you and what happens to one's own feelings here? Does redemption only include what one owes to others? What about what we owe to ourselves? It's just...SO GOOD! the book really goes for it. It just really asks the hard questions but what answers you give to them and what answers the book gives to them don't have to coincide for the effect to be fully experienced. I just loved how the book explores the concept of forgiveness. What we are willing to forgive and forget and if that's enough. *chef's kiss* truly. 

5. Judge, jury, and executioner: this relates back to a lot of the formerly mentioned themes. The book explores what it means to punish a criminal, who is allowed to do this, and to what extend. It questions motivations and inherited punishments and fair judgment. This is a serious theme in a lot of religious stories and this book brings it to an almost secular situation (almost being the operative term). The hypocrisy of the masses, personal biases, and gains, the unfair punishment traditions of conventional societies, etc. all of these are considered and factored in which create a nuanced experience in reading the book and really make the reader think. 

Honestly, these are just some of the great stuff in the husky and his white cat shizun which when people bring up this book don't mention. It's such a controversial and daring act to tackle these themes and I really applaud the author for braving it. 
At this point, these nuanced and complex storytellings are becoming expectations for me when I read Chinese novels though I have heard this one is the most complex one. 
There are less thought-provoking themes in it too which are still fun: time travel, doppelgangers, dragons, farming, weddings (though the weddings are kinda like the ones in asoiaf so don't get too excited...), lots of food descriptions that make you hungry, and so on. 

I'm gonna be fair, there was still stuff I didn't like. For example, after chapter 279 (a most traumatizingly memorable chapter) the plot really slows that to the point that certain actions keep repeating and I was bored a little. There were also certain narrative choices that were not my personal favorites but I recognize that the writer chose to tell them like this and that is valid. 

Overall, I loved this book and I only recommend it to people who have very high tolerance for reading upsetting, heavy, triggering content. With critical reading abilities. Because there's a lot of separation from reality required in enjoying this novel and absorbing what it has to offer.

二哈和他的白猫师尊

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