SPOILER BELOW — so, u gon drop those chapters or nah? i wish this got licensed in inkr bc they do yaoi manhuas :< ➽ As Liang Sizhe looked back on his journey on becoming film emperor, he knew he had mainly been favoured by fate — and Cao Ye was the one absolutely indispensable part of his destiny. . . . . . . . . Novel review and spoilers from the translator (cr: amytranslations @ novel updates)
CW: mentions of sexual abuse towards a minor, mentions of casting couch, h*mophobia or homophobic jokes, main character disgusted by male touch.
This is a story about love and how long it can last despite so many challenges and seemingly hopelessness over the years. This story takes place over a decade and is told in a non-linear format, where the readers are in the present in one 'chapter' and in the past in the next. The author makes it quite clear which timeline we're in, as 'N' in front of the chapter number stands for 'now' and 'P' stands for 'past'. (Just as a note, the author split up each chapter into multiple parts. The book was uploaded as 127 ‘chapters’, but each ‘chapter’ was titled as “Chapter 1.1”; “Chapter 1.2” etc. Until the end at “Chapter 11.13”. This book is essentially 127 chapters. Each ‘part’ is a full-length chapter.)
The dynamics of the couple in this story is essentially friends to rivals to strangers to business partners to friends to coparents to lovers. The relationship between the MC and ML changes so much throughout the years, and Tan Shi writes the shift so well. The first 'chapter' (which is actually the length of 7 chapters in a normal book) introduces us to the MC and ML in the current day and provides us with a thousand questions of why they're acting the way they are. Chapter 2 takes us all the way back to the beginning where they met, and that's where we meet our characters before they get dragged over the metaphorical coals. It starts off fairly lightly, and then as we get into the meat of the story, you're slowly given the answers why our main characters act the way they do in the current day. I would say the bulk of the 'main plot' is set in the past, so it's actually very very important to pay attention to those chapters. Little things that may seem unimportant might come back and stab you in the heart :') (as I've personally experienced). Things get very serious in the middle, and there were moments I honestly couldn't breathe through the sense of suffocation and hopelessness that came from the book -- but don't worry, those moments are actually very in character and not dog blood at all.
Now, this book features a switch couple. Therefore the usual MC and ML way of referring to our main characters don't quite apply here, and it's debatable who is actually who! I personally think Liang Sizhe is the MC, but there are strong arguments for Cao Ye :) And yes, you actually get to see them switch in s*x scenes! Liang Sizhe is a multi-winning film emperor, while Cao Ye is president of what is essentially a film production company (and is the son of the director who raised Liang Sizhe to fame).
As a showbiz novel, this book also features a lot of films, and the author has 'written' some really interesting ones for Liang Sizhe I would personally really want to watch in real life. We get to follow each film as Liang Sizhe films them, and I would say each major film of his is a crucial insight into his mind during those months and years (as well as how he sees his relationship with Cao Ye). But the book never goes too far into those films; Tan Shi always remembers to keep the reader with the actual characters and not the characters in the films.
There is loss, there is pain, and there is courage and perseverance. You will cry for both Cao Ye and Liang Sizhe.
For those who like sun and moon metaphors, I would say Cao Ye is the sun (particularly in the chapters set in the past), while Liang Sizhe is the moon.
Please note: this is a very, very, very slow burn novel. Things take time to build up before everything explodes, but when it does, it is so very worth it.
Tags include: entertainment industry, switch couple, strong couple, HE (happy ending), slow burn. I would also include: childhood sweethearts (sort of), pseudo-reunion after break up, pining and super slow burn.
