2023 This or That Reading Challenge: First Blog Entry + January's Read

Intro (skippable):

Wow I love the layout of this website. I'm really excited to get comfy and nest into this place, so I think I'll start off by trying out a blog entry. I think a good topic to start with would be the reading challenge I'm doing. I have (suspected, diagnosis-pending) ADHD, so reading has been a big challenge for me on and off, despite how much I love it. But lately, reading has been a fantastic coping mechanism, and I've found that I've been able to sink in easily now that I have good earplugs, and also pull myself out easy as well (...most of the time...). I've already finished a novel this year, too! And am nearly done with the next!

The challenge I'm doing I specifically found on the app 'Habitica'. January's prompt was this:

"This: A book that was translated to English from another language. That: A title that has January in the title."

My pick for this prompt was for the "this" option; The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (vol. 1).

I first want to talk about how I came upon this book, since the circumstance has made it a particularly special pick for me.

I had seen a little bit of fanart for it a long while ago and had jotted down the title, but of course promptly forgot about it. Then, a few months later, I went to a bookstore/cafe in the gay neighbourhood in my city to meet and practice with an ASL classmate of mine. We had a lovely conversation without resorting to spoken language even once! I still struggle a lot with generalized anxiety disorder, so this was a humungous win for me. It was then, after my classmate headed out, that I took a small while to browse the books, and suddenly noticed this one, with pretty cover art and a familiar title. I immediately grabbed it.

And now, what I think about the book itself...

I'd rate it a 10/10. It hooked my attention immediately, I found the writing style to be simultaneously humorous, yet suspenseful, and the pacing was satisfying the whole way through. It is a gay romance story, however, this first volume only had a small crush and focused more on the plot, which was, for the most part, lighthearted and a lot of fun. It also ended on heartbreak and a small cliffhanger, so while romance wasn't the focus like I thought it would be, it was extremely satisfying nonetheless.

To be honest, I'm not too sure what to say specifically about the story itself besides that, so I won't include a spoiler section this time. Actually, I'm already nearly finished with the second volume, so the details of the first aren't entirely crisp in my mind. The only thing I can really say is that master-student affection is always a trope I find extremely endearing, and this story does not disappoint in that regard.

I didn't know I'd adore xianxia this much to be honest. I always found the aesthetic pleasant, but the genre has such a specific vibe that I'm really, really loving. Actually, I've already chosen my picks for the next few months, and all but one fits that genre.

Have any of you read this book? Or have any other xianxia or wuxia recommendations? Or, on the off chance that anyone else is doing a similar reading challenge this year, what book did you pick for this month?

If you read this all the way through, thank you for your attention. Ciao~! <3