SOUNDTRACK: hiatus.
[READ: May 13, 2023] Remnants of Filth Book 2
I didn’t expect to read any more books in this series, but then book 2 came to my desk and I had to see what happened next. Now I’m half way into the series and I’m very curious how it will play out. But I’m quite certain I’ll never see Part 3. Incidentally, our library had books 2-4 of Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou’s more noteworthy series The Husky and the White Cat Shizun (why don’t we have book one?)
So, it’s been a while, what did I say last time?
The author of this book is Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou (or Roubaobuchirou). In Chinese that is 肉包不吃肉 which literally translates into Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat. This last phrase is what she is commonly known as in the United States.
This book is danmei. According to The Guardian:
Danmei is romantic fiction about men or male beings – ghosts, foxes, even a mushroom – falling in love, written almost exclusively by and for straight women and is the most popular genre of fiction in China.
This series is about two soldiers. Mo Xi and Gu Mang.
The two were friends and then lovers when they were younger. They fought together and they loved each other. This was largely forbidden and no one knew of their relationship.
And then (and we don’t know why in this book), Gu Mang switched sides. He joined forces with the enemy. And on the battlefield when Mo Xi and Gu Mang faced each other, Gu Mang stabbed his friend and lover in the heart. There’s magic in these books, and Mo Xi survived.
In book one, Mo Xi brought Gu Mang out of the slavery he was stuck in. Mo Xi has to do some twisting of reality for people to believe that he is holding on to Gu Mang for reasonably reasons but Mo Xi is so virtuous, no one questions his motives. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 