Priest (1) (1988–)

Wow this was something!!!!! The whole idea of reincarnation and Jing Qi returning to his love again was fascinating but what happened in his seventh life was even more interesting. There were moments where I couldn’t figure out where the story was going, but the author managed to bring all the threads together perfectly.

The romance is really like a story of legends and an intense slow burn full of yearning, and I loved how the two MCs ended up together. That last 5-10% of the book is show more especially spectacular and I had tears in my eyes when I closed it. All the characters are really compelling, most of them wearing masks (literally or figuratively) to conceal their true thoughts from others and it was quite a task to understand their motivations. But ultimately my favorite was Wu Xi who had such an open and honest heart, and it was absolutely refreshing in a book of full of court intrigue, back room dealings, twists and turns and betrayals.

It took me quite a while to read this book because while the translation was very good, it just wasn’t the binge read kinda book. However, I really enjoyed it and the idea that I should read more novels by Priest is cemented in my head. In the meantime, I’m just waiting for the episode in Word of Honor where Lord Seventh will show up and I can’t wait to see his interactions with the amazing Zhou ZiShu. show less

This starts with Guo Changcheng reluctantly going to his first day of work at a job his second uncle, a higher ranking official at the Ministry of Public Security, arranges for him. Guo Changcheng is too timid to call and ask if the time he's supposed to show up for work, 2:30 am, is a typo, so he shows up at 2:30 am deciding that, if it's a mistake, he'll come back at 2:30 pm as well.

The time is not a typo, and the job isn't at all what Guo Changcheng expects. The Special Investigations show more Department of the Ministry of Public Security deals with strange and unusual cases. Zhao Yunlan, Guo Changcheng's new boss, is a bit of a mess in his personal life but highly skilled at his work. He's also one of the department's few living, human employees.

In the first half of this volume, Zhao Yunlan drags Guo Changcheng along to an investigation of the murder of a Dragon City University student. The investigation brings Zhao Yunlan into contact with Shen Wei, an attractive instructor at the university (Zhao Yunlan is canonically bisexual).

In the second half of this volume, Zhao Yunlan accompanies one of his employees, a spirit named Wang Zheng, to Qingxi Village, the place where her bones are buried, along with several other SID employees. Zhao Yunlan is happy to come across Shen Wei, who's on a trip to the area with several of his students.

I enjoyed this immensely. The urban fantasy aspects were intriguing, and Zhao Yunlan was an appealing character, a bisexual disaster who'd drink himself stupid over a failed romance but who was extremely competent when it came to supernatural matters. He had some kind of health issues that weren't discussed in depth, but I'm sure it'll become more important in future volumes. I was a bit curious about whether this series would end up featuring a love triangle, since there were signs that the Soul-Executing Emissary was attracted to Zhao Yunlan - slight spoiler, but this thankfully wasn't a love triangle.

I wonder, will Guo Changcheng prove to be more important later on, or is he just there for comic relief and to give the author a reason to explain how the supernatural stuff works? Poor guy, but he's doing his best.

I look forward to seeing where this series goes.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

i came for mister monocle man and stayed for mister monocle man!

i swear my brain is temporarily out of order after spl steampunk wartime shenanigans THAT WAS A DOOZY!!! albeit an extremely well-written doozy! bottom line is don't go in expecting a casual read!!

spl started off w a bang and i loved how priest went about introducing the characters, assembling their little squad, building the world (steampunk universe!!). vols 1 & 4 were my personal favorites to read bc i thought they were both show more very well-paced and developed. i won’t lie, vols 2 & 3 do require a comprehensive re-read on my part. i swear those chapters gave me hs history class flashbacks (more like anxiety-induced heat flashes) and a part of me was like NO THANKS. reading about all these incompetent individuals in positions of power w their priorities all out of whack making the stupidest of comments had me internally raging up a storm….

if you're looking for intense political intrigue, this is *the* book for you. but for me personally it was too reminiscent of current world affairs for me to digest w/o having an aneurysm. then again i do think my reaction is a testament to how well priest captures the pointless discussions and biased decision-making in politics so....it's me, not priest ;)

but the yearning??? ALKSJDFLAJDFLKJ A GODDAMN BUFFET distance truly makes the heart grow fonder (*insert intense yearning here*) chang geng’s yearning was done so well that ngl i almost felt a little disappointed when they officially got together. i mean his yearning doesn’t stop but it’s a whole different form of yearning, ykwim? XD their first two(?) interactions had me a little hmm… bc i felt like there was so much left unsaid btwn them but once gu yun brought up a few elephant-in-the-room points, i was fully back on board!

with regards to their relationship itself, i think it was done very tastefully. it works for numerous factors but one, gu yun is a pretty shitty at playing the fatherly role, as in he really doesn’t know how to take care of others (rather chang geng is the one always taking care of him lol). he's too busy showing off his funeral-worthy off-key dizi playing Face with tears of joy plus he can be such a brat sometimes (i say this endearingly bc i wholeheartedly simp for characters like him but also if i met someone like gu yun irl, i’d 100% have the urge to smack him a few times w a bat). ultimately the only one who can handle him is chang geng (and vice versa) so they HAVE to be together. also i liked how gu yun spent a good chunk of time adamantly refusing to consider the possibility of them being together and insisting that chang geng rethink his feelings. obv it’s not the kindest thing to discount someone’s feelings for you but if gu yun immediately dropped his things to jump into chang geng’s arms, i prolly would’ve dropped the book. instead, gu yun doesn’t develop feelings until years pass and they grow as individuals separately from each other. also chang geng is the op gong w super m tendencies who has his yifu wrapped around his little finger GU YUN DOESN’T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST MR. PRETENDS-TO-BE-DOMESTICATED THIRSTY WOLF LMAO

anyway first half of the novel had me falling in love w chang geng as a character and second half had me doing the same for gu yun (plus i shared a birthday w him this year so ofc we have that kindred connection heh)

and boy did i LOVE the main side characters!!! chen qingxu (one of the best female characters i’ve read abt in a while. soooo excited to see her in the live action adaptation!!!), liao ran (my fav mute monk who hates bathing hehe), cao chunhua (deserves the mvp award for tricking everyone thru the power of disguise), shen yi (absolute husbando material w the best bromance w gu yun), and ge chen (the cutest and very skilled mechanic/engineer w cheeks you just wanna squeeze). now i just wish we had more moments of shen yi ge chen nerding out together over new technologies.

but yeah PHEW this is a lot of thoughts coming from my smol baby brain so i'll end it here before my head combusts, but i'd like to say spl is a very worthwhile read and everyone should check it out!!! also make sure to take notes while you read, you can thank me later ;) show less

I bought [b:Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 1|62145801|Guardian Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 1|Priest|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1687960312l/62145801._SX50_.jpg|97934663] on impulse from Oxfam as I've heard of the TV show. It was really fun! All the danmei I'd previously read was MXTX xianxia, whereas this is set in modern times with supernatural happenings. It begins by introducing the Special Investigations Department of the Dragon City police using the show more point of view of Guo Changcheng, a nervous new employee. Guo Changcheng is alarmed to discover that his colleagues include ghosts, a talking cat, and a fake Buddhist monk. His boss, Zhao Yunlan, is dashing but not keen on training his newest employee. Guo Changcheng immediately gets dragged along to a gruesome murder case with supernatural involvement. During the investigation, they meet a university lecturer named Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan is immediately infatuated with him. In a refreshing contrast to danmei with utterly oblivious protagonists, Zhao Yunlan therefore asks the guy out. Shen Wei turns him down, but there still seems to be a connection between them and Shen Wei is hiding something...

This setup is great and I found the plot exciting. There's lots of action, much of it gruesome and some amusingly surreal. The presence of Guo Changcheng constantly panicking brought a pleasingly down-to-earth element to weird events. I loved Daqing the talking cat and enjoyed the mundane details of the SID team playing minesweeper and dealing stocks online when there were no supernatural crimes to be solved. The combination of technology, ghosts, and monsters was really fun. I also enjoyed the romance a lot. Although Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei are handsome, cool, and mysterious in their own ways, they're both awkward and ridiculous at times as well. Their mutual attraction is complicated by supernatural happenings; the pace of revelations of about this worked well. This book also includes the ultimate romantic fantasy scenario: someone tenderly taking care of you during an episode of the Digestive Agonies. Perhaps I think so because I finished reading vol 1 while experiencing the Digestive Agonies myself. It was a delightful read and I definitely want to track down vol 2. show less