Finished heaven officialās blessing and I really enjoyed writing an analysis on helluva boss I want to make this a regular thing because itās fun so hereās my thoughts on
Heaven Officialās Blessing
I think itās incredibly impressive when someone can make an overarching narrative in which different seemingly disjointed events are significant without A) putting a giant exclamation mark on top saying āREMEMBER THIS IT WILL BE IMPORTANT LATERā and B) Significantly over or under emphasizing the importance of the scene in the moment. Each event stood on its own and I liked that.
There were several janky sentences and word choices but thatās a translation issue, this writer clearly knows what sheās doing.
Characters were a lot of fun and distinct, my favorites were Feng Xin, Pei Ming, Qi Ying, and Ling Wen whenever they were on the page I was like Ah yes, these pages are gonna be enjoyable and I was right, theyāre all delightful (cept the brocade immortal stuff, but like I donāt care, Google assistant is fun) Xie Lian and San Lang are delightful, love them, and San Lang is so effed in the head itās enjoyable to try and imagine what unhinged thing heāll do next
Tbh there isnāt much plot breakdown I want to do with this series because it knows what it is, itās a fanfic ass book with good times, trauma, gay fluff, and fights. Need I say more? Thatās not a detractor, itās a strength. Be what you are and own it because a house with a houseās foundation is a great house but slap a building on that houseās foundation and it fails in both regards.
The only aspect Iām going to analyze is the narrative voice the books are written in because holy crap is it super impressive. Xie Lian is a super mature (or ditzy, depending on your point of view) character, he doesnāt dwell on things, doesnāt hold grudges, doesnāt really care that much about peopleās histories or even their present, doesnāt focus much on externals and it comes through in the way the book is written. I noticed this when throughout the books San Lang would do fucked up stuff like make it rain blood and kill a pitās worth of people and Xie Lian kinda didnāt really seem to care and at first it pissed me off, why isnāt the author letting consequences occur because of these peoplesā actions, but then as it held consistently throughout the book and other people kept being super concerned about stuff, like Pei Constantly asking after Shi Qingxuan (I donāt know how to spell their name, itās so hard to keep track Iām so sorry) or people bringing up Banue, I realized this is just Xie Lian, other people in the book are regular people like me, this one guy is just experiencing things, going āWell, aināt that somethingā and then just moving on. Honestly iconic, but also I was halfway through book six when I realized. Especially since whenever they do flashbacks Xie Lian does all normal stuff. He describes settings heās in, he mentions events that happened a few pages ago, he tells the reader how he feels, itās after he experiences all his shit he goes through that this all kinda slips away. In āpresentā scenes heāll reference things as they come up but like in the flashback after Mu Qing leaves they talk about it a few times and I find that aspect of acknowledgment to be noticeably absent in the āpresentā scenes. After the black water arc there is a complete lack of discussion about the frankly trauma inducing event that just transpired but sure Cie Lian, you and San Lang have to not hold hands for the billionth time. At first I thought is this author high but then I realized what shes doing is characterizing through prose which is IMPRESSIVE AS HELL. This may be a point I noticed and am now misremembering the entire series just to bolster my take and if thatās the case then I shall sheepishly shrug and say Iām sorry. Iām not rereading 8 books to write a tumblr review. Maybe if I ever start a YouTube channel
I donāt know, I just find it to be an incredible feat of actually good writing when a story is being told through the lens of the main character and you can characterize that character by simply reading the story and seeing how itās written, not even through dialogue and action. Itās kinda like the Great Gatsby or a Separate Peace, and itās super cool that a book like this can accomplish the same thing that makes those classics great. There isnāt as much symbolism or analytical potential but those books wouldnāt be nearly as impactful as they were without great execution, which this book pulled off in spades.