Being a "cleverer" sociopath than the other sociopaths around you makes you neither sympathetic nor interesting.

Although some may make the moral relativist argument that the protagonist's actions are somehow justified by the setting of the story, the fact that Shen Yi Di Nu has no compelling narrative or character arcs leaves me wondering, "Why waste your time?"

... Last updated on March 9th, 2021, 7:37am

It has its ups and downs, from what the other reviewers have said. It can be really good but it can also be confusing or depraved. I overall enjoyed reading this. Tbh, most stories like these are a guilty pleasure of mine, i kind of just shut my brain off and enjoy the revenge plots. If you have a high moral compass you most likely won’t like it. I also just treat this as fiction and laugh at the parts where the MC ruthlessly gets revenge on her past tormentors.

This story has never really heard of thing like “if you bully a bully you’re just stooping down to their level,” and mainly goes for “if you’re not my friend you’re my enemy,” and “revenge is a dish best served cold.” This is just a revenge romp set in ancient China where you should turn off your brain. Cause ancient China was fcked up.(and about the misogyny point many reviewers made, it was set in ancient China, and they literally used male actors for women characters just to keep women out of power. They rather had gay plays and stories than women XD let that sink in. Especially since they’re censoring so much gay stuff these days lol)

The main character was legit about to be killed/sold to a brothel the moment she reincarnated, so it would make sense that she would become ruthless as the plots against her become more cruel. Luckily everybody is stupider than her. It also still keeps in the point that she was from the future with better medical knowledge(which a lot of reincarnation stories forget about after awhile). She also always only used rape as a tactic when they tried to use it against her.(like the time they tried to use aphrodisiac on her and burn her alive, but she got revenge but putting it in Chenyu’s room with her brother(think that’s what happened, been a long time since I read that part))

Just me trying to give this story some credit since everybody else has not like it in the reviews ^^;;

I try not to think too hard on the age gap between the male lead and the MC... just be glad it’s only fictional and cry that this was okay back in ancient China...

1) There are no “Good Guys” or “Bad Guys” in this story. There are only those who like or love the MC, those who oppose her, and those who are her easily manipulated puppets.

2) The objectification & dehumanization of women and/or commoners is Prevalent. This inequality is even maliciously relished in as a tool to humiliate & bring down MC’s detractors.

3) Rape and sexual assault is normalized.

It’s only recognized as something terrible bc a woman loses her value as a political bargaining piece if she’s “impure” or some sh**. The rapist is never at fault, & only punished if the woman he “defiled” was particularly useful chip. Otherwise — a slap on the wrist.

Some (not all) rape examples include:


4) MC uses rape is a revenge tactic. Frequently. Not just once or twice. It’s portrayed as a comedic, just-desserts thing. “Haha, MC is so smart! She orchestrated a plan to get this or that woman raped and it worked!! B**ch deserved it!”

5) MC is cunning and respectably intelligent, but she constantly relies on her fiancé to get the final word in. Just know that without his power/influence as a favored prince, her story would be VERY different. (She’d probably be dead several times over.)

6) #5 is supposed to be romantic and relationship building. It’s probably their only bonding activity, rlly, bc their relationship & Love for each other comes out of nowhere. Just pops into existence, to the MC’s benefit.

Their fave bonding activity is him swooping in to ask who’s bullying “His Hengheng” & usually brutally punishing them. Very sweet. They cuddle as someone is being killed or maimed.

He finds it adorable when she’s plotting someone’s social/physical demise & showing she’s a worthy match for him. Very cute & lovably merciless, he thinks.

7) Oh! And let’s not forget. He’s a grown man. She is 12, maybe 13. Digest that for a sec. Absorb it. Understand what that means for the rest of the points I’ve brought up thus far.

8) All the worst parts of misogynistic, ancient Confucian doctrines are normalized. It’s one thing to portray a historical (FANTASY) setting accurate to the past of real life China, but the author has gone all in. They portray it all like there’s nothing wrong with any of it.

The only things that are “wrong” are the aspects that trouble the MC, and even that disapproval is momentary. Like, rape is only unacceptable when it’s being attempted on MC. And, again, women are chess pieces, pretty trophies, and obedient servants — this is cool. None of this is objectionable. Psychology and trauma don’t exist outside of MC’s manipulations. Oppression doesn’t exist; people are fiiine being treated like trash. Or at least the MC is fine, and that’s all that matters, right? It’s just. Mmmgh.

If there was even a hint of moral awareness, a hint of “wow, that was kind of cruel of MC” or “MC isn’t a good person either” or guilt/remorse from the MC, I’d still read on. But it’s absent. The MC’s actions of revenge/comeuppance are portrayed as wholly justified & reasonable, & the subservience of women to men is not frustrating or limiting at all.

2/10 would Not rec to a friend. Art was pretty, imo, & the character designs for the main couple are beautiful. The content is just. Not worth.

... Last updated on August 27th, 2019, 11:23am

Story starts off strong even if it’s a bit cliche. The only issues I have with it is that I feel like the story glosses over important parts yet draws out minor info. Like a lot has happened yet there are no real highlights to the story.
I thought the main storyline was about the main character’s revenge and love life yet nothing has progressed with either. She keeps helping her revenge targets saying it’s so she can get revenge later but 200 chapters in and she still hasn’t done anything!! Also the scenes with her future hubby are cute but so short and with little depth.
Although I said a lot of negative things, it’s not terrible and I will continue to read this

(P.s. I still can’t tell if her grandmother is good or bad. One minute she supports & cares about the mc and then the next she’s cutting off all ties with her)

This starts off fairly strongly. The main characters are interesting and its a fun read. But as other reviews mention everything goes to shit in chapter fifty. The pacing had been a bit rocky but you could at least follow it. However after Chapter 50 all bets are off. The art degrades to the point where it feels like a different artist and if you're lucky one page might be in some way related to the previous one but often they simply aren't. Characters, that based on context are important and established, appear from literally nowhere and often disappear as quickly. The story itself, what can be made out of it, also takes a big hit. The main characters "revenge" switches from vicious to simply depraved. She drugs one of her pregnant enemies, arranges to have her gang raped, then visits her the next morning and taunts her into having a miscarriage before walking out leaving her bleeding on the floor. Have to say that was it for me. Evil main characters can be interesting and even entertaining. But some things are simply too repellent. Oh not to mention that was the third female character she had tricked/maneuvered into getting raped. It really is complete garbage all around.

... Last updated on June 3rd, 2019, 6:44pm

This is coming from someone who hasn't even read the novel. I'm going to read it now though, cause if it could make such a crappy manhua so engaging, then it's original source must be amazing.

Yes, the story, or however much you can glimpse between the nonsensical paneling, was a total blast to read. The characters were fun, the face slapping was cathartic, and the future looked bright. Then around chapter 50 everything went to shit. The panels weren't even pretending to be connected, the pacing became even more abysmal, and there were baffling art mistakes. When four random girls popped up and acted like they were close friends with the heroine, even though it was the first time we've heard or seen of them, I knew it was time to give up.

Tl;dr Skip the comic, read the novel. Even a daunting 1200+ chapters is more bearable than this confusing mess.

There’s a lot to say about this comic. I can only say that you have better chances of understanding it here
https://springraintranslations.wordpress.com/sydn/
After certain scenes that made absolutely NO sense because the artist is clearly good at illustrations more than they are at making a comic, the transitions are a total mess. Certainly what is failing here is that this is an independent comic that has no supervision, meaning it’s being thrown out without review. They either don’t have an editor to help with that kind of thing, or the editor just sucks.
I recommend it for certain chapters, but over all don’t read the comic. Read the novel.

... Last updated on January 5th, 2019, 7:51pm

Interesting thou not particularly original, I've read 2 (edit: more like 20) other manhua/manhwa that could be said to be pretty much the same thing, very similar story, still this one is among the best so far. Main char is very interesting and quite ruthless, a bit too much at times, like ruining a whole family because she's pissed off by one of their daughters. Story is the typical "transported to another world or age at death", our MC is something like an army doctor or something like that and has access to an endless supply of modern medicine... (that part I actually hate and find completely unneeded) so you can imagine the impact she might have in an ancient chinese type of setting.
My main gripe with this one is the pace, its just too fast and is skipping things all the time, there is little transition from one scene to another and that ruins the char development and story progression to some extent. I would like to read the novel, pity it hasn't been translated.
Also, after quite a few chapters the story is still going on about the same things and same characters, the lack of a semi-competent opponent and general development is pulling this down, considering the fast pace you can see the recycling of the same ideas.
So far, definitely a good series but I prefer Peerless Alchemist which is very very similar.

Edit: unfortunately and as it all too common with this kind of story, it starts to rail off after 100-150 or so chapters, as others say above, she gets too ruthless at times and, what I find worse, she just manages to win almost every argument or change any person's mind with just a few words, yeah, she's smart at times but most of the times everyone is just too stupid. As for the rape and female standing in society, I certainly don't like it but the story is not set in modern times, it should not be judged by modern morals nor standards.
alsoMight not like that either but being ruthless is a big difference from being depraved.
It's still fun at times but at this juncture (300 ch) it's a mediocre story, the MC's moral compass keeps getting worse and the story still advances slowly. changed rating 7 > 6.

Edit 2: Continuing the downhill, after 400-500 chapters the author just starts to add crap to the story, the space from where she could only pull things out from becomes a room, then a building, and it has all sorts of things that make no sense, and the author starts using this power to teleport the MC, bring guns to the story and crap like that and the story went to the dumpster to be honest. When authors take those shortcuts I have yet to find a story that doesn't derail and becomes boring, bad, or whatever you want to call it. It might have been different if the power was explained and consistent all the time but it's just a magician's hat at this point. 6 > 5

... Last updated on September 26th, 2023, 6:23am