Reviews with content warning for Death - 无羁

I was first introduced to this story through Tumblr. First I saw some fanworks for the TV adaption The Untamed. Some research led me to the initial English translation online, which no longer existed at my time of finding. That quickly led me to the ‘official’ English translation published by Seven Seas. Because the workers of Seven Seas were striking at the time, I ended up buying my copy secondhand.

Despite all these hurdles, I was pretty excited about the book. The series had a huge following on Tumblr, and, for some reason, my brain interpreted this as a sign of quality. After my brief time watching Supernatural, I should have known better.

It wasn’t a terrible book. Aside from some cultural differences and some overt homoerotic moments, it was a pretty standard adventure story. I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. Honestly, if I hadn’t gotten my expectations up so high, I might have liked it better.

If you like it, great. I’m happy for you. If you are interested in reading, try going in blind. But I would say don’t expect anything fantastic.

Sorry.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/10

Content Warnings

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Pretty solid start for a series. There's a huge cast of characters who have various forms of address so it can be difficult to keep track of everything in the beginning.

The dynamic between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji is hard to describe of only because you don't know the whole history they have yet, nor where it will go in the future. So far, one is basically a class clown/jock type while the other is a stoic nerd type and I'm having a great time with it.

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aexileigh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny informative lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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graceskate's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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r1vana's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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aromarrie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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drtx_bwt's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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justkyliep's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This translation is not especially good, but it doesn't totally destroy the tone. I would recommend seeking out a fan-translation if you want more faithful language. Personally, I think reading a couple chapters from the (now incomplete) ExR fan-translation and then swapping to the 7S translation for the rest is a good balance of accuracy and accessibility. I hope to see a better translation of this novel one day.

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