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The Wizard - Wenn Worte töten
Der 18-Jährige Cheng Jinxi wird angeklagt, in nur einer Nacht ein Dutzend seiner Verwandten umgebracht zu haben. Während der Polizist Liang Yuanfeng alles dafür gibt, Beweise für seine Unschuld zu finden, bekennt sich Cheng Jinxi zu der Tat. Das lebenslange Haft.
Sieben Jahre später ereignen sich bizarre Mordfälle. Um diese aufzuklären, erhält Liang Yuanfeng die Genehmigung, Cheng Jinxi als Verstärkung aus dem Gefängnis zu holen. Dieser verfügt nämlich über eine besondere – allerdings auch sehr gefährliche – Gabe. Seine Macht bringt zuweilen Verzweiflung und Schmerz, doch Liang Yuanfeng glaubt an das Gute in dem jungen Mann, und so lassen auch die Gefühle nicht lange auf sich warten …
Sieben Jahre später ereignen sich bizarre Mordfälle. Um diese aufzuklären, erhält Liang Yuanfeng die Genehmigung, Cheng Jinxi als Verstärkung aus dem Gefängnis zu holen. Dieser verfügt nämlich über eine besondere – allerdings auch sehr gefährliche – Gabe. Seine Macht bringt zuweilen Verzweiflung und Schmerz, doch Liang Yuanfeng glaubt an das Gute in dem jungen Mann, und so lassen auch die Gefühle nicht lange auf sich warten …
383 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2022
23 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 13, 2025
Tokyopop’s first foray into danmei! Man, the blurb for this book is so misleading. I was expecting a paranormal mystery but the main story is a domestic slice of life with an emphasis on family and raising a kid. That’s not the kind of story I like so I was pretty bored for large chunks. The actual paranormal and murder mystery parts were neat but turned a bit silly at the end.
Romance is definitely a subplot and there’s a 7 year time skip at the beginning during which 90% of the romantic attraction is developed. So lame, *falling* in love is my favorite part of any romantic plot line and this book totally skipped over it.
Romance is definitely a subplot and there’s a 7 year time skip at the beginning during which 90% of the romantic attraction is developed. So lame, *falling* in love is my favorite part of any romantic plot line and this book totally skipped over it.
March 20, 2025
The time skip was, I feel, a poor choice, since it basically eliminated the romance plot danmei novels are known for. The mystery was interesting, though.
May 11, 2022
3.75/5 เล่มนี้สืออู่ยังคงมาพร้อมกับแนวพารานอมอลโรแมนซืเหมือนเดิม แต่เป็นคนละเซตกับพวกแก๊งค์ศาลคนกระดาษ เรื่องนี้ตัวเอกเป็นเด็กผู้ชายที่เคยก่อคดีฆาตกรรมจนต้องติดคุก ส่วนตัวเอกอีกคนเป็นตำรวจที่สงสัยมาตลอดและพยายามหาทางพิสูจน์ว่าเด็กผู้ชายคนนั้นไม่ได้ทำความผิดจริงๆ ใครชอบศาลคนกระดาษ/พวกคนสื่อวิญญาณก็น่าจะชอบเรื่องนี้เพราะมีกลิ่นอายคล้ายๆกันมาก แต่เล่มนี้ค่อนข้างจะโทนดาร์กกว่าและการดำเนินเรื่องและเฉลยยังให้ความรู้สึกว่าไม่ค่อยสมบูรณ์เท่ากับเรื่องที่ออกมาทีหลัง แต่ตัวเรื่องมีความuniqueมาก
November 16, 2024
I was promised wizardry and gay romance and crime, and I got found family HEAVY on the daughter and a timeskip so monumental, mcs were suddenly in a relationship. Wdym, 7 years later?! Thats the stage I wanted to read about. No, it's just BAM, they saw each other for 7 years every week, they deeply got to know each other, and I'm just supposed to believe it?
If you like children (!) and a happy family, read this. Otherwise, don't.
If you like children (!) and a happy family, read this. Otherwise, don't.
July 20, 2025
The Wizard is set in a nameless big city in modern China. It begins with a prologue seven years before the main story. Cheng Jinxi, 18, has confessed to killing his entire family and even though the detective in charge of the investigation, Liang Yuanfeng, can’t find any evidence of his involvement, the young man is taken to prison.
Readers learn already during the prologue, that Cheng Jinxi did indeed kill his family, and how and why he did it. He can hurt and kill people seemingly with his thought alone, which he demonstrates the first day in the prison by killing some prisoners. The director of the prison instantly realises that there’s nothing he can do to keep Cheng Jinxi confined if he doesn’t choose to stay. Fortunately for him, the young man has chosen to accept his punishment and stays, though with great liberties.
Seven years later, Liang Yuanfeng, only 32, is already burned out as a detective and on a forced leave to recuperate. Only he and his boss know that it’s because Liang Yuanfeng has resorted to vigilant justice. He’s kept in close touch with Cheng Jinxi, his only visitor in prison, and learned what the younger man can do. So he’s asked him to kill some bad people. He doesn’t regret his actions.
A great evil has taken over an apartment building and people have started to kill each other. When the building takes a special task force hostage and almost kills Liang Yuanfeng’s boss, Liang Yuanfeng is asked to bring in Cheng Jinxi to solve the problem. Liang Yuanfeng manages to negotiate a pardon for him, with himself as the younger man’s warder.
The two settle into the family home of Cheng Jinxi’s sister whose death in the hands of their extended family triggered him to killing everyone. Cheng family comes from a long line of shamans with great powers that women possess. But the family didn’t know that in their generation, it’s Cheng Jinxi who has the power, not his sister or little niece. Cheng Jinxi gets the custody of his niece, now 12, and the three become a small family.
It doesn’t take long for the two to become romantically involved, although it’s fairly one-sided, as Cheng Jinxi can’t really feel any emotions after everything he’s done. They spend their time solving supernatural crimes, and trying to come to terms with things they’ve both done. Atonement doesn’t seem possible, on top of which Cheng Jinxi has a time-stamp on him. Because it turns out, he’s not the one who’s using the power; it’s a demon to whom he’s promised himself as a sacrifice. And the demon is about to collect.
This was a good but gloomy story, with some tear-jerking moments. Liang Yuanfeng turned into a warm caretaker fairly easily for a burned-out cop, but his character remains slightly superficial. Cheng Jinxi has a deeper character and backstory, and he goes through a greater change. Theirs is not a very good romance, but it’s sweet with some tender moments. The story heads slowly but surely towards the impending doom and a happily ever after seems impossible. It takes a great twist for the small family to end up in a good place.
The writing stars as fairly good, but it deteriorates towards the end, with lots of repetition and contradictions in character actions. It didn’t really matter at that point, but it nevertheless managed to lessen the impact of the emotional climax. This is a stand-alone story, and the end is conclusive. While I liked it, it’s not among the great BL stories that’ll linger in my mind.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Readers learn already during the prologue, that Cheng Jinxi did indeed kill his family, and how and why he did it. He can hurt and kill people seemingly with his thought alone, which he demonstrates the first day in the prison by killing some prisoners. The director of the prison instantly realises that there’s nothing he can do to keep Cheng Jinxi confined if he doesn’t choose to stay. Fortunately for him, the young man has chosen to accept his punishment and stays, though with great liberties.
Seven years later, Liang Yuanfeng, only 32, is already burned out as a detective and on a forced leave to recuperate. Only he and his boss know that it’s because Liang Yuanfeng has resorted to vigilant justice. He’s kept in close touch with Cheng Jinxi, his only visitor in prison, and learned what the younger man can do. So he’s asked him to kill some bad people. He doesn’t regret his actions.
A great evil has taken over an apartment building and people have started to kill each other. When the building takes a special task force hostage and almost kills Liang Yuanfeng’s boss, Liang Yuanfeng is asked to bring in Cheng Jinxi to solve the problem. Liang Yuanfeng manages to negotiate a pardon for him, with himself as the younger man’s warder.
The two settle into the family home of Cheng Jinxi’s sister whose death in the hands of their extended family triggered him to killing everyone. Cheng family comes from a long line of shamans with great powers that women possess. But the family didn’t know that in their generation, it’s Cheng Jinxi who has the power, not his sister or little niece. Cheng Jinxi gets the custody of his niece, now 12, and the three become a small family.
It doesn’t take long for the two to become romantically involved, although it’s fairly one-sided, as Cheng Jinxi can’t really feel any emotions after everything he’s done. They spend their time solving supernatural crimes, and trying to come to terms with things they’ve both done. Atonement doesn’t seem possible, on top of which Cheng Jinxi has a time-stamp on him. Because it turns out, he’s not the one who’s using the power; it’s a demon to whom he’s promised himself as a sacrifice. And the demon is about to collect.
This was a good but gloomy story, with some tear-jerking moments. Liang Yuanfeng turned into a warm caretaker fairly easily for a burned-out cop, but his character remains slightly superficial. Cheng Jinxi has a deeper character and backstory, and he goes through a greater change. Theirs is not a very good romance, but it’s sweet with some tender moments. The story heads slowly but surely towards the impending doom and a happily ever after seems impossible. It takes a great twist for the small family to end up in a good place.
The writing stars as fairly good, but it deteriorates towards the end, with lots of repetition and contradictions in character actions. It didn’t really matter at that point, but it nevertheless managed to lessen the impact of the emotional climax. This is a stand-alone story, and the end is conclusive. While I liked it, it’s not among the great BL stories that’ll linger in my mind.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
September 25, 2025
Seven years ago Cheng Jinxi killed twelve members of his family and even though he confessed Officer Liang Yuanfeng couldn't see how this young man was responsible for these deaths, especially since Jinxi had an alibi. Convinced that Cheng Jinxi is covering for someone Yuanfeng begins to visit him in prison, made all the easier because his Uncle, Yuxin, is the head of the prison. During these seven years Yuanfeng and Jinxi become close, something beyond friendship, and when a case comes in that Yuanfeng knows only Jinxi will be able to solve he and his uncle pull some strings to get him released to Yuanfeng's custody, ending up saving numerous lives, which for Yuanfeng seems to be a drop in the bucket compared to what Jinxi has done for him.
This was so beautiful. Honestly, I thought I was getting a supernatural crime thriller and I got a wonderful story of love, grief, and redemption!
While this is most definitely a romance it's also a story of family. Both Cheng Jinxi and Liang Yuanfeng come from fractured families. But for both of them, they always had some in the corner who loved them unconditionally, however, in Jinxi's case that person was taken from him and so he becomes bitter and resentful, which is not something he fully realizes until towards the end of the book. He slowly processes this through watching the family he and Yuanfeng create with Uncle Yuxin and Jinxi's niece Yongshu. Yuanfeng goes through something similar but his malice (this term is used often in the book) stems from realizing the world is not fair, that bad people get away with bad things and even as a police officer he can't really stop it. Both of these men come from loving and supportive people and are absolutely beautiful at their core but make truly horrific decisions and this entire story is about how the people that they accepted into their lives bring them back from the brink of despair. And how they bring each other back. Their relationship is so pure and so breathtakingly loving that it was genuinely just a pleasure to read and see them grow together.
What I really loved about this though was that this *is* about family. By adding Nie Yongshu, Grandpa Yuxin (Yuanfeng's Uncle), and Wang Tielin into the story this really drives home that family is so much more than genetics. Jinxi's and Yuanfeng's relationship grows around raising their niece, who has herself dealt with some serious trauma. But it's also that they recognize that they can't do it all themselves. Uncle Wang especially is important here, but I don't think we realize how important till the end of the book (it's absolutely blatant at the end). He's simply just there for them as a friend, as a confidant, and for Yongshu he's 100% the fun uncle by the end of the book.
And yeah sure there's magic and a demon and what have you, but I think I stopped caring about that aspect halfway through, I just really needed this family to be protected at all costs.
This was so beautiful. Honestly, I thought I was getting a supernatural crime thriller and I got a wonderful story of love, grief, and redemption!
While this is most definitely a romance it's also a story of family. Both Cheng Jinxi and Liang Yuanfeng come from fractured families. But for both of them, they always had some in the corner who loved them unconditionally, however, in Jinxi's case that person was taken from him and so he becomes bitter and resentful, which is not something he fully realizes until towards the end of the book. He slowly processes this through watching the family he and Yuanfeng create with Uncle Yuxin and Jinxi's niece Yongshu. Yuanfeng goes through something similar but his malice (this term is used often in the book) stems from realizing the world is not fair, that bad people get away with bad things and even as a police officer he can't really stop it. Both of these men come from loving and supportive people and are absolutely beautiful at their core but make truly horrific decisions and this entire story is about how the people that they accepted into their lives bring them back from the brink of despair. And how they bring each other back. Their relationship is so pure and so breathtakingly loving that it was genuinely just a pleasure to read and see them grow together.
What I really loved about this though was that this *is* about family. By adding Nie Yongshu, Grandpa Yuxin (Yuanfeng's Uncle), and Wang Tielin into the story this really drives home that family is so much more than genetics. Jinxi's and Yuanfeng's relationship grows around raising their niece, who has herself dealt with some serious trauma. But it's also that they recognize that they can't do it all themselves. Uncle Wang especially is important here, but I don't think we realize how important till the end of the book (it's absolutely blatant at the end). He's simply just there for them as a friend, as a confidant, and for Yongshu he's 100% the fun uncle by the end of the book.
And yeah sure there's magic and a demon and what have you, but I think I stopped caring about that aspect halfway through, I just really needed this family to be protected at all costs.
June 14, 2025
This was a really interesting story that I think got pretty mangled by Tokyopop's subpar translation. That makes it difficult to judge properly.
By "mangled" I mean...the characters' names were misspelled multiple times. There were points where dialogue ran from one character to the next, and while it was clear it was meant to be switching between two people, it got presented as a single block of monologue. Sometimes I think the genders were written incorrectly, or the translator couldn't figure out which person was supposed to be addressed by the dialogue/description? It was just...messy.
Beyond that, the plot as a whole had a lot of potential that fell short. My main disappointment is echoed by a lot of the other reviews here, which is that the entire romance happened during a 7 year time jump.
Cheng Jinxi used his paranormal powers to kill off the entirety of his family - other than his 5 year old niece - when he was 18 years old. It turns out he was actually reported by the relatives who'd taken his niece in - his brother-in-law's older brother's wife and daughter. (So, not biologically related to the Chengs who have the "witch" ancestry, and therefore untouched by the greed that had turned them all evil.) These relatives regret their actions, as does the arresting officer, Liang Yuanfeng, who does his best to convince Cheng Jinxi to retract his confession so he doesn't spend his life in prison.
The day he enters the prison, though, Cheng Jinxi uses his mind and verbal powers to murder a particularly vile prisoner, right in front of the prison warden, who is Liang Yuanfeng's uncle and adoptive parent. When his uncle tells him about it, Liang Yuanfeng asks to see Cheng Jinxi...and then rather than seeing that apparently three hour, intense conversation that turned into a lifelong friendship and then romantic relationship, we skip 7 years to a supernatural incident that allows Liang Yuanfeng to break Cheng Jinxi out of prison.
Honestly, the whole pardon thing barely makes any sense. I get that this is a supernatural story, so certain rules get broken when people in power are desperate to have impossible incidents dealt with quietly and cleanly...but there was insufficient worldbuilding or even proof of Cheng Jinxi's powers. A police chief simply wouldn't be able to convince higher-ups to take that kind of action in a single night. It should've at least been a trial run or something, with Cheng Jinxi having to sign an agreement to keep working for the police to ensure his continued liberty...like the plot of White Collar or something, but with murders instead of art theft.
There are some attempts at showing the chemistry between the two main characters, but most of it doesn't totally work. This eventually gets explained as Cheng Jinxi having used his powers to block out Liang Yuanfeng's feelings for him while he was in prison...so not only did we miss the whole "falling in love" storyline, it actually kind of didn't exist, because Liang Yuanfeng wasn't even allowed to develop his own feelings at a natural pace.
I did like Cheng Jinxi's attachment to him, and to the little family he builds with his niece (now 12) and Liang Yuanfeng's uncle. He thinks he's lost his soul and his humanity, but as he reconnects with the world more, he realizes he'd locked many of his own feelings away, too, and that it's safe now to laugh and cry and grieve.
There are a few themes that Shi Wu is trying to weave through this story. One is the idea of family not necessarily being your blood; there are several instances of a non-blood-related relative becoming the truest family, like Liang Yuanfeng's uncle taking him in after his parents abandoned him. Another is that live and death simply aren't things you can control, and you have to let go of pure black and white thinking and just enjoy the time that you have.
Liang Yuanfeng's mentor/former boss dies in a really disappointing and kind of pointless way (there was no reason for him to have stayed upstairs with the zombie murderer to begin with), but I did find his decision to not return his soul to his damaged body interesting. He basically chose to let go because (a) dying in the line of duty would give his sister and her children a large settlement they could live on (b) living would've actually been an unnatural course of action, shoved forward by Cheng Jinxi's supernatural interference. He chose to instead accept his fate.
This decision is mirrored again with Liang Yuanfeng's uncle, whom the author's note says was originally supposed to have died, too. I liked the turmoil with Cheng Jinxi trying to find a way to save him, and ultimately deciding not to because it would mean killing another person in his place.
Cheng Jinxi's willingness to murder people for Liang Yuanfeng was simply not explored thoroughly enough. A very fascinating storyline that started to slide into some dark areas then got pulled back.
There was some deus ex machina stuff at the end, with the niece and a guardian spirit of one of the police coworkers banding together to stuff Liang Yuanfeng's spirit back in his body after he got shot by a guy Cheng Jinxi was leaving alive in hopes that he would eventually kill him...
...Again, some pretty intense and complicated stuff that got glossed over too quickly. I did like Cheng Jinxi falling apart and swearing to destroy the entire world if Liang Yuanfeng died, though.
And then we end on an open-ended note, with Shi Wu writing a happy ending for all of them but not actually wanting to commit to it...especially since Cheng Jinxi and Liang Yuanfeng will eventually both have to die, sacrificing themselves to purify the demon that Cheng Jinxi's relatives had created by murdering his witch-sister and her husband...
A very interesting story that I really wanted to like. It was worth reading, but I think not worth keeping or re-reading.
By "mangled" I mean...the characters' names were misspelled multiple times. There were points where dialogue ran from one character to the next, and while it was clear it was meant to be switching between two people, it got presented as a single block of monologue. Sometimes I think the genders were written incorrectly, or the translator couldn't figure out which person was supposed to be addressed by the dialogue/description? It was just...messy.
Beyond that, the plot as a whole had a lot of potential that fell short. My main disappointment is echoed by a lot of the other reviews here, which is that the entire romance happened during a 7 year time jump.
Cheng Jinxi used his paranormal powers to kill off the entirety of his family - other than his 5 year old niece - when he was 18 years old. It turns out he was actually reported by the relatives who'd taken his niece in - his brother-in-law's older brother's wife and daughter. (So, not biologically related to the Chengs who have the "witch" ancestry, and therefore untouched by the greed that had turned them all evil.) These relatives regret their actions, as does the arresting officer, Liang Yuanfeng, who does his best to convince Cheng Jinxi to retract his confession so he doesn't spend his life in prison.
The day he enters the prison, though, Cheng Jinxi uses his mind and verbal powers to murder a particularly vile prisoner, right in front of the prison warden, who is Liang Yuanfeng's uncle and adoptive parent. When his uncle tells him about it, Liang Yuanfeng asks to see Cheng Jinxi...and then rather than seeing that apparently three hour, intense conversation that turned into a lifelong friendship and then romantic relationship, we skip 7 years to a supernatural incident that allows Liang Yuanfeng to break Cheng Jinxi out of prison.
Honestly, the whole pardon thing barely makes any sense. I get that this is a supernatural story, so certain rules get broken when people in power are desperate to have impossible incidents dealt with quietly and cleanly...but there was insufficient worldbuilding or even proof of Cheng Jinxi's powers. A police chief simply wouldn't be able to convince higher-ups to take that kind of action in a single night. It should've at least been a trial run or something, with Cheng Jinxi having to sign an agreement to keep working for the police to ensure his continued liberty...like the plot of White Collar or something, but with murders instead of art theft.
There are some attempts at showing the chemistry between the two main characters, but most of it doesn't totally work. This eventually gets explained as Cheng Jinxi having used his powers to block out Liang Yuanfeng's feelings for him while he was in prison...so not only did we miss the whole "falling in love" storyline, it actually kind of didn't exist, because Liang Yuanfeng wasn't even allowed to develop his own feelings at a natural pace.
I did like Cheng Jinxi's attachment to him, and to the little family he builds with his niece (now 12) and Liang Yuanfeng's uncle. He thinks he's lost his soul and his humanity, but as he reconnects with the world more, he realizes he'd locked many of his own feelings away, too, and that it's safe now to laugh and cry and grieve.
There are a few themes that Shi Wu is trying to weave through this story. One is the idea of family not necessarily being your blood; there are several instances of a non-blood-related relative becoming the truest family, like Liang Yuanfeng's uncle taking him in after his parents abandoned him. Another is that live and death simply aren't things you can control, and you have to let go of pure black and white thinking and just enjoy the time that you have.
Liang Yuanfeng's mentor/former boss dies in a really disappointing and kind of pointless way (there was no reason for him to have stayed upstairs with the zombie murderer to begin with), but I did find his decision to not return his soul to his damaged body interesting. He basically chose to let go because (a) dying in the line of duty would give his sister and her children a large settlement they could live on (b) living would've actually been an unnatural course of action, shoved forward by Cheng Jinxi's supernatural interference. He chose to instead accept his fate.
This decision is mirrored again with Liang Yuanfeng's uncle, whom the author's note says was originally supposed to have died, too. I liked the turmoil with Cheng Jinxi trying to find a way to save him, and ultimately deciding not to because it would mean killing another person in his place.
Cheng Jinxi's willingness to murder people for Liang Yuanfeng was simply not explored thoroughly enough. A very fascinating storyline that started to slide into some dark areas then got pulled back.
There was some deus ex machina stuff at the end, with the niece and a guardian spirit of one of the police coworkers banding together to stuff Liang Yuanfeng's spirit back in his body after he got shot by a guy Cheng Jinxi was leaving alive in hopes that he would eventually kill him...
...Again, some pretty intense and complicated stuff that got glossed over too quickly. I did like Cheng Jinxi falling apart and swearing to destroy the entire world if Liang Yuanfeng died, though.
And then we end on an open-ended note, with Shi Wu writing a happy ending for all of them but not actually wanting to commit to it...especially since Cheng Jinxi and Liang Yuanfeng will eventually both have to die, sacrificing themselves to purify the demon that Cheng Jinxi's relatives had created by murdering his witch-sister and her husband...
A very interesting story that I really wanted to like. It was worth reading, but I think not worth keeping or re-reading.
January 9, 2021
3 - 3.5 stars. Good enough.
With a unique plot and many emotional scenes, for me, this is a riveting read.
Note: The book title in Thai is "The Wizard ฆาตกรรมต้องมนตร์".
With a unique plot and many emotional scenes, for me, this is a riveting read.
Note: The book title in Thai is "The Wizard ฆาตกรรมต้องมนตร์".
November 28, 2025
OMG! This was the worst book I read in 2025. I thought it would be Prince Harry’s memoir because that was boring and there was so much potential.
“The Wizard” was a slog. I started this book three months ago in September. I just finished it in November. In that time, I read 46 other books!! (It was all manga and one light novel, but still. 46 other books and then some that I actually enjoyed.)
I finished this book because if I’m going to bash something I want to have experienced it completely and since it was a library book it didn’t hurt me to finish. I would have been furious if I bought this.
I read a lot of TokyoPop - LoveLove books. I enjoy their manga and the end of 2025 and 2026 looks like they’re getting some really good titles. So I’m aware of their catalog and get their publishing updates on social media. When they posted about “The Wizard” I was curious. TokyoPop is trying to get into danmei and this was their first foray. It was a floptina, floppity, flop flop.
I usually read danmei books from SevenSeas. I’m new to this but I’ve liked the books I’ve read from SevenSeas (tgcf, mdzs, guardian and peerless). But I understand that more danmei in English publishers are a good thing.
I don’t fault TokyoPop for trying to enter the space but whoever chose this title for license either has no taste or didn’t read the book at all. It sounded interesting on the blurb/back cover description. That’s not what the book is about. It’s a super slow family story. The family story is so boring. No descriptions of the people, the spaces they’re in, or their world.
This is supposed to be a world with witches and wizards, guardian spirits and demons. Is that described - no. We’re told about it and told so late in the story you won’t care. The chapters are way too long (that might be a formatting issue since I read it digitally and the layout, text size made the book super long). Information came so late in the story. We spent too much time with the uncle and the niece at the expense of the main characters.
We never get to see the main characters fall in love with each other. I understand the censorship issue regarding gay/lesbian/queer relationships but we got nothing. The main character gets out of jail next thing we know they’re kissing and it comes out of nowhere because I know they’re supposed to be together because it’s a danmei (maybe) but in the story we don’t have any lead up.
The story starts with the main character going to jail then the story time jumps seven years. Nothing was established!! Massive mistake and it just went off the rails from there. There was no strong villain to work against, there was no clock or action pulling the story along so it just meandered from family situation to family situation. I don’t care about the niece and her cousin shopping for presents in this story! Malice in this story was vague at best and the demons came into the story at the last possible minute, but again not well described. It was like ok, stuff is just happening.
The story should’ve been about the murder of Cheng Jinxi’s sister and her husband. The world of magic is revealed and Jinxi and Yuanfeng, the cop, solve the crime and fall in love along the way. Jenxi also should have been aged up to college age instead of high school not that it made that big a deal since his relationship wasn’t described. Nothing wrong with older people, so it makes sense when him and the cop get together. The uncle, niece and other side characters could slot in from there. I thought that was what the story was going to be, but it wasn’t.
Skip this book. TokyoPop there’s got to be other danmei authors out there!
“The Wizard” was a slog. I started this book three months ago in September. I just finished it in November. In that time, I read 46 other books!! (It was all manga and one light novel, but still. 46 other books and then some that I actually enjoyed.)
I finished this book because if I’m going to bash something I want to have experienced it completely and since it was a library book it didn’t hurt me to finish. I would have been furious if I bought this.
I read a lot of TokyoPop - LoveLove books. I enjoy their manga and the end of 2025 and 2026 looks like they’re getting some really good titles. So I’m aware of their catalog and get their publishing updates on social media. When they posted about “The Wizard” I was curious. TokyoPop is trying to get into danmei and this was their first foray. It was a floptina, floppity, flop flop.
I usually read danmei books from SevenSeas. I’m new to this but I’ve liked the books I’ve read from SevenSeas (tgcf, mdzs, guardian and peerless). But I understand that more danmei in English publishers are a good thing.
I don’t fault TokyoPop for trying to enter the space but whoever chose this title for license either has no taste or didn’t read the book at all. It sounded interesting on the blurb/back cover description. That’s not what the book is about. It’s a super slow family story. The family story is so boring. No descriptions of the people, the spaces they’re in, or their world.
This is supposed to be a world with witches and wizards, guardian spirits and demons. Is that described - no. We’re told about it and told so late in the story you won’t care. The chapters are way too long (that might be a formatting issue since I read it digitally and the layout, text size made the book super long). Information came so late in the story. We spent too much time with the uncle and the niece at the expense of the main characters.
We never get to see the main characters fall in love with each other. I understand the censorship issue regarding gay/lesbian/queer relationships but we got nothing. The main character gets out of jail next thing we know they’re kissing and it comes out of nowhere because I know they’re supposed to be together because it’s a danmei (maybe) but in the story we don’t have any lead up.
The story starts with the main character going to jail then the story time jumps seven years. Nothing was established!! Massive mistake and it just went off the rails from there. There was no strong villain to work against, there was no clock or action pulling the story along so it just meandered from family situation to family situation. I don’t care about the niece and her cousin shopping for presents in this story! Malice in this story was vague at best and the demons came into the story at the last possible minute, but again not well described. It was like ok, stuff is just happening.
The story should’ve been about the murder of Cheng Jinxi’s sister and her husband. The world of magic is revealed and Jinxi and Yuanfeng, the cop, solve the crime and fall in love along the way. Jenxi also should have been aged up to college age instead of high school not that it made that big a deal since his relationship wasn’t described. Nothing wrong with older people, so it makes sense when him and the cop get together. The uncle, niece and other side characters could slot in from there. I thought that was what the story was going to be, but it wasn’t.
Skip this book. TokyoPop there’s got to be other danmei authors out there!
September 2, 2025
Plot and characters were so-so, but if you consider the blurb, it feels terribly disappointing. I'd thought it had more to do with magic and crime but we don't get much of it. We don't even get much of a love story as, other reviewers have also mentioned, we start with a timeskip and much of the development already happened. The only thing that took place was the relationship being established firmly as partners. The whole magic aspect was also not very fleshed out, it made me wonder if there was some cultural context I should've known beforehand or if a character-focused novel was the goal all along.
It does not help that the translation was poor. Or the editing. Or both. The gender of somethings were confused, and the usage of last name only vs last+first name was not consistent. The use of "in-laws" too-- it was inconsistent or they did away with it when they can making the whole thing more confusing. The most damning one was in the climax where . When I went to check the credits page and tried to find the translator... well. Let's just say I was not surprised. And it made me wonder if the translator even knew Chinese all along or did they translate it from German to English?
It's such a shame too because I WANTED to like Tokyopop's first venture to danmei. I wanted to like this original BL that was supposed to have come from Taiwan, not the mainland. The story, on its own, well, it's not so bad but nothing to write home about, but the translation they did a piss poor job of it.
It does not help that the translation was poor. Or the editing. Or both. The gender of somethings were confused, and the usage of last name only vs last+first name was not consistent. The use of "in-laws" too-- it was inconsistent or they did away with it when they can making the whole thing more confusing. The most damning one was in the climax where . When I went to check the credits page and tried to find the translator... well. Let's just say I was not surprised. And it made me wonder if the translator even knew Chinese all along or did they translate it from German to English?
It's such a shame too because I WANTED to like Tokyopop's first venture to danmei. I wanted to like this original BL that was supposed to have come from Taiwan, not the mainland. The story, on its own, well, it's not so bad but nothing to write home about, but the translation they did a piss poor job of it.
July 29, 2025
Uhhh.... Okay? I like how things wrap up at the end, but the whole story feels... Unconvincing. Not the stuff about wizards, witches, demons, or even how everyone the main characters know is just so accepting to them being together... but legal procedures and details, to begin with. How come all these years nobody said a thing about Yuanfeng freely visiting Jinxi in prison? I know Yuanfeng's uncle is the warden, but then why does nobody ever question this power abuse? How come the corps just let Yuanfeng does whatever instead of... truly working? He's guarding Jinxi, ok, but the corps letting an emotionally attached person do the job?
The writer made things way too easy for the two of them to be together. But what's worse is that I don't even understand how and why Yuanfeng fell in love with Jinxi, so I don't get emotionally invested in them as a pair. The writer should have delved into it more. The translation didn't help either, with so many confusing sentences and confused subjects. My overall impression of this book is... Flat.
The writer made things way too easy for the two of them to be together. But what's worse is that I don't even understand how and why Yuanfeng fell in love with Jinxi, so I don't get emotionally invested in them as a pair. The writer should have delved into it more. The translation didn't help either, with so many confusing sentences and confused subjects. My overall impression of this book is... Flat.
April 26, 2025
The Wizard was a book that, on the surface, sounded like a good fit for me with its mix of BL and supernatural/paranormal themes. However, while I liked the idea, I found the writing really problematic. The prose wasn't good and we were asked to deal with a time jump of seven years during which the main two characters happened to fall in love completely off the page. It was hard for me to get any real sense of their relationship, and the focus of the book was also bizarrely on a young girl and family rather than the romance or even Jin Xi Cheng's powers. I couldn't buy into the BL elements, nor could I really get into the story due to the problems with the writing. I am therefore giving this 2.5 stars. It was definitely a nice plot idea, but I found the presentation of the story and relationships too problematic to get any enjoyment out of reading it.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
June 19, 2025
While there were things in this book I would have preferred to see more fleshed-out, additional build-up I'd have wanted, I actually really enjoyed this a lot. Seeing the way that one of them had the attitude of "I can't fix you and I don't want to but I can take the fall for you and your sins for the rest of our lives" and the other continuously responded to this with "knock that shit off, I want to be with you but I refuse to have a relationship based around your guilt and responsibility" was actually really refreshing. I did also enjoy the little family unit that developed in this story. Again, I wanted there to be more and I wanted what we have to be better fleshed-out, but this is honestly really good and I'm glad I gave it a chance!
July 9, 2025
I really liked this but there is something that made it feel like you never really got to connect to the characters. It was almost like viewing them through a glass. The story was interesting and at times the philosophy and magic reminded me of Guardian by Priest. The best bit is the family that is created and that domestic contentment is the thing that gave it 4 stars to me.
I will say there are issues with the translation and more typos than I am used to in books. There are places where editing was needed as the wrong name is used, or where you can't tell who is doing what. There also are some internal consistency issues (like the time of year/weather), but just roll with it.
I will say there are issues with the translation and more typos than I am used to in books. There are places where editing was needed as the wrong name is used, or where you can't tell who is doing what. There also are some internal consistency issues (like the time of year/weather), but just roll with it.
June 20, 2022
Ban đầu tác giả viết khá chắc tay. Các chi tiết linh dị và hành động được đan xen chặt chẽ, không hề gây nhàm chán. Tuy nhiên nửa sau khi tập trung vào mối quan hệ tình cảm của 2 nhân vật chính thì dường như sự chắc tay kia cũng không cánh mà bay.
Các tình tiết, diễn biến tâm lí của nhân vật đi rất chậm và lặp lại nhiều, không có mấy chuyển biến. Các chi tiết linh dị cũng không còn xuất hiện nữa (chỉ đến đoạn kết mới có lại)
Lời của tác giả cuối truyện cũng có ghi là đã bỏ viết bộ này một thời gian, có lẽ đó là lí do nội dung truyện theo cá nhân mình là đầu voi đuôi chuột
Các tình tiết, diễn biến tâm lí của nhân vật đi rất chậm và lặp lại nhiều, không có mấy chuyển biến. Các chi tiết linh dị cũng không còn xuất hiện nữa (chỉ đến đoạn kết mới có lại)
Lời của tác giả cuối truyện cũng có ghi là đã bỏ viết bộ này một thời gian, có lẽ đó là lí do nội dung truyện theo cá nhân mình là đầu voi đuôi chuột
February 4, 2025
Es ist vielleicht kein literarisches Meisterwerk, aber ich habe das Buch in weniger als 2 Tagen gebingt und konnte es nicht aus der Hand legen - ich hatte Spaß und darauf kommt es doch an! Es hat mich emotional berührt, die Charaktere waren unique und gut ausgeführt.
(Das einzige was gefehlt hat war eine smut Szene leider 🙃)
(Das einzige was gefehlt hat war eine smut Szene leider 🙃)
July 8, 2025
Perhaps it's because this is my first Taiwanese BL novel......but this was.....a hot mess?
Plot was disorganized and the characters didn't get a chance to develop. I genuinely have NO clue what the plot was. Or what the point of the novel is? There is so much more that was needed from this and it just didn't deliver.
Plot was disorganized and the characters didn't get a chance to develop. I genuinely have NO clue what the plot was. Or what the point of the novel is? There is so much more that was needed from this and it just didn't deliver.
March 13, 2023
งงความ vvip ที่จิ่นซีได้รับในตอนต้นเล่ม มันจะมีความ 'อย่างนี้ก็ได้เหรอ' อยู่ในหัวตลอดเวลา แล้วก็ความสัมพันธ์ไร้ที่มาที่ไประหว่างหย่วนเฟิงกับจิ่นซีด้วย (แต่เอาจริงๆ งานสืออู่ก็เป็นแนวๆ รู้ตัวอีกทีเขาก็รักกันแล้ว)
เล่มนี้น่าจะดาร์กสุดในบรรดางานของสืออู่ที่ได้อ่านมาแล้วแหละ
เล่มนี้น่าจะดาร์กสุดในบรรดางานของสืออู่ที่ได้อ่านมาแล้วแหละ
December 31, 2023
ผิดคาดจากที่คิดไปหน่อยไม่คิดว่าจะมาแนวปรัชญาแบบนี้ ไม่ชอบพระเอก ง๊องแง๊งมาก แต่จบแนวๆนี้ถึงจะฟีลกู้ดไปหน่อยก็โอเคกว่าจบแบบแฮปปี้100% แหละ 555 เป็น 39฿ ที่อ่านแล้วไม่ติดขัดอะไร จริงๆเปิดเรื่องมาน่าสนใจ แต่คิดว่าจะเข้มข้นกว่านี้
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2025
it was ok
Read
August 19, 2025i tried really hard to like this book but it just wasn’t clicking with me
September 23, 2025
This was a great thriller. It does fall under BL or gay but it was not the major part of the story. The major part was about dealing with morality and trama. It also has a great found family.
October 15, 2025
mua có 40k nguyên seal mà chất lượng (nội dung) nhận lại quá ư là ổn áp
July 21, 2025
the summary is a bit misleading, it really only describes the first chapter . this book is more slice of life with a little supernatural mixed in
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