Reviews

Lost You Forever by Tong Hua

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What an epic story!
I started reading this book after the drama was aired and what a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Admittedly, I feel like my reading experience was fabulous because I did love the drama so much, the characters all delivered their performances of their respective roles so well. I love all the characters; everyone has layers and feel so real. I root for Jing to end up with Xiao Yao but Zhuan Xu and especially Xiang Liu both have special places in my heart. Especially Xiang Lu. He can be toxic but my heart aches that only that bird guy knows about all he does for Xiao Yao and Jing so they get their happy ever after. All in all, a very great story to lost yourself in.

swe_m's review

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4.0

I can’t believe I finished this book in three days. Actually since I already watched season 1 of this book. I skipped lots of chapters in between. There is almost no change between the adaptation and the book.
The Ending; is kinda what I’ve expected but still something that I did not wish for. Since we all have preferences and opinions, some people(or most) will perceive this as a happy ending. But, sadly, not for me.
I bawled my eyes out during the epilogue. I was still holding on until the last chapter but the epilogue took me out.
I know that this ending is the most realistic, beautiful and the best for all the characters. But, i wish the book has a couple more chapters and a different ending. What can I do..I just loved Xiang Liu and Zuan Xu more than Xiao Yao.

skys's review

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was better than the previous book. I fully enjoyed the direction it went and the plot points to get there. The story had more elements in it, and makes more sense. The plot is very elaborate, there is a lot of events going on, but it is not developed to full potential. Get a little bit of romance, politics, family struggle but it doesn't dive into any specific conflict. There is not enough strategy written in; the characters just solves the problem. I would have like to see the characters demonstrate their cleverness more. For Zhuan Xu, he had a very big climb to the top but readers don't actually see all the strategy, schemes and relationships he utilized to get there. It was disappointing because the journey seems epic to go against all odds.

Despite the shortcoming, I enjoyed the story as a whole.

waiehse's review

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rebeccazh's review

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4.0

3.5 stars. I binged Lost You Forever on Netflix over the weekend and I was intrigued by how the female lead was strong till the end of the season, and the romance is quite 'equally divided' among the three male leads without the quality of the show suffering (usually cdramas are pretty bad at both). I then picked this up because I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this is the same author as The Time Never Back, which was such a great character-driven coming-of-age high school story that was really nostalgic.

Koala translated this online and their translation is pretty good. Their commentary also added depth to the story. I started around chapter 30/31 which is where the Netflix drama stops. The story is divided into three volumes. Volume 1 is on Xiaoyao's past, volume 2 is on Cangxuan's rise to power (he's called Zhuan Xu in the novel for some reason), Volume 3 is on Xiaoyao's true heritage and more political machinations. In the novel, it's much more clear who she'll end up with from the beginning. Tbh I liked the actor for Cangxuan but I just can't see him in a romantic relationship with Xiaoyao. They seem better as 'family who chooses each other over everyone else'. Xiang Liu though. Tan Jianci is a fantastic choice.

Anyway, Tong Hua writes well and her stories come off a bit more mature than many other webnovels I've read. The story is a good length and she doesn't drag it out, and I loved the character growth Xiaoyao goes through. It was very rewarding when she acknowledged that her relationship with Tushan Jing was so messed up because she never fought for it. She was so afraid of losing people that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The three male leads also have consistent characterizations and each undergo their own change and growth. I love character-driven stories and loved this.

So sad about Xiang Liu tbh...

sahibooknerd's review

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5.0

Lost You Forever was a drama that I didn’t think I wanted to watch because I had heard it was gonna be very angsty. Also one female lead with four guys seemed like a perfect recipe for heartbreak. But I kept seeing clips and highlights about it all across my socials and couldn’t resist, instantly falling in love with the drama. After almost coming closer towards the end of season 1, I found the completed fan translation of the book and just had to binge read it every second of free time I had, because who knows when the second season will air.

And wow was the book absolutely brilliant. It’s been a while since I’ve read a new cnovel, so it was exciting to dive into it. Also, I like going into these books after watching a bit of the drama, because I like visualizing the actors while reading and it was such a wonderful experience here. The writing and translation were great, with amazing dramatic moments, so much emotion throughout, complicated relationship dynamics, and overall a very heart wrenching story. I didn’t know that there was a prequel book with the previous generation as the main characters and I loved that the translator gave enough background (and sometimes even some important scenes from the prequel), so that we could understand the stakes of the current characters better. It made for an even more meaningful read and I really appreciated getting the little details which aren’t necessarily in the drama adaptation.

But the heart of this book are the characters. The author is clearly very talented at creating an ensemble of characters, every one of whom is impressive and unique in their own ways, making the reader unable to pick our favorites. I obviously went into the book with already my favs in mind coz of the drama and that didn’t change much as the book progressed deeper. I definitely appreciated Xiaoyao much more because all she wants is a simple happy life with the man she loves and she has to suffer so much to get there. Tushan Jing is definitely not in my top 3 but I can totally see how he is the one and only for Xiaoyao. Feng Long is a lot of fun to follow along, so I didn’t actually predict the way his character arc would develop.

Ultimately though, my heart is swayed by the stunningly written characters of Zhuan Xu (Cang Xuan in the drama) and Xiang Lu. They both look cold and keep their feelings buried deep in their hearts, but the lengths to which they’ll go for the sake of their loved ones is beautiful as well as heartbreaking. For the most part of the book, I absolutely adored the relationship between Xiaoyao and Xuan, and how much they were devoted to each other. While I did like Xiang Lu’s character and imagining Tan Jianci playing him in the drama is amazing, I completely fell in love with him towards the latter half of the story, and I can’t wait to see all that angst on screen in season 2 and bawl my eyes out.

On the whole, I really didn’t think this would become a favorite but now I can’t imagine not having experienced this brilliant story. It has an interesting world, very captivating storyline of fighting for your love in various ways, and characters to die for and who are utterly unforgettable. I’m gonna remember this story for a long time to come and let’s see, maybe I will checkout if I can find any other translations of this author’s works.