I'm actually inclined to give it 5 stars, but I guess I'll go with 4...and only because I wish we could've gotten more of the main couple together towards the end. They needed more screen time...page time?

Heavy Sweetness Ash-Like Frost is one of those few c-novels that's translated by fans. YAY for fan translations! Those people are awesome! Hurray to them! One can read it here:

Chapter 8-Final +epilogues Final epilogue

The blurb is actually pretty accurate. For once.

We've got the heroine - Jin Mi. Who was fed the Unfeeling Pill right after birth, thus the girl can't feel emotions, not truly, and certainly not those like love. Neither can she comprehend them. Add to that her growing up in isolation in Flower World which results in her being ignorant of plenty things...and you can have lots of hilarious scenarios :D And also drama. And Jin Mi being pretty awesome in a laid back way. The girl just doesn't care. Tragic & fun. They do say the tragic things are rather hilarious...of the teary kind. And lets not forget her birth is a secret of itself. That's pure plot material.

Then we've got the hot headed hero - Phoenix (eh, he's got a name too, but since he's mostly referred as Phoenix throughout the novel, let's just stick with it). Of course he's powerful. Of course he's handsome. And of course he falls for Jin Mi. Not right away, with time. But he does. Poor guy. Falling for the girl with no ability to truly feel. You can see the added plot material.

And the other hero...can you call him hero? . Whatever, the other main guy - Night that's also not his real name, but same as above). The eldest son/prince of Heavenly Emperor (Phoenix is 2nd son/prince). If Phoenix is all flame and temper, Night is all calm and coolness. And of course he also ends up meeting Jin Mi. And falling for her. Maybe. So the plot thickens.

There are other awesome/great/interesting characters, but not gonna go in there, just go read the novel.

So, with 1 girl and 2 princes it might seem that -daaaamn, a freaking love triangle? - there's a love triangle, right? Not quite. How can there be a love triangle when the girl cannot feel love? Right? But hell, even without it (sort of) doesn't mean it wasn't difficult to choose which prince to root for. Because as you read the novel, they both were fangirling worthy. Like, he's cool...but he's cool too. Aaaaah.....what to do!? So yeah, that made one tad undecided, wanted to root for them both. But that was only the beginning...

So, the plot. A birth covered in secrets. A girl unable to feel love or comprehend it. Raised in isolation and ignorant of the world. Two brothers falling for the same girl. Old & new hates, revenges and jealousies.

Don't want to go into too much cuz that would be spoiler territory. Just know that Heavy Sweetness Ash-Like Frost was interesting, fun, intriguing, heartbreaking & exciting. The title is most appropriate - the author Dian Xian managed to tell the story in a beautiful way, a story about heavy sweetness and ash & frost.

Gotta check out more of author's works. If they're half as good as this one, I'm in

* ** *** ** * ** *** ** * ** *** ** * ** *** ** *

Update: Re-read it some time ago because it now has a live action adaption titled "Ashes of Love"

The c-drama has 63 episodes with 45 mins per ep. (so basically like 3 or 5 US series seasons (depends on episode count per season))

I gotta say, I liked the drama. Sure, it added some unnecessary stuff with some side characters and wish they'd adapted the epilogue's more closely but other than that - the plot really stayed faithful to the drama and I love that they incorporated the side stories into the plot chronologically as they should be.

I lurrrrve the drama as I lurrrrve the book :D

And since nowadays c-dramas tend to have also darn good cgi, it was super beautiful to look at with all the realms the book portrays. And OST is also awesome. I listened to my fav pieces on repeat for weeks. Just go read the book and watch the drama :D

Here, have some eye candy to feast upon:

asian-novels demons-death-gods-gifts-etc fantasy

120 reviews2 followers

May 21, 2017

I should have known it to not read this book in the morning. I couldn't do anything else except reading for the entire day. The Chinese classic romance really got the pulling to suck me in every time. The same old brand new story, but always manages to hook me nevertheless. And look how pretty the title is! *sigh* The interesting part is how the writer writes the analogy of unfated love with making one lover (she is a water goddess) is cursed to be a tear in the eyes of her lover, so she can feel him, but can't see him (since she is inside his eye :D), he also experiences the same. It is the payment for her not appreciate his love while she still could see him and vice versa. And the only time she can finally see him is when he finally cries over her memory and then she disappears along the evaporated tears. Me: Cries riverssss. How cruel the writer fate is. This reminds me of the analogy of fated love that was spoken in one of K dramas. One of the drama characters said two fated lovers finally can be together when one becomes a horse and the other becomes the horse's muscles like what????? Ha, ha, ha. After this, nothing in the world will surprise me anymore :D

Author 10 books18 followers

January 23, 2019

I read a translation of this book because I fell in love with the Chinese drama Ashes of Love on Netflix. The novel reads exactly like a classic fairy tale, which is my favorite genre. Due to the simplicity of the writing, it would have been difficult for me to get a clear image of the rich fantasy world of gods and magic in which the story takes place if I had not already watched it on Netflix. Even the show took a few episodes for me to fully grasp the world, but the imagery was breathtakingly beautiful, and the descriptions in the book simply could not compare. Therefore, I recommend binging Ashes of Love before reading this, as it will be a lot easier to enjoy after seeing a gorgeous visual representation first.

I also thought the main character was more likable in the show than she was in the book. Jinmi was given a magical pill as a baby that made her incapable of loving, and while the book takes that to the highest extreme, the Ashes of Love series limits it to romantic love only. Therefore, she has very strong feelings toward her friends and family in the series and sheds tears when she loses them, whereas in the book, she is described as not shedding any tears during a critical loss. In both versions, she is hilarious and adorable, and you can clearly see the appeal of all the men who fight for her heart.

I know it sounds like I'm bashing the book a little in favor of the show, but I did give it five stars, and that's because it's an incredibly original and creative idea that originated with the novel but was executed better in the Ashes of Love series. The idea of a magical girl having her magic and true identity repressed all her life isn't exactly new, but having her love suppressed to the point where she lives thousands of years without knowing what it means to love someone is a fascinating concept.

You might assume that someone with this curse would become cold and aloof, but Jinmi is warm, fun, cute, and everything you would expect from a fairy tale princess heroine minus the desire to love. Unfortunately, when she ultimately does learn what means, the romance between her and the Phoenix falls a little flat. The Ashes of Love series remedied this by including a beautiful sequence that was not in the book at all in which Jinmi and the Phoenix experienced a lifetime on Earth without their memories of their former lives and shared a beautiful romance that they carried back with them when they returned to the Heavenly Realm.

Basically, the book feels like a simplistic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, and the Ashes of Love series feels like an extended Disney movie that added gorgeous visuals and enhanced subplots to the simple and sweet story within the novel. Whether or not you read the book, Ashes of Love is definitely worth looking into. It's an incredible 63-episode emotional roller coaster that's full of the most amazing eye candy I have ever seen in a live-action series.

152 reviews

August 12, 2018

Edit 12 august 2018 reread the novel while waiting for the ongoing drama. Truly amazing epic love story. it's worth to enter my favourite list and deserve the 4 stars.

chinese english fantasy

473 reviews60 followers

January 17, 2019

It`s been a long time that I didn`t enjoy read a fantasy-romantic story. The story takes place in the prehistorical era, in a time when the six realms were reigning independently in harmony. The realms featured in this drama are: celestial realm, floral, demon and human realm. Although the members of the first three realms enjoy immortality, who rules supreme on all six realms is the implacable god of Fate.

It follows a sweet, yet tragic love-story that will have to go through the trials of life and death in order to be purified. This is not a sappy love story. It is well written and it comes with as much action as romance. Heavy Sweetness Ash-like frost, without a doubt, falls into the category of classic fairy-tales, it has all the required elements: the battle between good and evil, an incumbent tragic fate and the attempt to avert it , the forging and purification of the heroes through pain and suffering, the need for a sacrifice in order to restore balance to the world and the presence of a hero willing to do so.

If love a chinese stories and want read a beautiful romantic story, I recommended it without a doubt.

386 reviews8 followers

December 1, 2018

I decided to give this one a shot after finishing the drama. The drama has 63 episodes but to my surprise, the novel has only 25 chapters and I was like "seriously?!" I don't really like the drama because honestly, JinMi frustrated me so much there (I know I know, it's not exactly her fault to not be able to feel) so I thought I might like her a bit more in the novel, but seriously this novel is too friggin short and it's not enough to get to know the characters better!! I mean, have you seen Poison Genius Consort?! That novel has like 600+ chapters and the drama just 48eps.

chinese paranomal

44 reviews

September 26, 2018

Tay trái chỉ vầng trăng, tay phải giữ tơ hồng Ban tặng ta và người mối duyên như ước nguyện Tay trái nắm tay người, tay phải buông bỏ người Lúc nắm tay, hình bóng người thu tất cả về tim

Mấy ngày nay xem đi xem lại “Hương mật tựa khói sương” đã được 2 lần, đọc truyện cũng được đến 2 lần. Hiếm có combo phim vs truyện nào được chuyển thể thành công và hấp dẫn đến thế.

Nhân vật ấn tượng nhất chắc chắn là Húc Phượng – Phượng Hoàng cao ngạo, Phượng Hoàng quân tử, Phượng Hoàng chính trực, Phượng Hoàng không nhiễm tạp niệm, Phượng Hoàng nhất kiến chung tình, Phượng Hoàng vì yêu sinh hận nhưng chẳng thể vì hận mà quên yêu…

Đã từng đọc được 1 post dài dẵng xoay quanh câu hỏi “Húc Phượng, vì sao chàng không ác?” Người có nhiều điều kiện, nhiều nguyên nhân để hóa ác nhất, người dù có hóa ác cũng chẳng ai có thể nửa lời oán than tại sao từ đầu tới cuối là chính trực nghiêm minh đến vậy? Chẳng hiểu sao cảm giác như được cảm hóa phần nào từ chính nhân vật này đến vậy, dù trong hoàn cảnh nào cũng đàng hoàng hiên ngang, giữ cho tâm hai chữ thiện lương đến lạ.

Không nguyện để thân lấm thị phi, sao lường được sự đời ngang trái Chỉ mong gột rửa những phù phiếm, giữ sạch một thân nhiếm bụi trần Một độ xuân thu, sinh sinh diệt diệt, phù phiếm thị phi Đợi khi hoa nở cũng là lúc lại say lần nữa…

Nhân sinh mộng ảo, đúng đúng sai sai tất cả đều chỉ là chút phù phiếm ắt đến ắt đi Tự nhiên chẳng muốn nghĩ chi nữa về đúng sai trên cõi đời ngắn ngủi này nữa. Tự nhiên có cảm giác thanh thản đến lạ.

Nói thật là xem phim, đọc truyện đã mấy lần mà đến đoạn thương tâm vẫn chẳng ngừng rơi lệ, thậm chí nghe bản nhạc phim cũng rơm rớm nước mắt tưởng như đau khổ cũng chỉ đến mức đó mà thôi. Vậy nên mới nói chuyện gì cũng sẽ qua

Phượng Hoàng hoa nở hai mùa. Một mùa duyên đến, một mùa duyên tan Duyên đến duyên đi rồi cũng tan, hoa khai hoa tàn cũng về với cát bụi Mọi chuyện hóa ra đều sẽ nh�� nhàng như vậy Hoa nở, ta sẽ vẽ hoa; Hoa tàn, ta sẽ vẽ chính mình; Người đến, ta đương nhiên vẽ người; Người đi, ta sẽ vẽ một bức tranh hồi ức…

fiction

September 29, 2018

An epic tale of profound and rare love in the xianxia genre. The novel is even better than its drama adaptation.

Even the dialogues are poignant, as seen in this quote: "That day when you came to the demon realm, ...you actually told you loved me. My heart stopped beating in that moment...I forced myself to say those cruel things to you,'Say once,kill once!'. But I knew ...if you said it once more, I would give up everything,...throwing the deepest revenge to the back of my head.."

The dialogues are laced with delightful banter as in: "Jin Mi, I have come... But, I have already accepted the little emperor's bride gifts... Ah, what a waste of the six thousand years of divine essence I prepared... If so, then I guess I just have to make do."

The novel is worth reading a thousand times.

favorites

196 reviews

June 7, 2019

Okay so on this I technically didnt read it. Its only in Chinese and I am not adapt to read Chinese. However I did watch the film series adaptation that I am told by actual readers is accurate to the story. So after watching 63 hours of the show I am saying safely and confidently that I read this story as j read the subtitles.

123 reviews2 followers

April 9, 2019

Me encantó esta historia, nunca había leído nada de fantasía china y me cautivó enormemente. Amé tanto a XuFeng y a JinMi que no puedo de amor ❤️

196 reviews

July 8, 2019

i read decembi's translation and it was great

11 reviews

March 31, 2018

Đã lâu ko đọc một quyển sách hay, từ sau khi đọc bộ TSTT mik đã tìm đọc khá nhiều bộ khác nhg thấy khó có quyển nào làm cho mik muốn đọc ko ngừng như quyển này, lúc xem trailer của phim này sắp chiếu mik thấy khá hay nên đã tìm đọc và thật sự đã ko làm mik thất vọng, nội dung ko quá phức tạp nhưng thích lối hành văn của Điện Tuyến rất hay và dễ hiểu, ko rườm rà nhg cũng khá vui nhộn. Có thể do ng dịch nên đoạn đầu khi tả biểu cảm Húc Phượng mik thấy hơi bị mờ nhạt nên ko chắc chắn Húc Phượng có nảy sinh tình cảm với Cẩm Mịch như thế nào, điều mik thích nhất trong sách này là rất nhiều đoạn văn và thơ ng dich để nguyên chữ Hán sau đó sẽ có phần ghi chú giả thích rõ ràng ở bên dưới chứng tỏ ng dịch rất có tâm. Nói chung mik rất thích bộ này, nếu ai đang tìm một quyển ngôn tình huyễn huyền ngược nhẹ nhàng thì đây là một quyển dành cho bạn

90 reviews25 followers

August 23, 2020

Đọc vì thích phim, nhưng nhàm lắm ấy. Nữ chính không phải ngây thơ. Là NGU NGỐC! Bả ngu tới nổi đọc mình bĩu môi liên tục khi đọc. Kiểu "con cu là gì vậy?". Và như hầu hết truyện ngôn tình Trung Quốc khác, vẫn là tình tay ba. HAI CÁI. Phim làm tốt hơn nhiều, và nữ chính không hề yêu nam chính cho tới đoạn cuối. Bitch wot? Nam chính kiểu hãm hãm, ngạo mạn, và mình không hiểu vì sao ổng yêu nữ chính. Nhưng mình đoán nồi nào ấp vung ấy, bởi ổng cơ bản HÃM HIẾP nữ chính trong một đoạn Văn phong vô cùng lố bịch và melodramatic, toàn kể chứ không thể hiện, nhất là đoạn nam chính l��n làm Ma Tôn, chỉ kể lại qua 1 dòng. Cứ... Đừng đọc nó.

Author 6 books14 followers

August 16, 2018

This book was really fun and I had a hard time placing it down, that until the drama began and then my stomach hurt and I was actually afraid to go on with the reading lol But that's usually how it goes with wuxia/xianxia. It's more romance focused than the books I usually like, but it was still very nice. It had some lovely images (<3 Jin Mi as a tear in Xu Feng's eyes) and was pretty well written. The first part was light and funny, while the second was so dramatical it was painful to read, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I gave it four stars just because I felt the ending was a bit rushed.

Author 3 books272 followers

June 17, 2021

My second Chinese novel!!.. and I enjoyed it a lot. But I do feel that the adaptation I watched on Netflix was more detailed. The novel in itself left me with a lot of questions slash doubts slash ideas and had I not been familiar with the characters and their back stories, I would have ended up super confused. That's not to say I didn't like the novel. Of course, I did. I loved loved loved Jin Mi and Xu Feng. Also, Master Pu Chi. And, the Moon God. Highly recommend it to my GR family. You are sure to enjoy this one. xx

2 reviews

April 11, 2019

It's beautiful book! I fall in love in this story! After I watched the serial, I decided to read the original story and I don't regret it. Love, humor, friendship, death, peace - that's all in one a book! Chinese fairytale is unusual for me, Chinese idioms, references to legends :) In the plot the main role is played by Jin Me. She cannot love, but whom everyone loves. Her childish naivety is that makes other character (in particular the Phoenix) fall in love with her.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

May 31, 2021

Too bad I don't get official translation from this book. This book and To The Sky Kingdom from Tang Qi open my eyes to the beauty of xianxia novels. It is beautifully written. I reread 3 times in a row and each time I reach "the ultimate betrayal part" I need time to calm down before continuing. I love the epilogue, because I need more of Jinmi and Phoenix :D. The character was great and the drama adaption was good, it conveyed the story well.

June 10, 2020

After watching the series on Netflix, I read a fan translation on Wattpad, because this story isn’t available in English. I loved the story and Jin-Mi’s growth and character development in the show. I wish I could read Mandarin, because I’m not sure the translation conveyed the words well enough. It was difficult to follow, and seemed to be skipping/missing parts of the plot.

56 reviews

December 15, 2020

It's not a great story but is a comfortable casual xianxia read. It doesn't do anything out of the norm with the genre and the characters are quiet firmly entrenched in the genres tropes. I did enjoy the love triangle, it's quite clear that Jinmi should end up with Xufeng, his role as God of fire and hers as floral fairy (and her true form as a frost flower) have interesting relations to the natural order. Their nature's are opposite (opposites attract) but fire also relates to sun so he is the one who can make her grow... as opposed to her similar elemental nature to Runyu that would leave them indifferent to each other. Both Runyu and Xufeng are the brooding silent type so beloved of the genre which was somewhat dull and boring, and surprising that they didn't add greater contrast between them. Some character development before the end does partially absolve this issue though.

The plots and schemes are quite well done, with some excellent twists, however some of the other info, especially where the audience is already aware (such as for the anti-love elixir) become frustrating to watch play out. There's also a few elements of extending the love problems with further quests that slowly felt tedious and artificially inflated the story length, some were alright where they showed repentance and worked towards absolution but in other places they felt unnecessary and didn't add to the characters development.

The translation is really bad. It's difficult to translate especially when the concepts are foreign to the target language but this doesn't require the general meaning of sentences to be obscured. The concepts are comprehensible to those familiar to them, but other passages relating to cultural ideas come across very poorly. Such as one scene with hongbao (red gift packets) that just explained what they were very poorly.

It's a good novel to read if you already have some familiarity with Chinese culture, and the Daoist principles and conventions of the xianxia genre but if not rather try another title before tackling this one.

xianxia

767 reviews

April 1, 2018

Despite the MANY qualms I have with this book, the romance is truly heart wrenching near the end. I love the finale so much. Although I still don't understand what makes Jin Mi so attractive to Xu Feng, the groveling, sacrificing, and genuine emotions jerked the tears right outta me. I felt like the ending was a bit abrupt and overall the novel was a little short. Some parts could've been elongated.

1rst problem: Random ass sex scene out in the open, no less. I didn't realize I was reading erotica. And did I mention she is betrothed to ANOTHER man, who is actually this guy's half-brother?? Cheater much? Not a huge fan of the second lead, but did ya have to cuckold him like that?

2nd problem: insta love because the girl is beautifullll. Literally has no reason to like her but is still possessive as crap and has wet dreams about her...cringe. Yes, he actually does dream about her like that...not long after meeting her, for that matter!

3rd problem: Girl is so tstl bc she is so sheltered. As a result, she doesn't even know what a penis!!! And makes many social blunders, which is supposed to be *endearing*

4th: Jealous love triangle. Between Jin Mi, brooding guy

1 and broodier guy

2. *Gasp! Who will she choose?! She doesn't know!!

5th: Overall, carbon copy characters with little dimension....each can be summed up it two words: Jin Mi: Selfish Child. Xu Feng: Arrogant abuser. Xiao Yu: Depressing brooder.

Verdict: Cliche riddled mess...originally was curious about this one since it's being adapted to a tv drama. Apparently it's really popular. Not my cup of tea at all, unfortunately. :/

1,353 reviews13 followers

December 24, 2022

CALIFICATION: 3.05 ESTRELLAS

Debo comenzar que decidi leer esta historia, porque ashes of love es una de mis doramas historicos chinos favoritos y al saber que era basado en un libro decidi que tenia que leer la historia (aunque ya me he visto el Cdrama como 3 veces).

Y pues debo decir que es uno de esos raros casos en donde la serie es mucho mejor que el libro. En la serie podemos ver los puntos de vistas de otros personajes y escenas que nos perdemos en el libro debido a que solo esta contada desde el punto de vista de la protagonista. Ademas en la serie agrega nuevas escenas y le dan protagonismo a otros personajes y eso hace que la serie sea mas dinamica y no solamente estemos viendo a los protagonistas pulular.

Algo que me gusto del libro que la serie no tiene fue esos relatos cortos donde jin mi decidi o mas bien acepta tener un hijo con el Dios del fuego.

En fin el libro no lleno las expectativas altas que tenia debido al drama.

263 reviews13 followers

February 10, 2023

Is it possible for a love story to have everything? Innocent love, jealous love, unrequited love, and finally consummate love—this novel explores it all. Following a little orphaned grape elf as she finds her true origins and ends up in the middle of a love triangle, the book will make you laugh and cry simultaneously. From the proud and overbearing lover to the rejected but dedicated and adoring lover, I found it hard to side with either and was both happy and heartbroken at the end. I’m quite a fan of Asian literature as well as fantasy and this book is the perfect blend of both. I’ve seen the televised series Ashes of Love and feel it does a great justice to the book, but I feel it doesn’t quite portray the god of Night fully (team Ren Yu all the way) and as such I would definitely recommend reading the book.

August 16, 2020

La empecé a leer porque vi el drama,que si bien me gustó lo terminé por los personajes secundarios ya que los principales llegaron a agobiarme. Pensé que en la novela no sería así por la poca cantidad de capítulos a comparación,pero como está narrado en primera persona me resulta aún más tedioso porque no tengo nada de info de los demás personajes. Diré que de momento (cap 15) me gusta más esta Jin Mi que la del drama, pero Xu feng y Run yu ganan en el drama, ni hablar de Liu Ying... bastante cliché con lo de la prota dueña de una belleza fuera de este mundo.

November 8, 2021

Book upon which the Chinese TV drama "Ashes of Love" is based. Although rather intense during the second half of the story, I liked it better than the drama. The drama added a lot of extraneous information that, for me, distracted from the main story. Some information was needed to add depth to the story, but much of it was unnecessary.

The book, on the other hand, though intense in places, was straightforward. It is, after all, lighter literature. I enjoyed the story much more without the extra storylines.

373 reviews38 followers

March 30, 2019

that took forever to finish! I wish there was a proper English translation of this novel, I think if I was to have read it properly and not in a browser in safari I would have enjoyed it more. The story is great - though I knew it would be since I watch the Chinese drama first. I would caution those that don't enjoy Chinese lore, or at least aren't familiar with some of their stores. This would be quite confusing if you just trow yourself into the story without knowing a little backstory.

faeries general-fantasy mythology

Author 5 books121 followers

August 22, 2021

Este libro real ente es muy bonito, tiene muchas cosas parecidas al drama y muchas otras diferentes, pero sufrí, reí, y maldije. Le pongo 3 estrellas únicamente por la traducción, el libro es originalmente chino, así que lo pasé al ingles y de ingles a español, por lo tanto era muy confuso leer, así que hizo que fuera más complejo entender, aún así ... Me gustó. Amo la historia de esos dos y hay unas frases icónicas!

June 2, 2021

I absolutely read all of this after watching the drama adaptation (Ashes of Love). So I'm not really sure I can give an accurate review of the book on its own, but it was sure fascinating to read after watching the drama. There were things I liked better in the drama, and things that I liked how they played out better in the book. Also, the prologue 3 ("Testing Pills") just killed me.

fantasy

1,351 reviews22 followers

March 20, 2019

This is a delicious read.

I decided to read this after watching the drama. Am glad that the drama followed closely to the book. Love the heroine who is so innocent and naive.