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Silent Reading #5
Silent Reading (V)
Childhood, upbringing, family background, social relations, traumatic experiences…
We keep reviewing and seeking out the motives of criminals, exploring the subtlest emotions driving them. It’s not to put ourselves in their shoes and sympathize, or even forgive them; it’s not to find some reasons to exculpate their crimes; it’s not to kneel down before the so-called “complexity of human nature”; nor to introspect social conflicts, much less to alienate ourselves into monsters.
We just want to have a fair trial – for ourselves and for those who still have hope for the world.
We keep reviewing and seeking out the motives of criminals, exploring the subtlest emotions driving them. It’s not to put ourselves in their shoes and sympathize, or even forgive them; it’s not to find some reasons to exculpate their crimes; it’s not to kneel down before the so-called “complexity of human nature”; nor to introspect social conflicts, much less to alienate ourselves into monsters.
We just want to have a fair trial – for ourselves and for those who still have hope for the world.
519 pages, ebook
26 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 12, 2024
mo du is phenomenal & i will forever bow down to priest’s brilliant mind…but…yeahhhhhhhhhhhh this final book was so painful to get through even though plenty of stuff was happening and idk if i feel like this because i read it at the wrong time or what but i came close to dropping mo do multiple times just in this volume alone
i didn’t drop because i thought maybe this was another guardian/zhen hun case where the last bit of the novel is messy but ultimately the characters win me back in the end so i can overlook the flaws. that uh never really happened, and it’s a big bummer because ZHOUDU??? luo wenzhou??? FEI!!! DU????? they made me feel every emotion out there. i hold them & the side characters close to my heart so why were they not enough to make me interested in what happens during the last 50-ish chapters?
i stand by my claim that priest is brilliant and mo du deserves all the praise it receives but i also stand by my claim that this last volume in particular was a bit of a let down :(
i didn’t drop because i thought maybe this was another guardian/zhen hun case where the last bit of the novel is messy but ultimately the characters win me back in the end so i can overlook the flaws. that uh never really happened, and it’s a big bummer because ZHOUDU??? luo wenzhou??? FEI!!! DU????? they made me feel every emotion out there. i hold them & the side characters close to my heart so why were they not enough to make me interested in what happens during the last 50-ish chapters?
i stand by my claim that priest is brilliant and mo du deserves all the praise it receives but i also stand by my claim that this last volume in particular was a bit of a let down :(
February 11, 2026
What in the cliffhanger?!!! I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and I really enjoy Priests intricate writing. The way she has things all mapped out and so far in advance so that everything ties together but not when you expect it… it keeps you on your toes and I love it. This volume was a bit harder for me to read, it’s not that it was boring but it didn’t hold my interest as much as others. But WHAT IN THE CLIFFHANGER?! I still really loved the development of especially Fei Du and just all the pieces we’ve been question or slowly piecing together…finally come together. That was amazing. Highly recommend this series!
Also… the cat is the real MVP. Lang Qiao is also a total bada$$!
Also… the cat is the real MVP. Lang Qiao is also a total bada$$!
September 15, 2023
fan siyuan was mad in love with gu zhao
August 29, 2025
why is the rest in the “epilogue” that was vile
May 15, 2023
Lang Qiao's phone is the real MVP.
February 26, 2025
I finished Priest's Silent Reading two days ago, and it took me some time to process all the emotions it left behind. It was an incredible book—not just because of the chemistry between the characters, but also because of the depth of the story and the author's thought process. This is my second book by Priest, the first one being Lord Seventh. One common theme between the two is the pursuit of justice.
Anyway, I don’t want to stray too far from the main topic. I have read more than ten danmei novels so far, and I never skip the extra chapters. Honestly, most of the time, I don’t find them particularly relevant to the main story—I just read them for the sake of completion. But Silent Reading was different. There are five extra chapters, and many of them feel essential. After everything that happened in the main story, we needed to see the aftermath for some of the characters.
Among the five, the one I found most relevant was Fei Du’s meeting with Zhang Donglai. They were close friends, but their friendship suffered because of Zhang Donglai’s family. I could feel Zhang Donglai’s emotions—his life was turned upside down, and he was forced to live a life he was completely unprepared for. He had never been a responsible person, but now he had to be, for the sake of his sister. She was all he had left. Even though both he and his sister, Zhang Ting, were innocent, society would never leave them alone. So his anger toward Fei Du was understandable, and even Fei Du himself understood it. Zhang Donglai was not like the others.
Another heartbreaking aspect of Zhang Donglai’s story is that he never truly knew his father, his uncle, or even his best friend. He had been nothing more than a pawn. Fei Du acted with full awareness of the consequences, but as he said, if he had to do it all over again, he would make the same choice (which reminded me of Beiyuan from Lord Seventh). But what’s hard to accept is how Zhang Donglai and Zhang Ting will ever manage to live a normal life after everything.
There are also some parallels between Fan Siyuan and Fei Du. Both sacrificed innocent lives in the name of justice, but the key difference is that Fei Du never took an innocent life, while Fan Siyuan was far more extreme. In that sense, Fan Siyuan’s character is closer to Beiyuan and Zhou Zishu from Lord Seventh than to Fei Du.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. No matter how beautiful the relationship between Fei Du and Luo Wenzhou is, the stories of the other characters will hurt you. It will take time to recover from the emotions this novel evokes.
Anyway, I don’t want to stray too far from the main topic. I have read more than ten danmei novels so far, and I never skip the extra chapters. Honestly, most of the time, I don’t find them particularly relevant to the main story—I just read them for the sake of completion. But Silent Reading was different. There are five extra chapters, and many of them feel essential. After everything that happened in the main story, we needed to see the aftermath for some of the characters.
Among the five, the one I found most relevant was Fei Du’s meeting with Zhang Donglai. They were close friends, but their friendship suffered because of Zhang Donglai’s family. I could feel Zhang Donglai’s emotions—his life was turned upside down, and he was forced to live a life he was completely unprepared for. He had never been a responsible person, but now he had to be, for the sake of his sister. She was all he had left. Even though both he and his sister, Zhang Ting, were innocent, society would never leave them alone. So his anger toward Fei Du was understandable, and even Fei Du himself understood it. Zhang Donglai was not like the others.
Another heartbreaking aspect of Zhang Donglai’s story is that he never truly knew his father, his uncle, or even his best friend. He had been nothing more than a pawn. Fei Du acted with full awareness of the consequences, but as he said, if he had to do it all over again, he would make the same choice (which reminded me of Beiyuan from Lord Seventh). But what’s hard to accept is how Zhang Donglai and Zhang Ting will ever manage to live a normal life after everything.
There are also some parallels between Fan Siyuan and Fei Du. Both sacrificed innocent lives in the name of justice, but the key difference is that Fei Du never took an innocent life, while Fan Siyuan was far more extreme. In that sense, Fan Siyuan’s character is closer to Beiyuan and Zhou Zishu from Lord Seventh than to Fei Du.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. No matter how beautiful the relationship between Fei Du and Luo Wenzhou is, the stories of the other characters will hurt you. It will take time to recover from the emotions this novel evokes.
September 11, 2024
There is something so satisfying about a hard earned slow burn and Priest delivers again and again. In addition to having a great plot and characters, the subtle humor had me laughing out loud throughout the book. And I don't even know where to begin with how much I loved Luo Wenzhou and Fei Du’s relationship ❤️ The cute, sweet, and flirty moments between them are what made the book for me.
LW: super caring (in an almost aggressive way 😂) , protective, fiercely loyal and devoted. The unwavering love and support he has for FD is EVERYTHING.
FD: charismatic with a brilliant mind, sassy but definitely hiding a lot due to a very traumatic past.
This is broken up into five books, each focusing on a different crime with them all being interconnected in some way by the end of the book. Crime/thriller/mystery is not my go-to genre so by the end of the book I was ready for it to end- I feel like that is definitely a me problem though.
While I really enjoyed this novel, Can Ci Pin is still #1 for me for Priest's novels (might change when I finish Sha Po Lang and Guardian). This is a much tighter story but was just a little longer than my attention span could handle.
LW: super caring (in an almost aggressive way 😂) , protective, fiercely loyal and devoted. The unwavering love and support he has for FD is EVERYTHING.
FD: charismatic with a brilliant mind, sassy but definitely hiding a lot due to a very traumatic past.
This is broken up into five books, each focusing on a different crime with them all being interconnected in some way by the end of the book. Crime/thriller/mystery is not my go-to genre so by the end of the book I was ready for it to end- I feel like that is definitely a me problem though.
While I really enjoyed this novel, Can Ci Pin is still #1 for me for Priest's novels (might change when I finish Sha Po Lang and Guardian). This is a much tighter story but was just a little longer than my attention span could handle.
June 2, 2025
It's funny how you randomly start a story, and it becomes the best thing you've ever read. I've been reading since I was a child, but this is the first time I've encountered a book I want to rate more than 5 stars. This means that this, as of now, is my favorite book of all time, surpassing long-time favorites.
I started this story out of frustration. The adaptation, although good, didn't have the best English subtitles. Watching it was a painful exercise that I did not want to subject myself to. Reading this was meant to be a distraction until I found a solution to the subtitle issue. Perhaps I could learn Chinese?
In the week that I read this, my actions can only be described as those of a madwoman. I consumed this story day and night, every chance I got, feverishly flying through the words. For lack of a better word, I'd say I was obsessed.
Only obsession could make me read this many pages and chapters while still hoping that there'd be many more. Unfortunately, every story comes to an end.
My brain is fried from staring at my tablet screen, and it seems my years of "reviewer" language have deserted me, so I'll say this.
In my eyes, this story was perfect. No notes.
The characters, plot, world-building, pacing, and ending were all amazing. I feel the only thing wrong with it was that it ended too fast, which is a wild thing to say after reading 180+ chapters.
I'm in awe of this writer and their work. I'm unsure of what to do with myself now that I've completed this.
Lies, I'm doing a reread 😂
I started this story out of frustration. The adaptation, although good, didn't have the best English subtitles. Watching it was a painful exercise that I did not want to subject myself to. Reading this was meant to be a distraction until I found a solution to the subtitle issue. Perhaps I could learn Chinese?
In the week that I read this, my actions can only be described as those of a madwoman. I consumed this story day and night, every chance I got, feverishly flying through the words. For lack of a better word, I'd say I was obsessed.
Only obsession could make me read this many pages and chapters while still hoping that there'd be many more. Unfortunately, every story comes to an end.
My brain is fried from staring at my tablet screen, and it seems my years of "reviewer" language have deserted me, so I'll say this.
In my eyes, this story was perfect. No notes.
The characters, plot, world-building, pacing, and ending were all amazing. I feel the only thing wrong with it was that it ended too fast, which is a wild thing to say after reading 180+ chapters.
I'm in awe of this writer and their work. I'm unsure of what to do with myself now that I've completed this.
Lies, I'm doing a reread 😂
January 7, 2025
4.75!
I am in awe of Priest’s work. The net Priest has cast, all the characters, their stories, their connections. Everything has been thought of carefully and slowly but surely, everything is being revealed. I’m anxious to find out how everything is going to wrap up.
I am in awe of Priest’s work. The net Priest has cast, all the characters, their stories, their connections. Everything has been thought of carefully and slowly but surely, everything is being revealed. I’m anxious to find out how everything is going to wrap up.
June 14, 2024
All I can say about this series is - wowsers!
June 26, 2025
If I could I would have rated it 6 stars but ok. I LOVE LOVEEEEEEEEED IT.
August 13, 2025
3.5 !!
this part is like where everything gets exposed and I would've rated it higher but unfortunately it kept dragging on and on and it got me into a reading slump 🤧
this part is like where everything gets exposed and I would've rated it higher but unfortunately it kept dragging on and on and it got me into a reading slump 🤧
Currently reading
February 24, 2026CHAPTER 1. MARRIAGE PROPOSAL.
This book is gonna hurt, isn't it
This book is gonna hurt, isn't it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 7, 2026
what is this cliffhanger?
March 29, 2026
Wow. I’m so blown away but this book. The ability to connect every story together while developing the characters in such a real way AND ending it with a satisfying conclusion? Like. Omg.
November 22, 2023
“ Dám giẫm vào đuôi của ta hả cái tên hót cục kia “ Lạc Một Nồi tức giận nói đấy là trường hợp khi nó thành tinh 😂😂
Đầu truyện mà hai anh đã thả hint tứ tung rồi ai chịu cho nổi
Đầu truyện mà hai anh đã thả hint tứ tung rồi ai chịu cho nổi
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2025
GAHHHHHHH FEI DU I LOVE YOU SO BAD ITS UNREAL....
plot got a bit convoluted but it's alright. i still couldn't put vol 5 down at all. i loved it.
plot got a bit convoluted but it's alright. i still couldn't put vol 5 down at all. i loved it.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews