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For the past three years, Shen Mo has been in a fake relationship with Ji Mingxuan to please Ji Mingxuan’s sister, Ji An’an. But when she returns after three years abroad, so does her boyfriend — that is, Shen Mo’s ex-boyfriend — Zhou Yang. Shen Mo is reminded of his past while confused by his contract lover and bothered by the ex he has since long let go of.

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All right, I want to begin by mentioning that this is very much an adult novel; among other things, the story includes terrible parents, legit crime, depictions of violence, homophobia, trauma response, and graphic sexual content.

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A faint smile appeared at the corners of Ji Mingxuan’s mouth. His voice was beyond gentle: “Shen Mo, did you call the wrong name?”

Shen Mo finally remembered what he was supposed to do. He approached Ji Mingxuan and held his hand. “Mingxuan.”

“Yes.” Ji Mingxuan leaned affectionately toward him, whispering, “Don’t forget our relations.”

“Lovers,” Shen Mo smoothly answered.

Fake lovers, he added in silence.

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THOUGHTS

Okay, I want to immediately say that I really enjoyed this book, but also that I. Will. Not. Forget. That opening.

I’m not comfortable with sexual content, and it’s what we joke about as being NSFA, but I’ve… not really become desensitised. Instead, it’s more that I’ve learned to make the majority just enter my brain long enough for me to understand what’s happening, but then it’s all thrown into the spam inbox in my brain, so I don’t need to think about it any further.

This did not happen when I read the beginning of The Missing Piece, because the book’s opening scene escalated so quickly. It was perfectly normal in the first sentence and full-on sexual content in the second. I was not prepared for this in any way, and because it escalated at such an intense speed, I spent twenty minutes just laughing at the opening out of sheer shock. *coughs*

I don’t tend to share much about what I read that is in the contemporary romance genre, for reasons I actually can’t really explain. However, it’s clear I obviously have a preference against this kind of content, but I do like to read things like office romances, contractual dating/marriage, fake lovers, and similar tropes as my “I need something lighthearted and healing between the bouts of angst” books. This book fulfils that criteria for me and was something I read when, surprisingly, I was hit so hard by angst I couldn’t keep reading what I had been reading (which is incredibly rare!).

…And I’ll just point out that I call these “lighthearted” because the stuff I usually enjoy reading is all things that rip my heart out and are really angsty and painful to read. However, it’s rather questionable to call this one lighthearted and mean it. Don’t be deceived.

I would definitely understand if someone thinks the plot is absolutely ridiculous, because, let’s be honest, it is rather unlikely. Meanwhile, I’m also here like, “Ah, more believable than some things that happen in real life,” because while there are things that might seem utterly stupid (Me reading: “Shen Mo, Ji An’an was going to be abroad for three years with your ex; why the contractual fake lover thing with her older brother???”), other things are literally things that can happen (Shen Mo’s missing memory, the complete denial after a traumatic event, the inability to paint due to psychological blocks and so on and so forth), and while things might seem like a lot of coincidences would be at play, that’s literally life works, so it’s not as outlandish as it may feel at first glance.

But the plot is still, lol, something else. I think it’s quite good, and I genuinely like it, but a lot happens.

I can honestly say I didn’t expect to like it. I mean, I didn’t expect I’d dislike it either, but more like having a lukewarm feeling of “good enough” rather than binge-reading it because I couldn’t put it down. It’s not common for me to binge-read contemporary romance, that’s for sure.

My main concern wouldn’t be the plot, though. I think that the issue is the language of the writing. I can’t actually tell if it’s the translator not doing a good enough job, or if it’s the author’s issue since I have nothing to compare to. But what I do know is that there is some editing that can be done by a translator to ensure the story gets justice, and I feel like this is a case of “not enough editing,” but whose work actually needed editing is what I can’t tell just looking at the adaptation.

Another thing that might be offputting is the way translator notes have been added, just saying. I prefer chapter end notes in digital works, while this goes with, um, an asterisk under the paragraph approach. This is kind of a stylistic choice, I suppose. Or perhaps a lack of technical know-how. I don’t know. But it’s worth mentioning if that bothers the hell out of someone, like me. It doesn’t look like something professionally published to me. Instead it looks unfinished and is something I’d accept before the work of properly adding the notes and fan translations. I’ve seen fan translations look more professional even.

I think that some people will also find some issues with the outline of the plot itself, so I’ll take a moment to recognise this. It does have some flashbacks in the mix. I don’t actually think it’s bad; it’s a plot device that can be used well, and that’s the case here for the most part.

This is naturally a matter of taste, and I think this is where a lot of potential criticism might come from, to begin with. That people have different tastes and this book ends up not catering to the tastes of those who picked it up.

The main plot aside, there are several extras in this book. They are mostly what happened after, some of them sexual, some of them just fluff stories with dad(s) and kid moments. My favourite is by far one of the most random ones. I think Meowxuan is very cute. What that means, you’ll have to find out by reading.

(I suppose this book also kind of… proves that although I can talk about translation/writing issues at length, I’m not entirely ruthless and can overlook it as long as it’s not… too bad.)

All this said, if you do enjoy drama, romance, a bit (??) of angst, a happy ending and the amnesia trope, this is definitely worth reading, as long as you can overlook the writing/editing issue and the notes.

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Edit, February 27, 2024: This has been edited to read more easily and to be structured in a better way. I hope I accomplished this.