Review for: The Infatuated Second Male Lead Doesn't Exist Rating: ☆☆1/2

I'm actually leaning closer to a two-star, but I have to admit that the climax of the story was very cathartic. While the description for this novel may say that it's a fluffy romance, while it is true that the romantic parts themselves are very sweet (sometimes cloyingly so), most of the book does revolve around the drama relating to the side characters. But it's not the fact that it was a low-stakes quick read that drew me in - it's the disabled love interest. And to that, I have to say... I was underwhelmed.

I'm constantly looking for different kinds of disability rep in what I read, so what pulled me into this one was the author flat-out saying that there would be no magical cures (and this is true! He stays disabled, no complaints there at least). Having previously been disappointed by a 'magical cure' in the past, I was really looking forward to this. However, I do take issue with the way that the love interest was constantly being man-handled by the MC. Ever since they first met, the MC would push his wheelchair and even pick him up without asking, the ML never had any strong objection to this. Not only that, but there were also a few moments throughout where the MC would purposefully move the ML's wheelchair away so that he would have no choice but to depend on him. There's one moment where the ML is even put directly in harm's way (ie, pulling him into a swimming pool) because of the MC deciding to be 'mischievous'. I don't know - even though the ML never thought much of these interactions, I did, and had a very hard time finding these moments to be as sweet or flirty as the author was trying to write them off as.

That's not to say that I thought the rep was absolutely hopeless, but I was hoping it would be more realistic and respectful. This book is kind of a 'just shut your brain off' kind of read, and it gets more meh the more you think about it. But as I said, I can't be too upset because it delivered on what it said it was going to be and the climax/resolution was satisfying. Wouldn't really recommend for those looking for good wheelchair rep, unfortunately.

(Rating is for novel as a whole) Before I get into my review, I do want to discuss a trigger that completely caught me by surprise because I had no prior warning for it. Normally I don't need to check trigger warnings for media since I'm not phased by too much, but this one kinda stung... The trigger in question being that in one of the side stories, there is a brief transphobic moment in which the word tr*nny is explicitly said. I was completely thrown for a loop and immediately went to one of my Chinese friends to ask if this was a mistranslation, only for them to confirm that not only was the original word used (人妖) equivalent to that slur, but it also had possibly even worse implications. As a fan of TGCF, which featured a side character who could be described as genderfluid, I was a bit floored to learn that MXTX would use such a word for a throwaway one-liner. It's my hope that since this was published in 2015 (a few years before she would begin writing TGCF) that maybe she had gained perspective in that timeframe, enough so that she felt comfortable writing a genderfluid character (not naming names for those who have not read that novel yet). This actually lead to a pretty interesting discussion with my Chinese friend who said that having also read TGCF years ago in Mandarin, they didn't view that character as being genderfluid and felt that they were more of a cross-dressing character written for laughs. This is interesting because, whether it be because I read it in English or due to me having more exposure to different queer identities as a whole, I didn't read that character in this way. But as my friend noted, even to this day even in more progressive queer spheres in China you might still hear people using the word 人妖, so it's difficult to say what exactly MXTX was thinking during these two instances, especially since genderqueer characters being written in a positive light is still a rarity in China and more likely to get an author ostracized than anything. That is to say... While it really was a bit of a blow to me for an author I trust to use a word like that, I simply will have to chalk it up to difference in time and culture and move on :') With all that out of the way, while that one-liner did dampen my enjoyment for a little while, the rest of the side stories were enough to lift up my spirits, and I have to say I think that this book probably has the best side stories of all the danmei novels I've ever read. Seriously, it's like she packed three entire other books in there!! Although I can't say that SVSSS is my favourite, I really enjoyed how to-the-point it is in its pacing. As a parody of other xianxia novels, it knows exactly what to skip over and what to dwell on in order to keep a good mix of being a lighthearted romcom as well as to keep the worldbuilding interesting. Very self-contained, very self-aware, very satisfying! And now, I'm off to scrounge for any scraps of Zhuzhi-Lang fanart I can find

Pour one out for the best side character ever, Zhuzhi-Lang