The Missing Piece: 貌合神离（English Edition）

This novel is presented as a romance between a strong, cold and dominant man and a sightly younger, weak and submissive man whose contractual role is to act as his pretend love interest. The writing is better than this stereotypical set-up suggests. Told mostly from the point of view of the “weaker” man, the tone of the writing is even and restrained, the emotional content half submerged. There are gaps in the younger man’s memory and hints of a past trauma.The mystery of the younger man’s missing memories is a quiet but intriguing presence behind the events of the story as they quietly unfold. He seems to float along in a sort of half-aware state, bleakly accepting himself as a person of little value or ability. As the novel unfolds, the two main characters’ personalities and back stories slowly develop substance and depth; their relationship and its almost tragic origin is revealed as something meaningful but fragile.The body of the novel is not long. The writer has added several additional stories after the end. The first story retells the events of the novel from the perspective of the older man. There is repetition in the retelling of the events, but it feels true to the novel, poetic rather than redundant, and makes the story more complete. I’m not sure why it wasn’t considered as part of the finished novel. The remaining stories are mostly sweet little extras, fun to read.I did not see other books by this author listed on Amazon, but I hope that there will be others in the future.

I was really quite impressed with this story… I really didn’t see it coming, I won’t say what to avoid spoilers, but it was just written in such a compelling way, I couldn’t put it down. Complex, flawed characters, unreliable narrators coupled with memory loss… it really all combined to create terrific character arcs. The story is at times harsh, uncomfortable, sweet, tender, nostalgic, sad, sexy and beautiful all in turn. To so subtly get you to completely change your mind about a character is a feat, it really snuck up on me… I love being surprised, stories are often so predictable! Bravo, bravo, fantastic writing!

So first off this book opens with a “ooookay” and you might be like “this is going to be toxic” but it’s not, it will surprise you. I know I was kinda stunned and I’m glad I didn’t decide to quit reading early on. It shows different kinds of love and all the toxicity that can be added to it bc of family and obligations, but stick with it and you will be rewarded. The extras which are basically wrap up chapters make the whole ride worth it. Only downer is sometimes the translation is off and that makes it a disjointed read. Even at one point throws off the intention of a scene. However, it doesn’t detract enough in my opinion to kill the story.

It was an amazingly sweet story. But I couldn't help but feel that it maybe needed more of... I can't explain it but It was a good read overall.

The Missing Piece is m/m romance set in modern China. I don’t know how openly gay one can be in China, but here it seemed to be fairly unproblematic, family disownments aside.Shen Mo is an art graduate in his early twenties. Due to an accident that he cannot remember, he’s lost his ability to paint. The only thing he remembers with any clarity is that he was saved from homelessness by Ji Mingxuan, a wealthy businessman about his own age.Mr. Ji is utterly devoted to his sister’s happiness, so much so that when the man she wants turns out to be Shen Mo’s ex-boyfriend, he strikes a deal with Shen Mo. They pretend to be lovers so that the ex and Mr. Ji’s sister can pursue their romance in peace. Out of gratitude, Shen Mo agrees, even though his ex and Miss Ji aren’t even in the same country to witness the fake relationship.When they return to China, things start to unravel fast. Shen Mo’s memories begin to surface even as Mr. Ji seems to want to make their relationship more real. Inevitably, everything steers towards heartbreak for everyone.This was the best fake relationship romance I’ve read. The past wasn’t at all what it seemed, and the fake romance wasn’t as fake as Shen Mo believed. Much relied on miscommunication, which normally is my pet peeve, but here it worked perfectly.Shen Mo started as a tragic character who suffered from memory loss and PTSD and worked towards getting his life back in order. Mr. Ji seemed to be a cold, callous man who only used Shen Mo for sex, but the truth about him was different too. Sex scenes were great throughout.The main story took about two thirds of the book and had a satisfying HEA ending. The rest consisted of ten longish stories about the past and after the HEA. The best story by far was the first, which told the same story from Mr. Ji’s point of view, but others were interesting too. The book left me happy and wistful and a bit sad at the same time. All in all, a wonderful read.

The TL;DR:Worth reading: AbsolutelyWorth a re-read: Without questionRomance: Yes, and tension and all the feels. (Danmei intimacy tropes aside.)Steamy: And then someDid anything break my immersion? Nothing whatsoever.Recommend? Yes. Read it. Now.I found myself surprised quite a few times with how engrossed I became with this story. Though MM and Danmei are favorites of mine this wasn’t one I’d usually go for and I’m so glad I did.The single POV was perfect for the story and it’s use worked really well. There were a few times where the story could have thrown me off with some of the topics involved (including PTSD) but the author handled all of it well.I loved the main characters and found their evolution in the story a journey I was totally on board for. No one dimensional mains here. They are nuanced and the unraveling of those depths made the rather quick (almost novella) length of the core story still work. I didn’t want it to end not because things weren’t wrapped up (they were) but because I enjoyed it so much.The writer in me was stoked too. How’s that for a bonus?

Se me hizo un poco enredada en algunas partes y tantos extras .... Pero en sí es una linda historia de amor y enredos y amor y dolor y amor ...

I devoured this book. The storyline is engaging, the characters are captivating, the romance is spot-on. I loved it 💘

Envoie rapideReçu le colis en bon état.

The first chapter hooked me instantly!! At first, I just bought this book to support it being the first danmei book being published in English by via lactea, so when I started reading it, I was honestly super impressed!! Certain moments definitely pulled on my heartstrings and I had to ready a few tissues but I can say in full certainty, I def enjoyed it!! :> I can't wait for the physical copy release so I can grab it and reread it all over again!!

Ich lese schon mal gerne englische Bücher, wobei ich deutsche Titel bevorzuge. Meine Englischkenntnisse sind nicht perfekt, ist ein Buch also sehr „aufwendig“ geschrieben und ich muss immer wieder Wörter nachschlagen, so mindert das meinen Lesefluss, was ziemlich stört.Hier war dies nicht so. Auch mit recht einfachen Englischkenntnissen kann man das Bauch hervorragend lesen und der Geschichte folgen. Und ich habe jede Seite genossen! Die Story ist toll und mitreißend, man fiebert mit den Charakteren mit, erfährt Stück für Stück ihre Geschichte und was damals passiert ist.Auf jeden Fall eines meiner neusten Lieblingsbücher. Ich würde gerne mehr von dem Autoren lesen.