Review:
Wei Wuxian is freaking out after the events that ended the previous volume and decides to go to Guanyin Temple with Wen Ning in order to put some space between himself and Lan Wangji. Unfortunately, Jin Ling shows up too, and he and Wei Wuxian end up captured, along with Lan Xichen. You would think the characters would be too busy trying not to die for romance to enter anyone's minds, but you would be wrong - everything somehow manages to happen simultaneously. Wei Wuxian demonstrates that he can flirt and fight at the same time.
The first 187 pages of this volume wrap up the main story, while the rest of the volume is composed of eight extra stories, most of which feature both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji and show either their lives after the main story or scenes from when they were teenagers.
I'm amused by the journey I took with this series. I started off wary. The initial supernatural stuff was good, but there weren't enough fun character interactions. I spent large chunks of volumes 2 and 3 wishing I were reading Heaven Official's Blessing instead. Then volume 4 completely won me over, and volume 5 thankfully didn't ruin that feeling (although I'm going to have to talk about the "Incense Burner" chapter). Volume 5's cover art isn't just my favorite of the series - it also perfectly fits the tone of several of the stories. We'll see how this holds up after I've read all of Heaven Official's Blessing, but Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian might become my favorite of MXTX's couples.
This series is tough, because it takes ages to get all of the context necessary to really understand who everyone is, what's motivating them, and why their story is worth paying attention to. For example, for much of the series Lan Sizhui was just one of the Lan Clan's junior cultivators to me, and yet in this volume that particular character made me a mushy mess at times.
The big reveals were fun, yes, but I still feel like there had to be a better way to structure this story. Or maybe the issue was that it wasn't always easy to be very emotionally invested in many of the secondary characters? At any rate, I'm glad I found the willpower to make it through the less interesting portions of volume 2 and 3, or I'd have missed out on the best parts.
There were a few story threads that, as far as I could tell, never really got wrapped up. What happened to the original Yin Tiger Tally? Were the hints about Nie Mingjue true? I had thought that the extra stories at the end might see to some of that, but most of the stories were either devoted to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's relationship in some way, or they were standalone supernatural mysteries (speaking of which, even though they weren't always memorable, I'd happily read another volume's worth of supernatural mystery stories starring Wei Wuxian and/or Lan Wangji). There was one story focused on Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang, with guest appearances from Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan - it clarified some of the character connections for me, but otherwise didn't accomplish much.
Now, the thing I've been avoiding: the "Incense Burner" chapter. It's very much a PWP story - present-day Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji discover a mysterious incense burner that allows them to share each other's dreams. In particular, young, emotionally repressed, and sexually frustrated Lan Wangji's dreams about young Wei Wuxian. There's a lot of rough sex, with some graphic descriptions that sound unfun (does MXTX know about lube??). Present-day Wei Wuxian enjoys watching or being involved in most of it, but he's very firm with Lan Wangji about not doing in real life the things he disliked in the dreams. Anyway, if there's a chapter in this volume that'll be an issue for some folks, it'll likely be this one. That said, I didn't think it was as bad as similar stuff that cropped up in SVSSS.
It's weird - I both find this final volume to be satisfying and wish there were more. There are definitely more stories that could be told. Several characters didn't really get a proper ending - they just went off and did their own thing, whatever that happened to be. Still, I'm fine with this ending where it did. I will say this: the more I think about it, the sadder I feel for Mo Xuanyu. Wei Wuxian got a second chance and a marriage that most of the people in his life either supported or don't actively disapprove of. There's no second chance for Mo Xuanyu.
Extras:
Two full color illustrations, character and name guide, glossary, and black-and-white illustrations throughout. There are also several bonus items I received because I bought the special edition - stickers, posters, a blank notebook, etc.
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