Guide to Raising the Sick Villain by Xiǎohái Ài Chī Táng (小孩爱吃糖）

Chinese Title: 病弱反派饲养指南 (Bìngruò Fǎnpài Sìyǎng Zhǐnán)

Completed: 6 December 2019

Genres: Romance, Drama, Josei*, Young Adult Fiction

* Josei is a genre with a target audience of young adult females with a less idealized romance

Available as: Webnovel

Summary:

Guide to Raising the Sick Villain is about a girl named Qiao Lan who transmigrates into a novel by accident and gets the opportunity to change the fate of her favourite character, Tan Mo. In the original ending of the novel, Tan Mo commits suicide after being rejected by the main character, Song Yao. Qiao Lan meets Tan Mo at the beginning of high school when he is in a wheelchair and suffers from Asperger’s syndrome (AS). She strives to learn more about his condition and treat him well. Along the way, they fall in love.

Review

I would recommend this text to young adults and adults who enjoy cute love stories. There were two elements that stood me. First, I was not too familiar with Asperger’s syndrome. However, there was a good mix of description of how Tan Mo has lived with this illness and also sections of readings that give more information about the illness. Second, I enjoyed the message of the text. Within the text, there was a discussion between characters on whether people with disabilities and mental illnesses deserve to be in love and have romantic relationships. Through Qiao Lan’s actions, she emphasizes that communication is key to any romantic relationship, regardless of the ability of those involved. Discussing mental illness can be quite hard and I think this text did that well.