Review Detail of SoareAndreea in A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Let's start by saying that when this novel was being translated in the beginning, I was very excited- I read the manga version and the premise of the novel seem to be interesting enough. When I first started reading I was under the impression that this was going to be some amazing tale about how this traumatized girl was going to go against all odds and gain her place and sanity back. But this was not the case, and as I continued to read a few problems started to be noticeble. 1. The rape- Xia Ling is raped. In her previous life by Pei Ziheng, and in her current one by Li Lei. I don't know what the author intends to do, but when writing about sensitive topics such as rape, especially since this heinous was done to her by the two people who were supposed to love and cherish her, but this is not the way you go about it. 2. The subtle victim blaming and the blatant "You should feel lucky he even looked at you" speech everyone around her- even her friends!!- seem to give her. What kind of message is that? That it's okay to be raped as long as it's by the person you love? That it's okay as long as it's a person with power and money? Her friends advice her to forgive Li Lei after he raped her just because he presented them with a bit of his puppy eyes. I thought Pei Ziheng was the worst, but seeing how Li Lei completely disregarded Xia Ling's feelings when he knew very well that she was dealing with trauma that she could not even express, I must say that the two are more alike than I would've ever thought. 3. Despite Li Lei's promise to protect Xia Ling, he utterly failed when it mattered the most. I supposed now Xia Ling knows how it is to be tortured by her lovers in both of her lives. I suppose the betrayal was supposed to bring them together as equals, but seeing how things are going that won't happen until the end of the novel. 4. The weird changes in the characters' behaviour. The only one who remained consistent or whose actions actually made sense was- surprisingly- Pei Ziheng. Xia Ling oscillates between smart and crafty to downright stupid. Her stupidity manifests itself by going alone with the dude that tried to kill you in your current life, who tortured and abused you in the last, being disrespectful to other people just because she thinks she's better than them and ultimately having to be rescued by one of the dudes. (This is just a few of the instances) Li Lei is at first presented as this scary beautiful dude that is part of the mafia, only for later to become doting towards her, then he shows his ugly side i.e. showing how possessive he is, and raping her. 4. The unnecessary possessiveness. Okay, we get it dudes. She's amazing and you don't want other people to see her. In small doses possessiveness can be quite endearing (he/she cares). BUT. But to act like little children whose toy was taken is unacceptable. The matter of possessiveness is tied mostly in the fact that one person doesn't trust the other to be faithful. We see that with Pei Ziheng in the flashbacks( he literally imprisons her, she threatens to leave and after Pei Ziheng would rather take the word of a stranger as true rather than that of a person he supposedly loves.) and with Li Lei in her current one. He ALLOWS her to do things, like a dog, a servant, a property. He would rather listen to Su Tang, than Xia Ling. The only things I liked in this novel were the supporting characters. Sister Mai Na, Wei Shaoyin and Feng Kun were truly amazing friends.