After Li Yu stays up all night to read an engrossing webnovel, he finally falls asleep–only to wake up in the world of the novel itself. And not as himself, but as a helpless fish! Shocked and dismayed, Li Yu quickly realizes that he must live in a tank owned by Mu Tianchi, the tyrant of the novel who never speaks. Whatever force brought Li Yu into this world warns him that there’s only one way to become human again: to win over the cold Mu Tianchi and change his harsh ways. But Li Yu has no idea how to do that, especially as a powerless, palm-sized carp. Can a little fish really swim its way into a tyrant’s heart?
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Arguably one of my favorite reads of the year—just so silly and adorable. Now, if you had told me last year that I would really enjoy a book about a tyrant and his lover, who happens to be a fish, I would’ve been like, “Yeah, that checks out; it’s honestly on brand at this point.” Anyway, I finished this book about a week and a half ago, and I’m still thinking about it. I cannot believe how attached I am to this absurd book.
Firstly, in my humble opinion, this book was genuinely funny, or maybe it just matched my sense of humor well. Even the names of the chapters made me giggle. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a good time reading a book before.
I also had basically no issues with the writing or translation and thought it was really well done. Of course, it’s not all funny business—there is an actual plot and lots of palace politics. This book has great pacing and is overall well-done. If I had anything to nitpick, it would be that the art on the cover doesn’t match the art inside, but it’s still cute. The book even includes a little appendix of characters, names, and pronunciations.
⬇️ SPOILERS BE HERE⬇️
The Fish
The best part of this book is our little carp, Li Yu, who is doing his best to survive and please Mu Tianchi. Here are some of my favorite examples:
- his cute little seaweed dance
- “accidentally” slapping the Noble Consort
- competing with Ye Qinghuan’s dog to be the better pet
I just really enjoyed Li Yu’s character, especially his arch-nemesis being the cat that almost ate him and how he used the precious gems Mu gave him for bowling.
The Romance
“Fish and human were absorbed in their own little world. They didn’t care how they might look to anyone else.” -pg. 81
While there isn’t a lot of romantic moments in this book because Li Yu is a carp for most of the time, their relationship does pick up towards the end.
Mu figuring out his pet fish is actually a ‘fish spirit’ and building a two-way mirror in his room so he can watch Li Yu transform and eat snacks when he thinks he’s alone is just hilarious.
Other Funnies
“Did she fall into his trap? Had Prince Jing acquired a fish with the ability to resurrect itself for the sole purpose of embarrassing her in front of the emperor?” -pg. 102
The Second Prince having a literal fish as an enemy.
Mu putting bowls of water everywhere so his pet fish can flop around his room as he pleases.
The fact I bought this while I was visiting my family so my actual mother watched me purchase this with no shame.
Li Yu on his way to save his manz:
ejstories 
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