My rating and reviews of the BL and Yaoi I have read and enjoyed. Passing along the joy to others. Translations from multiple translators and their blogs. Links are guaranteed only at time of posting the review. Some may no longer function.
I came to the BL scene a little later than most. But once I discovered the dramas and then the novels...it was like eating popcorn: addictive and I couldn't stop at one taste. I think the first drama I watched that intrigued me was a Taiwanese romance titled "Bromance".
Now before you look it up to watch, let me clarify that this was actually a gender bender drama. A girl is raised by her parents as their "son" because of a fortune teller's prophecy. She ends up falling in love with a man who is then conflicted by his own feelings, since he never was attracted to a "man" before. In the end it's revealed he is a she and they get married and... well it's very heterosexual. So what does that have to do with boys love, you ask? 🤔
I found myself actually rooting for the story of the male lead falling in love with a "man" and overcoming his own doubts to come to the realization that love is, well, love. Then I was disappointed at the drama's copout of him finding out "he" was a she. It felt like a cheat, in a way. I wanted to watch the drama with the boy falling in love with an actual boy.
So began the fall down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos, which led to discovering Chinese BL Dramas and then Thai BL Dramas, and then Wattpad! My memory and timing is a bit hazy. I can't say for sure what the first Boys Love story was that I read. But the first that I recall having the biggest impact for me and that made me a fan was "Addicted (Heroin)" by Chai Jidan.
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I became addicted (pun intended) to this series. I had found and watched the drama on YouTube first. But then it abruptly stopped at season one and never continued due to the Chinese government (the CCP) banning homosexuality in all media forms. I was in agony! I found out it was based on a novel and went to search online to find out the rest of the story. When I found that someone was translating the novel, I was in ecstasy. I read that book until the wee hours of the morning, until I finished it. Only to find out that there was a cliffhanger and book two at the end! 😫
In those early days I took for granted that there must be English versions of these great new stories called "Boys Love" readily available. I soon discovered the frustration that many have felt. Either starting a great story that grabbed your interest, only to find that it was never finished translated (known as "dropped"). Or the translator was extremely slow and I read too fast. Or the translator was not a native speaker or reader of that language and the translation was very poor in readability. I started to find that dramas that I enjoyed and wanted to read the story it was based on were not available in English, or only partially translated. It was agony for a voracious reader like myself.
So, I started to keep track of all the websites/blogs that I could find that were fully translated and well done. Then I would write down novels I had enjoyed and would possibly want to read again in the future, in case the BL well ran dry and I had to go back and reread them. Case in point, I've reread "Addicted" three times now. Still. Love. It. 😍
This will be a more official count of the stories I loved, rated with notes, and how YOU can read them. I hope to pay it forward for those who may be new to the genre like I was all those years ago. I only ask that you don't give the translators of these stories a difficult time, like reporting them OR insulting them for things you don't like about the novel or its characters actions. They are offering a service by translating, and many work hard without anything in return.
With that I hope you fall in love with Boys Love like I did. Have fun, and don't get lost down the rabbit hole for too long 😉
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Rating Is Based On 5 Heart System: 1 Heart is "Disappointing, Don't Bother", and 5 Hearts is "Exemplary Boys Love". Example:
