This was so much better than I had anticipated, and I thought it sounded pretty good to begin with. This gave me similar vibes as The Emperor and The Endless Palace by Justinian Huang, but YA, without the dreaded existentialism or multiple timelines, and with a much more happy ending. Xian and Zhen are such interesting and complex characters. They really hold up this story. The plot was super unique and intriguing as well. There's drama, mystery, politics, and romance. This story is definitely not one note, but so layered and with so much depth. I usually have different expectations for YA stories. It's a different genre and target audience, after all, so I just did not expect everything that I got with this story. I had so much fun and felt so much emotion while reading this. It's a journey and such an amazing one at that. This deserves way more hype, and I HIGHLY recommend this to everyone!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.