- #1
This was a fascinating novel...I'll keep up with the translation as they're doing a great job. But of course, I had to look up the raws to find out what happened because I'm impatient AF.This novel says a lot about the role of women in ancient times, how men viewed them, the small ways women were able to rage against social norms... and of course, how everyone back then viewed eunuchs. The female lead has two "great" loves. I'll let you find out who she ends up with. I honestly wasn't sure for a very long time. This novel stressed me out A LOT. There were so many socio-political machinations, interpersonal conflicts, and angst lol. I cried a few times for several characters and their circumstances. Most of the novel was deep and contained a lot of intricate plot set-up, which I appreciated.That said, the only thing keeping this novel from a 4.5-5 star read for me is that there was a big tonal shift in the last 30-40 chapters... the only way to describe how I felt reading them is to compare it to how it feels to watch anime. You know how every series has that filler episode that takes place at the beach? The last 4th of the novel was like that lol. (But with more mu*der.) Anyway, I also was sad that the author spent a lot of time on the FL's first relationship and then we didn't get quite the same amount of detail/intensity with the second one (I was left with some unanswered questions, loose ends, etc.) So, the final verdict is 4 stars.