- #1
LOVE LOVE LOVEIt's like a cross between Return of the Swallow, The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated consort and Eight Treasures Trousseau, but with only the best parts from each.Both MCs come alive - their actions and thoughts are guided by their pasts and their abilities: no longer do we have a FL who forgets all of her cunning whenever she meets the ML or a sticky situation; no longer do we have a ML who trusts "no one" but falls in love with the FL at first sight. I commend the author for pulling off character tropes that I hate and making me still root for the characters - I could go on and on but I wont - you'll just have to read the story yourself.I also want to say that I love the world the author has created. It's historical China, but with a more open-minded approach to women in positions of power. The women in this story can stand equal (or just about) to men and I think it was the *best* decision the author made. It takes the FL's actions and gives them a world in which they make sense. "Not like other girls" never quite works in historical novels... (Also, I say this is world building - it may be the case that in certain periods of Ancient Chinese history such things really were acceptable, but I don't know much about Chinese history so...)