- #1
The interesting part of the story was the premise of an emperor who was a bad father, husband, and ruler turning things around, but it's very much a shallow family drama dressed up in historical clothes. There isn't much ruling being done, no political intrigue. That's obviously not what this novel aims to be (it's definitely a "turn your brain off" kind of novel), so it's ok, but the insane swings from serious to wtf are very jarring, making the moments that are supposed to be touching and emotional fall very flat...I have never read a story that is more all over the place... This novel has a lot of likeable elements, and it's translated well. But the story is so crazy that I can't keep up anymore. The fantasy elements seem to come out of nowhere, the characters are awkwardly and forcibly developed, and the most recent twist in the story has only served to create more drama...Ultimately, I take issue with the characters... they are written pretty badly. In this story, a 14-year-old prince acts like a 7-year-old kid who doesn't understand the concept of marriage (Spoiler
he wanted to be with his older brother forever so he protested his brother's marriage and proposed marrying his brother instead
[collapse], the ML (Emperor) is completely biased with his favor towards the youngest prince, and the Second Prince, the most pitiful of all, feels so shallowly written to deliver angst that it's hard to feel anything at all.