- #1
If I'm not wrong, this is the novel that the CDrama 'Romance of Tiger and Rose' was based off of, the similarities are unmistakable, however there are also many differences.The female lead seems competent and hardworking, although she needs to be threatened into working, she still takes it seriously and doesn't care about getting her hands dirty. I respect that. There's a lot of side characters and they're all pretty well-done. The plot so far is pretty dense territory management/society building, which is pretty interesting but won't be for everyone.I will say that the gender role reversal feels a little surface level. I haven't finished the entire novel so maybe it changes, but the gender role reversal doesn't feel much like it's making any sort of statement or larger impact other than the gimmick. Feng Xiran, in the modern world rose to prominence in what would've almost certainly been a male-dominated business world and became quite rich. She's suddenly in a position where, by default, she is considered more powerful, intelligent, diligent, ect without having to fight so hard to be heard. How might that sudden change in environment feel to her? How does it make her feel to see the men around her have to deal with some of the oppression women historically would deal with? If there's any space for an author to really explore those types of themes, it would be this.This concept also seems a bit muddied by the neighboring country being a traditional patriarchal society. I feel like there's a lot to explore in this setting.Despite that big rant, that's not really my main reason for 4 stars. Overall the impression I got from reading it was "this is fine". Well-written, interesting concept, but it just didn't have that "it" factor to push it into a truly entertaining read for me. Nothing really captured me enough to compel me to keep reading to the very end