I felt like I couldn’t put this down. The books exploration of desire, gender, and queerness was quite unique to me. I really enjoyed seeing Zhu find power and claim her own fate, even if she sacrificed some morals. Zhu’s relationship with Ma was a highlight to me because of her newfound corruptness too, the balance of Ma’s selflessness and Zhu’s selfishness, which I hope is explored more in the sequel. Speaking of sequels, the ending didn’t disappoint and I’m definitely looking forward to he who drowned the world.