I almost didn’t continue reading this book because the beginning is slow and I am not too fond of the author’s writing style, but I pushed ahead because I was really curious about the magic system. I’m glad I did! What really caught me was the court drama. I think it’s written well and I am curious to see where it goes in the next book.

I feel complicated in regards to Ning because in some ways I appreciate her character, in other ways I find her boring. She is the type of protagonist who you can’t really tell the personality of because the author really does not get it across well. I would find myself surprised by her actions because I didn’t know that she would do that. It felt like her inner monologue was a lot more peaceful(???) compared to how she expressed herself, which seemed to perhaps be loud and brash. I don’t really know how to describe it further. I also dislike how pretending to be a shennong-tu lacked difficulty for her. I would’ve been super interested in seeing a lot more challenge in regards to that. However, I do appreciate how she actively takes a role in the story. She makes decisions herself instead of the story sweeping her along.

In regards to the pace, I’ve labelled this medium paced in my review but I’d say it’s slow paced in the beginning and then fast paced somewhere towards the middle.