Genre: Fantasy

Review – Tied to You, vol 3

Posted April 10, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Tied to You, vol 3Genres: Fantasy, Manga, Romance
Pages: 308
Series: Tied to You #3
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Wooseo has finally found a way to remove the Ring. The catch? Doing so erases all memories related to one’s fated partner. While he loathes being a burden to Jigeon, for some reason, the thought of losing him hurts just as much…In the face of Wooseo’s uncertainty, Jigeon decides to make a gambit—by revealing he is irrevocably in love with him! But all risks come with consequences, and Jigeon’s actions have pushed his brother over the edge. No more sitting on the sidelines…Jiseok refuses to let his best friend be stolen away, even if it means dropping a truth bomb of his own!

Volume three of WHAT/Chelliace’s Tied to You keeps rattling on, with Wooseo wrestling with the idea of getting the ring removed and losing all his memories of Jigeon, and Jigeon still carefully manipulating the situation to force Wooseo to ultimately see and accept that he’s his fated partner, and nothing else compares…

And of course, even Jiseok’s part of that plan, his confused jealousy boiling up and making him rash — I would sympathise more with him and think that Wooseo probably would be better with him, if he hadn’t physically hurt Wooseo because of the rivalry between himself and his brother. That’s just not okay: it’s clear that Jigeon, too, would resort to violence — but he’s never behaved that way toward Wooseo, his desired romantic partner, while Jiseok has.

You end up kind of rooting for Jigeon, despite the manipulation and stalking. He would take care of Wooseo and make him happy, because he’s so desperate for Wooseo’s love. It’s impossible to feel totally at ease in rooting for that, though, because… well… manipulation and stalking.

I wanna be really clear that I am absolutely not recommending this as a romance, for that reason. It’s intense and fascinating, but definitely not any kind of fluffy romance, despite the soulmates concept.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – Breath of the Dragon

Posted April 5, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – Breath of the Dragon

Breath of the Dragon

by Shannon Lee, Fonda Lee

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 341
Series: Breathmarked #1
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

A young warrior dreams of proving his worth in the elite Guardian Tournament, fighting not only for himself but the fate of everything he loves.

Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Heaven to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s pride—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.

But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. He believes there is no future in Jun honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.

As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself and the very survival of everyone he cares about.

Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee’s Breath of the Dragon is a fairly well-trodden fantasy story, kinda YA-ish, that feels very much like a shounen manga. Martial arts, magical abilities, a conflict between two halves of a once-united country, a contest to become the guardian of a magical scroll, a rebellion, etc. It doesn’t come across as particularly original, which is not to say that there’s nothing fun about it, but it doesn’t stand out as much as I’d hoped.

There were a few surprises, like the eventual way things were worked out between Jun and Yin Yue — I hadn’t expected the animosity between them to be handled quite that way, or at least, not at the point it did/in the way it did. I wasn’t in love with the love triangle between them and Ren, so I was kind of relieved that didn’t get much of anywhere (yet, I’m sure that’ll change in the next book).

Overall… yeah, I don’t think it stood out to me. I liked some of the concepts, but Jun didn’t really sing to me (Ren might’ve been more interesting) and I found things a little predictable. It was fun, and there’s not a lot I’d point to as actually being bad, but I don’t know that I’d continue with the series, personally.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

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Review – Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (light novel), vol 2

Posted April 4, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (light novel), vol 2

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

by singNsong

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Light Novels
Pages: 240
Series: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (light novel) #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

The next stop in Dokja's journey is Chungmuro, where the scale of the scenario is far greater than anything his group has faced so far. Making matters worse, the whole place is controlled by the predatory Landlord Coalition that makes the thugs in Geumho station look like a joke. Between the various opposing factions and daily monster attacks, the station is one enormous powder keg, and Dokja holds the torch! But while he is preoccupied with this complex chess board, another key player is nowhere to be seen. With Junghyeok's disappearance, Dokja is forced to consider a chilling question--if the main character of this universe dies, what happens to the rest of the world?

Book two of singNsong’s Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint gives Dokja some whole new problems, as he rejoins some of the people he previously helped to save and navigates a new scenario. There’s some really fun stuff, like the whole idea of the Cinema Dungeon, and the way Dokja tries to use his memories to the group’s advantage to take care of them.

I’m curious where his relationship with Junghyeok’s going exactly: he keeps thinking of him as an asshole, but he’s pretty obsessed, after all. I’m guessing people ship that, especially given the assumptions some of Dokja’s companions make about what he said to Junghyeok (which gets censored for them and viewers of the “stream”).

Obviously the challenges will keep growing, but I’m curious when Dokja’s changes to the world start to make it difficult for him to judge what’s coming next. You’d think that would snowball quite quickly…

In any case, looking forward to reading the third volume as soon as it’s out.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – A Long and Speaking Silence

Posted March 31, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – A Long and Speaking Silence

A Long and Speaking Silence

by Nghi Vo

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 128
Series: The Singing Hills Cycle #7
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Every story begins somewhere.

On the banks of the Ya-lé River, the town of Luntien gathers to celebrate the start of the rainy season, but the celebration is marred by the arrival of refugees from the sea. Everyone has a story about the foreigners newly in their midst―lazy, violent, unwanted―while the refugees themselves grieve the loss of the home they loved.

Cleric Chih, very recently still Novice Chih, is also a stranger in Luntien. A moment of carelessness and bad luck leaves them waiting tables as they struggle to establish themself as a real cleric. A cleric’s job is to listen and record, but the stories emerging in Luntien are ugly and violent, as hard to predict as the river itself. With their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant by their side, Chih must help the refugees while also unraveling a mystery that may have roots in their own faraway home in the abbey of Singing Hills.

In the seventh entry of the award-winning Singing Hills series, we meet Chih and Almost Brilliant just beginning their journey together as Chih assumes their place on the road and in the world.

The new book in Nghi Vo’s Singing Hills series, A Long and Speaking Silence, actually takes us to the very start of Chih’s work as a cleric. They’re uncertain, easily robbed, unsure of their place and their right to do what they’re doing, and even Almost Brilliant is a little bit green… but there are always stories to learn and stories to tell. I really like seeing the start of Chih’s work as a cleric: it makes it clear how much they’ve grown.

The fact that much of the story focuses on an influx of refugees into the city feels neverendingly topical these days, with Chih sympathetic and well meaning, yet sometimes still ignorant and unintentionally offensive. I wonder if maybe it feels a bit heavy-handed, even though it’s also giving us more of the world Chih lives in, more excuses for stories; I think on balance it worked for me, but I can see some people finding it bit too topical.

I do wish there were more stories being told to Chih, as in the first two books and (to some extent) A Mouthful of Dust; it feels like quite a few of the stories are Chih getting involved in events themselves, while I really liked the way the stories Chih was told did most of the worldbuilding and heavy lifting.

Still, I enjoyed A Long and Speaking Silence a lot, and enjoyed Chih putting the pieces of a particular story related to Singing Hills together (which I shan’t spoiler).

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – Twig’s Traveling Tomes

Posted March 26, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments

Review – Twig’s Traveling Tomes

Twig's Traveling Tomes

by Gryffin Murphy

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 352
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

A witch with a magical affinity for books who owns a travelling bookstore reluctantly teams up with a charming rogue, her former professor and a gnome in search of a rare stolen grimoire. Perfect for fans of Rebecca Thorne, India Holton, Travis Baldree and Sarah Beth Durst

Romance is easier read than done...

Louella Twig is the only witch of her kind, much to the disappointment of her former mentor and her previous academic ambitions. While others connect to nature as their source of magic, Louella has an affinity with books. Denied her graduation broom, Louella carves a new path using her talent, creating a magical ambulatory bookshop that travels throughout the realm uniting readers with stories.

She lives a cosy, stable life, until she collides - quite literally - with a mysterious man between the Romance and Adventure aisles. Everett Sharp is handsome, charming ... and a rogue on the run. He's absolutely not someone Louella wishes to share either an adventure or a romance with. But then her old mentor arrives with a desperate a valuable grimoire has been stolen and there is only one witch who can retrieve what has been lost ... a witch who now finds herself in need of a bandit with experience.

Together with friends both old and new, Louella and Everett embark on an adventure across the four kingdoms, encountering whimsical creatures, a flying greenhouse full of plant pirates and a magical World's Fair. Along the way, Louella starts to wonder if this new chapter of her life could include some romance after all ...

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’m a sucker for books about books, and especially about magic involving books, so I had to give Gryffin Murphy’s Twig’s Traveling Tomes a shot. I love the idea of how Louella’s magic works, the books shouting out to her to help her give each person the perfect book — even when it isn’t necessarily in Louella’s interests, as sometimes the right book for someone might make them angry (when it suggests their husband is cheating, for example) or help them do something unethical.

I kinda enjoyed the fetch quest way the book played out, as well, with Louella using her magic to find the scattered pages of her old master’s book. It’s a bit of a romp, and some of those bits were quite fun — and the familiar she accidentally acquires along the way (a “haregon”, AKA “dragon rabbit”) is pretty cute and entertaining. The characters we learn about along the way are often fun in concept too, like Louella’s parents and their flying greenhouse.

Buuut I found the romance more than a little frustrating. The instant attraction felt completely unearned and cookie-cutter, and I didn’t feel like there was a speck of real chemistry between them beyond the author repeatedly telling me there was. I know the descriptions are meant to indicate that they’re super into each other, it is “shown not told” in places, but it just didn’t ring true somehow. Like someone holding two dolls up to each other and smooshing their faces together, saying “now kiss”. Some of the humorous moments feel similarly forced, to be honest.

That romance element takes up a fair portion of the page count, so given it didn’t work well for me, it’s not too much of a surprise that I didn’t love the book. The bookish magic is fun, and if insta-love doesn’t bother you (which… for me, it kinda depends on how things play out, and it didn’t work for me here), you’ll likely have more fun than I did.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

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Review – Carmilla: The First Vampire

Posted March 26, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Carmilla: The First Vampire

Carmilla: The First Vampire

by Amy Chu, Soo Lee

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Horror
Pages: 109
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

Before Dracula, before Nosferatu, there was…CARMILLA.

Inspired by the gothic novel that started the vampire genre and layered with dark Chinese folklore, this queer, feminist murder mystery graphic novel is a tale of identity, obsession and fateful family secrets.

At the height of the Lunar New Year in 1990s New York City, an idealistic social worker turns detective when she discovers young, homeless LGBTQ+ women are being murdered and no one, especially the police, seems to care.

A series of clues points her to Carmilla’s, a mysterious nightclub in the heart of her neighborhood, Chinatown. There she falls for the next likely target, landing her at the center of a real-life horror story—and face-to-face with illusions about herself, her life, and her hidden past.

The first volume of Amy Chu and Soo Lee’s Carmilla: The First Vampire is an interesting attempt to mingle a retelling (or rather, continuation of) Carmilla with Chinese folklore and the idea of hunting dangerous creatures, which… it’s hard to say how well that works, because the main character (Athena) doesn’t know about and has been protected from it.

It all feels a bit rushed, to be honest; Athena taking in Violet feels apt enough, but her breakup with her partner Morgan feels completely skipped over, along with her grandfather’s revelations, and even the deaths of certain characters. It focuses mostly on Violet and Athena, and the obsession Athena develops with Violet, which… didn’t quite manage to evoke the weird longing/repulsion that’s such a feature of the original Carmilla.

Given it’s a first volume, there’s probably more to see, and this is mostly setup — though that feels weird, given the title and the fact that Carmilla is apparently vanquished in this book already? In any case, I’m not super inspired to read more.

The art was okay, not my favourite style, but some fun character designs.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

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Review – Nightshade & Oak

Posted March 22, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 5 Comments

Review – Nightshade & Oak

Nightshade & Oak

by Molly O'Neill

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 278
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

An Iron Age goddess must grapple with becoming human in this delightful historical fantasy of myth and magic from the author of the instant hit Greenteeth.

When Mallt, the goddess of death, is accidentally turned human by a wayward spell, she finds she’s ill-equipped to deal with the trials of a mortal life. After all, why would a goddess need to know how to gather food or light a fire?

Unable to fend for herself, she teams up with warrior Bellis on a perilous journey to the afterlife to try to restore her powers. Frustrated by her frail human body and beset with blisters, Mallt might not make the best travelling companion.

But as animosity slowly turns to attraction, these two very different women must learn to work together if they are to have any hope of surviving their quest.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I really liked Molly O’Neill’s Greenteeth, so I was definitely interested to give Nightshade & Oak a try as soon as I heard about it. There are definitely certain similarities between the two: Mallt y Nos is otherworldly, while the other main character Belis is a human, one of the daughters of Boudicca. The story’s rooted in the historical moment just after Boudicca’s failed rebellion against the Roman invasion, but also in the Welsh mythology of Mallt-y-Nos (though I know Mallt-y-Nos as a more tragic figure who regrets her choice to become what she is, which we don’t see here).

It’s a bit more of a serious story than most of Greenteeth, given the Roman rebellion that gives us the setting and motivation for some of the action… but there are also funny bits, mainly due to Mallt becoming human and thus dealing with problems she’s never had before, like stubbing her toes and not being able to walk on water. For parts of the journey, it’s quite light-hearted.

Like Greenteeth, something of the “Celtic mythology” background informs the part where Mallt and Belis have to restore the afterworld, with pretty traditional-feeling tasks, though it’s obviously fairly loose, a reimagining of what Celtic myth might have been like for some people more than sticking faithfully only to the scraps we have (at least, as far as I know various bits of it were made up). I liked the part about being able to make time go slower by suffering, since it matches up with how bad times feel — it was a clever solution.

I wasn’t expecting the way things ended for quite a while, but something clicked in my head about two thirds of the way through and I kind of predicted how things would end up for Mallt and Belis. I think that was fairly well done, and made sense for the characters — neither can turn away from what they actually are, even if they’ve grown and changed in one another’s company. It’s a bittersweet ending, but worthwhile, I’d say.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Tied to You, vol 2

Posted March 21, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Tied to You, vol 2

Tied to You

by WHAT, Chelliace

Genres: Fantasy, Manga, Romance
Pages: 320
Series: Tied to You #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

All’s Fair in Love and War

His heart torn from the bittersweet pain of unrequited love, Wooseo turns to Jigeon for solace…and the two of them kiss?! What starts as a natural physical affinity between Ring Partners quickly becomes a comfortable routine of intimacy, and Wooseo soon realizes he might be seeing Jigeon less and less as a “stand-in” for his best friend. But all is not well in paradise…Jiseok has caught on to his brother’s suspicious string pulling, dredging up complicated feelings and possessiveness. And he’s not the only one seeing green— a scorned lover from Jigeon’s past has resurfaced, and he’s dead set on severing his ex’s new Ring connection!

Partway through volume two of WHAT/Chelliace’s Tied to You, I decided that Jigeon’s behaviour is meant to be creepy and pushing out beyond the pale, which helped me decide how this was landing with me. It’s easier to be all-in on it when you’re sure it’s meant to be messy and not just romantic (though I think there is an amount of romanticisation of Jigeon’s behaviour).

The whole situation gets more complicated, with Jiseok seeming to be jealous of Jigeon and Wooseo’s growing closeness, and a friend of Jigeon’s joining in to help him pull strings. Wooseo’s unrequited love and his confusion are really well portrayed here — you can feel his pain, and the strength of the bond between him and Jiseok.

It’s an interesting exploration of obsession, of someone who wants someone else so badly they’ll manipulate them this way and that, even with the reassurance of a fated bond.

And of course there’s some drama with Jigeon’s ex, and the tantalising possibility that the rings can be removed…

I’ve already read volumes three and four as I write this, I got really into the series from this point. And the art remains really consistently beautiful.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – Stay for a Spell

Posted March 17, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Review – Stay for a Spell

Stay for a Spell

by Amy Coombe

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 384
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

A joyful, cosy fantasy romance for anyone who's ever wished they could live in a bookshop.

One curse, seven princes, and a bookshop that you’ll never want to leave…

Princess Tanadelle of the Widdenmar longs to build a life of her own making. During a royal visit to the cosy town of Little Pepperidge, Tandy’s dream comes true when she finds herself cursed to remain in a run-down bookshop until she finds her heart’s desire.

More than a little thrilled, she hires a new assistant, teenage goth Sasha, and settles into life among the stacks. Despite the infuriatingly handsome pirate, Bash, who keeps showing up at the shop with his good looks and his own curse to figure out, Tandy’s new life might just make her happy.

There are just seven, minor, problems. With her royal duties unfulfilled, the frantic King and Queen send the seven princes of the realms to bestow upon Tandy a kiss, each one hoping to break the curse.

After all, what more could a princess want, than a prince?

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I saw other people talking about being interested in Amy Coombe’s Stay for a Spell, and I couldn’t resist: a princess ends up trapped in a rickety old bookshop, cursed to remain until she achieves her heart’s desire? You had me at “bookshop”, even if books set in and around bookshops often forget about the reading part and just treat books as purely magical in and of themselves. Admittedly, there is a bit of that here — Tandy’s love of reading draws her to the bookshop, and leads her to sell particular books, but sometimes the reading part still gets lost amid the selling of books and the handling of books as physical objects.

The premise is very wish fulfillment-y, and I feel like there’s a fair bit of the world that isn’t fully thought out and is a fairly generic fantasy world, but I had a lot of fun all the same. The obvious way to break the curse on a princess would be a kiss from a prince, is what her parents figure, so they send along the various princes of the realms…  But things don’t work in the obvious way here all the time.

For a start, it’s not quite as heteronormative as it might sound: one of the princes who shows up, Calla, is female (and Tandy’s sister is also a prince) — the rank is “prince”, regardless of the gender of the person occupying it. There are two prominent queer kisses in the book, albeit neither of them is romantic: one of the male princes kisses the also-cursed pirate, Bash, while Calla kisses Tandy (and it’s arguably one of the best kisses in the story).

The princes are neither all wonderful people nor all slugs: they all stick around and all offer their help to Tandy, even when their kisses fail to cure her, and even when they’re a bit personally unbearable at times. I really liked that Driz turns out to be a pretty cool guy. Kinda ended up wishing they’d all get together, with Bash too; life would be interesting, to say the least.

The way things play out felt a bit… conventional, I suppose? Compared to the stuff I hadn’t expected, like Bash’s kiss from Driz, and Calla’s kiss with Tandy. It feels very wish fulfillment-y, since Tandy gets to just stop being a working princess and lay aside her duties to stay in the shop with Bash. Still, there are things that still defy expectation (Bash’s curse isn’t broken), and I did ultimately like how Tandy and Bash (inevitably) got together, and thought there was pretty good chemistry there.

You do discover at the end that there’s a bit of an insta-love trope, which I’d sort of suspected and sort of hoped was subverted in some way… but Tandy herself mostly experience instant attraction, along with some annoyance, so it’s not too irritating.

Overall, I’ve said a lot about this compared to normal because it genuinely surprised me at times, and was a delight. I wonder if there’ll be any other romances in this world? Maybe kissing Bash awakened something in Driz…?

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish, vol 4

Posted March 11, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish, vol 4

The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish

by Xue Shan Fei Hu

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels, Romance
Pages: 443
Series: The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish #4
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

STILL WATERS RUN DEEP

With their union blessed by the emperor and four baby heirs in tow, Prince Jing is well on his way to clinching the position of crown prince. But Li Yu can’t pat himself on the back for a job well done just yet! Prince Jing’s crafty brother still lurks in the shadows plotting against him.

As Li Yu dives deeper into the sixth prince’s schemes, he uncovers a dastardly conspiracy that ripples from Prince Jing’s childhood, forming a tsunami poised to plunge the imperial palace (and its allies) into total chaos! Li Yu will have to use all the fishy tricks at his disposal if he wants to keep his new family safe!

The fourth volume of The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish brings the whole thing to an end and wraps it up neatly with a bow, but dang, there’s a lot that happens in this volume still. After all, Prince Jing isn’t the crown prince yet, Li Yu still wants to have another baby, and there are those mysterious secrets that the fish-scamming system keeps showing him.

In general, I loved it. The babies are adorable, Li Yu and Mu Tianchi’s bond has become really strong (if sometimes in need of a tad more communication), and the political plot all works out and some of the secrets start to make sense.

I did want to address one thing, though: in this volume, the disabled tyrant is cured, in fact. Mu Tianchi’s mutism isn’t genetic, but has been caused by a low-dose poison he was given at birth. Once the poison is discovered and cured, he begins to be able to speak. You could argue that this is plot-necessary because otherwise he couldn’t become the emperor (at least not without becoming a tyrant), and also that Chinese culture isn’t in quite the same place about stuff like disability — but it’s still worth knowing, and worth knowing as well that there’s a brief mention of Li Yu telling the children that Mu Tianchi isn’t “different”, he’s “just sick”, implying it would be bad if he was disabled.

In the series as a whole, Li Yu never looks down on Mu Tianchi for being mute, and Mu Tianchi is always very capable — it’s just that it’s unacceptable for the emperor’s heir to be unable to speak. That said, that scene where Li Yu tries to explain away disability so as not to make the children think their dad is “different” suggests the author might treat permanent disability quite differently. So tread with care: there are some not-great attitudes toward disability swimming around the edges of the story and occasionally casting some shadows.

There are a few things that don’t entirely add up, plot-wise — e.g. the babies’ paternity was already confirmed on birth: Mu Tianchi offered his own blood for it rather than disturb Li Yu for his, I remember that scene clearly. Was that never communicated to the emperor? Not that he ever seems to genuinely doubt the children’s paternity anyway, but that whole bit is never mentioned as a reason why.

…But mostly I just loved it, really. It’s very sweet.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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