Genuinely wanted to like this more because the idea of mechas being a celebrity sport and the fuel is human lives is honestly pretty cool and you could really go dark with it. Unfortunately it just felt very surface level. I often felt like I was reading a fan-fic more than a novel.

Zetian's character was the main problem for me because she never seemed to have that emotional depth to really give her rage the impact I think the author wanted, she just kinda seemed to dip into sociopathic tendencies which clashed with how she was portrayed as somebody fighting for justice at times. I dunno, it didn't work for me.

 Though I will say, while reading this, I kept thinking it would make a good movie, I think a shorter runtime, more showing and less telling, and less inner monologue would really help these aesthetics and ideas work to their full potential. That being said, despite not liking it, I think it's sick that the kids are reading books about chinese mecha sci-fi, I just hope it improves as this author matures in their craft!