Had I avoided picking up this book because I was worried my expectations were entirely too high and that it would devastate me if it didn't even close? Yes.
Did this book still devastate me? Yes.

So let's start where I always do, PROPS for including Content Warnings at the beginning of this book.

I have tried my best to express my feelings regarding this book without including direct spoilers.

But it was also everything my Queer heart has ever wanted as the person whose response has always been "WHY NOT BOTH?"
I loved seeing the relationships between the characters developing and honestly truly enjoyed not dealing with a constant bout of Will They, Won't They?
While I enjoyed Zeiten and Yizhi's conversation about him being okay with her pursuing a relationship with Shimin, I feel like I wanted more covered than we saw on-page.

I had the most mixed feelings about the "cause" shown behind Shimin's addiction. As someone who works in the field, this left a sour taste in my mouth, which I hadn't had until that scene. Addiction at its core is a disease, and while this is shown quite well in some parts. I feel like thrusting the blame onto one particular person altogether avoided the fact that there are a lot of factors that lead to addiction. And it wouldn't have made Shimin less of a person to have just been using alcohol to try to cope with what he had and was going through.
(I have strong feelings on this as someone who works in Mental Health & Addiction Services)

Overall I enjoyed this book, though, and will be picking the next one.