It’s been a while since I ventured into a more intricate fantasy fiction novel, and I definitely didn’t make it easier on myself by choosing historical military fantasy fiction to boot! But it did have lots of queers so that made the initial confusion worth it. There was actually less fantasy more military action than I anticipated. Did I always know what was happening? Absolutely not, but I just carried on trooping through and caught up eventually! I LOVED the plot twists, loved the two MCs Zhu and Ouyang - honestly might love Ouyang more than Zhu, and will definitely pick up the sequel at some point.

Overall, seriously strong beginning and end, a few too many confusing battles in the middle, great character development all round!