This was a book I was very excited to read. I love Xiran Jay Zhao's youtube content and everywhere I looked this book had amazing reviews. I will say that unlike many others I don't think this is a flawless book. The writing quality is a little amateurish at times for the first half of the book, the portrayal of wu zetian's character feels a little childish at times for that section. I feel like her frustration and thoughts could be conveyed better in a more refined way. However! I am glad I stuck with this book the quality of writing improves immensely once the character background is set up and taking into the consideration this is the first book in a series I'm forgiving of its rocky beginning. The concept of this book is so cool, I loved reading about the chrysallis and different qi types. The mechanics of the chrysallis kind of reminds me of evangelion which I adore so plus points there. I will not lie and tell you that adored wu zetian from the beginning but man did I love to see her character evolve and grow. Shimin was also a great male lead, although I wish I got to see more of Yizhi also in the book. The love triangle also gave me butterflies when I read it and it's the first time I've read a book where the triangle is actually a triangle lol. I'm excited to see where this series goes. I hope the next book can deliver something I can give 5 stars because I absolutely see the potential if the author just fine tunes their writing a bit more.