“The moon shall be overcome by the mist one morning, why the fear of laying weak in the gutter. [...] When have women ever lost to men?”

let me start by saying this: i knew i was going to give this book five stars from the very beginning.
here's the thing. i'm easy drawn by stories that resolve around both angst, romance and a good amount of fight scenes. when i first heard about this novel, i was super interested. when i started reading it, i went into this period while i couldn't read more than ten pages a day, and it made me angry because i knew i was loving it, but one of those "reading withdrawl phases" had hit me. when i finally went back to my usual pace, i was even more astounished by this story. it's not simply fun to read, it's awesome to picture as well. i felt like i was watching a movie during multiple moments, and i could feel the feelings of the characters very well!
now, about those characters. i had four ultimate favorites: li xian, lin wanyue, lin yu and qi wang li zhen. li xian is the one character i couldn't stop thinking or talking about, though. although i loved these four especially (and also loved many more, because they're built so well), li xian's self-discovery journey, while we also managed to go through the changes in the way she dealt with the world around her as a woman and a princess who must protect her brother's future, it all made me so fond of her. like i said, i loved all four of those very much, and i'm obviously completely filled with good feelings for all of them, but li xian has now her own special place in my heart.
the fight scenes were amazing. they might not be described as traditional action scenes (the pace, the descriptions, etc) but they were just great. i felt the thrill of rooting for one of the sides every time, and it was awesome when i could finally sigh in relief when the battles were done.
finally, the romance. man, i love the love between li xian and lin wanyue so much. it was so well done, so well built, from lin wanyue's infatuation with li xian from the beginning to the way li xian learned what she truly felt for the person right there next to her all that time.
i could go on and on about it, but this is already the longest review i've ever written, and i'm quite anxious to go back to the pages i've bookmarked and reread my favorite moments already. and, of course, add this to my favorites shelf.