What I loved:

• beautiful writing in a vividly beautiful setting
• unique, distinct and fully believable characters
• almost perfect blend of heartwarming and heartbreaking

What I didn't love:

• the pattern of adding drama/suspense through extremely close and coincidental timing became increasingly immersion breaking with each occurrence
• the final scenes felt like the book suddenly started trying to be an action movie
• that ending

The tragedy of this book is that the first 40% or so felt like a five star read; the first chapter was a little dull, but once the story got going I was hooked. Two people separated by an ocean of status and convention slowly learn to trust and be vulnerable with eachother and we get to see an intimate friendship slowly bloom. It's almost perfect. Unfortunately, it drops suddenly off a cliff. The remaining 60% feels like a third-rate fanfic of the first part, written by someone determined to play out their praise and recognition fetish again and again in the most repetitive and tedious way imaginable. The emperor all but fades from the story altogether, along with the beautifully budding intimacy that propelled the story forward, and we're left with nothing but hundreds of pages of Kip being told by everyone he meets - literally everyone - family members, friends, colleagues, passing strangers, enemies - how amazing and powerful and perfect he is and how devastated they are that they didnt realise his greatness sooner because he was too modest. His many titles and spectacular accomplishments - all of which happened "off-screen" - are listed over and over, and everyone fawns admiringly for hour after interminable hour, and that's basically all that happens. Never have I seen a book go from so promising to so disappointing 😞 it was an absolute eyerolling slog by the end. 2 stars, but really the first bit is 5 stars and best thought of as an unfinished book with great potential, and the rest is maybe half a star at best.