I was super excited (and surprised!) to see a baihe novel on the shelf at the bookstore, so this was an instant buy! An extra plus was that it’s a standalone. I found the ending to be the best part, as it was well-paced with interesting drama. The rest of the book was pretty slow-paced, and everything played out according to the main character’s plans, which are pretty much laid out at the beginning of the novel. That did take out a lot of intrigue. I’m hoping that the commercial success of this book (because I don’t foresee a great critical reception) at least encourages SS to put out more GL!!

About the couple: The main characters were not really affected by anything that happened, or really anything except each other, and they pretty instantly fell in love with each other 😅 Yu Shengyan was kind of a nothingburger of a character — zero ambitions, zero wants except a bit of possessiveness around Fu Wanqing. I kept expecting YSY to get a bit more fleshed out a la Lan Wangji, but that never happened. FWQ was also repetitive after a time. I did enjoy some of their moments, but I expect a bit more development in a book approaching 400 pages.

Not my cup of tea. I like the idea and characters, but maybe small-town cozy detective isn’t for me? The only part I really sat forward for was the ending, which was a bit quicker paced. It WAS pretty funny how Arthur kept going in circles accusing people, but I think I would’ve enjoyed the book more if it were 150 pages. Salvatore was an absolute delight that I would love to see as an animated cartoon character. Actually, I think this would work really well as a movie!

PHENOMENAL narrator and such a fantastic story. A ride from start to finish.

Exactly the kind of unrestrained mess I love to see in horror. Made me genuinely angry at times. Fantastic ending. Read this in one sitting.