This was one roller coaster of a ride, the exhausting kind where you have to really hold on tight or else you’ll fall off your seat or maybe, just maybe, you’ll let go yourself because you... just can’t take any more nonsense.

DISLIKES: The first 15 episodes is painfully slow and, for me, kind of directionless. While the carefree nature of the FL is important to portray, the director failed to develop her character even after 7 long episodes into the drama. This is the make or break point of keen viewers who may scratch their heads thinking there must be something wrong with them or all the highly praised reviews must be paid, lol. The other frustrating part are the ++ side stories that took up so much unnecessary screen time and quite frankly didn’t really add much to the main plot, if they did it was so drawn out that the intended impact sputtered into mere bubbles in the air. The never ending schemes of the scorned women undoubtedly challenged my will to finish this drama, it made the ride almost unbearable! These women are literally obsessed and, if truth be told, possessed, lol!

LIKES: Hands down the acting of the ML. Such a powerful portrayal of the master’s quiet kindness that you can feel it through the screen. The same goes for his raw and passionate love for the FL, it was so real you can feel the heat in your own body. I re-watched the above mentioned scenes after I finished the drama as an ode to the actor’s brilliant talent because I know I will not watch this drama ever again.

So much more could be said but in the effort to prevent a long winded read I am just going to conclude that while the plot is decent and most of the actors did their part well, the screenwriting failed to make this an enjoyable ride. This drama highlighted how essential and important screenwriters’ roles are in a successful production but I digress. I wish that I’ve read the book to solidify my conclusion but based on the reviews of those who did I think I am not far off. The lack of coherence and harmony between events and the imbalance of screen time between characters produced whirlwind of emotions on both ends of the spectrum- suffocation (cue Su Jin and Xuan Nu for starters) on one and emptiness on the other (lack of actual Ye Hua and Bai Qian scenes) hence the sickening roller coaster ride.

My advice is similar to the advice I got while watching, hang tight till the leads meet in the mortal world and then decide if you want to invest in at least 40 more hours or so but I won’t blame you either if you decide to pack up your bags and leave way before that happens. Have fun elsewhere, i totally get it :)