Let me start by saying that I usually HATE time skips, and I was so terrified of this one that I watched up till the time skip and paused the drama for four months because I couldn't bring myself to continue.

But I liked this a lot more than I expected. For someone who usually hates noble idiocy and lack-of-communication as plot points, the storyline was serious enough for me to really empathize with Mu Cheng and understand why she did what she did, especially considering how fleshed out her backstory was.

There were a lot of scenes that were really heartbreaking, even frustrating to watch, because it felt like nothing ever went right and the story was just so tragic and angsty. At the same time, however, there were really adorable and pure scenes between the main leads, and like everyone else, I grew to love Xiao Le as well, who quickly became one of my favorite characters ever.

Yes, part of me wished the characters were just more open and honest with each other, as it felt like ALL the characters did that "lie for someone else's own good," but Autumn's Concerto managed to pull it off. I also commend the drama for tackling sexual assault/abuse AND how perpetrators often get away with it—it felt too REAL.

I won't lie, some of the things Ren Guang Xi did were REALLY problematic, but considering how much character depth he actually had and the other ways sexual assault was addressed, I'm willing to let it slide.