Usually, while I watch dramas, I would take notes on what stood out to me as ridiculous, well done, etc. However, it's draining to feel like I'm tearing dramas apart instead of enjoying them for what they are. For this drama, I decided to just watch it for what it was. So, this review may sound like it's quite choppy.

Some warning notes for the drama:
- CHEMISTRY ALERT
- kisses overload in last half
- second lead syndrome

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS (contains some spoilers)
Marcus Chang's dramas have been on my to-watch list for the longest time. This was the first of his works for me and it was quite a delightful first peek of his acting. I think apart from the earring on Aoran and no earring on Tianxing, Marcus did great at depicting these two characters (or at least I felt the distinction between the two). Tianxing felt colder and closed off, while Aoran was more open.

This is my second time watching Vivian Sung. It's been a couple of years since Our Times and her acting doesn't disappoint. If I'm being honest, her character/Xiao En isn't quite likable in the first third of the drama. I can get past the whole drone stalking aspect, but Xiao En's response and actions in the novel weren't my cup of tea. I do enjoy that she's not a white lotus or a green tea one. That slap, MAD respect for Xiao En for doing that.

Simon Lian made me question where he's been during all of my drama binge-watch moments. Give this guy more lead roles! He's bound to steal more hearts! Qingfeng was so well written, except for that one moment towards the end of the novel. For a moment there, I thought he was selfish as in wanting someone to suffer with him and was going to turn evil. It was just me reading it wrong for a bit there, but the writers making him come off that way didn't vibe well with me. I do know that he is just trying for the sake of his own happiness, but it contradicts his character whom most of us have come to love.

MUSIC
I think the lyrics match the storyline of the drama. It may be a Taiwanese drama thing, or I'm just paying more attention to lyrics in dramas now. There were some scenes where the music was quite too loud for my liking, especially when there's a serious dialogue going on. If the music doesn't add to the dialogue or pauses of the speech, it would sound noisy, even if it matches the scene's mood. I do really enjoy the slow motions and certain scenes where the music gets inserted in at the perfect timing. That aspect kind of gave me "The Wolf" vibes, even one of the instrumental reminded me of it. Again, this could be Taiwanese-style editing.

RE-WATCH VALUE
This drama has a good re-watch value due to how entertaining it is. Personally, I probably wouldn't re-watch this again. While it was entertaining, there were quite some scenes where I wouldn't sit through again. This may have to do with personal preference and that I'm still not quite used to Taiwanese-style dramas.

STORY/OVERALL (contains spoilers)
There were some loopholes and aspects where it doesn't make sense. It was easy for me to overlook this because the bulk of the plot took place in the novel world. With that, I let most things slide. If you have read translated novels, it feels exactly like how they depicted the novel world in this drama, making it feel like a parody for me. You can tell that the writers thought it through connecting the two lifes/worlds to make sense. I've seen many plots where scriptwriters will write things and expect us to believe it/ignore the massive gap.

For me, this story only started to pick up at episode 9 when Qingfeng starts realizing his feelings for Xiao En. There were a lot of boring scenes and scenes I could have done without. For example, the real-life parts where we see He Tianxing's half-brother and sister plotting against one another was quite anti-climactic. I had to fast forward and sometimes skip all these parts to get back to the novel storyline.

To be honest, Situ Aoran's character is complete crap, and I was surprised that he is supposed to be the better half. I wouldn't fall for this guy and wouldn't even try to get him if I was in Xiao En's position. If it weren't for the fact that he looked like Tianxing, she probably wouldn't give him the time of day (at least I'm assuming she wouldn't have). Aoran only started to get on my good books after Xiao En got locked up in the bathroom.

The plot took on a crazy loop to finish the novel and continue to the real-life world. There was a lot of cringe-fest going on, on my end of the screen. I think the best part about this drama is the chemistry between the two leads. It was so good that I eventually stopped feeling sad for Qingfeng for being the second male lead. And it was so good that I forgot how much I disliked Situ Aoran at the beginning of the drama.

I can surely say that this is the first time in a long time that I've experienced a huge second lead syndrome. I can't really recall when the last time I had a second lead syndrome. However, not in a way that I wished Xiao En ended up with Qingfeng. I just purely enjoyed Qingfeng's character and rooted for his happiness in general. I am happy that he finally got his happy ending and is not wandering anymore. Would actually really love to see him in his own leading roles and will follow more of his works.

I enjoyed Chuntain and Xiao En's friendship with one another. When Chuntian told Xiao En, "I love you", I got teary at this line as well. We clearly saw and felt their strong bond through it all, even when we didn't see much of Chuntian. Even when the same actress was playing Qiutain, it wasn't the same bond and feelings.

Also, just a little note, if you watch the opening scene and the short intermission scenes, it spoils the plotline.