This particular story had a following before it even had a drama, the novel had a dedicated fanbase, infact i'm…
(Not agreeing with whatever that other person said) Just to clarify HL novel was published first, you can check the douban links below but it's no doubt that TFF novel has a larger fan base hence the drama's budget and anticipation. https://m.douban.com/book/subject/35003286/ https://m.douban.com/book/subject/35296868/ While watching the dramas you can tell the writer wrote HL when she was younger/had the idea in mind when she was younger. For TFF it has a more mature feel to it.
Anyone else think this is good but not really worthy of an 8.9? (Don’t attack me not a hater) I just feel like…
There's a lot of people with the same opinion as you. But the 8.9 rating reflects what the majority thinks. Surprisingly it's not that easy to get a score close to 9 on mdl.
K-Drama 
Just to clarify HL novel was published first, you can check the douban links below but it's no doubt that TFF novel has a larger fan base hence the drama's budget and anticipation.
https://m.douban.com/book/subject/35003286/
https://m.douban.com/book/subject/35296868/
While watching the dramas you can tell the writer wrote HL when she was younger/had the idea in mind when she was younger. For TFF it has a more mature feel to it.
Surprisingly it's not that easy to get a score close to 9 on mdl.