This review may contain spoilers
Dou Zhao happens to be one of my fav FLs in both book and the drama!
Overall
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The first episode was so otherworldly, not just because of the stunning visuals but also because the story didn't flow well. The setup was too vague. And anytime anyone said anything it was poetry. I felt detached watching it and could only focus on the visuals while the story became the background. The first episode could have been executed better.
The second episode brought the drama back to the ground where I could connect with it. It was so easy to like Jiang Mei Sun [Duke of Ding] from the get go.
I knew going in that I was never going to like Wang Ying Xue, but honestly like all cheating spouses, Dou Shi Ying is the worst person to tolerate in the first 2 episodes. He just couldn't keep it in his pants. Zhao Gu Qiu, Dou Zhao's mother was a catch, such a beautiful and kind woman. Well there's no accounting for taste, to go from Gu Qiu to Ying Xue, what a sad fate, but well-deserved. I had hoped that Dou Zhao's mother could make it out alive but the betrayal was far too much for her. Anyways, their relationship was messed up at least in the second arc of the drama he grew a backbone.
For me, a drama that starts out with a knife at throat but ends with the couple in harmony is always much more enjoyable than a drama where a they start out nice and hurt each other because of love. I am glad the drama stuck to the book with this aspect, them being a sweet couple who cherished each other and considerate of each other was what attracted me to Dou Zhao and Song Mo's pairing.
The elder princess Lu De and her arc with Dou Shi Shu took me by surprise. If only he hadn't been so power-hungry, then he would have some shame and wouldn't have treated Dou Zhao's mother so poorly. I am not a fan of this character.
I wish we had seen Song Mo's sister, it might have changed the dynamics between Zhang Ru and Chen Jia, i started out thinking why and what's gonna happen to Song Mo's sister to being okay I love these two together in the drama.
What I like:
----------------
The casting is so good! I was excited to see Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Ri bring the lead characters to life. They both did a good a job. They fit the role.
Song Mo's uncle was such a impressive character! Nothing at all like his cowardly "father".
Dou Zhao's mother was such a pretty woman! I'm sure sad that she was only on screen for a first few episodes.
So far I love that they haven't added any unnecessary drama that wasn't there in the book between the leads. What I like about them together is that they are my comfort couple. They are so damn nice to each other! The drama has brought that to light for me.
I like the idea about both of them going back in time, even though Song Mo doesn't remember there is a possibility of him remembering it one day. That's not how it happened in books but that's a welcoming change for me.
Dou Ming is so damn adorable! I was willing to let go of my resentment of her from previous life so I did not see that ending for her.
Zhao Zhang Ru has also been a favorite of mine and she gets a lot of screen time which I am very happy about!
I didn't notice it the first time but Lu Zheng and Lu Ming are twins! I thought there was only one guy named Lu Zheng who popped up everywhere.
What I dislike: (Mostly stuff that has been messed up from the book)
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The Dou family was supposed to have this rich history that's just missing. The currently Dou family was supposed to be so big with a few branches and in-laws. It would have been fun to see Dou Zhao navigate through them on screen, she did it so well in the book! (And she was just a child when she did that! I feel that it is such a missed opportunity)
The entire dynamic between Dou Zhao, her father, Wang Ying Xue, and Dou Ming lacked depth. It is much more satisfying in the books where Dou Zhao is actually the one who has the upper hand throughout their interactions and not once does she suffer because of Wang Ying Xue or Dou Ming's shady tactics. The only time she fails is to save her mother's life.
Since the book is so long with 500+ chapters it is bound to miss a lot of things but because of this I felt that a lot of things were missing in the drama and I had to fill in the gaps with the story that I remembered. I wish there were more episodes, but again a lot of things have to be taken into consideration so can't really blame them.
I'm not a fan of the changes that have been made to the Yuan Tong / Ji Yong character. I did like him better in the book.
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The first episode was so otherworldly, not just because of the stunning visuals but also because the story didn't flow well. The setup was too vague. And anytime anyone said anything it was poetry. I felt detached watching it and could only focus on the visuals while the story became the background. The first episode could have been executed better.
The second episode brought the drama back to the ground where I could connect with it. It was so easy to like Jiang Mei Sun [Duke of Ding] from the get go.
I knew going in that I was never going to like Wang Ying Xue, but honestly like all cheating spouses, Dou Shi Ying is the worst person to tolerate in the first 2 episodes. He just couldn't keep it in his pants. Zhao Gu Qiu, Dou Zhao's mother was a catch, such a beautiful and kind woman. Well there's no accounting for taste, to go from Gu Qiu to Ying Xue, what a sad fate, but well-deserved. I had hoped that Dou Zhao's mother could make it out alive but the betrayal was far too much for her. Anyways, their relationship was messed up at least in the second arc of the drama he grew a backbone.
For me, a drama that starts out with a knife at throat but ends with the couple in harmony is always much more enjoyable than a drama where a they start out nice and hurt each other because of love. I am glad the drama stuck to the book with this aspect, them being a sweet couple who cherished each other and considerate of each other was what attracted me to Dou Zhao and Song Mo's pairing.
The elder princess Lu De and her arc with Dou Shi Shu took me by surprise. If only he hadn't been so power-hungry, then he would have some shame and wouldn't have treated Dou Zhao's mother so poorly. I am not a fan of this character.
I wish we had seen Song Mo's sister, it might have changed the dynamics between Zhang Ru and Chen Jia, i started out thinking why and what's gonna happen to Song Mo's sister to being okay I love these two together in the drama.
What I like:
----------------
The casting is so good! I was excited to see Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Ri bring the lead characters to life. They both did a good a job. They fit the role.
Song Mo's uncle was such a impressive character! Nothing at all like his cowardly "father".
Dou Zhao's mother was such a pretty woman! I'm sure sad that she was only on screen for a first few episodes.
So far I love that they haven't added any unnecessary drama that wasn't there in the book between the leads. What I like about them together is that they are my comfort couple. They are so damn nice to each other! The drama has brought that to light for me.
I like the idea about both of them going back in time, even though Song Mo doesn't remember there is a possibility of him remembering it one day. That's not how it happened in books but that's a welcoming change for me.
Dou Ming is so damn adorable! I was willing to let go of my resentment of her from previous life so I did not see that ending for her.
Zhao Zhang Ru has also been a favorite of mine and she gets a lot of screen time which I am very happy about!
I didn't notice it the first time but Lu Zheng and Lu Ming are twins! I thought there was only one guy named Lu Zheng who popped up everywhere.
What I dislike: (Mostly stuff that has been messed up from the book)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Dou family was supposed to have this rich history that's just missing. The currently Dou family was supposed to be so big with a few branches and in-laws. It would have been fun to see Dou Zhao navigate through them on screen, she did it so well in the book! (And she was just a child when she did that! I feel that it is such a missed opportunity)
The entire dynamic between Dou Zhao, her father, Wang Ying Xue, and Dou Ming lacked depth. It is much more satisfying in the books where Dou Zhao is actually the one who has the upper hand throughout their interactions and not once does she suffer because of Wang Ying Xue or Dou Ming's shady tactics. The only time she fails is to save her mother's life.
Since the book is so long with 500+ chapters it is bound to miss a lot of things but because of this I felt that a lot of things were missing in the drama and I had to fill in the gaps with the story that I remembered. I wish there were more episodes, but again a lot of things have to be taken into consideration so can't really blame them.
I'm not a fan of the changes that have been made to the Yuan Tong / Ji Yong character. I did like him better in the book.
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