I almost DNF'd in the beginning because the harassment from the other alchemists is pretty gross and upsetting, but the first test is honestly the worst of it. I do wish Zilan had companions other than her love interest and cousins, because platonic friendship is cool and I didn't like her cousins that much once their tests began. But I do love the prince. He's really inept in a cute way, yet not stupid enough to be useless or annoying. And I like how the romance is given time to develop. I also think Zilan is a good protagonist who does some pretty metal things to succeed. The plot of the book was super compelling, and the twists are WILD. It really kept getting better and better.