wow! I have no idea what I was expecting from this story, but this was not it 🤯 chloe gong writes the perfect blend between fantasy and historical fiction - and it’s absolutely gorgeous!!!

I’m firmly in the anti-bugs category so this particular storyline wasn’t it for me 🤢 but I was so invested in the characters that I pushed through 

while marketed as a romeo and juliet retelling, the romance subplot was few and far between. I appreciated the rival gangs and little easter eggs that made me become the leonardo dicaprio pointing at the TV meme 🤣 it flowed so easily - but I wouldn’t call this a romance novel in the slightest

for me, what made the story were the side characters. I want to know so much more about rosalind, kathleen, benedikt and marshall 🥹 I just want everyone to let along and become a found family, is that too much to ask for please

I can’t believe it took me so long to get invested in this series - it sucked me in from the first page and 100% made me want to travel to 1920s shanghai … without the infestation of bugs of course …

I’m starting the next one ASAP because that cliffhanger was no joke!!!! 

rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: ao yun cabernet sauvignon