I kept my expectations low, and the writing shows promise on the sentence level—but on the plot/structure/worldbuilding/thematic level, it falls apart. There are plot twists that change the entire point of the story, but Huang doesn’t write like he knows that. (If there’s a second book, perhaps he plans to explore that further, but it doesn’t come together in this book.) Bummer, because a queer AF update of two queer AF ancient Chinese stories—one of which gives us the origin of the term cut-sleeve—is such a great concept, and one I really want to read.