七爷 [Qī Yé] Lord Seventh

Wow this was something!!!!! The whole idea of reincarnation and Jing Qi returning to his love again was fascinating but what happened in his seventh life was even more interesting. There were moments where I couldn't figure out where the story was going, but the author managed to bring all the threads together perfectly.

The romance is really like a story of legends and an intense slow burn full of yearning, and I loved how the two MCs ended up together. That last 5-10% of the book is especially spectacular and I had tears in my eyes when I closed it. All the characters are really compelling, most of them wearing masks (literally or figuratively) to conceal their true thoughts from others and it was quite a task to understand their motivations. But ultimately my favorite was Wu Xi who had such an open and honest heart, and it was absolutely refreshing in a book of full of court intrigue, back room dealings, twists and turns and betrayals.

It took me quite a while to read this book because while the translation was very good, it just wasn't the binge read kinda book. However, I really enjoyed it and the idea that I should read more novels by Priest is cemented in my head. In the meantime, I'm just waiting for the episode in Word of Honor where Lord Seventh will show up and I can't wait to see his interactions with the amazing Zhou ZiShu.