I found a few of the characters a little annoying, but they all have their redeeming qualities. You have the rich guys Gu Yanzhen and Shen Junshan who have opposing personalities, but believe loyalty and friendship is the most valuable commodity. And then you have Huang Song who comes from much poorer roots, but is high-achieving in his own right and aspires to be successful and support his family. At the center of it all is Xie Liangchen/Xie Xiang who disguises herself as a man to attend the academy. This lends her into ending up in a lot of peculiar situations. Even though she doesn't perform as well as her classmates at first, her bravery shines throughout the series.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this series to anyone, particularly those who love drama, action, and some comedic LOL moments.