I'm gonna say that first, I read the novel. And I liked it as a good read, although there is a lot of aggressive/raqey vibes and grooming and ML was not a good guy (also a lot of the characters had pretty toxic traits). (But they were all very complex characters in the novel). So I do like that the show decided to polish the characters. A lot is the same while a lot is different. I do like the changes the show made though.

Now onto the review with spoilers:

Story:
ML and FL are both outcast members of their family. ML is the illegitimate unfavored son who is completely neglected and vilified by the Luo family. FL is the daughter in the same family (they are siblings) who is legitimate but unfavored by the father and sent away when she was young. (This is a change that I like, because in the novel, he ends up basically raising her and she was A LOT younger in the novel). FL and ML bond and develop a very close loving relationship (as siblings).

That is until ML learns that FL was not in fact his biological sister (her mom met another man when separated from her dad). And then ML starts crushing hard on the only person who's nice to him. Meanwhile, ML is trying to uncover the truth as to one of his mentor's death and FL is trying to discover why her mother died.

This leads them to encounter FL's former crush who she met while she was exiled from the family when she was younger. SML is very possessive. And you know, for some that might be a vibe. And I'm not opposed to being possessive either. But he's possessive in a stalker way - in the way that's I don't care about what you want, only what I want. SML has some guilt because he thinks she died because of him (she sort of did - having been pushed off a cliff because he was having an affair with another woman to consolidate power while leaving her as a side piece). But SML is firmly on the bad guys team.

FL discovers she's not her Luo father's daughter, gets a better father -- Luo father sucks -- but the step mother is AMAZING (Hairu is my favorite character).

And eventually things work themselves out -- with a lot of drama in between.

Really good drama. I will say though, I skipped almost every scene that was the cousin/sister and the uncle together after the hungry prince went away. I was not invested in their relationship.

If you're looking for the palace drama, then that's not going to be in here (and honestly it was better off for it, cleaner). But they did give FL independence (which tbh she was in desperate need of in the novel) which I loved for her.

Acting:
The leads did a great job. ML manages to capture the standoffish vibe while also being really approachable and friendly perfectly. He's amazingly cast. FL was exactly how I imagined her in the novel - the description is basically her. They both have a lot of chemistry and charisma on screen. I loved SML as well, I was so invested in his plot (even while I was actively routing against him). All the adults/parents did amazing, especially step mom.

Music:
Good but unremarkable.

Cinematography:
beautiful.

Costumes:
STUNNING!!!

Overall:
a must watch. Very very good.