This show is a delightful surprise in an overall lackluster year for Chinese dramas. Much more than an idol romance fantasy drama, this one invites you on a journey to re-examine what true love is - romantic love, familial love, friendship, and even a healthy love of oneself.

Ling Miao Miao is our 21st century heroine who enjoys reading novels written by a certain Fu Zhou. She somehow ends up in the world of one of his novels and is tasked with various missions in order to return to the real world. As the story progresses, we learn about the various characters in the novel and particularly about the intense animosity between humans and demons (monsters) that pervades this world. This tension between races centers upon our male lead, Mu Sheng, who happens to be half demon and half human.

Love blooms between the two, but the story is not entirely focused on their romance. We also have our secondary leads, Mu Yao (Mu Sheng’s sister, though not by blood) and Liu Fu Yi, who have meaningful arcs to their characters as well. The fine line between love and hate, devotion and obsession, are explored throughout the show - and it is ultimately selfless, sacrificing love that saves the day.

If there is anything to nitpick, it would be that the female lead never really changes from the beginning to the end, making her story far less compelling than that of the male lead and even the secondary leads. Fortunately, the story is full of rich supporting characters and themes, making this far less a lead-centric tale and more of an ensemble piece, which, when considering the stirring climax where the entire world comes together to save itself, is a fitting characteristic of the show.