The cold weather is a constant presence. The jump into the river, the pain of her period, the reference to winter. It creates a consistent mood. It also highlights the sacrifices people made in that era. The scarcity of hot water, the need for firewood. The author uses the hardship to heighten the drama. It's a marker of authenticity. It adds texture to the story.
The picnic gift pack being filled with endless seasonings is such a troll move by the author. Ronnie slamming the salt packet on the ground and yelling “Do you want me to roast myself” made me laugh out loud. It’s such a useless but funny item. Though honestly given his situation having spices might actually be useful if he ever hunts something. Still a total rip-off for a newbie gift though.
Whoa, Liz's internal monologue at the start is something else. The way she's checking herself out, ranking her social value like she's appraising livestock..."He's sure to like it. After all, it's me." I couldn't help but laugh at the sheer audacity, but it also immediately sets her up for a huge fall. It's such an effective character introduction, showing the exact flaw that's about to get shattered.
The talent "Predestined Item" is incredibly overpowered for a survival game. The ability to skip probability and choose the best item from any chest essentially makes luck irrelevant. I understand this is the author's way of giving the protagonist an edge, but I hope there are limitations later besides the 24-hour cooldown. The effect could make the story boring if every chest contains something amazing.
The teacher threatening the whole class with ten times recitation of Li Sao as punishment is peak Chinese school experience. That detail felt very real and immersive. The author clearly knows how to mix slice-of-life school vibes with horror elements.
The "jump in the pond to go back" logic is entertainingly flawed. The original owner didn't drown—she fainted from fear. So even if Du Qingyang jumps again, she might just faint and wake up in the same body. But she doesn't know that. Her desperation is sympathetic. It's like hitting ctrl+z on a bad save but your game doesn't have an undo button. Watching her realize she's stuck is funny in a dark way. I'm glad the author didn't let her succeed too easily.
I'm curious about how the author will handle the original owner's mother, Fang Rong. She's introduced as a stereotypical doting mom who threatens to jump in the water with her daughter. But later, in the original novel, she went crazy after the original owner died. There's potential for deeper character development. I hope the story doesn't just paint her as comic relief. She clearly has deep emotional capacity. Seeing her react to a daughter who suddenly changes personality would be interesting.
I'm giving this novel 2 stars, primarily because I wish I had made the decision to drop it earlier in the reading journey. The story starts off with a captivating premise that hooked me instantly, and I must admit that the ending, while decent, didn't quite redeem the experience overall. Unfortunately, the latter half of the book—especially the final 150 chapters—lost a great deal of coherence, and I found myself increasingly frustrated by the direction the plot took. The initial concept of dream-walking, which held so much potential for exploration and creativity, seemed to fade into the background as the narrative shifted focus toward political and palace intrigue. This shift ultimately left the story feeling disjointed and meandering. Moreover, the introduction of an annoying love triangle filled with overly emotional male leads (MLs) and a rather unsavory main character (MC) contributed to my dissatisfaction. As the characters progressed through the story, they became less relatable and, frankly, rather unlikeable. Among the cast, only the first male lead and his mother, Madam Dongyang, truly stood out as characters worth rooting for. However, even I found the first ML's behavior increasingly grating as the story unfolded. Despite my initial enthusiasm for the characters and plot, what began as an intriguing journey unraveled into a tedious slog, marred by frustrating relationship dynamics and a convoluted storyline. Overall, while the novel had its moments and showed glimpses of brilliance, it ultimately fell short of its promising beginnings.