the league competition and catching LB's killer/s

BY suffers from 'fiction pregnancy' hahaha. Why was no one really worried about her participating in the league despite knowing the fact that she's pregnant?? I know it's during her early pregnancy months but we never got even a mention of any preparations for her and the baby's safety or plans in case something serious happened. Also it's like BY never showed any pregnancy signs other than pheromone craving (which could just be attributed to her growing attraction to RQ) and slightly increased drowsiness and fatigue (that was only mentioned at the start then never again until Extra 5). Seems like she also never had a baby bump even though she's already pregant before the league.

Don't really expect much from the child rearing expect from the extras too. Seems like the extra just serves as a partner introduction for a child they barely raised. Disappointing.

or how easily her friends and mentor accepted her identity.

While we aren't made fully aware of certain aspects of the past immediately and we slowly understand more of the background of Ren Qingqiu and those close to her as time goes on, I wouldn't refer to this book's plot as a mystery. There's a very limited amount that can be reasonably inferred ahead of time, and several of the bigger revelatory beats are moreso character moments than outright reveals. However, the pacing of the plot is very well done, and as long as you're not reading with the mindset of solving a mystery, slowly (and at times quickly) learning about the past is quite enjoyable. This is largely because the pacing of the plot is well-entwined with emotional beats, and plot points that by themselves might not result in much of a reaction 'unlock' rare moments of vulnerability, or perhaps heartwarming bonding, or maybe thoughts of 'what could have been'.

In this way, the romance between Ren Qingqiu and Bai Yuxi is well-integrated. Ren Qingqiu is always optimistic and cheerful, yet deep down still feels the trauma of how her life ended as Li Bei. Bai Yuxi has been raised to be cold and rational, and combined with how her relationship with Su Min ended, has a very thick emotional shell and doesn't really believe in love. What makes the emotional progression feel special is that due to their respective personalities, the relationship progression feels relatively subtle. It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment of relationship progression - we are effectively given snapshots every now and then when they have a chance for more emotional connection, and we can see from their interactions how Bai Yuxi's shell breaks a little bit more, or how Ren Qingqiu's emotional trauma breaks through, allowing Bai Yuxi to understand Ren Qingqiu just a little bit more.

It is true that the pregnancy aspect is very much sidelined aside from slightly justifying Bai Yuxi's emotional state during the book (not that it was needed to do so) but I'm not convinced that focusing more on that aspect would have improved the book in any way or meshed well with the storylines and themes currently presented, so it's probably for the better.

A lot of the reason why this works is because time is taken to build a solid foundation, allowing us to understand the personalities and dynamic of the main couple early on. It's quite common for novels attempting to follow this plot structure to either fail to allow for enough time with the characters before the main plot kicks in, which results in later sequences of romantic progression not feeling supported enough to really empathize with or understand, or fail to allocate enough time or integrate the romance later on, which results in the romance feeling sidelined. This novel manages to avoid both pitfalls.

Also helpful is that the novel tends to have fun side characters. Particularly noteworthy are some of the other members of the North Military Academy team and Ren Qingqiu's friends from her past life. Tang Xing and Lin Zhimi have a fun dynamic, and Jing Ran's serious persona occasionally bounces against for the rest of the team well. While we only really get small glimpses of their past feelings and how they've been affected by Li Bei's death, Jing Zhuo, Ye Xian, and especially Kong Youxi all feel like suitably conflicted characters, haunted by the actions and outcomes of the past. Also worth noting is Wen Qi and her teammates, but they moreso act as a well done foil to the events of Li Bei's life moreso than strong characters on their own.

That's not to say the novel's entirely perfect. A few plot threads were sort of awkward or otherwise could have been improved. In general, the students from the other military academies and even the other members of the North Military Academy team seemed to be sidelined quite hard in the second half of the novel. In the first half, they all felt like, if not extremely complicated, at least characters with their own personalities and goals. However, once the third match started and the Li Bei plot began kicking off in earnest, the writing doesn't really balance this aspect well and they end up mostly devolving into just 'the ally who's good at x' and 'the group from the other academy' aside from rare specific times.

I also wouldn't have minded a bit more on Ren Qingqiu's trauma. While Ren Qingqiu isn't exactly an open book, she seems less closed off than Bai Yuxi, and it's clear that in some ways, her trauma still affects her deeply. We get some strong moments when she learns how her former friends see her nowadays and when Bai Yuxi's belief and trust in her deeply warms her heart, but I still can't help but feel like there's just a little bit of extra spark that wasn't quite achieved here. I do appreciate that it's not used in a more melodramatic way, however. I don't mind melodrama at all (in fact I quite enjoy it), but the more subdued way it's done in this book fits the tone and characters a lot better.

I also found the Su Min storyline to be a bit odd. It feels like it's missing a final confrontation or moreso a final wrapup to put a bow on it after the team returns to the North Military Academy at the end. A sort of book ends type moment, where we can compare Bai Yuxi of the past and how she grew over the course of the book. Ultimately moreso than anything specific though, it just seems like the arc ended somewhat oddly.

While this isn't really a critique, unlike the Bai Yuxi/Ren Qingqiu extras, which were great wrapup for Bai Yuxi's remaining insecurities and seeing how their relationship progresses post-story, the Bai Mubei extras were just alright. It allocated enough screentime for the story arc, but fundamentally it still falls into the same trap as the majority of child extras. Ultimately it feels too disconnected from the rest of the story to really excel.