A little known good reading with a similar approach as the apothecary diaries in term of historical setting. Heavily inspired by the dynasties of medieval China. Characters 6/10. Karin reminds me a bit of Watamote, but with a better understanding of social norms.. in general the characters are okay and we're slowly getting more depth to them. Some relationships feel a bit forced and born out of nowhere, but considering the way Karin socializes it might not be too much of a stretch. Karin is a young girl desperately trying to make friends within the court but her intentions get mistaken a vast majority ofthe time. Endearing but sometimes cliché.

Story 6/10. As of volume 4, the 'goal' of the story/mc is established, so we're definitively going somewhere with it. It has a classic narration. The pacing is odd. There are time skips but it's hard to tell if anything happened during those. It throws off the story a little. More mature themes are touched but are not handled properly or dismissed at times which is disappointing considering Karin's background that leaves us expecting for a different approach. It's a 50/50 shot on that point.

Art 7/10. While not spectacular all things considered, it's still nice to look at and consistent in style.

Overall 6. It really has room for worldbuilding and characters depth left. I would still recommend it as a casual reading.