considering I got this book by accident, it was a great read!

pros: 
- the concept is a great one and I loved that we really get a feel for the setting of shanghai through the story
- also rly enjoyed learning about the history of what was going on at the time in the country. 
- I did like Juliet and Roma a lot, although not so much at the start. Roma is the softer one, which was cool to see, and Juliette the harder one. I liked when she really got to lean into her ferocity and be a bit unhinged. 
- the mystery unfolds well and there were twists and turns i didn't expect
- the side characters on both sides were fab and yay for trans rep. 
- the multilingual bit was great, and I liked the political commentary. 

cons:
- the characters at the start didn't feel very coherent, though that did improve. 
- there was other things but they've gone out of my head 

overall, I did really like this one and I'd read the second one if it was at the library, definitely, but i don't think I'll buy it.