So where do i start - there are so many detailed reviews that do a better job of breaking down the plot, acting, production, etc. so I'll just summarize why I liked it so much.
1) Deng lun was a treat to watch.
2) FL was NOT perfect, did not remain childish, did something unforgivable but tried her best to make up for it
3) The dubbing - the actual actors dubbed it themselves (at least the main trio) - it was just so satisfying not to hear voice actors trying to emulate feelings that they have not actually acted out. Plus, the MLs voice perfectly matches Phoenix's personality!
4) MLs love never wavered, not even for a second (yes, even in the last story arc where he thought he'd been betrayed he still loved her)
5) The story had so much going on and all in a good way. There is love, betrayal, familial ties, politics, revenge, obsession - just a nice round of emotional ride I would say.
6) The FL made me love her, then hate her, then love her again. Second ML was just so tormented throughout that I had the perfect love/hate relationship going on with him as intended.
7) The drama differs from the novel in terms of characterization in my opinion. I did NOT like the MLs portrayal in the novel (I admit I've only skimmed through the chapters since I just wanted to read my fav parts, but from the gist of it, Phoenix in the novel seems to be much more dark(?), unbalanced(?))
8) Pretty much everyone got what was coming to them except a few minor characters.
I mean this drama gave me so many feels that I felt compelled to write this review after re-watching my fav scenes again and again. Also, I first watched AoL about a month ago and I'm still listening to the OST so yeah.
The only thing I would change is the ending - not change so much as EXTEND it. I wanted a heck lot more of the ML and the FL.