This drama is historical and I've been seeing a lot of complaints towards the genre as a whole, saying it's boring. I haven't looked too into the review for this one, but I can say my opinions towards it are very positive.

To start off, I think it is incredibly underrated. The production of the drama is insane, and it is beautiful in every shot. Every shot is detailed and adds to the premise of the story, and none of what is shown is filler. It comes down to even the little moments that focus on hands, rain, etc. The cinematography is stellar and from a directing standpoint this drama is nothing less than that. What comes down to making this drama really good is all of the elements coming together. A lot of shows can have a good cast with a bad script, or a bad cast with a good script. This one pulls together what it had so well and is not overdone. The cast is pretty much star-studded, quite literally as you have SF9's Chani included as well. I have seen some complaints about the secondary characters not being acted as well and that the main lead Kim Hye Soo is carrying the show, and to that I will explain. Kim Hye Soo is a veteran actress who has been doing this for years, and she is by far the best actress here. I can see that she may overshadow, but it is all the credit to her. She is just one of the best actresses out there and her co stars are young and haven't done it as long. What I am getting at is that she is amazing and the other acting isn't bad at all, she is just so so so good at acting that you might compare her to her co-stars.

With that being said... I am pleasantly surprised by all the acting efforts of the whole entire cast. With some new faces that I haven't ever seen personally in a drama, none of them are over or underacting at all. The story is pretty easy to follow, a Queen's ambition for one of her sons to succeed and become a crown prince. The story may be simple, but every character is picked apart and that makes it very interesting.

Each prince has their talents and things they are good at, but they are all very flawed. Each flaw gets its turn to shine, and each talent does as well. You can sympathize with even the princes that aren't directly the Queen's son. Every young person in this drama has a lot of weight held over them and they don't take the situation they are in lightly. The drama starts off lighthearted, but it descends to be deeper and more emotional. It's a story about family and survival, and a beautiful one at that.

There are a lot of characters in this show and you would think I would forget a few or get lost. I haven't gotten lost at all, instead I grow further intrigued by each episode and scene with every character.

The only complaints I have is the Queen Dowager... I hate bad people just thinking they are superior without having anything to back them up. She feels superior having put the King in his position. She wants to have everyone wrapped around her finger.. I dislike that woman so much honestly but that can't really be a complaint. It is credit to the drama for doing its job to make me dislike her.

To wrap it up this drama is so good and I recommend for someone that wants a heartbreaking, heart-racing watch.