Sang Zhi is thirteen, top of her class, endlessly feisty, and completely uninterested in romance. In fact, her biggest talent seems to be driving her older brother crazy. Then she meets Duan Jiaxu, her brother's college roommate.

Warm, teasing, and impossibly kind, Duan Jiaxu treats her like the little sister she insists she isn't. For the first time, she finds herself lingering in doorways, plotting ridiculous schemes, and guarding a secret crush she knows she shouldn't have. Time passes. Life pulls them apart.

Years later, in college, a chance reunion brings them face-to-face again. Yet Sang Zhi is no longer the awkward girl he remembers. As old feelings resurface, she begins to wonder whether the boy who once saw her as a child might finally see her differently…or if some distances can never truly be crossed.

Hidden Love has a story by Zhu Yi. English translation is done by W. Tay with an adaptation by Mark Brezinski. Published by Seven Seas Entertainment (August 4, 2026).

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Sang Zhi is your typical disaffected thirteen-year-old. She's bored in school, she's not keen on social activities, and she things her older brother Sang Yan is a pill. But be that as it may, she still needs him to meet with her teacher after she gets in trouble again for not paying attention in class…and she's not sure he'll agree. But luck is on her side, because the next time he comes home from college, he brings his roommate Duan Jiaxu, who agrees to pose as Sang Zhi's brother for the occasion. And thus begins Sang Zhi's enduring crush on a man seven years her senior, something she desperately wants to keep under wraps.

To be perfectly honest, I feel like this would have been a better book if most of it didn't take place while Sang Zhi is thirteen. It's not that it's poorly written, because Zhu Yi clearly remembers what it was like being that age and dealing with things like boredom in the classroom, fickle friends, and that one guy who just won't leave you alone. But the process of Sang Zhi getting to know her crush and Duan Jiaxu's complicated feelings feels like grinding. We absolutely need to know that Duan Jiaxu's not acting totally like the other college students he lives with and that there's something complex about his family situation. But perhaps Zhu Yi could have gotten through it a bit sooner, because for a purported romance novel, this spends a lot of time not really dealing with the romance aspect, or at least, not in any way that can come to fruition.

The last quarter of the book, which jumps ahead to when Sang Zhi is in college herself and moves to attend a university in Duan Jiaxu's hometown, moves at a much better pace. I will grant you that having followed the development of Sang Zhi's crush and attempts to move on do make this section read better (although I stand by my earlier criticisms), but that only goes for her – Duan Jiaxu still feels a bit inscrutable, and his sudden desire to spend time with Sang Zhi is a little difficult to parse. We know enough to understand that the Sang family was his home-away-from-home during his studies, but the pivot to being attracted to Sang Zhi feels a bit too abrupt to truly work. And if he was crushing on a thirteen-year-old when he was twenty, as is mildly implied, then that makes him a much ickier romantic hero.

Despite these issues, I am curious to read the second novel. The languid pacing of the first three-quarters doesn't do this book any favors, but now that the plot has fully kicked off, things are moving more – and if there's one thing that this book does well, it's making you want to see its protagonists happy.

Erica Friedman
Rating:

A Hidden Love, by Zhu Yi, is well written, with strong characters who generally seem to be okay as people. Sadly, I did not enjoy it at all, something that is only partially the book's fault.

I am not opposed to heterosexual romance at all. It's pretty hard to avoid it in any media. But I don't seek it out for entertainment and when the entire story is based upon a thirteen year-old girl falling for —and *clearly* eventually getting together with— a man in his 20s, I just noped out. The individual scenes are not torture, some of them are quite funny, and sure, 15 years from now their age difference isn't going to matter. But it matters now. Sang Zhi is smart and understands this. So, apparently does Duan Jiaxu. I appreciate that they both are acting their age. I simply could not get behind the first novel of a series in which Sang Zhi growing old enough to date an older guy is the primary driver.

To be clear, this is not a creepy novel. Duan Jiaxu is a very decent person. There's no grooming. In scenes where Sang Zhi is especially vulnerable, Duan Jiaxu is absolutely upright. It's just that them getting together is inevitable and that does not make for a compelling story, just a low-risk, “when will they” story.

What was good was both the translation by W. Tay, and the glimpse into contemporary Chinese life, something that many I am unfamiliar with. The small details of groups outings, apartments, (I'm a sucker for sets in dramas and movies) travel and school and adult life are of great interest to me.

I don't think I'd watch the live-action drama of the same name, now streaming on Netflix, but I hope Sang Zhi is played by someone with a sharp tongue.