Love in the Desert | Review

A desert princess falls in love with a northern lord who killed her mother.

Notable Actors/Actresses

Fang Yi Lun: Huo Qing Yun

Hani Kyzy (Hanikezi): Huang Bei Shuang

Director

He Jia Nan

Chinese Title

漠風吟

Song of Desert Winds

Genres: Period, Romance, Period Romance

Network: Tencent Video

Year: 2024
Episodes: 26

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Cast

Fang Yi Lun: Huo Qing Yun	Hani Kyzy: Huang Bei Shuang
Gao Yang: Ruo Wen	Guan Chang: Ge Xin Wei

Romcom/Romance Checklist

How much of the plot is angst/romance?

0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The ML: 

Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Tsundere / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General

The FL: 

Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better than ML / Noble Idiot

Describe the Relationship (the tropes):

Annoying Love (F/M) Rivals +++ / Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / Harem / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / School to Adulthood / Star-Crossed Lovers

Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):

CP1: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26

CP2: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26

# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3

Ending:

"Happy" / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad / Rushed+++

Drama Info

He Jia Nan's directed dramas have mostly been low-budget ones, including Circle of Love, and the currently airing A Talented Girl Grows Up. Guan Chang is a recurring actress in her dramas (e.g. Circle of Love's FL). 

This was wrapped on July 18 2023.

Review

Love in the Desert = sexy start + skimpier substance + wild finish.

It’s a final score of 1 because of the middle chunk. I don’t want to have issues with skimpy substance for a mini drama like this had it not taken its conflicts se-ri-ous-ly. They're prolonged excessively and lack gravitas. The characters would be crying a river and I'd be drifting in ennui. At least my fast-forward arrow was entertained.

Anyway! Despite a 1, I’d still recommend this if spectacle is your thing. The "sexy" start and the nonsense at the end, plus the beautiful people posing intimately in between was never meant to be a quality story anyway.

2CP – I LOVE them. He’s violent and she’s into wild hot men. Silence your alarms, and they’re still terribly messed up for each other. It was a blast. They're so fun, flamboyant, fierce, and full of life.

Main CP, sorry; they must have turned on incognito mode. I can also confirm that Hanikezi is not an actress I’ll look forward to as a lead. Emotions barely reach her eyes. However, it's not all her fault. It's both their acting and their story that take too much time and fail to come to life. They look very picturesque together, though.

Ending talk 🤯 (Click to expand)

I was so ready for ML to die die but they killed Ruo Wen, my favourite character, instead. Show, you sure know how to pick! And he died so thoroughly. Also, how in the name of all that’s holy did Ge Xin Wei revive? And excuse me, a Phoenix? How I wish this drama actually had more nonsense like this throughout instead of just crammed at the end, haha.

Rating: 1/5 ♥♥

Recommendations

Genre List:

Scheming / Palace Romances / Light Period Romcoms

Desert	Marriage	Strong CPs