Reading this is like going through my own personal evolution, one story stage at a time. :) 
 I had to throw out practically all of my expectations at different stages of the novel. Hell, I even thought this was going to be a YA-ish SF, but no, it's a lot more than meets the eye. 
 It starts out as a biology-twist to a cyberpunk premise, where the biology-only character, Hwa, is an anomaly to all the tech around her. :) Turn her into a bodyguard, have her look into strange murders, and then, above all, keep adding new SF concepts... and the tale fleshes out into something almost unique. It's definitely quite beautiful and strange. 
 It touches upon beauty and the theme of always putting in extra effort, which I really enjoyed, and the twists are truly fun. :) 
 Family dynasties, indeed. :) 
 I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep my eye open for now on for more of this author's work. :)