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honipoems's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Death, and Deportation
dominiq_ec's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, Addiction, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Drug use, War, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Racism, Classism, Blood, Hate crime, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Classism and Deportation
josiebrown's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, Colonisation, and Death
azariamckay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Slavery, Sexism, Bullying, Suicide, Drug abuse, War, Hate crime, and Drug use
monicalaurette's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
"Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes."
"A mind was not meant to feel this much. Only death would silence the chorus."
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Grief, Violence, War, Classism, Hate crime, Racism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Torture, Sexism, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Bullying and Confinement
charleyyyyy's review against another edition
3.5
I can definitely see why there is so much hype around this book. Most people will agree that it's strongest point is the theme of colonialism, racist systems as a whole, and the violence and action needed to combat it. It certainly packs a punch. And a kick. And another punch. It never shys away from making a strong statement and saying what needs to be said.
However, there is a lack of nuance in the way this theme is writen, it was all telling no showing. Everything is told to you, the reader has no opportunity to think on these things for themselves. Also the ending contradicts everything the book was trying to say???
I liked the magic system. It was realy well developed and so subtle that it felt like it could almost be real. It blended in realy well with this story and its setting.
The plot started out slow, and a tad boring, but it builds into something compulsively readable and heartbreaking. It's clear that so much research went into this book, and while I admire that, the information was often dumped on us. This made the book feel quite dense.
The charicters were underdeveloped, which greatly impacted my enjoyment of this book.
I could not tell you a thing about Victoire's personality, which is an issue because of how much of an important charicter she is. Rami is my favourite charicter, and even him I don't feel like I know beyond a surface level. Even our main charicter, Robin, was lacking in depth. There was supposed to be a strong moral dilemma Robin was going through, but he wasn't developed enough for it to be convincing. His charicter development was interesting, but again not as good as it could have been, if he was a more fleshed out charicter.
I did not feel the strong bond they were supposed to have as a group, which is an issue when the bond starts to break. How can I feel the bond breaking if i didn't feel the bond in the first place? At one point one of the charicters says to another "we would have died for you" and I was like really??? I was not getting the feeling that they were that close at all, this was so unbelievable.
My biggest issue with this book was how Ramy was treated, and the queer baiting.
Ramy and Robin had something going on between them that was definitely more than friendship, but nothing is ever confirmed or said outright. On either their feelings for each other or their sexualitys. It's a 'not confirmed, not denied' situation, which is sooooo frustrating. I literally googled " is Ramy from Babel queer?" and even google couldnt confirm or deny. Its in the context but not explicit :( (This is incredibly similar to what happened with a charicter from Kuang's other series, the Poppy War trilogy, with Chaghan and Altan. I also had to google if they were queer, and got no answer.) And then it gets worse;
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, Grief, Blood, Racial slurs, Suicide, Torture, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, and War
Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Car accident
em_of_swags's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
what a powerhouse of a read, a love letter to languages, translation and research, while simultaneously criticizing so in depth the way academia is linked with privilege and imperialism. much to think about.
but also there's a huge list of trigger warnings so don't disregard those.
Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Torture, Hate crime, Colonisation, Drug use, and Racism
Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicide, War, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Genocide, and Islamophobia
xx_salem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Classism, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Misogyny, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, War, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Abandonment, Cursing, Drug use, Racial slurs, Slavery, Gun violence, Body horror, Car accident, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
ericius's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ITA:
Un Fantasy non Fantasy
ENG:
A non-fantasy fantasy
This book gives me mixed feelings.
Starting with positive aspects, the book is really well written, it is smooth and not particularly heavy to read, despite the considerable amount of pages (600 in the Italian version) with a multitude of footnotes and etymology lessons that continue for the whole book.
The research in these areas and the obsessive attention to this subject are very noticeable.
However, not everything in this book enjoys the same attention to research, and this is where the sore points begin;
As I say in the title, this book is a fantasy, that is in fact the main reason that led me to read it, however, although it is absolutely quite clear that there are magical elements, this book does not feel like a fantasy and does not convey anything of what you expect from this genre, if at the beginning I didn't understand why, over time I understood: in fact, all that magic does is to be an expedient to drive and justify the story constructed by the author;
In fact, the effect that magic should bring to the surrounding world is missing,
The world is an almost faithful replica of England in the 1800s and it is not clear to what extent magic modifies the world around (it is mostly talked about but not shown) plus the entire functioning of magic is so justified and planned almost arbitrarily that cuts off the feeling of disbelief that magic normally generates,
The result is a boring world in which the construction of the "Magic" does not change in any way what we know.
That the author had shot herself in the foot with the construction of the magical world can be understood immediately upon opening the book, when with an initial note she lays out all the liberties she has taken in historic Oxford to adjust it for her own project, almost as if she were not authorized to modify the world for a fantasy narrative, or as if readers do not have the mental elasticity necessary to accept something too distant from reality (perhaps I am hypothesizing that this mental elasticity is precisely lacking to the author).
I have read several reviews that also raise problems with the linguistic modality with which the author deals with racism, but I refuse to delve into the matter as I am not prepared enough to express myself.
To conclude: It's not what I expected to read and I'm not satisfied, but it's not a bad book; the ending and some plot choices aren't my thing but I can easily overlook those.
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: War, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Grief, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, and Suicide
trina8945's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Racial slurs, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation
Moderate: Suicide, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual harassment and War