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I'm not sure words can actually describe it.
I can't wait for a second read of this- will the 0.25 I was bothered by make more sense in the context of the whole book?
Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Classism
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Infertility
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Deportation
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Classism
Wang fits a lot of familiar world building and ideology in these pages: strong religious indoctrination that positions men at the top with women and children in the middle and anyone else at the very bottom. And it makes for uncomfortable but not unrealistic depictions of racism and sexism really without relent. You can see how deeply it's engrained in this culture through character interactions and internal thoughts. And it's a lot to take in, but I think it's interesting and rewarding to see how different characters react to their world views being challenged.
My only little teeny thing keeping this from being 5 stars is the odd romantic connection. It was sort of redeemed in the final chapters but ultimately just felt underwhelming. That said, I still liked Thomil and Sciona scenes together but not any romantic inclinations.
I can definitely see the comparisons to Babel by R.F. Kuang, which I also really liked but had a very different take on dark academia as a genre to wrestle systemic discrimination. They're both great, well-written books! With explosive endings!
Graphic: Body horror, Death
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, Classism
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
I love books that yap and info dump and this was exactly what this book was 🤭
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Vomit, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
However I loved the characters and their growth and care and I enjoyed that their wasn't a trite happy ending for them because I could never believe that. Either the immigrant who fled genocide would have to give up fundamental parts of his culture or a woman would have to throw away her dreams and doing either of these would destroy the themes of the novel
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Hate crime, Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal death, Sexual violence
- SCIONA FREYNON. Truly the spiritual successor to Edward Eric that I never knew I needed. She’s insane [affectionate] and a bitch [super affectionate] but man. She’s brilliant. I really loved following her character growth throughout this entire book. Just literally such. Such an incredible character. The little egomaniac will live on in my heart.
- I REAAAALLY loved how
- Speaking of the ending I’m also obsessed with like
- I did call SUPER early on the big twist/secret that Sciona and Thomil discover but I honestly think the reason for that is because of good foreshadowing. So kudos to Wang for that.
- I love how unabashadly brutal this book is especially when its dealing with the themes it does, here. It’s so relevant and it’s so harsh and it hashes it out in your face. I think that works in its favor, even if…
Things I Didn’t Like:
- … even if the narrative voice/dialogue got a little hand-holdy and on-the-nose at times. Like yes let’s
Anyway, I REALLY enjoyed this book and the more I think about it, the more I like it. It’s not a perfect book, but I still think its a really important and intentionally challenging one. I loved The Sword of Kaigen so, so much, and it’s so great to see that M.L. Wang has churned out another banger I’ll be thinking about for a long time. Thanks, Wang.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Classism
Minor: Rape