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aliyachaudhry'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? Yes
3.0
rip ramy mirza you would have loved comedy specials
rip griffin lovell you would have loved action movies
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, and War
bababookmatt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism
chasinggrace'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? No
5.0
The magic system and environment that Kuang creates is unmatched - completely transformative, no stone left unturned, no detail spared.
The way Kuang breaches racism, colonialism, sexism, and exploitation is horrifyingly accurate. And this book is devastating.
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
polaris1117'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
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, and Colonisation
crybabybea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
First of all, the dark academia aspect was done very well. It felt atmospheric, grand, with a hint of mystery. It felt gloomy in a really fun way. The settings outside of the tower itself were less immersive, but the majority of the story takes place inside the tower anyway so it wasn't too distracting. The dark academia vibe was a genius way to explore a story about decolonization and racism. The magic system was inventive and interesting, and I liked how it stood as a metaphor for the industrial revolution.
The characters were just okay. We get to see Robin, the main character, the most, and I felt really attached to him by the end. The other characters had interesting stories that I felt didn't get explored enough. I understand this book leans in to its literary side, and the characters and arguably the entire plot are just allegories for bigger issues, but I think this made the character work suffer and it made the explosive ending pack less of a punch. Don't get me wrong, I loved the ending, and I still cried, but some of the other moments that were meant to be heavy-hitting fell flat because I didn't feel the connection to the characters. The found family aspect didn't feel fleshed out enough because of this as well.
I think the character work is a side effect of Kuang's tendency to overexplain things rather than actually have things happen. Some of the messaging was so on the nose that it felt pedantic and almost condescending at times. I wanted to read this book to challenge my thinking, and I hoped it would leave me with lots of thoughts to reflect on afterward, but everything gets explained to you so plainly that it completely ruins the amazing research and work Kuang put into telling the story of racism and colonization in academia. I mean, there were literally times when something racist or sexist would happen, then the narrator would have a whole paragraph to say something like "Robin wonders if this white person realized how racist they were being". It got irritating... I felt like I was on Sesame Street. I will say the writing itself was done very well, the prose was accessible despite the scientific, historical, and literary references used, and I appreciated a lot of R.F. Kuang's comments and her sarcastic footnotes.
The last issue is the pacing, which I think is also a side effect of this "telling not showing" issue. This book only gets good around the 60-70% mark. It had an extremely slow start with very little intrigue. We spent a long time in lectures and I felt not enough time was dedicated to furthering either the charcters OR the plot. It was a lot of sitting around and waiting. I don't mind books that have a hill into a snowball second half, but I almost put this book down multiple times because nothing was happening, then one minor action would happen and I would finally think we were going somewhere, just for it to slow down again.
All these issues made for a really weird reading experience where I absolutely dreaded picking the book back up, then when I started reading it was just fine and I wanted to know more, then it would get boring and the cycle repeated. I expected more from the rave reviews but left feeling like its potential got wasted. I still do think it's a good read overall, but it could have been better.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
stephhaigreads'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
keltaklo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual harassment, and Deportation
taracloudclark's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really enjoyed it. I am recommending it to people who I think will like it. But I also give warning.
It can be dense and dry at times. And it’s way longer than it needed to be.
A review from a book influencer I follow noted the author talks down to the reader. I disagree, strongly, but I can see how someone may come to that conclusion. There are a lot of facts provided through exposition (tho creative devises are employed) and footnotes.
I believe that, instead of the author showing the reader she’s smarter than them, she’s just indulging her own interests. And I’m here for that. Because she does know more about this stuff than I do, and I’m honored she’d share it with me.
And there isn’t a lot of action. In the total book there is, but most of it is exposition loaded up front and action at the end.
Also, if characters are a big deal to you, be aware that this book is not for that. The friendships and warmth we see in other magical school stories isn’t accomplished here. The characters don’t change much IMO and their relationships aren’t developed enough for me to care when there are divisions and worse. Unfortunately this hurts the author’s attempt to bring marginalized perspectives to the reader’s understanding and becomes more of a telling than showing situation. I still appreciate the telling, because it’s helping me see what I’ve learned about marginalized peoples experiences in a different light, but it’s not done through character growth and rich “found family” presentations. But the characters and relationships aren’t terrible. It’s still yet readable and enjoyable. Just not as delicious as I’d like.
The narrators were very good. The main reader, Chris Lew Kum Hoi, has a rich tone and switches accents well. The footnote narrator being female, Billie Fulford-Brown, was an excellent choice to help delineate. I do get a bit annoyed when female authors have male narrators (tho the main character is male, so I’ll allow it 😉), and white people narrate for authors of color. But the main narrator is, at least, Asian. Both gave nuance to foreign words that made them feel authentic and added to the intricacies on the emphasis of language in the story, though I’ve no idea if they are accurate.
I would like to add a special note about my personal experience. Because of the way Libby delivered by holds to me, I read Yellowface by the same author and then this. And half way through I read a scathing review of Babel that sounded a little more like white fragility than true criticism. The landscape within which I read this, therefore, was fascinating. I imagine this book to be much like the stolen novel in Yellowface, a passion project for the author with cultural ties to the subject matter. And the review similar to some of those mentioned in Yellowface. The juxtaposition of the two in two different time periods was super fun, as well. It was a much richer experience because of that, and I wish it was read this way in a classroom setting so I could indulge with other readers.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Rape
celery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
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: Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, and War