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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Bottom line: I really loved this book, but I don’t think it’s for everyone.
Overall I was really surprised by how much I liked this. I really wasn’t crazy about Babel so I was going into this with very low expectations. The premise was just too good for me to pass up on, and I’m glad that I read it. This book has everything I love: academia, romance, a quest, retelling, inclusion of myths — even a bit of found family — and it really hit almost all of those notes perfectly for me. It’s a very cute fall / back to school book.
Overall I was really surprised by how much I liked this. I really wasn’t crazy about Babel so I was going into this with very low expectations. The premise was just too good for me to pass up on, and I’m glad that I read it. This book has everything I love: academia, romance, a quest, retelling, inclusion of myths — even a bit of found family — and it really hit almost all of those notes perfectly for me. It’s a very cute fall / back to school book.
Writing Style and Audience:
Kuang can do highbrow prose very well. It’s evident that she is incredibly smart. However, my gripe with her books is that I feel like she is writing for a very specific audience: one who is extremely well versed in classical literature and philosophical concepts. The hypocrisy of her writing is that while this book and Babel are both critiques of The Academy, you need to be very well versed in its references in order to get that critique. You can still enjoy it without getting the references, it just feels a bit elitist. These references were a big part of my enjoyment of this book, which in turn reinforces my point: I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if I hadn’t gotten the references.
It also feels like it romanticizes the dangers of the academic world, even in its critique.
It also feels like it romanticizes the dangers of the academic world, even in its critique.
Magic System:
The magic system in this book is so unique — I really like the idea of a magic system that uses paradoxes and gaps in logic. The use of non-Euclidean spaces is so neat in this as well.
Plot & Pacing:
I love a quest premise. This was one of the major draws for me to read this, and it didn’t disappoint. The premise of having two rival academics go to Hell together to return their supervisor back from the dead is an A-tier idea to me. The irony of going on a quest to save someone terrible, someone you hate, was perfect.
In execution, the book feels pretty predictable, but I really appreciated the journey. It read very quickly. There were also lots of little mysteries at the start of the book that are well plotted and revealed slowly along the way.
I did find some elements of the plot to be a bit too convenient, though. Likehow she was saved multiple times by the right people showing up randomly and in inexplicable ways at exactly the time she needed saving. Also the book was significantly less enjoyable for me when Peter wasn’t there.
I did find some elements of the plot to be a bit too convenient, though. Like
Setting:
What a perfect setting for a quest like this — I almost wish I had thought of it myself. I just wish I had a better visual image with more vivid descriptions. I didn’t really have a sense of what the locations looked like.
Characters:
I think this book could have used a bit stronger character work. While I really liked the tensions that the characters played with, I do wish that Alice was just a bit more fleshed out. For example, what’s her relationship like with her family? What drives her beyond her blind, hopeless ambition?
I also had some issues with her lack of grief for losing Peter. Alice’s lack of grief for Peter (even a lack of denial) doesn’t make the act or the sacrifice feel believable or like the deeply emotional beat that I wish it was. It kind of gives the impression that she knows he will come back, which gives us the same impression, removing drama from the moment she does bring him back. I really wish the author had put more tragic and dramatic emphasis on this, to make more of the moment and make it more believable. Also, the cat seemed kind of random and I almost wish that it was just a skeleton cat from Hell rather than one from the world of the living. It doesn’t really make sense to me how the cat can break the very worldbuilding rules that define the core tension of this book.
Romance:
I really enjoyed the romance; it was so sweet and wanting to see it played out kept me reading.
Overall, I am very surprised at how much I enjoyed this! Also all of the little details in the special edition hardcover I got were super cool.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
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
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Im already thinking about rereading this and finding out so many new things about it
I feel like this book was two different stories overlapping that each suffered at the hands of the other. The last 15% or so had me hooked, the rest was definitely words on a page. I hope that writing this was cathartic for Ms. Kuang, but I’m left feeling a bit disappointed overall.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
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
Things that come to my mind after reading:
1. R.F.Kuang enjoy ultimately slow to the point of you'll wondering it's real or just a fragment of illusion romance and edging, I guess; Alice & Peter's tiny detail of affection is a proof
2. Alice's downfall is her pride; Since she's a child, she never acquainted herself with defeat in the term of academia hence she's trying so hard, to the point of starving & basically torturing herself, to achieve success and Professor Grimes is her role model. In my opinion, Kuang write Alice so humanly until I could create her in my mind; not only as a fiction character, but a human being with all her dignity and pride trying to tackle the underworld. Her dilemma regarding what she is a person, a woman or as Grimes's advisee is the one which makes me interested & decide she's more than just an ambitious woman trying to make her way in the world.
3. Peter, on the other hand, is an elusive character; though he have one chapter to basically explaining his side, personality and the reason on why he did what he did towards Alice. The chapter, for me, is act as a filler, a justifiable; something though I find heart-wrenching, it's not that important and feel force. Alice make up 95% narration of the story and Peter, for the sake of avoiding unfairness, were smacked down in the middle and narrating his side, just once, and then he's gone in the hands of Kripkes; it's just so random and all of a sudden.
4. Magick system is amazing. I enjoy how Kuang explaining the world-building and the system surrounding it; my head getting dizzy by reading that but I gladly embrace it.
Overall, I admire this book with how it's describing human's and their flaws; there's no "perfect" character, everyone has this "crazy" side that make me, as a reader, relate. This book is grounding and introspective and I'm loving every minutes I spend to read this.
1. R.F.Kuang enjoy ultimately slow to the point of you'll wondering it's real or just a fragment of illusion romance and edging, I guess; Alice & Peter's tiny detail of affection is a proof
2. Alice's downfall is her pride; Since she's a child, she never acquainted herself with defeat in the term of academia hence she's trying so hard, to the point of starving & basically torturing herself, to achieve success and Professor Grimes is her role model. In my opinion, Kuang write Alice so humanly until I could create her in my mind; not only as a fiction character, but a human being with all her dignity and pride trying to tackle the underworld. Her dilemma regarding what she is a person, a woman or as Grimes's advisee is the one which makes me interested & decide she's more than just an ambitious woman trying to make her way in the world.
3. Peter, on the other hand, is an elusive character; though he have one chapter to basically explaining his side, personality and the reason on why he did what he did towards Alice. The chapter, for me, is act as a filler, a justifiable; something though I find heart-wrenching, it's not that important and feel force. Alice make up 95% narration of the story and Peter, for the sake of avoiding unfairness, were smacked down in the middle and narrating his side, just once, and then he's gone in the hands of Kripkes; it's just so random and all of a sudden.
4. Magick system is amazing. I enjoy how Kuang explaining the world-building and the system surrounding it; my head getting dizzy by reading that but I gladly embrace it.
Overall, I admire this book with how it's describing human's and their flaws; there's no "perfect" character, everyone has this "crazy" side that make me, as a reader, relate. This book is grounding and introspective and I'm loving every minutes I spend to read this.