Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Not definitive spoilers, but Kuang also manages to lay the perfect web of foreshadowing and smoking guns throughout the book. It felt like a spy film - the agent gets a cool gadget, the bad guy talks about his evil plan, the love interest mentions some event and suddenly you know how act 3 plays out. And just like a spy movie, it’s so exciting. It’s the buildup on a rollercoaster. You know what’s coming but it’s so fun to feel the build up and get to the part where it all comes together. The few moments that I would call “plot twists” felt so right, like I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it sooner. The story feels focused but still educates you on a long geopolitical history without ever feeling like it’s useless lore dumps.
So glad the second book is already published.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War
Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty, Rape
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Rape, Xenophobia, Murder, War
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Classism
Minor: Infertility, Slavery, Torture
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, War
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism