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A review by jurizprudence
The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
let me get this straight: i love tain hu, the duchess vultjag, beloved. and to feel her strong presence all throughout this book—from agonist's motivations and scheming to baru's fever dreams—is everything for me. it made me elated, but most of the times, it just made a sobbing mess out of me. i was not alone, of course, because baru seemed to have a bad time, too—even more awful than mine because what the actual hell.
baru is clearly not unaffected by all that transpired in the first book, however heartless and cold she paints herself to be in this sequel. our dear savant is almost crippled by her traumas and grief, unable to get her self together without wallowing in despair (internally) and drinking her sorrows away. but i love the way she explored her sexuality in this book. she met a lot of dashing women—and while i agree with readers that say they're more interesting than hu, i still am partial to the latter. she also had a lot of adventures! good for her, good for her. also, i am very much intrigued by the newly introduced cultures here, which are all rich and distinct from one another, making this book such an immersive experience.
however, i think The Monster Baru Cormorant suffers the second book syndrome — it fell flat compared to the masterpiece that was The Traitor. there was a lot happening, even in the first few chapters, and clues and plot points were scattered all around to the point that the storyline was almost hard to follow. there's still economics, too, but no matter, because i happen to like that aspect of this book with baru's brilliant mind as my guide. i love how she's still such a little menace, tanking national economies and causing unrest to different groups of people and all that. there are also a lot of point of views included now, and i was kind of thrown off-guard by a specific first person pov. i think i have a gist with what is going on with regard to the right side texts that pop out in certain times in the narrative, but i'm not that sure and i would not like to get my hopes up because baru seems keen on always crushing them. still, i'm hoping that the third book will clear things up.
also, seth dickinson, i just want to talk. why would you make me grieve and mourn [redacted] for a second time 😭
baru is clearly not unaffected by all that transpired in the first book, however heartless and cold she paints herself to be in this sequel. our dear savant is almost crippled by her traumas and grief, unable to get her self together without wallowing in despair (internally) and drinking her sorrows away. but i love the way she explored her sexuality in this book. she met a lot of dashing women—and while i agree with readers that say they're more interesting than hu, i still am partial to the latter. she also had a lot of adventures! good for her, good for her. also, i am very much intrigued by the newly introduced cultures here, which are all rich and distinct from one another, making this book such an immersive experience.
however, i think The Monster Baru Cormorant suffers the second book syndrome — it fell flat compared to the masterpiece that was The Traitor. there was a lot happening, even in the first few chapters, and clues and plot points were scattered all around to the point that the storyline was almost hard to follow. there's still economics, too, but no matter, because i happen to like that aspect of this book with baru's brilliant mind as my guide. i love how she's still such a little menace, tanking national economies and causing unrest to different groups of people and all that. there are also a lot of point of views included now, and i was kind of thrown off-guard by a specific first person pov. i think i have a gist with what is going on with regard to the right side texts that pop out in certain times in the narrative, but i'm not that sure and i would not like to get my hopes up because baru seems keen on always crushing them. still, i'm hoping that the third book will clear things up.
also, seth dickinson, i just want to talk. why would you make me grieve and mourn [redacted] for a second time 😭