imiji 's review for:

The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara

3.5

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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such an unusual and ambitious book that ultimately promises much more than what it actually holds. i spent a lot of the book being unsure where it was going and unsure of why i should care about its characters. where the novel is held up by research, i wish it had been held up instead by humaneness and heart. the near-sterility with which most of the events are narrated -- with very little clear purpose or direction, and a lot of jumping between timelines -- made the more rhapsodic passages musing on the beauty and value of our world and our human condition come off as insincere, when they should have cemented the emotional core of the book.