Scan barcode
liafiles's review
- 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
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Colonisation, War, Death, Misogyny, Gun violence, Classism, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual harassment
navayiota'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: Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Murder, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Suicide, Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Death of parent, Misogyny, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Islamophobia, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Addiction, and Deportation
penofpossibilities's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Racial slurs, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Blood, Sexism, Murder, Death of parent, Death, Cultural appropriation, Ableism, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Colonisation, Classism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime
Moderate: Addiction, Vomit, Islamophobia, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug abuse, Slavery, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Child death, and War
annamary54'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: Colonisation, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Police brutality, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Hate crime, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Suicide
bellsdixon's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Death, War, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Grief, Emotional abuse, Deportation, Classism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Trafficking, Gun violence, and Gore
folkofthebook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
however, i can see how some readers don't like the second half as it slows down in action, but underneath it's an emotional build.
i think overall this is a very solid addition to dark academia. honestly still processing that last 10% 😭
def check TWs
Graphic: Gun violence, Classism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racial slurs, Torture, Racism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Xenophobia, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction
justmys's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Kuang’s level of intelligence and brilliance surrounding etymology and translation and her immense skill at bringing issues that are still horrifyingly prevalent in the world to the forefront of the story through a powerful lens were a true gift to read and will be staying with me for a long time to come.
And that’s where my 2.75 stars go. That side of this novel was an astounding piece of work. Unfortunately, the rest of the book had to be consumed alongside it.
I was told that the beginning of this book is slow. For me, the beginning ended up being the first 328 pages. And this is a heavy read to begin with.
I found all of the characters within the book shallow and underdeveloped. So much of their lives and interactions were glossed over. Flashbacks or explanations for their behaviour and decisions were often sewn into the book through footnotes giving them the feeling of an afterthought. I spent the entire time wishing this book would have been at least a duology so as to have given room for us to actually get to know the characters as people, and not just awkward stunted players in a black box theatre production.
The main female characters, Victoire and Letty, were often left T-posing in the corner of scenes, utterly forgotten in place of their male counterparts. When they were used (which was woefully little) they either felt like the author didn’t know their character (as with Victoire) or were an absurd cartoonish creation (as with Letty).
Despite the overall themes being interesting I did feel like I was being smacked over the head with the book at times whilst being asked, “Do you get it? Do you understand? Do you even comprehend yet?” which got exhausting because I don’t think I’m as stupid as this book thinks I am.
This book would have been so much more interesting if the lectures had been edited down somewhat in order to give room for character exploration. I’m certain the characters could have been truly loveable if they had been allowed to exist outside of a 2D space. I said to friends that this book had scope to be up there with Six of Crows or Lies of Locke Lamora if only the characters that inhabited the world were given the same love and detail as the world was.
I do want to give this author another chance so will likely read more of her work in the future. There were so many moments where I was sure I could have fallen in love with her writing if only given more to work with.
Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Racism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Torture
Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Addiction, Deportation, Gun violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture
hannahcstocks'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
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Deportation, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, War, Racial slurs, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking
crybabybea's review
- 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: Grief, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Addiction, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, War, Xenophobia, Death, Vomit, Murder, Drug abuse, Sexism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, and Genocide
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: Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Trafficking, Vomit, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, Drug abuse, Gore, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Self harm, Abandonment, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Deportation, Medical trauma, Drug use, Emotional abuse, War, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Confinement