It was a sweet book and I'm appreciative of the focus on grief but I was so bored for like 90% of the book. I knew a lot of people love it so I wanted to finish it but I was somewhat disappointed because it was not nearly as emotionally intense as I expected... I didn't shed a single tear. I liked seeing the characters connect and grow together but it wasn't a huge selling point for me. The writing was overall good but it was just too dense in some points and the chapters were way too long. I also think that if the book had started earlier in the characters timeline I would've enjoyed it more because I would've been able to feel the devastation myself.
I loved this book!
It has been on my shelf for a while but once I picked it up it was hard to put down. I originally thought the main plot would be focused on the identity of the main character and while that is the main focus there was so much more to that identity development than I expected.
I connected with all the characters and was committed to the plot. It was also the first time in a while that the twists of a book actually were twists, I didn't predict what was going to happen and I didn't really want to in the way I normally do. It also taught me a lot about native culture without taking away from the plot.
Would recommend a million times over!
4.75 ⭐️ Love, love, love!!! This was such a well written book that I stormed through it was an interesting perspective that created beautiful story telling that lead to intense feeling and connection with the book.
The only part I don't LOVE was the ending, I think it was a sweet (in a character fitting way) good ending BUT it simultaneously felt out of place with the rest of the book just because of the more intense descriptors.
Would absolutely recommend!
This was a well-written book, and I can tell within this book that R.F. Kuang is a highly educated person passionate about what she does. That said, I don't think I will ever reread it. This beautifully written book looks at colonialism and how it affects the characters in this book, and it is an excellent way of telling it with a good mix of fiction and reality. Still, there was almost too much reality for it to be an easy read.
Going into this book, I heard great things, and I am not here to disagree, but this was a dense book not only in plot but also in information overall. The chapters were long, and so many sections felt like info dumps about languages, making it read like a book for a language class rather than just for enjoyment. This made it hard for me to read, and it took me more than double the time a book this length would take because I couldn't enjoy it initially.
With that in mind, some sections were dense but did provide necessary context, but that does not make the book read any faster.
The focus on colonialism and the relationships of the characters are what made me rate this book 4 stars rather than anything less because you see how racism in the English empire manifested for people who were not English and in a unique environment in which they were the most important people for the empire. I enjoyed this aspect of the book, and this is frankly the part of the book that was historical fiction, not the dark academia part, which I know now is not for me.
4.75 ⭐️
I loved this book it was beautifully written and I loved watching the stories of all 4 characters. The characters all developed in versions ways throughout the book and I was happy to see how it turned out.
There were definitely points where even though I was so happy with the book it was long but that's to be expected with a standalone fantasy book.
I would absolutely recommend this a million times overs, it was a complex and simultaneously digestible fantasy that has so many beautiful components and twists and secrets.