a binge-able (lowk like a trashy tv show) read. i liked this a lot more than babel — while the themes were still delivered in a very heavy-handed manner (what i'm beginning to see is kuang's favored writing style), i found it to be much less so than babel. the questions/themes that rf kuang tackles in this book are definitely intriguing ones (the main one being: who has the right to tell a story?), and i enjoyed experiencing the ethically-questionable things that both june and athena have done. i also love stories with unreliable narrators (june was such a frustrating person) so that was a plus for me !!

the ending didn't hit the way i think it was meant to, and i'm also not sure if i completely vibe with kuang's writing style (the prose at times felt very elementary + i don't fully agree with her more direct/didactic style ?). but i can see why people enjoy her works — she has a digestible voice that draws you in.