Late last year I booked a ticket to see Rebecca F Kuang after loving Yellowface so I was determined to read another of her novels before seeing her talk (and hopefully sign my books) in person. 

➕️ Loved the dark academia and historical tones to the novel. 
 ➕️Exploration of huge topics such as colonialism, imperialism, slavery, racism and power. The way colonialism was packaged in particular was incredibly powerful, I've read nothing like it before. 
 ➕️How much language and linguistics drove this novel. I learnt so much. 
 ➕️Overall the writing (so well written. Considering it's so chunky it kept me engaged far longer than I expected to be) and character development was also notable. 

➖️The ending, I knew where it was heading and it dragged a lot
 ➖️ The footnotes. So distracting when reading. I liked when it gave context but also struggled to spot the tiny symbols and then match the symbols to the foot not. 

✍️ "That's just what translation is, I think. That's all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands." Pg535 

 🛍 I was lucky enough to find my copy in a Street Library.