5/5 ☆ so THIS is the Miss Kuang i was told about! I said it before, but reading the Poppy War trilogy, I struggled. I can't handle military fiction well, it bores me. I felt like I didn't connect properly. this is different. when i read this, i remembered classics like the Tell-Tale Heart, Passion According to GH, The Yellow Wallpaper: spiralings of insanity that feel real. its crazy how bad and mad i felt for (and because!) of june. her self-forgiveness and denial is so overwhelming on the page, and how she goes from different perspectives from one chapter to another, her hipocrisy, her internalized racism and how she justifies it. i could go on, but this is a modern classic. until babel and katabasis, if there's an RF Kuang book im recommending, it's fucking this one.

2/5 ☆ I'm sorry, I just don't think this was it for me. I don't like it when they're into each other so quickly (ESP if he wasn't into her for years), I don't like the 5 year age gap, I don't like how they explained that her riding career was just a hyperfixation (this is a bit more personal, I love girlbosses to a fault), and I felt like there were very little moments that convinced me that they were in LOVE with each other. the scene where she stood up for him was cute, though. i liked that.

4/5 ☆ So, where's the rest of it? This world is full of magic, but I will say that it should be easily like 200+ longer. I would have loved to truly live in those realms, and see how that mythology had built up a culture to support it, which we only saw briefly. Characters tho? 10/10, no notes. Rory is up there with male leads for me, there's something so delicious about an errant knight with his own moral compass, with a heart of gold under it. Sybil is impressive and charming in her own right as well. I need the next book soon, please!

3/5 ☆ "You and me. This is how we win." A nice, quick read. If you like poetry, angst, time travel (think Dr. Who, or the TVA in Loki) this book will be perfect for you. A bit abstract, but enjoyable. There was a book I read during my bachelor's called Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, and this book reminded me of it, in the way that the Strands are described. It felt extremely whimsical, if you're into that.