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banhmeowz

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This Monster of Mine
Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
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Red City (The New Alchemists #1)

banhmeowz commented on a post

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  • Babel
    Thoughts from 100% (page 542)
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    Level 3

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    250 points

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    banhmeowz started reading...

    1d
    Red City (The New Alchemists #1)

    Red City (The New Alchemists #1)

    Marie Lu

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    banhmeowz wrote a review...

    1d
  • Babel
    banhmeowz
    Nov 01, 2025
    5.0
    Enjoyment: 4.5Quality: 4.5Characters: 3.5Plot: 2.5
    💀
    📚
    🔥

    Absolutely gorgeous. I can see why the internet is torn about it- on the one hand, I can absolutely see where someone who is not in love with academia would feel like this dragged on. The messaging /was/ exceptionally hamfisted. And yet, I loved it anyway.

    It brought a lot to the table- it was speculative, smart, nuanced, funny, and harrowing (among MANY other things). It was the book that could. But, bewarned, it is looooooooong. She a thicc girl. But if you really take your time, if you pour over the text, I’m sure it will do something for you.

    However, my biggest gripe with this damn story is that THE MAGIC SYSTEM IS NOT EXPLAINEEEEEED LIKE I GET THE WHOLE THING WITH THE MATCH PAIRS BUT, KUANG, PLS. WHY SILVER? /HOW/ DOES THE SILVER FIND WHAT’S LOST? This will keep me up at night.

    My second irritation, although very minimal, is Robin. As a character, he is so…bland. He exists as a vehicle for the messaging and not as his own being in the way that the other characters are. Perhaps that’s a narrative choice, but it made it harder for me to connect to the story as so much of it is from his perspective.

    Otherwise, brilliant read. Incredible ending.

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    1d
    Babel

    Babel

    R.F. Kuang

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    Post from the Babel forum

    1d
  • Babel
    Thoughts from 100% (page 542)
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    14
    comments 6
    Reply
  • Post from the Babel forum

    2d
  • Babel
    Thoughts from 66% (page 359)
    spoilers

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    12
    comments 4
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  • Post from the Babel forum

    3w
  • Babel
    Thoughts from 11% (page 60)

    took a break from this book to read katabasis. on my way back to oxford, haha!!

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    3w
    Babel

    Babel

    R.F. Kuang

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    3w
  • Katabasis
    banhmeowz
    Oct 08, 2025
    4.5
    Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 4.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 3.5

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  • banhmeowz commented on a post

    3w
  • Katabasis
    finished!

    i resonated with this book so deeply. i laughed. i cried. i pondered.

    i don’t think i have any words other than to say that this book is beautiful.

    don’t forget to look up 💖

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  • banhmeowz commented on a post

    3w
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 54% (page 300)

    I love this book. I have read Yellowface and am concurrently reading Babel, and I genuinely believe thaf, stylistically, this book is a marriage between Yellowface and Babel. It contains the wit, humor, and satire of YF, and the academic nature of Babel. I feel like I’m learning a lot while following Alice and Peter’s journey.

    I do think that the promotional language around this book being a romance were overshot—the romance is such a small part of the story.

    I am REALLY enjoying the Alice’s inner musings, though. Her character is exceptionally relatable to me as someone who was part of higher academia for a while.

    As a Berkeley alum, I’m also enjoying the digs at my alma mater hahahahaha.

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  • Post from the Katabasis forum

    3w
  • Katabasis
    finished!

    i resonated with this book so deeply. i laughed. i cried. i pondered.

    i don’t think i have any words other than to say that this book is beautiful.

    don’t forget to look up 💖

    11
    comments 9
    Reply
  • Post from the Katabasis forum

    3w
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 54% (page 300)

    I love this book. I have read Yellowface and am concurrently reading Babel, and I genuinely believe thaf, stylistically, this book is a marriage between Yellowface and Babel. It contains the wit, humor, and satire of YF, and the academic nature of Babel. I feel like I’m learning a lot while following Alice and Peter’s journey.

    I do think that the promotional language around this book being a romance were overshot—the romance is such a small part of the story.

    I am REALLY enjoying the Alice’s inner musings, though. Her character is exceptionally relatable to me as someone who was part of higher academia for a while.

    As a Berkeley alum, I’m also enjoying the digs at my alma mater hahahahaha.

    16
    comments 5
    Reply
  • banhmeowz TBR'd a book

    3w
    Red City (The New Alchemists #1)

    Red City (The New Alchemists #1)

    Marie Lu

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    banhmeowz commented on a post

    4w
  • Katabasis
    Thoughts from 34%

    Ngl why are people saying you definitely need to do background reading for this? It's so manageable. I don't feel out of my depth at all and I can't read classics. I can't believe that I let people intimidate me from this book.

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