banhmeowz started reading...

Red City (The New Alchemists #1)
Marie Lu
banhmeowz wrote a review...
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.
banhmeowz finished a book

Babel
R.F. Kuang
banhmeowz paused reading...

Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3)
Rebecca Yarros
Post from the Babel forum
took a break from this book to read katabasis. on my way back to oxford, haha!!
banhmeowz started reading...

Babel
R.F. Kuang
banhmeowz finished reading and left a rating...
banhmeowz commented on a post
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 💖
banhmeowz commented on a post
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.
Post from the Katabasis forum
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 💖
banhmeowz commented on looch's update
looch started reading...

The Dallergut Dream Department Store
Lee Mi-ye
Post from the Katabasis forum
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.
banhmeowz TBR'd a book

Red City (The New Alchemists #1)
Marie Lu
banhmeowz TBR'd a book

Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Malinda Lo
banhmeowz started reading...

Katabasis
R.F. Kuang
banhmeowz commented on a post
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.