ziyah reads and writes!

I actually used this book for a final paper for my Field Seminar in Political Theory class. It is a PhD level course so the paper is roughly 26 pages minus the bibliography, and more serious (duh). If you’re interested in reading it, it’s linked below! Continue scrolling down to get back to the funny and hilarious book review.

5/5 stars 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

This book had me utterly destroyed.

It still does I think.

But we are going to soldier on through my pain and write this review.

This is a 5/5 stars that put all my other 5/5 stars to shame.

This book is written by one of the most decorated academics ever, THE R.F.KUANG aka Rebecca Kuang. The 5 times New York Times Bestselling author, Masters from Cambridge, 2nd Masters from Oxford, and current PhD student at Yale. This Chinese icon needs to be discussed more.

I want to read her other books but I still need to fully recover from this one so I don’t rip myself apart with the next one.

Just read it, also the use of footnotes just screams grad student. From one Grad Student to another, I love you and see the urge.

Anywhoooo, read the book.

• Are you a POC in the U.S. or any part of the “Western world”?
  • Read it!
• Are you a 1st/2nd Gen?
  • Read it!
• Do you like dark academia/secret society shit?
  • Read It!
• Do you like magic?
  • Read It!
• Are you human?
  • Read it!
• Can you read?
  • THEN READDDD IT!

Not gonna lie, it was a bit slower than what I’m used to and it took a while for the plot to really begin but to be honest the magic system and world building was so interesting it was still hard for me to put the book down.

And I HAVE A SHORT ATTENTION SPAN!

So yeah no excuses!

Read it now!

SPOILERS BELOW!

Thoughts and reactions while reading…

• Is this Lovell guy a magician? How did he cure his disease?

• Mrs. Piper is so cute it’s giving girl version of Hagrid

• I don’t trust Prof.Lovell you left his mom and his whole family just dead like that
• Wait are they in China or London 
• Oh ok they are in China 
• Oh now they in London 
• Miss Betty taught him English ok got it
• I love the footnotes
• The talisman 
• Why did Prof Lovell did that to him
• wtf he has a name bitch,
• Robin Swift wtf
• Bro fuck professor Lovell wtf 
• HE BEAT HIM OH HELL NAWW

• OH NOW ASIANS ARE DUMB WELL WHY DID U STEAL HIM FROM HIS COUNTRY THEN PROFESSORRRR???
• YOU A RACIST RAGGEDY BITCH!!!

• Aww I like Ramy!

• wtf kind of magic is this

• Oooohhhhh Hermes Society… Tell me more

• Omg Robin got shot!
• How do you know if Anthony is dead? What if he went underground and joined the Hermes society like Griffin did?
• Ooooh is Ramy and Letty gonna get together? (BOY OH BOY WAS I WRONG)
• Lowkey happy that Robin left bc I was getting scared for him
• Antony is definitely with the Hermes society 
• WHAT WHY ISNT HE LYINGGGG WTFF

• What Griffin killed Evie?
• I thought the bars don’t work for him so how could he kill Éveline?
• AHHHH U KILLED PROF LOVELL???

• The world is better off without him
• Bruh they gonna get caught
• Just throw him overboard 
• Ok good
• Bro just join Hermes society full time
• Someone’s gotta tell someone about the safe house he exposed to Lovell 
• I love these Hermes society people thank god Anthony got him out of there 
• “I think decolonization must be a violent process” okayyy I see you Griffin

• Oh great everyone is dead fuckkkkk 
• No not Griffin

• Oh Letty what a disappointment u are
• Why don’t u warn the people before the bridge falls
• Oh so they did warn them
• Fuck u Letty gtfo u still don’t understand them
• Omg noooo
• Babel is going to fall
• I’m distraught
• It makes sense that the tower falls like in the original story bc people were trying to reach god and god struck them down and burdened them with different languages
• So Britain is trying to reach god like status controlling the whole world so Babel the crux of the empire falls and with it all the colonies
• OH MY GOD IS THIS BOOK WE ARE READING, THE BOOK HE WROTE ABOUT THE REVOLUTION WHEN HE WAS TAKING NOTES IN THE BABEL STRIKE
• AAHHHH
• Mindblown

Overall, this book had me locked up in my room, abandoning reason and my assignments to read this just to destroy my heart by killing everyone I love but then gave a positive cliffhanger.

So yea, as I said before READ IT!

FAN CAST TIME!!!!

I’ll include some British Actors too I guess and not just American ones. Starting with…

• Robin Swift – Dallas Liu or William Gao
  • Dallas Lui just has THE LOOK, in my head he looked like this!!!! BUTT a British actor who is actually wasian (Chinese mom, and English father) should get the role so I put him on the left.

• Griffen Lovell – Charles Melton
  • Older brother of Robin. He’s Actually Wasian and would fit the role well.

• Victoire Desgraves – Thuso Mbedu or if you want a real Brit Bethany Antonia
  • Thuso can act and although she’s thirty, she’s really short and looks young, and on the right we have HOTD rightful queen of the seven kingdoms after Rhaenyra

• Ramiz Rafi Mirza – Aryan Simhadri
  • I see why Letty was thirsty

• Professor Richard Lovell – Ralph Fiennes
  • Just imagine! He was Voldemort for gods sakes!

• Antony Ribben – Lucien Laviscount
  • Just GORGEOUSSSS, and he’s British! He’ll bring in those Emily In Paris fans.

• Mrs. Piper – Julie Walters
  • A British icon, *Mrs.Weasley*

• Letitia (Letty) Price – Ella Purnell
  • She got a little evil in them eyes that can easily be disguised as innocence which is exactly what I want, and she’s British!
    • And yea I put Letty’s backstabbing ass at the bottom, duhhh

That’s all for the fan cast!

Take a look at this cool fan art tho!

<< art by: bumblebeejetarts

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