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Summary “Babel” by R.F. Kuang

What we enjoyed about the book:

  • Group dynamic of the cohort great, necessity, co-dependency, mirrors students feeling isolated at university, very realistic
  • Magic system cool: in-between translations create magic
  • Language / words are the worst important element here, translation is magic itself
  • Well researched as well, felt very real, so many languages
  • Morality of translating
  • Empire and colonisation depicted very well
  • Problems within Britain interesting too
  • Silver bars as power source interesting
  • Theme of book great, “novum” / idea great
  • Criticism of academia and connecting it to imperalism, racism and how this is ingrained to academia is so important
  • Felt like something the English would do
  • Breeding people to exploit them in academia realistic
  • Ethic implications well done
  • Nuanced take on rebellion vs. being dependent on the system
  • Belonging and not belonging within and outside of academia in various regards
  • Not a single white person is good: hurts but realistic and a good choice
  • Feeling out of place: class, ‘race’, background, religion,…
  • Intersectionality well addressed: Victoire: racism and sexism
  • White people don’t listen realistic
  • White fragility
  • Lettie’s character fascinating and a mirror to the others
  • Being able to relate to other people’s experiences and struggles as key to real understanding: Lettie fails to do that
  • Grander scope was great: from the small incident to the big political sphere
  • Me vs. the system question so interesting
  • Getting to know the characters vs. death and nobody will remember them that way –> but the reader
  • Sacrificing themselves for the cause
  • “The Necessity of Violence” –> showing why radicalisation was necessary
  • Revolution: one moment in time where things need to change
  • Book made me uncomfortable and that’s good
  • Who is fighting, who won’t fight. What would I do?
  • The system had to burn. Impressive. Novel does not shy away from the hard topics.
  • Modern take on academia and Oxbridge: inclusion but not real inclusion.
  • Rage / helplessness: what can you do if you’re part of the system?
  • very slow build up: indecision of Robin relatable, gets messy
  • Shipped R. and R. so much
  • Being afraid of being one’s place: Robin on the fence, lacks social life, never lived in his home country really
  • Unwilling hero refreshing
  • Ramy was way cooler than Robin
  • Book can teach you a lot
  • Being caught up in the revolution without being 100% convinced
  • Language is literally power
  • Historical fiction: main character is mediocre
  • Changing languages, overusing ressources

What we discussed:

  • pacing/revelations could’ve come earlier
  • Language was too contemporary
  • Too contemporary, concepts etc.
  • Dialogue a bit too modern too
  • not knowing Victoire until the very end
  • more character development needed
  • One person disliked the writing style
  • Different focaliser would’ve been cooler
  • Maybe more focus on the other cohort characters
  • Victoire as token character?
  • Too obvious in its message, not subtle
  • Robin doesn’t do much, agency could be improved, but maybe on purpose?
  • Female characters mostly irrelevant for a long time?
  • Robin and Ramy disregard the sexism of the girls: problematic too, they’re not perfect
  • So many things could’ve been expanded
  • Bleak ending
  • Sexism could’ve been addressed more
  • Bit too much in your face ethics
  • Covering up the murder ridiculous
  • Characters so young
  • Magic system not convincing with every detail
  • Magic fails? Why couldn’t they ficture out different modes of transportation?
  • Academia well done, but daily life? Bit weird

Ratings:

  • 5/5 dark take on academia, falling in and out of love with academia wonderful
  • 5/5 love the vibe, got me thinking
  • 5/5 “mainly because I love Ramy”, very relatable
  • 3,5/5 setting great, very good ideas, very relatable, “something bothers me and I can’t pinpoint it”
  • 3.5/5 despite the annoying bits
  • 3.5/5 vials of magical blood: magic system with translation “really really cool”, “nerdiest magic system ever”, setting/academia brilliant, time period
  • 3.5/5 silver bars
  • 3.5/5 “all the spoilers I got made me more excited to finish it”
  • 4/5 “trying to put too much into it but also lacking at the same time”, so much good stuff

Summary Morgenstern

What we enjoyed about the book:

  • Setting and time great, fluffy story, very detailed, expanded throughout the novel
  • “Completely fell in love with it”
  • Writing style creates magic
  • Atmosphere and immersion great
  • Would love to read another story set in the same universe
  • Best part of it was the magical setting and vibe
  • “Night Circus” idea was so wonderful
  • Wonderful world
  • Shows described in quite a lot of detail, at first boring and then it became more interesting
  • “Very enchanting”
  • Story boring when reading it for the second tme, enchantment better when one reads it for the first time
  • Right headspace needed
  • One person’s Secret Santa gift was this book and it was quite enchanting, but also very criticial –> maybe better to read it when one is younger
  • Fairy tale style
  • So much unused potential
  • Dreamers really cool
  • Childlike wonder created very well
  • Twins are col and sweet
  • Ballroom scene cool
  • Conversation about stories great
  • Tarot foreshadowing cool

What we discussed:

  • Plot and characters not that great
  • If details annoy you, then the book isn’t for you
  • Borderline abuse of the pupils was terrible
  • Main characters showed little emotion and the reader received very little insight –> frustrating
  • Fairy tale style also explains the lack of emotions
  • Romance a bit boring
  • Underwhelmnig story, big setup and lots of foreshadowing and then nothing
  • Readers don’t really understand *why* the two main characters fall in love, it’s very distant
  • Ending super anticlimatic
  • Lovers have no chemistry???
    Ending confusing
  • W. telling the story cool, but how the plot is resolved was meh
  • Magic system quite weak
  • Maybe more clarity would have helped create more suspense
  • Reader kept in the dark for too long: bargain should have been introduced earlier
  • Father as ghost terrible, stalking

Ratings:

  • 3/5 stars lot of shortcomings but a great sense of wonder, parts enjoyable
  • 5 stars when reading it for the first time
  • 4.5 stars now so many issues but still really nice, “I truly connect with it”
  • Was a 5 star rating 10 years ago, now a solid 3/5

Summary of “A Master of Djinn” by P. Djèlí Clark

What we enjoyed about the book:

  • Police procedure / mystery mixture well done
  • Steampunk cool, world building works, “does not go overboard”
  • Great diversity: racism, cultural appropriation covered as topics
  • Multilayered narrative, good plottwists
  • Setting great, previous novellas tie into the world/larger universe cool
  • Characters really cool, “I just love Fatma as a character, she’s just so stubborn”
  • Woman in a world of men cool
  • Siti is awesome
  • “I love H. the most”; strong personality, relatable
  • “I love U., he sounds like a great guy”
  • Characters very well done
  • Historical, not taking place in the present, wonderful
  • Critical view of colonialism, the Empire, great –> in the middle of things
  • Timeline cool, background of mysticism, fighting back, decolonialisation, different reactions in connection to the loss of power of colonialism
  • Queer rep. great, healthy relationship with realistic fights, “cute”
  • Star-crossed lovers (supernatural touch)
  • Cultural representation accurate, insults correct, everyday language fitting
  • inaccurate idea of pledging one’s service to a family; connection to the otherworld, scary, djinns creepy in Islam: “they can come to our world but we can’t come to theirs”
  • Fluffy djnn ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
  • Faster pacing at the end good
  • Hard-boiled detective with soft side but with great, diverse representation was nice
  • Humour great, slightly absurdist
  • Role that religion great, peaceful co-existance nice
  • Linguistic awareness great; “oh your English is really good”
  • Fashion bit great, fashion as a battle suit
  • “F. is such a cool person, I just wanna hang out with her”
  • Transformation into an angel a bit random
  • Bypassing the curse through clues was smart
  • Curse: forgetting about the seal was great, how they managed to remember it was great, nice investigation twist
  • Everybody actually came back, that was nice
  • Would make a great series, cinematography, would need to be made by Egyptians in Egypt but probably would not happen
  • Audiobook is great
  • F. policing the supernatural is hilarious
  • Mixture of genres great
  • Ending 100% wholesome
  • Queer acceptance nice
  • Djimn non-binary great, can take on various genders
  • Set in the past but all the futuristic bits fun, not typical 20th century, alternate history with magic
  • Feminist / empowerment content
  • F. fights a patriarchal world and fights for her place in it, battles sexism, “felt very natural”
  • Diplomacy great
  • German delegation / Kaiser hilarious

What we discussed:

  • Villain clear ver early on sadly
  • Pacing at the beginning off
  • “Jumping the shark” ending; steampunk mecha surprise attacking Kairo, all cool characters prepare for a final bossfight, deus ex machina villain, pacing off / too much at the ending
  • Lots of steampunk stereotypes and tropes; steampunk for of an aesthetic (style over substance?) and it holds true for this book
  • Too many details in one short book, maybe two books? –> not having known the novellas before
  • So many exclamation marks 😀
  • Plot sometimes unclear because of plethora of details
  • Pacing off in general, sometimes hard to stay immersed
  • Lots of swordfighting, bit ridiculous when there are guns, but it’s also cool
  • Police does very little paperwork, could have more interrogation / police procedure, H. is doing the paperwork for F.
  • Timeline quite condensed
  • Summit: not many Arabic countries mentioned, weird
  • More people from neighbouring countries needed, feels weird that they’re ignored
  • Transculturality could be expanded, more magical creatures could be explored
  • “I would love a spin off”
  • Villain part of the story became unrealistic comedy
  • “I’ll forgive you. She’s such a Karen” :D:D:D:D:D:D
  • “It would have been funny, had Fatma been the villain”

Ratings:

  • 4/5 “great read for a steampunk novel, well written, I hope there are going to be more sequel, investigation part great”
  • 4/5 fluffy djinns “I love that it was historical and intersectional even though parts could be improved, I hope there will be more books”
  • 4/5 ninja, despite the inaccuracies, really enjoyable, different cultures and religions depicted well
  • 4.5/5 in a basket “had a lot of fun, would love more”
  • 3.5/5 “good idea, fun, too much in one book, I love the characters”, –> “three fluffy djinns and half a puppy”
  • 4/5 “just had fun”
  • 4/5 bowler hats
  • 3/5 “I loved the world building and the aesthetics”, prodigy detective bit conventional

Summary Rice

Things we liked about the book:

  • Psychological dimension interesting; existential crisis of Louis, mortality
  • Philosophical dimension interesting
  • Louis unwillingly funny, not always serious and creepy
  • Hella gay
  • Practical language
  • Only having one person to rely on / trust; Louis / Lestat difference nice
  • Louis heavily dislikes him but mourns him
  • Setting, clichee Gothic-ness of it all
  • Vibes are great, atmosphere, darkness
  • Transformation of stereotypes, debunking garlic, but still sleep in coffins
  • “the whole on drugs feeling of it” is enjoyable
  • Things escalate quickly, guilty pleasure watching it
  • Claudia angelic ethereal creature (innocence, doll) vs. her mean spirit
  • Transformation throughout the novel
  • Claudia a very tragic character (inspired by Anne Rice’s real daughter)
  • Extremes of morality portrayed: nihilism vs. hedonism, existentialism, moral conflicts galore
  • Louis fun emo vampire
  • Framing device really cool, interviewer too scared, Louis can’t stop talking
  • Louis’ dady issues are hilarious
  • Power and control fascinating
  • Red flags everybody!!!!
  • Part 1 great, part 2 meh
  • Language nice, poetic, creates a vivid sense of place and atmosphere
  • Beautiful language, monologues: “that’s the drama I want from a vampire”
  • We want blood!
  • Genre-defining book
  • Time fascinating
  • Lack of morality fascinating
  • Le Fanu as a blueprint: also super toxic
  • Your own conscience worse than anything else

Things we discussed:

  • Infuriating ending: “make me a vampire” after hours of drama and trauma
  • Excessively long descriptions or dialogues, could’ve been cut
  • Europe part too short, Eastern Europe artifical, nothing felt authentic, nothing added up
  • Racism / slavery depiction terrible, great deconstruction in the new series
  • Very (terribly) white
  • Lestat’s obsession with Louis weird; turned him because of his money; toxic
  • Lestat’s father story weird
  • Lestat lonely, too proud to be honest, no healthy relationship in this entire book
  • Relationship with Claudia is really icky
  • Claudia seems much more mature, calls her “lover”, sooo problematic, pedophilia much????
  • Claudia terribly sexualized, disgusting

How would you rate the book?

  • 3/5 teeth because of morality
  • 3/5 some parts enjoyable/funny
  • 3/5 bit boring at times, language nice, no good characters, “I just like the villains”
  • 3.5/5 childsize coffins
  • 3.5/5 bites
  • 2.5/5 “this one’s too much for me”
  • 3.5/5 philosophical depression, also for a book from 1976 despite all the problematic bits quite nice and gay
  • 3/5 easy to read, not hard to read
  • 4/5 world shattering
  • 3/5 “I wish it was not from Louis’ perspective”