So I am absolutely in love with anything R.F. Kuang writes I mean it is literally that simple. She is a genius and the tone of this novel is so different from Babel. I have never hated a character as much as I hated June Hayward, which given the book is from her persepective, is tough... but like I couldn't put it down. I wanted to see her get what was coming to her. I actually rooted for everything bad and uncomfortable to happen to her. But, Kuang in such a masterful way, reminds us that sometimes people just don't get what is coming to them. I think this book is a beautiful examination of diversity, racism and cultural appropriation. And it's so blatant that June is the bad guy; and her justifications are so painful, but one's you hear people make in the real world. 

While the book for sure terrified me of pancakes for the rest of my life, it also left me thinking about privilege and expectations. It also raised points of things that I had never considered before. It was honestly another read that makes you uncomortable in all the right ways. It makes you sit with the harsh truth that some things are easier for a person simply because of race or gender. June is a character who is very much racist and expects privileges she doesn't actually deserve simply because she is a suffering white woman. Life is unfair and Athena was only famous because she was a minority. Kuang does a phenomenal job of highlighting the uncomfortable realties of the world we live in. She leaves you sitting with that reality and perhaps most terrifying, her narrative is true.