It started on a good note, and I was intrigued. Robin's upbringing brought me to tears. The middle was boring. Then the pace picks up near the end.
 The writing is beautiful, but it has some serious downfalls that prevented me from fully engaging in the story, as I became extremely impatient toward the middle (the pace does pick up after that, only to become slow again). The pacing is confusing; suddenly, a whole term is reduced to a paragraph, but a single lecture takes pages. This is a side note, but the book is large; it is 500 pages but feels like 1300. The dialogue was great, but if we got more of it instead of just the narrator recalling what happened from memory, it didn't feel like I was in the moment. 

I liked how the book focused on languages and how much meaning was embedded in words and could never truly be fully translated. It showed how lacking the English language is compared to other languages like Chinese and Arabic. I found it infuriating when reading Arabic books translated from English that they were reduced to simple terms that reflected the English ones, when our rich vocabulary wasn't efficiently utilized. On the other hand, if the translator is well-versed, the translated books end up being better and more well-received than the original. This is the case with Khaled Hosseini's novels. The original is good, but compared to the exquisitely translated Arabic version, it's simply bland. I loved how the author used silversmithing to emphasize what's lost in translation. Language is different in other ways too. It affects the way we think; if we don't have a term for a concept, we usually can't think about it. And many terms exist in one language and not in another, at least not as refined. 

Colonization distorts languages. It infiltrates and reduces its unique factors. But since language is deeply rooted in culture, that changes as well. The colonized people lose their language and identity, slowly merging with the colonizer, but they never truly fit in. Thus, they are never reciprocated. I liked how the author initially approached this subject, but due to my lack of knowledge regarding the Opium War, I simply lost interest and had to push through by listening to an audiobook. To be honest, I didn't know that the author was referencing real events until now, so I will educate myself about that.
 

Robin's character development was heartbreaking. He had lost so much, which is one reason why he accepted death. I didn't cry reading his final moments, but I'm feeling emotional now, remembering how vastly his life changed when he was eleven. How he waited for death next to his mother's corpse. Never again did he feel reciprocated affection, not until he met Ramy, his first friend, along with his other cohort. Only then did he feel happiness. It's just so sad that he didn't get the chance to grieve Ramy and Griffen. All of this explains his martyrdom but doesn't explain why Professor Craft and the other two students would choose death as well. What is their motivation? It's not even a war against their land, so why would they give up so much for it? 

Ramiz Rafi Mirza—the funny, smart, and intriguing Ramy. I want to thank R.F. Kuang for including a Muslim character who is ordinary, prays, doesn't drink, and says dua. But why did you have to break my heart and kill him!!! I can only imagine how his family would receive the news. What about his remains? Would they give him a proper burial? He was the only son and the pride of his family, the little professor. I can't get over his death. 

I never really liked Letty, but it's sad how much tunnel vision she has. She can't comprehend what her friends go through or how they feel.
 Victoire wasn't special by any means. I didn't feel anything for her until her epilogue, which made up the last pages of the book.

I should have been emotional reading the ending, but I wasn't. I don't know why. Perhaps it was because of how long-winded this book felt or because of the excessive "tell, don't show" approach the author used. I'm still not sure. I feel sad recalling the events that transpired. Yet, for some reason, I wasn't engaged while reading it.
 Overall, the effort put into this book is evident. There were a few areas where it fell through for me, and I felt a bit bored, which is why I would give it 3.75 stars.