So the ending! I cried like a crazy person on the train - knew it was coming, thought it was the only way out for Robin at least


Again its a testament to the quality and depth of Kuang's research into colonial uprisings but the response rang true. I doubt the things referenced are exclusive to Ireland - but they tallied beat for beat. I recently read a book about the 1916 Rising in Ireland that had so many parrel 'moments' to book 3 - from the rationale, the reaction, the general feeling, and the inevitability of the ending mirrors that found in letters from the leaders of the rising - there is a line the Irish leader Pearse's letter to his mother 'You must not grieve for all this. We have preserved Ireland’s honour and our own' -that was an echo or something Robin said near the end.


Kuanh is to be commended for, in a way, honoring those who have in real life fought and died resisting colonial oppression and the effort she has gone to to be true to the real lived experience is actually wonderful.

What I would LOVE now is another book about Victoire because I want more of her story but it's also artistically satisfying knowing that Victoire's future is unknown.

I think it's better that it ends where it does but I also very much want more! It would be a brilliant plot for here, but I don't know how it would work.