rating: 3.25/5
this was so fucking funny. it was my first rebecca kuang book because i'm terrified of reading The Poppy War, but i really liked reading this. i do think miss kuang wrote this as an insult to some white person that affronted her in the beginning of her career and i love her for it. the protagonist's internalised racism, insecurities and delusions were so hilarious to read. like damn, this girl was having a panic attack inside a normal chinese restaurant, which is CRAZY. also she had sm sexual tension with athena istg. the homoeroticism of her obsession with athena was baffling. like girl, did you wanna be her or be with her? at some point in the novel i really thought they were gonna end up kissing. even though i enjoyed this book, i guess it was just a fun time to me because i didn't really wanna rate it very high. it did inspire me to write my own stuff tho, so kudos for that.
