A story told from the perspective of an incredibly dislikable character but told in a way that made me want to read more and more! 

that opening line dragged me right into the book.

overall? 

fantastic book. 

but it’s very different from Kuangs other things so far - which i loved! 

i also loved how detailed it was about the publishing process BUT if you don’t like books that focused on one specific topic heavily and share a lot about that topic? this might not be a good story for you! 

this is not a thriller, not a fast paced, action packed mystery or a suspense that keeps your heart racing. 

it’s a current day real life contemporary with everyday details and moments - and a few shockers thrown in.

it’s very much a story about a woman that uses a moment she sees and takes advantage of it for herself and it goes from there. 



this book is very much a contemporary piece of our current time and especially the current world in the entertainment industry -especially the publishing industry.

it has a lot of commentary on who and what gets published, how deals are made how it all happened behind the scene before anyone even hears about the book and how some books are giving extrem marketing budgets because they expect to sell well -and with such a high budget do so alone because they are everywhere!- while other books just get published and … basically that’s it. 

if how this books explains the publishing world is even just slightly true -and from what anyone can see just by bing on a platform where this review is on!- it sounds very similar to the read deal. 
it’s sad to read how publishing seems still so set in believing that there is only space for a specific number of some specific voices/stories but don’t mind publishing -for example yet another WW2 romance as if there aren’t enough of those already- while they turn other stories away that have the potential to be much more interesting and unique. 

i also really liked getting this view into the white washing process of specific moments of a story and reading about how that way it would be more popular while i sit here reading about this book and the story before it becomes more about the suppressor than the suppressed and think: i would like to read that original story! 

and i am still a little sad that this is not a book with a book inside it that gives the entirety of the much discussed book that June got published. 


it shares a lot about the ups and downs, the high highs and the deep dark holes social media can bring with it and to what length some people go for not real reason other than that they can use the internet as way to scream their hate and options without needing to have prove to be the loudest voice. 

the entire commentary through out the book about social media and how it can be useful or misused, how cancel culture can be good or bad or misused by some people following their own agendas and nobody seems to care that much as long as they are getting entertained in some way… 
it was a good -if sad- view into the current times and social media. 

i did like all the different aspects of social media and how sometimes loving a book being popular can switch  basically overnight to hating it being popular in the social media world and how that affects the author and the entire team behind the book. 

not that i think that people that do this kind of popular negativity that gets huge amounts of attention will read this and see it as a reminder that there are actually people behind books (and other entertainment media). 

i really liked how it showed the mob-mentality of social media and how it can be used… again positively it negatively and how fast it can switch between those two. 
it’s a bit scary to think about how social media influences can be used to cause so much (especially hatred) emotions without most of the forming mob asking for prove or checking themselves. 

and sure in this book the calling out is justified since June did seal at lead the early stage of the book and should not have done that without giving credit to Athena or at least ask Athena’s mother if June could use it since i am just guessing but since the mother did get all her daughters stuff after Athena’s death, the unpublished works and ideas of her would also become property of the mother? 

what i am trying to say here is that this book does show that june did wrong and never hides that but it also shows that the mad-mob doesn’t have any proof of any wrong dying and it’s literally following an ex-boyfriend they did wrong as well and keeps his name and identity quite because it wouldn’t look good if he would be the loudest voice pointing a finger.

 

so it really shows that as social media mob-mindset is as dangerous if not more dangerous than it was before social media and can be utterly abused and it seems without consequences of those that abuse it. 
i was never a fan of the videos and posts that too many others seems to love that seems to only exist to show all the faults and hate on another person without actually knowing that person most of the time. 
but after reading this book? i am even less of a fan of them and that after actively disliking the main character and believing that she did deserve someone reminding her of what she did. 



at the beginning of this book i wasn’t sure if i would like it, mostly because the main character is just a lot. 
she is extremely self centered, unbelievably jealous and seems to believe that it’s just unfair that someone else can have something she currently hasn’t. 


but the writing -which is very well done, paced and timed throughout the entire book to keep it moving but also really show the emotions and thoughts of what’s going on- kept me just flipping the pages and not wanting to stop until i know how tos would all end. 


the end itself…. it fits the narrator of the story. 
i personally would have loved a bit of a clearer ending but that’s hard to do with a story like that, and sie the ending is has makes sense and it’s okay. 


what i do think is that this is a book that feels very timed. 
by that i mean it has a lot of current time -very right now especially USA centric- references that will in just a handful of years be no longer as easy to understand or connect with. 

i don’t know if the author purposefully wrote a novel that feels a bit like it will either become a novel that has its place in literary history as a window in our current times …. or be not as interesting to read in a few years. 
it does fit incredibly well with the overall tone of the book itself, so i am not sure if i am reading that into it or if it was done on purpose… either way it was an interesting thing to notice about the book. 


i would recommend it for anyone that thinks it sounds good! 

i had a fantastic time reading it and wanted to restart it right after finishing it just because i didn’t want to be done!