elzbethmrgn's Reviews (667)

I hadn't heard of this before I picked it up in a (real life!) bookshop, but apparently it garnered plenty of attention when it was published last year. And with good reason, I think.

It's the story of a woman, Esme, framed by the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, the way the meaning of words are shaped by use (as her own life's meaning is shaped by use), the words/lives considered worthy or unworthy of recording for posterity and who gets to decide that worth.

I enjoyed this one: slow and character-driven, no high drama, some tearful moments. I would have appreciated a content warning, but it's seriously spoilery and it would have ruined the moment, but I leave it here for you:

childbirth, child loss, adoption

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The final chapter and the epilogue continue past Esme's work on the Dictionary, and I feel the book would have been stronger without it. Ditte's final letter would have been the perfect end-point, in my mind

although clearly Megan's lecture shows Esme's work given the public attention she hoped it would someday achieve

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 Obviously you will not be reading Rhythm of War with without having read the preceding three thousand-ish pages in the series.

I feel like Sanderson's writing craft has finally caught up to his giant ideas. With every plot twist there was a feeling of "Oh! Ah", as you cast your mind back to every hint dropped in your path. The discussion and depiction of mental illness was nuanced (from my POV, I do not claim to represent any brain except my own).

Ultimately, not a disappointing installment in a series I already greatly enjoy, raising as many questions as were answered, and now I'll wait another two (three) years for the next.