This book is so well written, and I hate it deeply. Kuang is brilliant in her presentation of the publishing industry and all of the perverse incentives it creates; the characters are compelling and believable, the problems are captivating, and it kept me reading chapter after chapter, feeling by turns vaguely disgusted and exasperated with every character in the book. What's worse for me is that the issues addressed feel like they need solutions, and none ever appear, aside perhaps from the ultimate conclusion in which no problems are resolved, but every terrible thing keeps the system propped up and running. As an allegory for human existence it's both accurate and depressing. As a direct representation (and maybe also satire) of the publishing industry it seems accurate and is definitely depressing.