Surviving Babel did not necessarily mean survival.

What I learned from the Poppy War series is that Kuang will put characters through the emotional ringer and Babel was relentless. Kuang told a beautiful story that was reminiscent of Guy Gavriel Kay's historical fiction works, but slightly more accessible.

They were both shaken by the sudden realization that they did not belong int his place, that despite their affiliation with the Translation Institute and despite their gowns and pretentious, their bodies were not safe on the streets. They were men at Oxford; they were not Oxford men.

Among the action and magic of the Silver, what stood out for me was the heavy topic of isolation, racism and xenophobia Remy, Robin and Victoria experienced. The blinders that Letty had for what experiences her friends suffered was incredibly powerful and hit home in a real way for the current state of the world.

Language is a resource just like gold and silver. People have fought and died over those Grammaticas.

Historical fiction is a genre I don't actively seek out because I find the story can be bogged down in the history (sorry Mr. Kay, you write beautifully but it can be overwhelming). Kuang developed such a fantastic world with just enough magic to be inspiring but not bogging down the story with actual places and events. I could see this story being accessible for people of fiction and fantasy alike.

They'd chosen a good day for revolution.

The book was longer than my recent reads but I found my reading speed to be fairly fast. I was interested in where the story would go next and surprised how much was packed in here. The story never spent too long on one year of school or focusing on something irrelevant. This was a well paced and effectively edited book. There are surprising events and the stakes for the students, faculty and society is very real and present.