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"Oh those white people have small hearts who can only feel for themselves"

This book is one of the books that had so much potential.. I was enchanted by the mere plot of it.. But it was very poorly done! That's what happens when you rely on one thing and you neglect all the other aspects of the book.. I liked the sub-themes much more than any major thing.
I related to Ramy and Victoire and couldn't for the life of me relate to Robin.. I thought that he was stupid for the most part.

And as for the plot, the idea started with those young children, brought from their homelands and taught dead languages and forced to become translators or else out they go, and we see their journey with colonialism, etc. But suddenly, the book changes its direction and suddenly it's about how to solve a war that is supposed to happen between China and England.. I mean, the lost potential.. It hurts.. Because I know that Rf Kuang put an enormous time to research and study in order to write such a heavy book.. Tracing all those difficult subjects and old Latin words.. All lost because of thaf boring ending..

I wanted to see something real and something that I can relate to..

As for the footnotes.. Dear heavens.. Where was the last time you ever saw a novel that contains 4 footnotes in each page..? Nonsense.. And it only meant that the writer didn't know that any reader with a decent iq level would understand what is meant without her narrating and feeding everything to her reader..

And just to be honest, I really liked the conversations where they discussed etymology and word origins and translations. That was the best part about this book, the feeling I got when it began.