This book is an examination of what it means to grow up, to age, to develop ourselves outside of the comfort of a family unit. We must realize our potential, free ourselves from our parents and their protective cocoon. We must adapt and become adults, learn who we are and who we wish to be within the world as a whole. All of the students did not enroll in this school with excitement, they were forced into this school with fear. Fearful of their futures, what they are learning, who they are becoming, what will happen if they fail. It is what many students go through when first leaving home, but to an extreme. It is a novel that also looks at what it is to be human, the nature of humanity, and is quite existential in that sense. Sasha moves through a metamorphosis from both child to adult and from human to word or concept. The book often breaks the fourth wall, having Sasha explain existence as merely being a word within the greater world of Speech. Are we all just words on a page, waiting to expand outside of our ink and borders? This book was not necessarily big, but I often had to pause to really digest what I was reading. The book pushed me to think, to consider, to wonder at Sasha's world and what she must go through at the Institute. At times I felt pity for her, but I also had moments of anger towards her lack of control and discipline; the repetitiveness of her not learning from her mistakes or not taking responsibility for her actions, when she was fully away of the consequences. There were some parts I found tedious or unnecessary to an already bogged down plot, especially when trying to grasp these dense topics. As well, there were parts where the translation was off and therefore the flow of the narrative was broken. At times, I disliked Sasha as the main protagonist, found her jarring and uncaring, but other times she was understanding and seemed interested in those around her and helping. So, it was a bit hit or miss in certain areas, and I am not ashamed to admit that sometimes the concepts went over my head or baffled me. I did enjoy that this was not your average tale about a magical school, it was more a look at existentialism, philosophy, meaning, human nature. The magic was less about spells and more about figuring out how to manipulate words. I quite enjoyed that it was a book that was talking about the world as though it were a book and those inside of it merely words and concepts, grammar and language. It was a fascinating and captivating read. I sit here now, still thinking and wondering about what I read and the open ending of the book. I received this novel from HarperCollins Publishers CA in exchange for an honest review.
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