The Traitor Baru Cormorant

This is something really special. Who would have known that a book starring an accountant could be this interesting?

That is a very simplified way to say it though, as there is way more to it than that. A woman rising up through the ranks of the enemy in order to use their own secrets against them - but at what cost? (This is not an accounting pun.)

Baru uses money in order to manipulate things, and uses people and situations just to her advantage. This makes her a very cold and calculating character. But there are cracks, so it's not as if she's completely robotic. She starts out with the best intentions, and her reasons for revenge are reasons you can get behind, so in spite of her not being very in tune with her emotions, you do want to root for her.

The writing is weird, because at times it reads like a retelling of historical events. It's distant, and at the same time not. There are certain events that happen that hit extra hard just because of the tragic way in which they are described. There's a certain moment in this book that I actively think of that is exactly this.

It is really rewarding to read slowly and read between the lines. Things aren't always explicitly explained to the reader, but you can kind of guess it from the context. Then there's also tons of foreshadowing (some I caught, some I absolutely didn't), which is cool as well. I also learned a ton of new words from this book as for once, a lot of what I didn't know wasn't made up! (This genre definitely likes making up words!)

The negative part of it is that at a certain point it all became a little bit too much. Suddenly you're keeping track of so many characters who each have their own alliances and morals and motivations and it would be easy to mix them up. The names I found difficult to remember as well. I'd recognize them while reading, but I wouldn't be able to spell them out afterwards. Even a name that's as simple as “Muire Lo” is an example I had to look up just to be sure, and then you have Pinjagata, Ihuake, Lyxaxu, Dziransi, Xate Olake and Xate Yawa, Unexekome.... You know? I have a sense of who they are when I see their names, but I easily forgot the names themselves. If you are able to really tell them apart and keep your attention 200%, this would definitely be a non-issue and even a plus, so that might just be me.

The further the book went, the more distant Baru becomes, and the more distant the writing becomes, and so I started caring a little less the further it went on. The ending is still great though, and I figure this story is going to stick with me for a while which is why I'm rating it more than four stars.