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ohennui's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Sexual content, and Blood
jodar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I found Assassin of Reality had a less visceral and shocking impact compared to the previous novel, Vita Nostra. Just as for the MC, doubtless the reader too is now anticipating some more of the earlier weirdness. To me the weirdness this time was more surreal, though, and less nightmarish and unhinged.
It is definitely a worthwhile read all the same and a good sequel to the first novel. I’m sure I’m not alone in not being entirely sure what actually occurs to the MC and the entire universe(!) at the end. A lot was unintelligible, I suspect intentionally so for us mere humans!
The novel poses some daunting questions: Can there be freedom without evil? If you were super-powerful but not all-powerful like the MC, how would you act for the good? Why would you act for the good, even? Is ultimate reality, or perhaps rather the goal of perfection, impersonal, inhuman logic? Or will allowing any personality within reality necessarily lead to imperfection? And at a more human level, do intimate relationships have a ‘purpose’? – or is that attitude narcissistic and undermining of true relationship?
There are echoes of Christian themes, such as creation by the Word, though it is an indirect influence, not overt. So too, elements of a destructive cult: intimidation by instructors and levels of enlightenment, whereby teachings at a lower levels are “necessary lies”.
The translation had a few American English words and expressions that are likely cryptic to other readers – a tony cocktail party; cry uncle; cockamamie – and more than once a non-standard plural aircrafts instead of aircraft.
CW: extramarital sex.
It is definitely a worthwhile read all the same and a good sequel to the first novel. I’m sure I’m not alone in not being entirely sure what actually occurs to the MC and the entire universe(!) at the end. A lot was unintelligible, I suspect intentionally so for us mere humans!
The novel poses some daunting questions: Can there be freedom without evil? If you were super-powerful but not all-powerful like the MC, how would you act for the good? Why would you act for the good, even? Is ultimate reality, or perhaps rather the goal of perfection, impersonal, inhuman logic? Or will allowing any personality within reality necessarily lead to imperfection? And at a more human level, do intimate relationships have a ‘purpose’? – or is that attitude narcissistic and undermining of true relationship?
There are echoes of Christian themes, such as creation by the Word, though it is an indirect influence, not overt. So too, elements of a destructive cult: intimidation by instructors and levels of enlightenment, whereby teachings at a lower levels are “necessary lies”.
The translation had a few American English words and expressions that are likely cryptic to other readers – a tony cocktail party; cry uncle; cockamamie – and more than once a non-standard plural aircrafts instead of aircraft.
CW: extramarital sex.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content and Gaslighting
naomi_k's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Car accident
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria
Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
jayjm94's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
It’s no Vita Nostra, though I think any sequel to that book would fall short because it’s perfect. I still found myself longing to listen to this audiobook and tore through it. Do I understand the nuances of what happened? Absolutely not. Do I trust that the Dyachenkos know what they’re doing? Yes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Car accident
bluejayreads's review against another edition
4.0
I have made no secret of how much I loved *Vita Nostra*. I knew it was first in a series, but most likely due to the books originally being written in Russian, I could find no information online about any other books in the series existing, let alone when they came out. So I was absolutely delighted to stumble on book two, *Assassin of Reality*, completely by accident while browsing the library. However, I was a little nervous to start reading it, for a couple reasons:
1. *Vita Nostra* set a spectacularly high bar, and there was a solid chance book two just wouldn't live up to it.
2. It has been almost two years since I read *Vita Nostra*, and reading a sequel so long after the original book usually results in the sequel being less enjoyable just because I've forgotten so much of the first book.
3. I got this copy as a physical book, and after going back to reading physical books after reading audiobooks almost exclusively for two years, physical books are just less immersive in general.
So I picked up this book full of hope that it would live up to its predecessor and concern that for a variety of reasons, it wouldn't.
Let's get the big question out of the way first: Did *Assassin of Reality* live up to the high expectations that *Vita Nostra* set? Not really. But that doesn't make it bad - and it wasn't for the reasons I expected.
*Assassin of Reality* has so many of the things that I loved about *Vita Nostra*. Impossible studies, a weird and vaguely incomprehensible magic system that seems to have definite yet undefinable rules, an intimate view of a character who may or may not be going mad (although we're pretty sure she's not going mad at this point), time as an inconvenience that can be changed and molded and is nowhere close to immutable, teachers by turn human and decidedly not human, a character so absurdly powerful that some faculty would rather see her dead than upend the balance. In many ways, there's a lot to enjoy, and I did enjoy.
But it was also significantly *less* than *Vita Nostra*. It felt less bizarre and surreal, even though the events were objectively even more bizarre and surreal, because I'm not experiencing this wild and off-kilter world for the first time anymore. It's also significantly shorter - which in some ways makes sense, since *Vita Nostra* covered three years at the Institute while *Assassin of Reality* only covers one. But it also did the story a major disservice. The main story here is Sasha grappling with her place in the universe and the strange cosmology of the Great Speech, to the detriment of everything else. The impossible studies got shoved to the side. Relationships with former classmates were almost nonexistent at the start and completely dissolved by the end. Even conflicts with teachers and the actual logistics of being in school were glossed over, to the point where I think she entirely skipped the spring semester? The story did, at least, even if Sasha didn't. For a book that's supposed to be about Sasha's last year in an impossible school before she either becomes omnipotent or ceases to exist, it spends a whole lot of time watching her go through a magic version of a petulant teenager phase.
This review is a lot more scathing than I feel about the book, to be honest. While reading, I did enjoy it. It was absorbing and engrossing, and I genuinely wanted to keep reading through the whole thing. But looking back, I think there's a lot of potential that was wasted. There's nothing wrong with a story about Sasha grappling with her place in this cosmology and having a complicated romance with a guy who has no idea about any of the magical weirdness Sasha is involved in. But having those be the focus of the story to the exclusion of everything else left it not as strong as it could have been. Because of events at the end of *Vita Nostra*, Sasha has to start her education almost completely from scratch, and she takes on the nearly omnipotent Farit Kozhennikov head-on, and yet those are background elements. I can't help but notice how it could have been so much more.
That said, it was still a solid read. I didn't understand much of it, but I expected that and don't really feel the need to understand. The world is still wonderfully bizarre, and getting weirder as Sasha gets more powerful. I hope she does finally manage to take Farit Kozhennikov down. And I do legitimately want to find out what happens next. So I will be reading the next book, whenever I can find it. But if you want to read *Vita Nostra* and then not bother with the rest of the series, that's fine too. Let's be real, this doesn't feel like the kind of story that will have a tidy ending, anyway.
1. *Vita Nostra* set a spectacularly high bar, and there was a solid chance book two just wouldn't live up to it.
2. It has been almost two years since I read *Vita Nostra*, and reading a sequel so long after the original book usually results in the sequel being less enjoyable just because I've forgotten so much of the first book.
3. I got this copy as a physical book, and after going back to reading physical books after reading audiobooks almost exclusively for two years, physical books are just less immersive in general.
So I picked up this book full of hope that it would live up to its predecessor and concern that for a variety of reasons, it wouldn't.
Let's get the big question out of the way first: Did *Assassin of Reality* live up to the high expectations that *Vita Nostra* set? Not really. But that doesn't make it bad - and it wasn't for the reasons I expected.
*Assassin of Reality* has so many of the things that I loved about *Vita Nostra*. Impossible studies, a weird and vaguely incomprehensible magic system that seems to have definite yet undefinable rules, an intimate view of a character who may or may not be going mad (although we're pretty sure she's not going mad at this point), time as an inconvenience that can be changed and molded and is nowhere close to immutable, teachers by turn human and decidedly not human, a character so absurdly powerful that some faculty would rather see her dead than upend the balance. In many ways, there's a lot to enjoy, and I did enjoy.
But it was also significantly *less* than *Vita Nostra*. It felt less bizarre and surreal, even though the events were objectively even more bizarre and surreal, because I'm not experiencing this wild and off-kilter world for the first time anymore. It's also significantly shorter - which in some ways makes sense, since *Vita Nostra* covered three years at the Institute while *Assassin of Reality* only covers one. But it also did the story a major disservice. The main story here is Sasha grappling with her place in the universe and the strange cosmology of the Great Speech, to the detriment of everything else. The impossible studies got shoved to the side. Relationships with former classmates were almost nonexistent at the start and completely dissolved by the end. Even conflicts with teachers and the actual logistics of being in school were glossed over, to the point where I think she entirely skipped the spring semester? The story did, at least, even if Sasha didn't. For a book that's supposed to be about Sasha's last year in an impossible school before she either becomes omnipotent or ceases to exist, it spends a whole lot of time watching her go through a magic version of a petulant teenager phase.
This review is a lot more scathing than I feel about the book, to be honest. While reading, I did enjoy it. It was absorbing and engrossing, and I genuinely wanted to keep reading through the whole thing. But looking back, I think there's a lot of potential that was wasted. There's nothing wrong with a story about Sasha grappling with her place in this cosmology and having a complicated romance with a guy who has no idea about any of the magical weirdness Sasha is involved in. But having those be the focus of the story to the exclusion of everything else left it not as strong as it could have been. Because of events at the end of *Vita Nostra*, Sasha has to start her education almost completely from scratch, and she takes on the nearly omnipotent Farit Kozhennikov head-on, and yet those are background elements. I can't help but notice how it could have been so much more.
That said, it was still a solid read. I didn't understand much of it, but I expected that and don't really feel the need to understand. The world is still wonderfully bizarre, and getting weirder as Sasha gets more powerful. I hope she does finally manage to take Farit Kozhennikov down. And I do legitimately want to find out what happens next. So I will be reading the next book, whenever I can find it. But if you want to read *Vita Nostra* and then not bother with the rest of the series, that's fine too. Let's be real, this doesn't feel like the kind of story that will have a tidy ending, anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident
Moderate: Death
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, and Sexual content
sarah984's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I thought this was a great follow up to Vita Nostra. Not quite as mysterious as the characters know what they're getting into now, but Sasha's fight for freedom was interesting to me. The romance was a bit silly though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Stalking