A review by claudiamacpherson
The Memory of Babel by Christelle Dabos

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Two and a half years after returning to Anima, Ophelia travels to the Ark of Babel in search of Thorn and any information that could help her defeat God. Babel is supposed to be a perfect utopia, but she soon finds that things are not as peaceful and orderly as they seem. Ophelia must keep her true identity secret as she studies to become a virtuoso and access the highly guarded secrets at the center of the Babel library.

The beginning of this third installment in the Mirror Visitor series was a bit slow, but I really loved the introduction of a new Ark with new people and family powers. The world-building was incredibly rich and the characters more diverse, which made it more interesting.
I was sad about Thorn's absence in the first half or so of the book (who knew I'd come to like him so much!). Even when Ophelia finally found him, his coldness made it feel like he'd reverted to how he'd been at the beginning of A Winter's Promise, which was frustrating! I am a complete sucker for a slow-burn, though, so I loved the ending.


Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just my judgement of how happy the ending is because I always wish someone would tell me that before I read books):
Pretty happy! But, as is Dabos' style, it was a bit of a cliffhanger, too. Now I just have to wait for the English translation of the fourth book to be released!
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