Reviews with content warning for Murder - Das Gedächtnis von Babel

J'ai lu ce roman à toute vitesse, parce que la plume de Christelle Dabos coule toute seule. Elle parvient à allier un vocabulaire élaboré et des tournures de phrase variées avec un rythme implacable qui fait que les pages se tournent presque toutes seules. Encore une fois, Ophélie ne connaît presque aucun répit, aucun temps mort dans ce volume. La pauvre, elle en aurait pourtant bien besoin !

J'ai aimé la manière dont l’autrice creusait toujours plus loin son personnage, et me régalait avec des environnements toujours aussi vibrants et créatifs. On découvre une nouvelle arche dans ce tome, plein de personnages hauts en couleur, et c'est toujours le même tourbillon d’aventures.

Malgré cela, j'ai trouvé que les résolutions arrivaient un peu tard et de manière un peu précipitée. J'aurais aimé qu’elles soient réparties plus équitablement dans le livre, mais j’ai surtout hâte d’en découvrir les conséquences dans le tome 4.

Je ne me suis pas sentie particulièrement impliquée émotionnellement dans l'histoire. J'aime beaucoup Ophélie, mais tout va trop vite autour d’elle et cela a plutôt tendance à me donner le tournis qu’autre chose. Par contre !! Par contre, j'ai ressenti énormément de curiosité et de trépidation pendant la poignée de chapitres qui sont racontés du point de vue d'un autre personnage. Pour spoiler le moins possible, je me contenterai de dire que cela m’a mise dans un état similaire aux chapitres racontés par Abeille dans la trilogie Le Fou et l’Assassin de Robin Hobb. J'espère de tout cœur qu'on en saura plus dans le tome 4 parce que là, Christelle Dabos a attisé ma curiosité.

Rep : héroïne codée demisexuelle / demiromantique, plusieurs personnages handicapés. Représentation asiatique critiquable (voire problématique).

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flamesocks's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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rorikae's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I continue to be enchanted by this series by Christelle Dabos. Though I can't go in-depth about the plot since this is book three, this book continues to have an engaging plot that showcases a set of dynamic characters. In this book, Ophelia heads to Babel to try and find answers to questions posed at the end of the previous installment.
Dabos's world feels fairytalelike with lots of fascinating characters and magical occurrences. In each subsequent book, we've come to understand more about the world and those who rule over it. In this book, it feels like Ophelia is even closer to uncovering answers and understanding the full breadth of what is happening. I'm excited to read the next book and see how the entire series concludes.

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e_riahh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

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friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

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4.5

This one went by really quickly. Cristelle dabos is a genius who can create very unique and complicated world, politics and relationships.

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a_islandcriptid's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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sydapel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Probably the slowest installment of this series so far, but excellent in terms of how subtly the plot comes to the forefront by the end. This series has me in a total chokehold with how effectively it feels both sinister and whimsical.

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jstilts's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Very different to the previous books: Ophelia has gone from hiding in shadows to making her mark, and after the last cliffhanger (and a few years basically sulking) is now imbued with drive and purpose to solve eons-long mysteries that threaten her world, her missing husband, and herself.

Set almost entirely in Babel following a single quest, this book greater focus on the rich detailed world building of Babel society allows the overall plot to become fluffier and more mysterious, frankly treading water a little to spoon-feed us the fantasy set-up for the final volume. This isn't criticism as such, it's a very deft bit of furniture moving that's so pleasant an experience I can hardly complain.

It's not however quite as compelling as the second volume, as really you feel Ophelia could just shrug her shoulders and walk away from her troubles for the first three quarters of the book - driven mainly by her desire to reunite with Thorn, which is hard to fathom as while we saw Thorn fall in love with Ophelia in the last book - believable only because I'll accept any insight I to the inscrutable oaf - Ophelia has hardly had reason to do likewise, especially as we're privy to her thought and feelings that she STILL finds hard to quantify (after years!) that her love is a bit hard to believe. I can only put it down to the desperate need to connect during and after disaster, which they experienced together at the end of book two.

Looking forward to the final volume nevertheless - this one was strangely simultaneously better and worse than the previous books, so in a way an interesting diversion on the journey, a side quest and a breather before the finale.

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