The Traitor Baru Cormorant

The protagonist of The Traitor Baru Comorant was likeable for about the first two paragraphs, and it all went downhill from there. There was no way for me to believe an obnoxious and mouthy child could become a mathematical prodigy and highly ranked diplomat by age eighteen. Though the concept of political destabilization through economics was interesting (and clearly put forward) the teenage-foreigner-war-leader made NO sense. I found the first half of the novel pretty dull (and wondered why I wasn't thinking about it more, when I wasn't actually reading it, which for me is a pretty good indicator of how I feel about the book) while the second half I pretty much gobbled up in one sitting, just to see what was going to happen.