Saffron is the queen of thinking the important stuff and saying either nothing or the most useless alternative, only to be dethroned when Alexander returns as he only ever says the worst possible thing in the absolute worst way while thinking the sweet, heartbreaking things that Saffron is too superficial to be able to read from his actions.

I was disappointed that an outside character purposely included to make Lee look like a good person was given such a limited and self-serving role. Romesh knows what it is to be discounted, overlooked, and discriminated against in his chosen field of work, yet he’s awfully quick to believe hurtful gossip about Saffron and pile on. But don’t worry, Lee was nice to him a few times while they were studying together, so at least Lee is a good person. Romesh honestly shows up for a few pages, but it really stuck out to me that Khavari chose to include a person of colour, and instead of making him an empathetic and understanding voice of reason in his one interaction with Lee, she made him part of the system that so devalued and belittled him.

I also don’t understand how someone so surrounded by gossip at all times, and so sensitive to it, could spend months with someone - hours and hours together every single day at work and travelling and in the library and doing fieldwork and writing reports and sharing an office - and not give them a heads up about their recent history and the treatment they tend to receive from their colleagues. It would’ve been so easy. ‘Hey, I’m Saffron. I'm new to this office, but I'm so excited we'll be working together on this interesting assignment. I was a research assistant for my close friend and mentor, but he was wrongly involved in a murder mystery, which I got way too involved in. I don’t want to get into it because it was pretty traumatic, but all's well that ends well! Oh, and I’m a woman, so it’s been a bit of an uphill battle getting a basic level of respect from the men at the university, so I’d appreciate your support. Just so you know, my boyfriend-not-boyfriend is away on a work trip, but he’ll be back soon, so let’s keep this professional.’ Saffron so often lets others define her and then gets angry when she doesn’t like the story they tell about her. If you want to write a fiercely independent and intelligent female character in history, it would be nice to commit.