Reviews tagging 'War'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

841 reviews

lonka's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Murder, Physical abuse, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Hate crime, Colonisation, Grief, Islamophobia, Death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

shesreadingagain_'s review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, and Murder

julia_eve_r's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book is incredible. The magic system is rich and well fleshed out, the characters are foils to each other, they represent bigger ideas/beliefs. The way the book is written uses references uniquely and well, and the rich language is amazing. Best book of the year. Also it educated me on etymology and expanded my experiences with ‘double consciousness’ and systematic discrimination and so much more. This book should be studied at school. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Addiction, Toxic friendship, and War

naisdayz's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

I finished this book during class and could BARELY hold myself back from crying.

While Babel took me quite long to get through, I really enjoyed it. I really loved the cohort, though I would have wished for their relationships to be a little more fleshed out here and there. I could believe that Robin would die for Ramy no doubt - but the boys didn't seem as close to the girls and vice versa.

Anyhow, its safe to say that Letty's betrayal WRECKED me.

Kuang is really good at writing morally grey characters. Letty will do all those horrible things and then her intermission comes and you're like... Oh. That's why. And it doesn't excuse her shooting one of her friends or being the way she is, but it makes you understand and somewhat emphasize with her.

I found the footnotes that explain things that are relevant to the story, both fictional and (mainly) real to be pretty cool - it allows you to understand the story and what was happening on an even deeper level.

Babel is a very important book, in my opinion, that should be read by everyone (especially white people). It's so much more than a dark academia book, or a fantasy book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Classism, Child abuse, Blood, and Physical abuse

Minor: War

emviolet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Racism, Colonisation, Torture, Death, Xenophobia, Suicide, Slavery, Murder, War, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Cultural appropriation

aleyajo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Classic college experience: magic, colonization, exploitation, racism, slavery, murder, and revolution

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Classism, Medical content, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Misogyny, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and War

leeshajoy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and War

justinea's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Very very slow to take off book. I think this would do very well in literature classrooms. Incredibly well written with very important themes. I think it could’ve been shorter. For my part, I found it educational but not always highly enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Death, and War

yorggeorg's review against another edition

emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Genocide, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Sexism, Trafficking, Hate crime, and War

elizabeth_helmer's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, War, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Classism, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Slavery, Murder, and Sexism

Minor: Torture