Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

121 reviews

lexihworth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

Babel rocked me to my core, and left me reading for 5 hours straight until 2am because I couldn't stop and just needed to finish it. R. F. Kuang is a brilliant literary genius and I don't know how she could break my heart this many times in one book and then set it on fire with the flames of revolution and expect me to be okay at the end. Everything about this story enraptured me. The immense amounts of research that you can feel went into it, the incredibly detailed magic and world-building that still closely mimics real life, the nuance and depth of colonial discourse and how it feels to actively participate and benefit from it as a person of color, the setting of academia and ways in which research and higher education contributes and sustains imperial power, the layered and flawed and beautiful realness of the characters, the academic writing and footnotes that make you feel like you are actually reading a history book, and the devastating plot moments that will leave hauntingly gorgeous quotes stuck in your head for days. This is a new all-time favorite book for me, it is truly amazing how much Kuang captured in one book and how this story left me both broken and emotionally devastated as well as completely awed and profoundly satisfied. What a stunning piece of literature, I have truly read nothing else like it.

"That's just what translation is, I think. That's all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

katrinarose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

An ingenious blend of historical fiction intersecting with fantasy. The fantasy elements are so interesting and logical and serve to greatly enhance the historical setting. I thought it was so well done and so smart. The author’s intelligence really comes through in this book in a way that is rare in the majority of books, even by smart people. I also learned a lot of historical nuance that I only had a general idea about. The major theme of the book is a cruelty of colonialism and I think she drove the point home in an extremely effective way. The characters were well done too, I only wish Victoire had more of a role throughout the book because I really liked her. My biggest criticism that kept my rating from 5 stars for me personally is I felt like it dragged on in some parts in the first half. It’s a long book and covers a lot of history without seeming like nonfiction but I found myself putting it down for several days at a time. I did fly through the last 40% though. Overall would recommend for anyone with an interest in history and/or etymology (being a fantasy reader is definitely not a requirement for enjoyment but it was a big plus for me).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation

_annika__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

_gess_reads_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Slavery

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Religious bigotry

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

kaia_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Injury/Injury detail

some_froggish_lad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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

Absolutely, completely based on personal feelings but FUCK THIS BOOK. And thank you i love you so much if I were to compare you to music I'd call it metal

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

One the best books ever written.
One of my favorite books of all time, this feels like my soul.

For everyone who loves Addie LaRue! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

donatio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I had some minor difficulties with the book, namely that action took its time, that action scenes felt somehow slow and that none of the characters ever considered changing their position. At first I adored the slow writing because it was a great introduction into fairy-tale Oxford but when action was called for I would have wished for less lingering. 
But that doesn't get in the way of the message: That colonialism, racism, classism and all the other problems mentioned have to be resolved, not only then but in our time and world too. 
Therefor I would say some little changes in the style would have made it a bit better but it still is a very important book and touches on topics not many fantasy stories touch upon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism