Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

187 reviews

hagwife's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

Babel is all at once one of the most precise novels I've ever read and also one of the most tumultuous – precise and exact in the storytelling, the construction, and of the violence of colonialism and tumultuous in how the cohort of Robin, Remy, Victoire, and Letty have to navigate the spaces in which the reside. It is a stunning work, wrought in marvelous detail, scathing truths, beautiful relationships, and heartbreaking depictions of the choices anyone who is not in the majority must make to survive, let alone thrive, in the face of overwhelming abuse. And it is also a love letter to language, to meaning, to one's personal history, and to using those to form connection.

For anyone looking for another deep-dive into an alternate history that weaves magic and does not pull its punches, I recommend Dan Vyleta's Smoke. To anyone looking for the headlong rush of adventure and an unapologetic, vicious love letter to a place and its peoples, N.K. Jemisin's The Great Cities duology is the way to go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Sexual assault and Toxic friendship

mollyelyn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction and Drug use

Minor: Blood and Alcohol

awildeasriel's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Classism

chasinggrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

There’s no other rating to give a Kuang book than five stars. 

The magic system and environment that Kuang creates is unmatched - completely transformative, no stone left unturned, no detail spared. 

The way Kuang breaches racism, colonialism, sexism, and exploitation is horrifyingly accurate. And this book is devastating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

imds's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ryanandrew23's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

alainral's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

libellumartinae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I'd like to preface this by saying that I genuinely believe that this book having half the pages that it had would have been a better choice, because the writing was just low key ridiculous at times. Starting in media res would have been far more exciting and intriguing and although I do realize the author's reasoning between drilling us with the purpose of this book, it still felt at times empty and without meaning. As did the characters. I genuinely think I have a problem with R. F. Kuang's characters, because I find them so empty and little developed, always going through by stereotypes which I think is a consequences of the author's strong ideologies pushed on them (which I am not against, but for example I felt Victoire utterly useless till the ending and then it was a bit meh; similarly with Robin, who is the mc, there were times when I felt so little interest and development).

I also think that oftentimes there were too many repetitions of some concepts, such as the magic and world building, still I think that on those topics the book is utterly amazing and bring forward a charming and shocking portrayal and a clear critique that should definitely be read by everybody as it also brings forward future and present concerns and I am not going to lie, as a translator and expert of latin and Ancient Greek, this book did feel like a love letter to the act of translating and languages, although at times the linguistic reflections could be a bit boring and useless for the plot.

Overall, I think it's a good book albeit not worth the hype around it and that while in spirit it has good intentions, the actual writing of it could have been worked over so much better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

keltaklo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

aphloner's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Minor: Slavery and Religious bigotry